What Do Borrowers Actually Search For? A Mortgage Broker's Guide
This article is by Australia's #1 Mortgage Broker SEO Agency, we've helped brokers generate over $500M in new leads through Google and AI-search. We can help you too, simply book a call here.
Borrowers don't announce themselves. One evening they open Google, type something specific about their situation, and start working through the results. If your brokerage isn't there, the enquiry goes to someone who is.
Search behaviour has shifted. AI tools now sit alongside traditional results, and borrowers are using both to research before they ever contact a broker. The window between "I'm thinking about this" and "I've chosen someone" is narrower than it used to be.
At Copyburst, we work with brokers across Australia on mortgage broker SEO, Google Business Profiles and AI search, and the gap between what brokers think borrowers search for and what they actually type is one of the first things we look at. Below, we'll show you what that looks like and what's worth doing about it.
Key takeaways
- Borrowers search by situation, not by broker name or suburb alone.
- You need pages that match how borrowers describe their own problem.
- Showing up early in a borrower's research wins clients before they decide.
What do borrowers actually search for when looking for a mortgage broker?
Borrowers search by situation first and location second. They type what they're dealing with ("mortgage broker for self employed", "how much can I borrow on my income", "refinance broker near me") rather than a business name. According to Australian monthly search data from Ubersuggest (July 2026), "mortgage broker" draws about 27,100 searches a month, "mortgage broker near me" about 6,600, and "mortgage broker close to me" about 12,100. Those numbers tell you where people start, but the searches that convert are the specific ones tied to a loan type, a situation or a location. Your brokerage needs to be visible at both levels.
What kinds of searches do borrowers actually run?
Borrowers search across three broad patterns, and each one has a different level of intent.
- Situation searches:"mortgage broker for self employed", "can I get a loan on maternity leave", "construction loan broker". These borrowers know what they need and they're looking for someone who handles it.
- Question searches:"how much can I borrow", "should I fix or variable", "what does a mortgage broker do". These are research-phase borrowers who haven't chosen a broker yet. Answering these questions on your site puts you in front of them early.
- Local searches:"mortgage broker near me", "mortgage broker [suburb]", "refinance broker close to me". These are ready-to-act borrowers who want someone accessible. This is where the Map Pack and your Google Business Profile do the work.
Each pattern calls for a different page on your site and a different presence in Google. Situation searches want a service page. Question searches want a clear, specific article. Local searches want a strong Business Profile and, where relevant, a location page.
| Expert tip Go to Google and type the words a borrower in your situation would type, including loan types you specialise in like self-employed, construction or investment lending. Look at who's showing up and what pages they've built. That gap between what you see and what your site currently has is exactly where to start. Copyburst uses this as the first step in every broker SEO engagement. |
Why are borrowers searching by situation rather than looking for a broker by name?
Most borrowers don't start with a name in mind. They start with a problem: they've had an offer accepted, they're rolling off a fixed rate, their accountant said to talk to a broker, or they've just realised their repayments are higher than they need to be. So they search the problem.
A borrower sitting at home after dinner, realising their fixed rate expires in three months, isn't going to search your name. They're going to type "refinance broker near me" or "should I refinance now" into their phone. The broker who has a page answering that question, and a Business Profile that shows up on the map, gets the call.
“When I look at broker sites, I often find the loan types listed on one crowded page rather than each having its own space. Borrowers searching for a self-employed specialist or a construction loan broker need a page that speaks directly to them, and when that page doesn't exist, those searches go elsewhere.”
Adam Maynard · Founder, Copyburst · Chat to Adam →
This is where the opportunity is. Brokers who build specific pages for specific borrower situations aren't just covering more ground; they're showing up at the exact moment a borrower is ready to act.
| Mortgage broker SEO Need help with more enquiries from search? We help mortgage brokers get found first in Google, Google Maps and AI search.
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Which borrower situations produce the searches worth targeting?
Not every loan type generates the same search volume, and the mix shifts with the market. In a softer 2026 market, with the cash rate at 4.35% as at 28 September 2026 (Reserve Bank of Australia), refinancers are a significant part of the active search pool: borrowers who took out loans at higher rates are looking for a better deal, and they're searching specifically.
The situations that tend to generate specific, high-intent searches include:
- Refinancers: searching "refinance broker near me" or "should I refinance" and ready to act, especially where their fixed rate is expiring.
- First home buyers: searching "how much can I borrow", "first home buyer broker" and "5% deposit home loan", particularly since the 5% Deposit Scheme expanded with no caps on places or income from 1 October 2025 (Australian Government).
- Self-employed borrowers: searching "mortgage broker for self employed" because they know a standard application is complicated and they're looking for a specialist.
- Investors: searching "investment loan broker" or "SMSF loan broker", often mid-research and comparing options across multiple brokers.
Say you're a broker in a regional town who does a mix of first home buyer and self-employed lending. You'd want a page for each of those loan types that speaks directly to that borrower's situation, answers the questions they're already asking, and makes it easy to get in touch. That's what we help brokers build.
| Borrower type | What they search | What your site needs |
|---|---|---|
| Refinancer | "refinance broker near me", "should I refinance now" | A refinance page that answers when and why, with a clear next step |
| First home buyer | "how much can I borrow", "first home buyer broker" | A first home buyer page covering borrowing capacity, schemes and process |
| Self-employed | "mortgage broker for self employed", "low doc loan broker" | A self-employed page that explains how lending works for ABN holders |
| Local / ready to act | "mortgage broker near me", "mortgage broker [suburb]" | A strong Google Business Profile and a location page with specific local content |
| Expert tip Read through your last ten enquiry forms or think about the last ten calls you took. Write down exactly how each borrower described their situation in their own words, not how you'd describe it as a broker. Those phrases are often closer to what people type into Google than the polished service names on your website. Copyburst uses exactly this kind of input when planning pages for brokers. |
How does AI search fit into what borrowers are looking for?
AI tools have added a layer to the research phase. According to Roy Morgan (June 2026), 13.6 million Australians (58% of those aged 14 and over) used AI tools in an average four weeks in the March quarter 2026, with ChatGPT used by 10.5 million. Some borrowers are now asking ChatGPT or Google's AI features "what's a good mortgage broker near me" or "should I refinance in 2026" before they even run a traditional Google search.
Google says there are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode beyond normal SEO best practice (Google Search Central, "AI features and your website"). Your pages don't need special formatting or new files. What they do need is to clearly answer the question the borrower is asking, written in plain language, so Google's AI features can read and surface them.
“The first thing we do with any broker who asks about AI search is ask them to type their ideal client's question into ChatGPT and Gemini right now. What comes back tells you a lot about whether your brokerage is on anyone's radar at that stage of the borrower's research.”
Adam Maynard · Founder, Copyburst · Chat to Adam →
Does showing up for early-stage searches actually bring in clients?
It does, and here's why it's worth caring about. A borrower who's six weeks away from being ready to apply will run several searches before they call anyone. If your site answers their questions during that research phase, you're the familiar name when they're ready to commit.
Pew Research Center (US adults, March 2025 browsing data, published July 2025) found that people clicked a traditional search result in 8% of visits when an AI summary appeared, compared to 15% when it didn't. That's a real shift in how the top of the search results page behaves, and it means appearing at the research stage (in AI Overviews, in answer articles, in the Map Pack for local queries) matters more than ever for a broker whose clients are actively comparing options.
| Expert tip Ask your next few new clients how they found you, and then ask what they searched or looked at before they called. That second question is the useful one. It shows you which part of the research journey your site is (or isn't) showing up in. We build this question into broker enquiry forms as a standard practice. |
What's the catch with trying to rank for every search a borrower makes?
The catch is that two pages chasing the same search compete with each other, not with your competitors. A broker who has three slightly different pages about refinancing, all targeting the same borrower in the same way, is splitting their own presence rather than building it. That's the most common mistake we see when brokers try to cover more ground by adding more pages without a clear plan.
The right approach is one page per distinct borrower situation, built specifically for what that person is searching and what they need to know. Your refinance page and your "should I refinance" article can coexist because they serve different search intents. But two refinance service pages targeting the same thing don't help you. Google's own spam policies flag near-identical pages built to rank in different areas as a problem (Google, "Doorway abuse"), and the same logic applies to duplicated loan-type pages.
| Mortgage broker SEO Need help with more enquiries from search? We help mortgage brokers get found first in Google, Google Maps and AI search.
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What else do brokers ask about borrower search behaviour?
Do borrowers really use ChatGPT to find a mortgage broker?
Some do, particularly for early-stage questions like "what does a mortgage broker do" or "should I use a broker or go direct to a bank". Roy Morgan (June 2026) found 10.5 million Australians used ChatGPT in an average four weeks in the March quarter 2026. It's part of the research phase, not yet the dominant way borrowers find a broker.
How do I know which searches are worth targeting for my brokerage?
Start with the loan types you settle most and the client questions you hear on every call. Searches tied to a specific situation (self-employed, construction, refinance) and a specific location tend to be smaller in volume but higher in intent, meaning the borrower is closer to picking up the phone. Those are the searches worth building pages for first.
Where do broker leads actually come from in 2026?
Referrals remain important for most brokers, but referred clients often check you online before they call. Google search (organic and the Map Pack), Google Ads and AI tools are all active channels. Brokers who arrange 81.6% of new home loans (MFAA, June 2026 quarter, data compiled by Cotality) are competing across all of them, and search is where strangers find you without a referral.
How does Copyburst work out which searches to target for a broker?
We look at the loan types you settle, the questions your clients ask before they sign up, what your competitors have built and what searches are already bringing people to your site. From that we map out the pages your site needs, in priority order, based on borrower intent and where the gap is biggest between what's being searched and what your site currently answers.
How does Copyburst help brokers show up in AI search?
We make sure your key pages are indexed in Google and Bing, that AI crawlers aren't blocked, and that your pages answer borrower questions clearly and specifically enough to be surfaced by AI features. We also check how ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode describe your brokerage and fix any gaps on your own pages and profiles.
Your next steps
Start by listing the loan types you settle most often, then check whether your website has a specific page for each one. If a borrower searched "mortgage broker for self employed" or "refinance broker near me" right now, would they find a page on your site that speaks directly to them? If the answer is no for any of your main client types, that's the gap to close first. When you're ready to map out the searches worth targeting for your brokerage, talk to our team.
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Sources and further reading
This article provides general information about SEO, AI search and digital marketing for mortgage and finance brokers. It is not credit assistance, financial, legal or tax advice, and does not take into account your business circumstances. Search, ranking and lead outcomes vary and are not guaranteed. Figures are sourced from the organisations named and were current at the time of writing.