Why Insurers Are Betting Early on LLM Distribution

The channel is still nascent, but changing customer behavior and new customer access points are strengthening the case for participation

Insurance has long been sold through a mix of channels, whether brokers, agents, comparison sites, or direct from insurers and MGAs. In 2026, a new channel is emerging: LLMs.

Since February, 51 insurance apps built for LLM platforms have launched across 13 countries, according to Evident analysis. Picture this: you’re browsing ChatGPT and remember your car insurance is up for renewal in a few months. Instead of calling an agent or comparing quotes across several insurer websites, you ask the chat, “Where can I find the cheapest car insurance?”

From there, the journey can move from a general conversation with the LLM (“For car insurance, consider Aviva, Admiral, and LV=”) into an insurer, MGA or intermediary’s own app within the LLM. The capabilities of these apps vary, but they allow customers to do everything from compare products and ask coverage questions to generate live insurance quotes, without needing to begin the journey (or multiple journeys) through a traditional distribution channel.

Who’s moving first

For now, the early movers are mostly smaller specialist or digital native insurers and aggregators rather than industry incumbents, although several larger players like Allianz, Aviva, AXA, and Liberty Mutual are notable exceptions. Activity to date has been concentrated in standardized, high volume personal lines such as auto, home and travel insurance, where purchase journeys are comparatively easy to structure, explain and complete conversationally, and the insurance products are relatively cheaper. Commercial and specialty risks, by contrast, remain largely untouched as their complexity and higher cost, among other things, make them more difficult to explain and sell through a conversational journey.

Driving adoption

A combination of new technical capabilities and changing customer behavior has helped unlock this activity since February, including rapid growth in the use of AI to research and navigate financial products. JD Power found that 29% of US auto and home insurance customers have used AI tools across the insurance customer journey, while BCG found that 53% of European consumers researching banking or insurance now use it.

Why it matters for insurers

This changes the point at which insurers enter the customer journey. Traditionally, a customer might only encounter an insurer once they have decided to shop for a policy. LLMs, meanwhile, are bringing insurers into the conversation earlier, when a customer is still asking broader questions about a related transaction: “I’m buying a home, what else should I budget for?”

There is a visibility advantage too. An insurer with an app inside an LLM gains another route to reach customers, while the conversational format and earlier engagement in the customer journey creates more scope to surface adjacent products or additional cover where relevant. For smaller insurers and insurtechs, this channel can also help level the playing field with much larger competitors: LLM distribution offers access to a large audience without requiring the same level of marketing spend – often running into the billions – as the incumbents. 

The early economics are encouraging too. When Evident sat down with Juan García, Co-Founder of Tuio, the first insurer to launch an app on this channel, he explained that around 15% of the Spanish insurer’s new customers were already coming through ChatGPT, with traffic converting at roughly four times the rate of Google traffic. In conversations with other insurers, they described similar results.

How much of the purchasing journey takes place inside an LLM?

How far the journey can be completed inside an LLM varies considerably. Some apps provide only indicative estimates, while others connect directly to insurers’ rating engines. Just one, South Africa’s Naked Insurance, currently provides a final binding car insurance quote inside ChatGPT. In all examples, customers are redirected to the insurer website to complete the final purchase, a feature which reflects current regulatory requirements as much as technological capabilities.

The bigger risk is sitting it out

Whether LLMs ultimately become a significant source of business for insurers or other financial sectors is still an open question – Evident’s Banking team, for example, is seeing more focus on LLM service agents than on distribution – but waiting to find out can be a risky bet. Insurers told Evident that waiting to see if the market fully matures carries its own risk. They pointed to early participation as a practical advantage, giving their teams time to learn how to build, integrate and compete in LLM-mediated journeys while the market is developing. With early signs of success and the potential for LLM distribution to reshape the sector, many see greater risk sitting on the sidelines.

Want the full picture? 

The full research and analysis covers:

• The underlying technology and consumer factors driving adoption
• A full market map, including maturity assessments and peer benchmarks
• Best practice examples
• What the future outlook and regulatory implications mean for you

To find out more, contact Rebecca Yuska, Head of Research, Insurance

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