Pager StudioSandeep Kumar, Pager Studio
Here's the uncomfortable truth: 88% of healthcare practices don't show up when patients ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google AI for a recommendation. Not because they're bad practices — because nobody told them AI search works differently than Google.
This guide takes 20 minutes. You'll type a few questions into four AI tools, see what comes back, and know exactly what to fix.
Two out of three patients now ask AI before booking an appointment. Not Google — AI. They ask "who's the best dermatologist in Austin?" and ChatGPT gives them one answer. Not ten links. One answer.
If your name isn't in that answer, you don't exist. The patient books with whoever AI recommended.
The good news: 88% of practices haven't figured this out yet. That means if you fix this now, you're ahead of almost everyone in your market.
That's it.
Open ChatGPT and type these three questions. Replace the brackets with your real information.
Question 1:
Who is [your name]? Are they a [specialty] doctor in [city]?
If ChatGPT knows who you are — correct name, correct specialty, correct city — that's good. If it says "I don't have information" or gets your details wrong, you have a problem.
Question 2:
Who should I see for [specific service] in [city]?
This is the big one. If ChatGPT recommends you by name, you're visible. If it says "I can't recommend specific providers" or names your competitor instead, you're invisible.
Question 3:
What's the difference between [your practice] and [competitor] in [city]?
If ChatGPT knows about both of you, that's a good sign. If it only knows the competitor, you have work to do.
Write down what ChatGPT said for each question. Screenshot it if that's easier.
Perplexity is different from ChatGPT. It searches the web in real time instead of using an index. That means it might find you even if ChatGPT doesn't.
Open Perplexity and type these three questions.
Question 4:
[Your practice name] [city]
Perplexity should pull up your website in its sources. If it doesn't, your site isn't structured for AI to find.
Question 5:
Best [specialty] in [city] for [specific service]
Same question you asked ChatGPT. Compare the answers. Does Perplexity mention you? Does ChatGPT?
Question 6:
What do patients say about [your practice name]?
This checks if Perplexity can find reviews and patient feedback about you. If it says "no information available," your review data isn't reaching AI.
Google AI Overviews are those AI-generated summaries that pop up at the top of Google search results. They now appear on 88% of healthcare searches.
Question 7:
[Specialty] near me
Google this on your phone. If an AI Overview appears at the top, look for your name in it. If you see other practices but not yours, you're being left out.
Question 8:
How do I choose a [specialty] in [city]?
Same idea. Does Google's AI mention your practice? Or just your competitors?
Claude is the fourth major AI tool. It's less popular than ChatGPT but growing fast.
Question 9:
Tell me about [your practice name] in [city]
Claude values detailed, well-written content. If your website has solid service pages with real information, Claude will likely know about you. If your site is mostly marketing fluff, Claude won't have much to work with.
Question 10:
Who are the best [specialty] doctors in [city]?
Same recommendation test. Does Claude include you?
If you showed up everywhere with correct information — you're in the top 12%. Keep doing what you're doing and check again in a month.
If you showed up on some platforms but not others — each platform looks at different sources. The chart below tells you what to fix:
If you didn't show up anywhere — that's 88% of practices. Don't panic. Start with the fixes below.
That's it. ChatGPT uses Bing's index. If you're not on Bing, ChatGPT can't find you.
Google AI Overviews pull directly from your GBP. An incomplete profile is the #1 reason practices get left out.
Schema markup is code on your website that tells AI exactly what your practice is. If you're not technical, ask your web developer to add:
This is what makes AI trust your information. Without it, AI has to guess.
Once a month. That's it.
AI engines take 4-12 weeks to process changes. If you check every week, you'll just see the same thing over and over. Check monthly, fix what's broken, and move on.
You can do this entire test by hand for free. But if you want to track your visibility over time, these tools help:
Ask the 10 questions in this guide across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI, and Claude. Write down what each one says. If your practice appears with correct information, you're visible. If not, you need to fix your Bing indexation and your Google Business Profile.
ChatGPT uses Bing's index, not Google. If your sitemap isn't submitted to Bing Webmaster Tools, ChatGPT literally can't find you. This is the most common reason practices are invisible to ChatGPT.
Google AI Overviews pull from your Google Business Profile and your website's structured data. If your GBP is incomplete or your site doesn't have schema markup, AI can't extract your information.
Perplexity searches the web in real time. If your website doesn't have clear, structured content with real data, Perplexity won't have anything useful to cite.
No. You can't buy your way into ChatGPT or Perplexity. The practices that show up are the ones with clean, consistent, well-structured data across the web.
That's worse than being invisible. Wrong information erodes trust. Find where the wrong data is coming from — usually an old directory listing or an outdated webpage — fix it at the source, and re-check in a month.
If you ran the test and your practice is invisible — or has wrong information — Pager Studio's AEO audit maps exactly what's broken and gives you a clear roadmap to fix it.
Book a Discovery Call or see how we work to get started.
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