What it looks like
You’ve worked hard on your Google ranking. Now some patients skip the search results entirely and ask ChatGPT, Google’s AI Mode or Perplexity to recommend a dentist. You have no idea what those tools say about you.
What’s behind it
This is no longer a fringe habit. In a Pew Research Center survey of 3,488 U.S. adults, published in August 2026, 34% said they use AI chatbots for at least one health or medical reason. The tools also disagree with each other.
In October 2026 we checked a multi-practice dental group across three AI tools, asking each one four new-patient questions such as “Who is the best family dentist in [town]?” Of the 8 group practices those questions covered, ChatGPT named 2, Google AI Mode named 3 and Perplexity named 2. One practice came first in Google AI Mode and wasn’t mentioned at all by ChatGPT. In one town, no tool named any of the group’s practices.
Ordinary Google search told a similar story. Eight of the group’s 18 websites ranked for fewer than 25 search terms.
What we found on the group’s websites was mostly ordinary. One practice still lived at an old web address. One homepage listed three different phone numbers, one of them a fax. A practice list linked to a retired domain. Some sites had no way to book online. AI tools read the same signals patients do, and mixed signals make a practice harder to recommend.
Where the AI tools get their answers
Each tool looks in a slightly different place, which is why their answers differ.
- ChatGPT runs a Bing search, reads the top results and picks a few to quote: practice websites, review sites, directories, local news and forums (Search Engine Land). If Bing can’t read your site, ChatGPT is unlikely to name you.
- Google AI Mode and AI Overviews draw on Google’s own results and your Google Business Profile. Google has started quoting individual reviews from a profile in its AI summaries (DAC).
- Perplexity searches the web and lists the pages it used, so you can see which sites it trusted.
What to do
Start by checking, before you buy anything. Most of what follows costs nothing but an afternoon.
1. Ask the tools what your patients ask
Ask ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and Perplexity what a new patient would: the best dentist, the best family dentist, an emergency dentist in your town. Use a browser where you’re signed out, because the tools tailor answers to the person asking. Write down who gets named, and in what order.
Short on time? Ask us for the free AI visibility check and Nick will run the questions for you.
2. Make your details identical everywhere
Your practice name, address and phone number should read the same on your website, your Google Business Profile and every directory. Keep one current web address and redirect the old ones to it.
3. Fill in your Google Business Profile completely
Add every service you offer, your real hours, a booking link and recent photos, and check your main category. In December 2025 Google replaced the public questions section on Maps with an AI “Ask” button that answers from your profile and your reviews (Search Engine Roundtable). Whatever isn’t on your profile, the AI can’t say.
4. Earn reviews that say something
In a survey of 600 U.S. adults by Dandy and Isurus Market Research, 67% of people choosing a new dentist used online reviews, and 81% of those used Google. Ask every happy patient, steadily, not in bursts.
A review that names the visit (“my daughter’s first cleaning”, “a same-day crown”) tells the AI what you’re good at. Reply to reviews, and never offer anything in return for one: Google doesn’t allow it.
5. Make sure Bing can read your website
ChatGPT finds practices through Bing, so a site Bing has never read is invisible to it. Type site:yourpractice.com into Bing. If nothing comes up, have your web person verify the site in Bing Webmaster Tools and submit its sitemap.
While they’re there, check your site answers the questions patients ask in plain words: which insurance you take, whether you see emergencies, whether you’re accepting new patients. They can also add structured data, hidden labels that tell search tools what each page is about.
6. Check again every quarter
AI answers change from person to person and day to day, so watch the trend rather than any single answer. Add “AI assistant (ChatGPT, Google, etc.)” to the “how did you hear about us?” question on your new-patient form, so you can see whether it’s working.
Be wary of anyone who guarantees you’ll be “recommended by ChatGPT.” Nobody controls those answers (Chapter 7). What you can control is giving the tools clear, consistent facts about your practice.
After you’re named: answer the phone
Getting named is stage one of six (Chapter 1). The patient who hears your name from ChatGPT still has to get through when they call. If that call goes to voicemail, the work above is wasted.
That’s why our Layer 1 assessment reads both ends: whether AI tools name you, and what happens when those patients ring. If the phones are the weak point, Chapter 6 covers what to check before buying an AI receptionist.
GEO, AEO, LLMO: what the letters mean
You’ll hear agencies sell this under several names. They mostly mean the same thing.
| Term | Stands for | In plain words |
|---|---|---|
| AI SEO | AI search engine optimization | Getting your practice named when someone asks an AI tool |
| GEO | Generative engine optimization | The same, named after the AI tools that write answers |
| AEO | Answer engine optimization | The same, aimed at tools that give one answer instead of a list |
| LLMO | Large language model optimization | The same, named after the technology inside ChatGPT |
None of them replaces ordinary SEO. The AI tools lean on the same search results, profiles and reviews, so the six steps above do the work whichever name is on the invoice.
- When I ask three AI tools for the best dentist in our town, are we named? Who is?
- Are our name, address and phone number the same on every site that lists us?
- Can a new patient book online from our homepage in under a minute?
- Who checks this, and how often?
Common questions
Is AI SEO different from regular SEO for dentists?
Mostly not. The AI tools read the same search results, profiles and reviews that Google search does. The difference is that they name a few practices instead of showing ten links, so consistent details and clear pages matter more.
Do we need a new website?
Usually not. Fix the details first: one web address, one phone number, a booking link, and pages that answer patient questions in plain words. Make sure Bing can read the site.
How long before AI tools start naming us?
There’s no reliable timeline, and answers vary from day to day. Check every quarter and watch the trend. Anyone who promises a date is guessing.
What does the free AI visibility check include?
Nick asks ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and Perplexity the questions your new patients ask, then emails you what each tool said and the first things worth fixing. About 90 days later we run the same questions again and send you what changed. There’s no call unless you ask for one.