To get recommended by ChatGPT, your practice has to be confirmable in the places it reads: a Google Business Profile that names the treatment, the directories and review sites it cites, and a visible rating and review count. If you’re missing from those sources, or your website blocks OpenAI’s search crawler, it names someone else.
On October 26, 2026, we asked ChatGPT and Google’s AI Mode three questions Greater Sacramento patients ask, then looked at what each one cited. Below is what we saw, why those practices were picked, and the fixes in order of impact for med spas, dental practices and plastic surgeons. This is the work we do in AI search visibility (AEO). AEO, answer engine optimization, means making your practice easy for AI assistants to find, trust and name.
What We Saw When We Asked ChatGPT and Google
We ran each question once in ChatGPT with web search on, and once in Google AI Mode (Google’s chat-style search) set to Sacramento. A citation is a linked source the answer shows for what it says. We don’t name the practices that appeared.
| Question | ChatGPT cited | Google AI Mode cited | What the named practices had in common |
|---|---|---|---|
| “best med spa in Roseville CA” | Three “best med spas” list and directory pages, plus a business panel with ratings and review counts | The practices’ Google Business Profile descriptions | All were listed as “Medical spa.” ChatGPT’s top three matched Google’s top three map results, in the same order |
| “best dentist in Sacramento for dental implants” | Healthgrades, a dental group’s “top dentists” and “best prosthodontists” pages, and a business panel | Three Google Business Profiles and a Yelp search page | Most business categories matched the procedure: “Dental implants periodontist,” “Prosthodontist,” “Oral surgeon,” “Dental implants provider” |
| “best plastic surgeon in Sacramento for tummy tuck” | Healthgrades, RealSelf, ASPS surgeon profiles, a Google Maps listing and practice websites | The surgeons’ Google Business Profile descriptions | Both engines named surgeons, not practices. Three of the four profile descriptions Google quoted said “board-certified” |
Four things stood out:
- Google Business Profile text was quoted almost word for word. Google AI Mode’s references were the practices’ own Google Business Profile descriptions. One plastic surgeon’s description named tummy tuck, board certification, where he trained and the cities he serves. He was named.
- Small review counts still made the list. ChatGPT named a dental specialist with 14 reviews and a med spa with 26, both listed under categories that matched the question. Review counts ran from 14 to 483 across ChatGPT’s panels.
- The engines often disagreed. For dental implants, ChatGPT named five practices and AI Mode named four; one practice was on both lists. For tummy tuck, one surgeon was on both. For med spas, three were on both.
- ChatGPT’s numbers aren’t Google’s. ChatGPT labeled its figures “reviews in the business listing.” For one med spa it showed 104 reviews; Google showed 583. Your listings beyond Google matter.
Google’s regular results for the med spa and dental questions showed a map pack (the three businesses on a map at the top of local results) and no AI Overview (the AI summary Google shows above some results). Under each dental listing Google added a note such as “Their website mentions best implant dentist.” Our tool couldn’t load Google’s regular results for the tummy tuck question, so we don’t report them.
Why Doesn’t ChatGPT Recommend My Practice?
Usually one or more of these five gaps. They’re in order of impact: the first shuts you out entirely; the rest decide whether you make the list.
1. OpenAI’s search crawler can’t read your site
A crawler is a bot that reads web pages. OpenAI says sites that opt out of its search crawler, OAI-SearchBot, will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers. The opt-out usually sits in robots.txt, the text file that tells bots which pages they may read, or in a firewall setting labeled something like “block AI bots.” You can still block GPTBot, OpenAI’s separate crawler for training its models, without leaving search.
2. Your Google Business Profile doesn’t name what patients ask for
Your Google Business Profile is the free listing that shows your practice in Google Search and Maps. Google says local results are based mainly on relevance, distance and prominence, and that complete, accurate profiles are more likely to show. Our Google Maps ranking checklist walks through each factor for medical practices. In our checks, the profile’s category and description were the text Google’s AI repeated.
3. You’re missing from the pages AI reads about your specialty
ChatGPT cited Healthgrades, RealSelf, surgeon profiles from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) and local “best of” list pages. Google’s AI Mode cited Yelp. A directory is a site that lists providers by specialty and city. If your listing is missing, thin or out of date there, you’re absent from the pages the answer is built from.
4. Your rating and review count are thin
Every med spa and dental practice ChatGPT named had a rating and review count on display. For surgeons, it cited review sites such as RealSelf and Healthgrades. Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help local ranking. Ask every patient. Google prohibits offering discounts or gifts for reviews, and the FTC warns that asking only the patients you expect to be happy can be misleading if it skews your reviews. When you reply, never confirm someone is a patient: HHS settled with a California dental practice for $23,000 over patient information disclosed in replies to online reviews.
5. Your website doesn’t mention the treatment
Google’s map results told searchers which practices’ websites mention implants. A practice whose site lists 30 treatments in one line gives the engines little to match. One page per treatment you want to be known for, with the answer in the first two sentences, fixes that.
The Fixes for Med Spas, Dental and Plastic Surgery
Fix 1 is the same for everyone: open yoursite.com/robots.txt, make sure OAI-SearchBot isn’t under a “Disallow” line, and ask your host whether a firewall blocks AI bots. The rest depend on your specialty.
| Gap | Med spa | Dental | Plastic surgery |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2. Google Business Profile | Primary category “Medical spa.” Description names your top treatments by brand and your city. Add each treatment as a service | Category that matches your work, such as “Dental implants provider.” Description says implants, new patients and city | Description names the surgeon, board certification if you hold it, your signature procedures and the cities you serve |
| 3. Directories and review sites | Complete your Yelp profile. Check the “best med spa in [city]” list pages and ask to be included where they take submissions | Healthgrades profile, ADA Find-a-Dentist if you’re a member, Yelp | ASPS Find a Surgeon if you’re a member, RealSelf profile with procedures and photos, Healthgrades |
| 4. Reviews | Ask after each visit. Ask clients to name the treatment | Ask after the visit where the patient sees the result, such as the final crown | Ask at follow-up visits. Surgeons were cited from RealSelf, so collect reviews there too |
| 5. Website | One page per treatment, named the way clients search, with who performs it and how to book | An implants page that says who places the implant and who restores it, plus emergency and new-patient pages | One page per signature procedure and a surgeon bio listing board certification and procedures performed |
ASPS says every surgeon in its Find a Surgeon search is an ASPS member certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. The ADA describes Find-a-Dentist as its network of ADA member dentists. Read Plastic Surgery SEO: Ranking Procedure Pages, our dental marketing overview and our med spa marketing page for more on each.
Mental Health, Allergy, Podiatry and Chiropractic
The same five gaps apply, with different directories. Psychology Today lets patients search therapists by location, specialty and insurance, so match your profile there to your website. Allergists can check their American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) Find an Allergist listing. Podiatrists can check the American Podiatric Medical Association’s Find a Podiatrist. Chiropractors should start with fix 2: a Google Business Profile category, services list and hours that are complete and exact.
It works outside the big three specialties. An allergy and asthma practice we work with was first in the Google AI Overview and the first standard result for “best allergy clinic in san mateo.” A plastic surgery practice is named in Google’s AI Overview for its signature procedure. Both needed treatment pages that answered the question and profiles that agreed with the site. See the case studies.
How to Check Your Own Practice
Write five questions your patients ask, in their words, with your city. Ask ChatGPT and Google each one and save the answer with the date. For each, note whether you’re named, where in the list, and which sources were cited. Those sources are your to-do list. Repeat monthly, since answers vary by question, location and day. For Google's AI summaries, see how to show up in Google AI Overviews. For the full checklist, read How to Rank in ChatGPT: A Practice Owner’s Checklist.
Getting Recommended by ChatGPT at a Glance
| Gap | Where to fix it | Effort | How you’ll know it worked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crawler blocked | robots.txt and firewall settings | Low | OAI-SearchBot isn’t disallowed and no AI-bot block is on |
| Profile doesn’t name the treatment | Google Business Profile category, description and services | Low | AI answers describe you by treatment and city |
| Missing from directories | Your specialty’s directory, Healthgrades, Yelp, RealSelf | Medium | Your listing appears on the pages the engines cite for your questions |
| Thin reviews | A standing review request after every visit | Ongoing | New reviews each month that name the treatment |
| No treatment page | One page per top treatment | Medium | The page shows up for that treatment’s searches in Google Search Console, Google’s free report on how your site performs in search |
Questions Practice Owners Ask
Why does ChatGPT recommend a competitor instead of us?
It can only judge what it reads. In our checks, the practices named had a category matching the question, a profile description naming the treatment, listings on the sites ChatGPT cited, and a rating on display. If a competitor has those and you don’t, they’re the easier name to give.
Does ChatGPT use my Google Business Profile?
Google’s AI Mode quoted Google Business Profile descriptions directly. ChatGPT showed business listings whose review counts didn’t match Google’s for the same practices, so keep every listing accurate, not just Google’s.
Do I need hundreds of reviews?
No. ChatGPT named a dental specialist with 14 reviews and a med spa with 26, both with categories that matched the question. Reviews help most when your category and description already fit.
Should I block GPTBot?
That’s your call. OpenAI says GPTBot collects content that may be used to train its models, while OAI-SearchBot surfaces sites in ChatGPT search. Blocking GPTBot doesn’t remove you from search answers. Blocking OAI-SearchBot does.
How long until ChatGPT names my practice?
There is no fixed timeline, and no one can guarantee a mention. Profile and website changes are read once they’re crawled again; review and directory signals build over months. Re-ask the same questions monthly to see what moved.
Where to Start This Week
Check robots.txt, then rewrite your Google Business Profile description to name your top treatment, your credentials and your city. Then ask ChatGPT your five questions and list every site it cites. Get listed, accurately, on each one. For the website side, work through AI Search Optimization for Medical Websites: 12 Fixes.
Sources
- Brand Lift 360 (our own data), AI answer captures, October 26, 2026. Method: ChatGPT with web search on, United States location, city named in the question; Google AI Mode and Google standard results set to Sacramento, California, English, desktop; one run per question, via the DataForSEO API. Google queries were worded “best med spa in Roseville” and “best dentist in Sacramento for implants.” Practice names withheld. Google’s standard results for the tummy tuck question failed to load and are not reported.
- Brand Lift 360 (our own data), client AI answer captures. Method: dated captures of Google AI Overview and standard results for each client’s target searches; client names withheld.
- OpenAI, “Overview of OpenAI Crawlers”, OpenAI developer documentation, accessed October 26, 2026. Source for OAI-SearchBot, GPTBot and opting out of ChatGPT search answers.
- Google Business Profile Help, “Tips to improve your local ranking on Google”, accessed October 26, 2026. Source for relevance, distance and prominence, complete information and reviews.
- Google Business Profile Help, “Tips to get more reviews”, accessed October 26, 2026. Source for the ban on incentives for reviews.
- Federal Trade Commission, “FTC’s Endorsement Guides: What People Are Asking”, last modified July 15, 2025. Source for asking only likely-happy customers for reviews.
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, New Vision Dental resolution agreement, December 14, 2022. Source for the $23,000 settlement over patient information disclosed in replies to online reviews.
- American Society of Plastic Surgeons, Find a Plastic Surgeon, accessed October 26, 2026. Source for ASPS membership and board certification of listed surgeons.
- American Dental Association, Find-a-Dentist, accessed October 26, 2026. Source for the directory of ADA member dentists.
- Psychology Today, Find a Therapist, accessed October 26, 2026. Source for searching by location, specialty and insurance.
- American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, Find an Allergist, accessed October 26, 2026.
- American Podiatric Medical Association, Find a Podiatrist, accessed October 26, 2026.