To get ChatGPT and other AI assistants to recommend your medical practice, you need structured website content, healthcare-specific schema markup, consistent directory listings, and FAQ sections that match how patients actually ask questions. This process is called Answer Engine Optimization, and it requires different tactics than traditional SEO.
ChatGPT has over 200 million weekly active users. When patients ask it for healthcare recommendations, it provides direct answers—often naming specific practices. If your practice isn't mentioned, you're invisible to these patients. They never reach your website because they never search for it.
This applies to Claude, Google Gemini, Perplexity, and every AI assistant gaining market share. The technology is different from Google, but the patient behavior is similar: they want answers, not links. The practices that AI mentions get the appointments.
AI extracts information most effectively when content is direct and clearly organized. Every service page on your website should answer the core questions immediately: What do you treat? Where are you located? Who are your physicians? What insurance do you accept?
Avoid introductions that delay the answer. "Welcome to our practice, where we've been serving the community for 25 years" tells AI nothing useful. Instead, lead with facts: "Springfield Orthopedics treats sports injuries, joint replacement, and spine conditions at our downtown Springfield, IL location."
Each service should have its own page with specific details. A general "Services" page that lists everything briefly gives AI less to work with than dedicated pages for each condition you treat.
Schema markup is code embedded in your website that explicitly tells AI what your practice is and what it does. Without schema, AI infers this information from your content—and it often gets details wrong or misses them entirely.
Healthcare practices should implement Physician schema, MedicalOrganization schema, MedicalService schema, and LocalBusiness schema. These tell AI your physicians' names and credentials, your specialty areas, your address and hours, and your accepted insurance plans.
Most medical practice websites either lack schema entirely or use generic business schema that doesn't communicate healthcare-specific information. Proper healthcare schema is one of the highest-impact changes a practice can make for AI visibility.
FAQ sections are powerful for AI optimization because they mirror how patients actually query AI assistants. When your website includes the exact questions patients ask—phrased naturally—along with direct answers, you're giving AI extractable content in the format it prefers.
Write questions as patients would ask them: "Do you accept Medicare?" not "Insurance Information." Keep answers under 50 words when possible. AI pulls concise, factual responses more readily than lengthy explanations.
FAQ schema markup amplifies this effect. When you mark up questions and answers with FAQPage schema, AI can identify and extract them with high confidence. This increases the likelihood that your specific answers appear in AI responses.
AI cross-references information from multiple sources to verify accuracy. Your Google Business Profile, Healthgrades listing, Zocdoc profile, and website should all present matching information about your practice name, address, phone number, services, and hours.
Inconsistencies create doubt. If your website says you're open until 6 PM but Google says 5 PM, AI may hesitate to recommend you or may present inaccurate information. Consistent NAP (name, address, phone) data across platforms signals that your information is trustworthy.
Reviews matter for AI just as they do for patients. Practices with consistent positive reviews across multiple platforms appear more frequently in AI recommendations. Encourage satisfied patients to leave reviews on Google and healthcare-specific platforms.
Start by testing your current AI visibility. Open ChatGPT and ask it the questions your patients would ask: "Who's the best [your specialty] in [your city]?" Note whether you appear, how you're described, and which competitors are mentioned instead.
Audit your website's opening paragraphs. Does each page answer the key questions within the first two sentences? Rewrite any pages that start with vague introductions instead of direct facts.
Check whether your website has schema markup. If you're unsure, it probably doesn't—or it has generic schema that doesn't leverage healthcare-specific types. This is the most technical element and often requires professional implementation.
Promoting Media provides Answer Engine Optimization specifically for medical practices. We implement healthcare schema markup, restructure content for AI extraction, and monitor how AI assistants describe your practice over time. Contact us to learn whether your practice is currently visible to AI—and what it takes to get recommended.
