← All posts
Which directories matter most when ChatGPT decides which cosmetic dentist to recommend
By Oscar CullenPublished
TL;DR
Our data shows that Google Maps, Birdeye, RealSelf, and Zocdoc are the directories AI engines rely on the most when choosing which cosmetic dentist to recommend. We ran 63 prompts across three AI engines for a total of 907 responses.
I’m new to AI Search. Why do directories matter?
Imagine a potential patient is considering veneers. It is very likely they will ask ChatGPT something like, “Who are the best dentists for veneers in NYC?” ChatGPT will then “search” 3rd party websites to inform its answer.
AI engines will “visit” different websites, summarize the responses, and come up with their answer to the question. It may use different directories each time, but when you run the prompts hundreds of times patterns start to emerge.
Why does this matter for AEO?
If you know which directories are the ones AI engines use the most, you can direct your community management efforts to where they will have the most impact. You may have heard that Reddit presence is important when it comes to getting recommended by AI.
This may be true for some verticals, but our data shows this is not the case for cosmetic dentistry. After running 63 prompts across 9 metro areas in the US, we analyzed over 900 responses to identify the directories that AI engines use the most.
How often does each engine search the web?
AI engines don’t always “search the web” when you ask them a question. Sometimes, they rely on their own internal knowledge, also known as “training data.” In order to know if you can influence the response, it’s important to know how often an AI engine searches the web when you ask a specific question.
After running the 63 test prompts on ChatGPT, Gemini, and AI Overviews, here are the grounding rates for our data:
Engine | Grounding rate (dental) |
|---|---|
ChatGPT | 100% (349/349) |
Gemini | 92.3% (323/350) |
AI Overviews, when one was shown | 98.1% (204/208) |
You can read this as:
ChatGPT searched the web 100% of the time
Gemini searched the web 92.3% of the time
AI Overviews searched the web 98.1% of the time
You’ll notice the denominator for AI Overviews is smaller than for the other two engines (208 vs 350). This happens because Google searches don’t always trigger an AI Overview. On our prompt set, AI Overviews were shown 59.4% of the time. If you want to learn more about AI Overviews, you can watch this short explainer video.
How often does each engine cite each directory?
Both of the Google engines rely on Google Maps the most: Gemini cites Maps 55.7% of the time while AI Overviews do so 37% of the time. ChatGPT cites a variety of different directories, with Birdeye (15.2%), RealSelf (13.2%), and Zocdoc (12%) being very close.
Directory | ChatGPT | Gemini | AIO | All |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Google Maps / Business Profile | 2.3% | 55.7% | 37.0% | 30.9% |
Zocdoc | 12.0% | 3.1% | 9.6% | 8.0% |
RealSelf | 13.2% | 2.0% | 0.5% | 6.0% |
Birdeye | 15.2% | 0% | 0% | 5.8% |
Yelp | 0% | 0% | 14.9% | 3.4% |
Healthgrades | 7.7% | 0.3% | 1.0% | 3.3% |
ADA Find-a-Dentist | 5.2% | 0% | 0.5% | 2.1% |
AACD | 2.9% | 0% | 0% | 1.1% |
On Google Maps, the engines tend to cite business profiles like this one. On RealSelf, they tend to cite city & procedure listing pages such as Best Porcelain Veneers Providers in Beverly Hills. Similarly, on Birdeye ChatGPT tends to cite a mix of city listing pages (example) and practice profile pages (like this one).
Zocdoc is an interesting case: half of the citations come from two cost pages (example) that don’t recommend specific dental clinics. The AI engines use that page to answer cost questions from patients. If we remove those pages, Zocdoc’s overall citation rate drops to ~4%.
Does Reddit matter for cosmetic dentistry AEO?
Much less than the other directories. Reddit was cited on a total of 2.9% of runs:
Directory | ChatGPT | Gemini | AI Overviews | All |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Google Maps / Business Profile | 2.3% | 55.7% | 37.0% | 30.9% |
Zocdoc | 12.0% | 3.1% | 9.6% | 8.0% |
RealSelf | 13.2% | 2.0% | 0.5% | 6.0% |
Birdeye | 15.2% | 0% | 0% | 5.8% |
Yelp | 0% | 0% | 14.9% | 3.4% |
Healthgrades | 7.7% | 0.3% | 1.0% | 3.3% |
ADA Find-a-Dentist | 5.2% | 0% | 0.5% | 2.1% |
AACD | 2.9% | 0% | 0% | 1.1% |
2.6% | 0% | 8.2% | 2.9% |
What does this mean for my dental practice AEO strategy?
If you’re trying to increase AI visibility for your dental practice, the data suggests claiming your profiles or driving reviews to the top directories: Google Maps, Birdeye, and RealSelf (with Zocdoc a distant 4th after removing the cost pages).
Specifically, that means ensuring your profiles across each of those are optimized and that you encourage patients to leave reviews on those (as opposed to Yelp, for example). We’ve included links that outline how to optimize your profile across the four most cited directories below:
Note: Birdeye pulls most of its reviews from other sites. Patients can leave reviews on Birdeye directly, but few do. The action here is to claim your profile; the reviews you collect elsewhere can show up there.
Methodology
We picked 63 distinct prompts across 9 metro areas in the US. The prompts were as broad as “Who are the best cosmetic dentists in Los Angeles?” and as specific as “Who are the best dentists for no-prep veneers in Phoenix?”
We selected the prompts based on a combination of factors such as: google search volume for similar keywords, questions posted on forums such as the above, and feedback from cosmetic dentists.
We ran each prompt 5 times across the three different AI engines: ChatGPT, AI Overviews, and Gemini. Date range: September 16 to October 6, 2026.
About Welliver
Welliver is an AEO Agency that helps elective healthcare providers get recommended by AI engines. We help cosmetic dental, plastic surgery, and IVF clinics.
Become the practice AI recommends.