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Which directories matter most when ChatGPT decides which plastic surgery clinic to recommend
By Oscar CullenPublished
TL;DR
Our study found that RealSelf, Google Maps, and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) directories are the ones AI engines rely on the most when choosing which plastic surgeon to recommend. We ran 175 prompts across three AI engines for a total of 2,681 runs.
I’m new to AI Search. Why do directories matter?
Imagine a potential patient asks ChatGPT, “Who are the best plastic surgery clinics in Beverly Hills?” ChatGPT will then “search” 3rd party websites to inform its answer.
Imagine a patient researching this exact topic. They’d likely go to RealSelf, Google Maps, clinic websites, etc before making a decision on who to call. AI engines work the same way.
Why does this matter for AEO?
If you know which directories the AI engines are using as the “source” to inform their answers, you know where to prioritize your marketing and review-building efforts.
You’ve probably heard that Reddit presence is important when it comes to showing up on AI. While this is true for some verticals, it isn’t the most important one for plastic surgery.
We conducted a study based on 2,681 searches across ChatGPT, Gemini, and AI Overviews. We logged how often each 3rd party directory appeared and tallied the results.
How often does each engine cite a directory?
ChatGPT cited directories on 88.6% of runs, while Gemini cited on 65.9% and AI Overviews cited on 59.4%.
If we remove Google Maps, the share of answers where Gemini & AI Overviews cite directories goes down to 25.1% and 34.4%, respectively.
How often does each engine cite each directory?
Overwhelmingly they cite one of three directories: RealSelf, Google Maps, or the ASPS directory. You can read the table below as “ChatGPT cited RealSelf 60.6% of the time.”
Directory | ChatGPT | Gemini | AI Overviews | All |
|---|---|---|---|---|
RealSelf | 60.6% | 19.2% | 8.6% | 32.6% |
Google Maps / Business Profile | 2.5% | 40.8% | 34.2% | 24.5% |
ASPS | 55.6% | 2.6% | 8.7% | 24.4% |
AAFPRS | 9.0% | 0% | 0% | 3.5% |
NavMDs | 7.2% | 0% | 0% | 2.8% |
The punchline: ChatGPT relies mainly on RealSelf and the ASPS directory, while Google’s AI engines prioritize Google Maps.
Do directories cited vary by procedure?
RealSelf and Google Maps are in the top 3 for all procedures, but the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS) replaces ASPS when it comes to general facial procedure prompts. For example, for some prompts related to finding the best facelift plastic surgeons, the engines cite AAFPRS over ASPS.
Procedure | RealSelf | ASPS | AAFPRS | Google Maps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Plastic surgeons (general) | 29.0% | 33.2% | 1.6% | 34.8% |
Facelift & neck lift | 40.8% | 16.7% | 10.3% | 33.0% |
Breast augmentation | 48.3% | 37.6% | 0% | 22.4% |
Rhinoplasty | 48.5% | 9.4% | 6.4% | 29.6% |
Breast reduction, reconstruction, revision | 20.1% | 26.4% | 0% | 30.6% |
Facial plastic surgeons (general) | 38.4% | 11.2% | 27.2% | 21.6% |
Other facial (lips, ears, buccal fat) | 48.7% | 15.4% | 0.9% | 21.4% |
Eyelid & oculoplastic | 33.0% | 5.5% | 0% | 25.7% |
Tummy tuck | 47.7% | 30.8% | 0% | 27.1% |
Liposuction, BBL & body | 39.4% | 28.8% | 0% | 31.7% |
Mommy makeover | 38.5% | 30.8% | 0% | 40.4% |
Which URLs are the engines citing within these directories?
On RealSelf, ChatGPT is almost always citing city listing pages like this one. 89% of ChatGPT answers cite pages like that one, which list the surgeons in a city for a given procedure.
ASPS is a bit more mixed. When ChatGPT cites it, about half the time it links to a city page from their Find a Surgeon directory. It also links to individual member profiles and some of their procedure pages.
In short, these listings are the pages ChatGPT reads when it builds its list of surgeons. If you’re not on them for your procedure and city, you’re not in the material it’s working from.
I’ve heard you need to be on Reddit for ChatGPT to recommend you
While that may be true in some verticals, the data does not back that up in plastic surgery. Reddit was cited on 2.3% of runs for our target prompts.
What does this mean for my practice?
If you’re trying to increase AI visibility for your practice, the data tells you to deprioritize Reddit and focus on three directories:
Your Google Maps profile
Your ASPS profile and your AAFPRS one if you market yourself as a “facial plastic surgeon”. ASPS has this guide on how to optimize your profile.
Specifically, make sure you have a complete profile and try to drive reviews on those sites.
Methodology
We picked 175 distinct prompts across 25 different metro areas in the US. The prompts were as broad as “Who are the best plastic surgeons in NYC?” and as specific as “Who are the best facelift surgeons in Beverly Hills?”
We ran each prompt 5 times across the three different AI engines: ChatGPT, AI Overviews, and Gemini.
Date range: September 9, 2026 to October 9, 2026
About Welliver
Welliver is an AEO Agency that helps elective healthcare providers get recommended by AI engines.
Become the practice AI recommends.