Is ChatGPT recommending your clinic? A 5-minute check

Some patients now ask an AI tool which clinic to visit. You can see what they are told in a few minutes, from your own phone.

This post is a do-it-yourself check. It needs no software and no agency. For the wider picture of how patients find clinics online, start with our guides for clinic owners.

What should I ask ChatGPT about my clinic?

Ask the questions a patient in your area would type, with your real specialty, area and city filled in. Six are enough to see the pattern.

Here is how to run it without it taking over your afternoon.

1. 15 min

   Step 1: Start with ChatGPT

   5 min

   Ask all six questions in one sitting. This is the 5-minute part.
2. 25 min

   Step 2: Repeat in Gemini

   5 min

   Same six questions, same wording, same phone.
3. 310 min

   Step 3: Repeat in Google's AI Mode

   10 min

   Once in English, then once in Hindi.
4. 4

   Step 4: Look at the links

   Tap the cited sources. They show you which sites the answer came from.
5. 5

   Step 5: Write it down

   Fill in the worksheet below with today's date.

Answers change with location, account and the day. One agency testing AI search for Indian doctors says the same thing about its own results. Treat one check as a snapshot, not a verdict.

What should I write down?

Write down three things for each tool: were you named, were your details right, and which websites were cited. The cited sites matter most, because they are where fixes happen.

Why doesn't ChatGPT mention my clinic?

Usually because the tool can't find enough clear, matching facts about you. Nobody outside these companies knows exactly how each answer is put together, but four causes come up again and again, and you can check each one.

Score yourself before you dig deeper

This is a quick self-check we built for this guide, not a score any AI company issues or verifies. It gives you a rough sense of where to start looking.

Your name, address and phone don't match across sites

If Google says one phone number, Practo another and your website a third, a tool may pick the wrong one or skip you. Small differences count too: "[Name] Dental Care" on one site and "[Name] Dental Clinic" on another can read as two places.

Your Google Business Profile is incomplete

Google's own advice for local results is to complete and verify your profile, keep your hours accurate, respond to reviews and add photos. Google also says prominence depends partly on links, reviews and ratings. Our post on how to add your clinic on Google Maps walks through setting up, claiming and verifying the listing.

Few other trustworthy sites mention you

Your own website is only one voice. A test by DoubleSure, a healthcare marketing agency, across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and AI Mode in five Indian cities found that clinics with a presence on sites like Practo and in local publications appeared more often. That is one agency's own test, so read it as a pointer, not proof.

There is also a free government option specific to India: the Health Facility Registry (opens in a new tab) under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission. It takes your clinic's name, address, type and specialty into a national database.

Your own website doesn't state basic facts plainly

If your services, timings and address sit inside an image or a PDF, a tool may not read them. Google asks that important content be available as text. Also ask your web developer one question: does the site block OAI-SearchBot? OpenAI says sites that opt out of it are not shown in ChatGPT search answers.

What can I fix myself?

Most fixes are about being clear and consistent, and none of them cost money.

Stating facts is fine. Talking yourself up is not.

Everything above pushes you to make your name, address, services and timings clear and consistent. That is different from making yourself sound impressive, and Indian rules treat the second one as misconduct, not just weak marketing.

In practice: list your qualifications, registration number and the services you offer as plain facts. Skip words like "best," "renowned" or "highly skilled," and skip any claim about outcomes or success rates you cannot back with data. Dentists carry a near-identical restriction under the Dental Council of India's 2014 ethics regulations (opens in a new tab), which call boastful claims and demeaning solicitation unethical while permitting the same kind of factual announcements.

What doesn't work?

Shortcuts that promise a place in AI answers either break a platform's rules or rest on claims the platforms themselves contradict.

• Buying reviews or offering something for them. Google's policy prohibits payment, discounts or free services in exchange for reviews, and bars selectively asking for positive ones. See Google's content policy for Maps (opens in a new tab).
• "Secret schema" or special AI files. Google says none are needed for its AI features. Markup is not a switch that puts you in the answer.
• Paying anyone who promises a ranking. Google says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. OpenAI says ads in ChatGPT do not influence its answers. See Google's tips on local ranking (opens in a new tab).