Guide
How ChatGPT chooses the dentist it recommends
"Which dentist should I see for an implant in Lyon 6e?" Ask ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity. You will get two or three names, a sentence about each, and some sources. This guide explains what happens between the question and the answer.
What happens when someone asks
An AI does not keep a list of dentists in memory. When the question is local and specific, it runs a search, usually on Bing or Google, reads the first pages it finds (Google Business Profiles, practice websites, directories, Doctolib, the French online booking platform), then writes an answer based on what it understood. Each tool has its own habits, but the mechanism is the same: search, read, summarize, cite.
The answer fits in a few lines. So the AI only cites practices about which it found clear information, and which it has good reason to believe.
The four filters
1. Can I find you?
If your website and your Google Business Profile do not appear in the results the AI consults, it cannot cite you. Google SEO and the Google Business Profile remain the foundation of everything. A practice that is invisible on Google is invisible to ChatGPT.
2. Can I understand you?
AI reads text. A website made of images, very short copy or vague slogans ("a smile with complete peace of mind") teaches it nothing. It needs full sentences that say who you are, what you do, where, and for whom: "The practice offers dental implant placement, guided surgery and ceramic veneers, in Lyon 6e, near the Foch metro station."
3. Can I trust you?
AI cross-checks. If your website gives one address and your Google Business Profile another, if your opening hours differ from one directory to the next, if a practitioner appears here but not there, its confidence drops and it prefers a practice with cleaner information. Consistent information, everywhere, is the most underestimated criterion.
4. Can I cite you?
To be cited, you need a specific page that answers the question asked. If the patient asks about an implant, the AI looks for a "dental implant" page with a clear answer in the first few lines, and ideally the fees. A general home page is not enough.
What this changes in how a website is written
- The answer first. Every page starts by answering the patient's question, then goes into detail.
- Patients' words. "Dental implant", "veneers", "wisdom tooth", not internal terms nobody types.
- The location, spelled out. The city, the neighborhood, the metro station. The AI needs to know where you are to answer a local question.
- Facts, not adjectives. "On-site cone beam CT, digital impressions, guided surgery" beats "state-of-the-art equipment".
- Markup for machines. Structured data (schema markup), invisible to visitors, says all of this in the format AI tools read first.
What does not work
Keyword stuffing, hidden text, buying links, fake reviews. AI tools, like Google, spot these tactics, and for a dentist several of them breach the code of ethics. And no one can guarantee you will be cited: an AI's answer changes from one day to the next. What works is slow and solid: accurate, complete, consistent information, measured every month.
That is what we do, and it is explained on our AI search visibility page. The diagnostic starts by asking AI tools these questions, for your city and your treatments, and showing you the answer.
Sources
This guide is based on the following official documentation, last checked on September 27, 2026.
On the blog
Our articles on this topic.
Does your dental practice show up in ChatGPT? The ten-minute method to check
Five questions, three AI tools, one scoring grid: the method to measure for yourself how present your practice is in ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity.
Read the article ArticleHow long dental SEO takes: when will your practice show up on Google?
What moves fast, what takes months and what is in no one's hands in a dental practice's SEO, plus the markers to track progress without waiting on a ranking.
Read the article ArticleHow AI reads a dentist website, and why yours may be invisible
The path an AI crawler takes to your website, and the four walls that make it invisible: scripts, blocking, vague text, no outside sources, with the test and the fix for each.
Read the article ArticleDental SEO results: how many new patients, and how to measure it
The four numbers that measure dental SEO results, a table showing where to read each one and what it does not tell you, the front desk tracking sheet, and an honest way to count new patients.
Read the articleFrequently asked questions
What dentists ask us about this.
Can ChatGPT really recommend my practice?
Yes, if the AI finds you in its searches, understands what you do, judges your information consistent and has a specific page to cite. Those are the four conditions we work on.
Where does the information ChatGPT uses come from?
From a search run at the moment the question is asked, most often through Bing or Google: Google Business Profiles, practice websites, directories, Doctolib. The AI reads these sources and writes its answer. Your website and your Google Business Profile are therefore your two main sources.
Can anyone guarantee being cited by an AI?
No. An AI's answer varies with the question, the day and the tool. We never promise that you will be cited: we measure where you stand every month and do the work that moves it forward.
What's next
Let's talk about your practice.
The simplest step is to request your diagnostic: you will see where your practice really stands on Google, on the map and in AI answers, and we walk through it together on a video call.
No commitment.