How to Get Your Clinic Recommended When Patients Ask ChatGPT

Some people now type questions like "who's a good paediatric physio near Penrith?" into a chat tool instead of a search bar. The tool gives an answer, sometimes with names. Your clinic is either in that answer or it isn't.

Nobody can promise to get you recommended. These tools change often and don't publish how they choose. But you can see what they say today, understand why, and fix the things that are clearly within your control. That's what this post walks through.

The 20-minute test

You need a spreadsheet and three chat tools: ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity. Use a private or logged-out window where you can, so your own history doesn't colour the answers.

Step 1: Write five questions a patient would ask

Write them the way a real person types, not the way a marketer would. Use your suburb and your service. For example:

1. "Who is a good [service] in [suburb]?"
2. "Do I need a referral to see a [profession] in [suburb]?"
3. "Which [service] providers near [suburb] see NDIS participants?"
4. "[Service] clinic open Saturdays near [suburb]"
5. "What does [your clinic name] do?"

The last question matters. It shows what the tool believes about you, even when it doesn't recommend you.

Step 2: Ask each question in each tool

That's 15 answers. For each one, log in your sheet:

• The date and the tool
• The question
• Whether your clinic was named (yes or no)
• Which other providers were named
• Anything it said about you that is wrong or out of date

Step 3: Read the pattern

Look for three things. Is your clinic missing completely? Is it there but described wrongly? Or is it there for some questions and not others? Each points to a different fix.

Why the tool names someone else

In plain terms, these tools pull together what's written about you across the web. When the answer leaves you out, it's usually one of these:

• Missing facts. Your website doesn't clearly say what you do, who for and where.
• Facts that disagree. Your hours, address or services say one thing on your website and another on your Google listing or a directory.
• No page that answers the question. A patient asks about referrals, Saturday hours or NDIS, and nowhere on your site answers it directly.

None of these are tricks. They're the same basics that help a real person decide to call you.

Fix 1: One clear page per service

For each service you offer, have one page that says, near the top:

• What the service is, in everyday words
• Who it's for (age group, situation, funding type)
• Where you deliver it (clinic, home visits, telehealth, which areas)
• How fees work, in general terms, and where to find current fees
• How to book or make an enquiry

Keep the language factual. If you're a registered health practitioner, Ahpra's rules on advertising apply to these pages. Avoid words like "best" or "leading", and check the current Ahpra advertising guidance at source before you publish.

Fix 2: Make your details match everywhere

Write down your exact business name, address, phone, hours and service list. Then check them on your website, Google Business Profile, Apple Maps, Bing, and any health directories you're listed on. Fix every place that doesn't match. This post on Google Business Profile fixes covers the check in detail.

Fix 3: Answer the questions patients actually ask

Look at your front-desk call notes and inbox. What do people ask before they book? Referrals, cost, what to bring, wait times, funding. Write a short, plain answer to each on your website. Admin and process questions only; anything clinical belongs with a practitioner. This post on answering patient questions walks through it step by step.

The prompt that helps you write a service page

A chat tool can draft a service page quickly. It can also invent things about your clinic if you let it. Give it the facts and the limits.

You are helping me draft one service page for my clinic's website.
Use ONLY the facts below. If something is missing, write [CHECK] instead
of guessing.

Clinic name: [name]
Service: [e.g. paediatric occupational therapy]
Who it's for: [e.g. children 2-12, families, NDIS participants]
Where: [clinic address, home visit areas, telehealth yes/no]
Fees: [how fees work, link to current fee page]
Referral needed: [yes/no/depends, and from whom]
How to book: [phone, form link, hours]

Structure: a 2-line answer to "what is this and who is it for" at the top,
then short sections for who it's for, where, fees, referrals, how to book.
Rules: Australian spelling. Plain words. No superlatives ("best",
"leading", "top"). No testimonials. No health claims or outcome promises.
No clinical advice. List any sentence you're unsure about at the end.

Then a practitioner reads it before it goes live.

Re-run it monthly

Put a reminder in your calendar. Same five questions, same three tools, same sheet. Changes tend to move slowly, so don't judge it after one week. The value is in the record: you'll see when something you fixed starts showing up, and you'll catch new errors early.

What a person must still decide

• Which five questions truly reflect your patients, not your marketing.
• Whether the tool's description of you is accurate, and what to correct first.
• Every word on a service page that will go out under a registered practitioner's name.
• What's out of scope: anything clinical stays with clinicians.

Your checklist

• Write five patient-style questions using your suburb and service
• Ask each in ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity and log the answers
• Note where you're missing, wrong or partly there
• Build or tidy one page per service
• Match your name, address, phone, hours and services everywhere
• Add plain answers to common admin questions
• Check the current Ahpra advertising guidance at source
• Re-run the same check monthly

If you'd like this set up for you, that's what the free check is for.

General information only — not clinical, legal or financial advice. No client is named and nothing here describes a patient or participant. Written by Aishah Shah, Western Sydney.