Your patients are already asking ChatGPT and Gemini which GLP-1 clinic to book. Not just Googling: asking AI directly, by name, for a recommendation.
The obvious question for any clinic owner is: what does AI actually look for before it answers? We decided to go straight to the source and ask.
The Experiment
We ran three prompts with each AI in a fresh conversation, no prior context, no coaching. The questions were simple:
š¬ What factors do you consider before recommending a GLP-1 clinic?
š¬ What specific things on a clinic's website or online presence would make you more confident in a recommendation?
š¬ What information would a clinic need to have publicly available for you to feel confident recommending them?
The responses were detailed, consistent, and a little uncomfortable for any clinic owner spending money on Google Ads.
What They Said
Both ChatGPT and Gemini opened with the same unprompted disclaimer. ChatGPT's exact words:
"I generally do not rank clinics based on advertising, SEO, or who appears first in search results."
The clinic spending $3,000 a month on Google Ads gets no advantage in an AI recommendation. The clinic that has done the unglamorous work of building a credible, information-rich online presence does.
The Signals AI Looks For
Both models flagged the same four areas, consistently, across all three prompts.
1. Named providers with real credentials
Both AIs said a website that refers to "our medical team" or "licensed providers" without naming anyone is a red flag. What they want to see: the physician's full name, their specialty, and board certification in obesity medicine, endocrinology, or internal medicine. Gemini noted it cross-references names against the Medical Board of California database. If your website doesn't name your providers, AI has nothing to verify.
2. A program, not just a prescription
Both models said clinics that describe nutrition counseling, muscle preservation strategies, and long-term maintenance plans ranked significantly higher than clinics whose websites focus on the medication alone. ChatGPT's framing: "most clinic websites stop at 'Book now.' The best clinics explain exactly what happens after someone becomes a patient."
3. Medication transparency
Both asked: are you prescribing FDA-approved medications or compounded versions, and from where? The point is not which option you use. AI expects you to explain your sourcing clearly on your website, and flags clinics that don't.
4. A verifiable physical presence
Gemini specifically called out Google Business Profile completeness: a real address, a local phone number, confirmed operating hours. It flagged virtual mailboxes and call centers as red flags. For a local GLP-1 clinic, this one should be easy. But many clinic GBP listings are incomplete or unverified.
The Signal Most Clinics Are Missing
ChatGPT added one signal that Gemini did not raise, and it is the one almost no clinic acts on.
"If a clinic published something like: '742 active patients, average 14.8% body weight loss at 12 months, 81% retention rate' ā that would immediately make me far more confident recommending them than a competitor with a prettier website and better SEO."
Outcome data. Not testimonials. Not five-star ratings. Actual aggregate clinical results.
Almost no GLP-1 clinics publish this. The ones that do would stand out immediately, to patients and to AI.
What This Means for Your Clinic
AI behaves like a careful patient who spent three hours researching every clinic in your area. It reads your website, checks your reviews, looks for your providers by name.
The gap between an AI-visible clinic and an AI-invisible one is not budget. It is not ad spend. It is whether your website gives AI enough credible, specific information to work with.
Most clinics do not. That gap is fixable.
Open ChatGPT or Gemini and type: "What are the best GLP-1 clinics in [your city]?"
See if your clinic appears. If it does, look at why. If it does not, look at what the clinics that do appear have on their websites. The difference between their presence and yours is your fix list.
Start with the easiest one: make sure every provider on your team is named, credentialed, and described on your website. That takes an afternoon and costs nothing. If you want context on why patients are searching this way in the first place, this post covers the shift in detail.
The Honest Close
Neither ChatGPT nor Gemini publishes a ranked list of signals or a scoring formula. GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), the practice of optimizing for AI recommendations rather than search rankings, is new enough that no one has a complete playbook yet. What we captured here is what they told us when asked directly. It may not be the complete picture.
What we are confident about: the signals above are consistent, they are actionable, and they are free. A clinic that addresses them is in a better position than one that does not.
Want to see how your clinic scores on AI visibility right now? Run a free audit at getoverbooked.ai