How Therapists Can Check If You Show Up on ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI Overview
Most therapists have never tested whether AI tools recommend their practice. They assume that if they show up on Google, they show up everywhere. That assumption is wrong.
ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overview each weight sources differently. A practice that gets recommended by ChatGPT may be completely absent from Claude. A practice that ranks well on Google may not appear in any AI Overview at all. The four platforms are reading the same web, but they are reading it through four different lenses.
This guide walks you through a tactical audit you can run on your own practice in about forty-five minutes. At TherapySEO, we run a version of this audit for every new client because the gap between where you think you appear and where you actually appear is usually wider than expected.
Why the Four Platforms Behave Differently
Each AI tool pulls from a slightly different source mix.
ChatGPT searches the web and weights its results with OpenAI's own ranking signals. Brand mentions, authoritative sources, and citation patterns matter.
Claude leans more heavily on authoritative directory sources, including Psychology Today, alongside direct web content.
Perplexity uses a Maps-oriented places interface for local queries, so Google Business Profile data is weighted heavily.
Google AI Overview pulls from Google's index, which means the same SEO fundamentals that drive Google rankings drive AI Overview citations.
This is why optimizing for "AI" as a single thing does not work. Each platform is its own optimization target. A practice that shows up on ChatGPT but not on Claude is leaving easy wins on the table, and vice versa.
What Therapists Are Already Seeing
In a thread compiled by ClearHealthCosts, one therapist described what is happening as the search landscape shifts: "I used to get at least 5 month, 10 on a good month. Now it's like 1 every other month." That collapse in directory traffic is pushing therapists to look at where clients actually find them now, and AI tools are increasingly part of that answer.
Practice marketing strategist Danielle Swimm covered the same shift on her podcast, noting that AI is now "a major marketing channel" for therapists who want to attract private pay clients and that "directory listings are more influential than ever" because AI tools use them as trust signals.
In other words: ignoring AI visibility is not a neutral choice. It is a choice to be invisible in a growing portion of the search market.
The Five-Step AI Visibility Audit
Step 1: Build your test query list
You need five to ten queries that match what your ideal client would actually type. Mix general and specific.
Examples for a Seattle EMDR practice:
"Can you recommend a trauma therapist in Seattle?"
"I have PTSD and live in the Seattle area. Who should I see?"
"Who is a good EMDR therapist in Seattle that takes private pay?"
"Best therapists for first responders in King County"
"Therapists who specialize in childhood trauma near Capitol Hill Seattle"
The queries should be in plain client language. Do not write them like SEO keywords. Real people do not type "EMDR therapist Seattle WA."
Step 2: Run each query on all four platforms
Open each of the four tools in a logged-out or incognito browser window. Logged-in accounts have personalization that distorts the results.
ChatGPT: use the free version with web search enabled
Claude: claude.ai with a fresh conversation
Perplexity: perplexity.ai
Google AI Overview: search Google directly and look for the AI summary at the top of results
Run the same query on all four. Take a screenshot of each result. Yes, all of them. You need a record.
Step 3: Score your appearances
For each query on each platform, mark one of three outcome:
Named directly (your practice or your name appears in the answer)
Cited as a source (your website appears in the footnotes or source list even if you are not in the answer text)
Absent (no mention anywhere)
Build a simple grid. Five queries across four platforms gives you twenty data points. The pattern in that grid is your visibility map.
Step 4: Analyze who did get recommended
For every query where you were absent, look at who was named. Visit each recommended practice's website and note:
Do they have a dedicated page for the specialty being asked about?
How many Google reviews do they have, and how recent?
Do their pages have clear author bios with credentials?
Are they listed in the major therapist directories?
Do they appear in local press, podcasts, or guest posts?
The patterns across the recommended practices will tell you what AI tools are rewarding in your market.
Step 5: Map your gaps to actions
Each gap maps to a fixable signal.
Missing specialty page → write one
Few Google reviews → start a request workflow with existing clients (ethically; see our piece on this)
Inconsistent name/address/phone across directories → audit and correct
No author bios with credentials → add them
No third-party mentions → start guest posting, podcast appearances, or local press outreach
This is exactly the structure of work we do inside TherapySEO's Foundation package.
When to Re-Run the Audit
Once per quarter is the right cadence for most practices. AI tools update their indexes constantly, and the competitive landscape in your market shifts as other practices invest (or fail to invest) in their visibility.
If you make a significant change (launch a new specialty page, get a press mention, hit a review milestone), re-run the relevant queries thirty days later to see whether the signal landed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need any special tools to run this audit? No. The audit uses only the free, public versions of the four AI tools. The work is in thinking carefully about your queries and recording the results honestly.
What if my practice is brand new? Expect to be absent on most queries for the first six to twelve months. The signals AI tools rely on (reviews, citations, page depth) take time. Use the audit to identify which competitors to study and emulate, not as a measure of your current performance.
Should I optimize for all four platforms equally? The fundamentals (real website, specialty pages, reviews, citations) help on every platform. Beyond the fundamentals, prioritize based on your actual data. If 80% of your competitors get recommended on ChatGPT and not Claude, focus there.
Can I just hire someone to run this for me? You can, and that is essentially what an AI Search Optimization engagement provides. But running it yourself at least once is valuable. You learn what your ideal client sees, which changes how you write every page on your site going forward.
Key Takeaway
AI visibility is not one thing. ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI Overview each weight sources differently, and a practice that appears on one may be absent from the others. Running a five-query audit across all four platforms, scoring your appearances, and studying who did get recommended will give you a clearer visibility map than any guesswork. Repeat the audit quarterly and treat each gap as a fixable signal, not a verdict.
