AEO for hospitals and clinics: how to get ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode to recommend you

AEO (answer engine optimisation) means getting AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Google AI Mode to use your information in their answers and recommend you to the person asking. For hospitals and clinics, it means making it clear to AI what you offer, what it costs, who your doctors are, where you are, when you are open and which insurers you accept, so it is confident enough to recommend you.

It is sometimes called GEO (generative engine optimisation); they mean the same thing. The difference from SEO is that classic Google shows ten links for the patient to choose from, while AI assistants summarise and recommend only a few providers. A provider without clear information does not sit at the bottom of the list; it is missing from the answer. This guide explains how AI chooses providers, what to do and how to measure it, with a tracker and a free report.

How AI chooses which providers to recommend

AI assistants do not keep a list of the best providers; they build answers from what they can find at the time, especially with web search on, which every major assistant uses for questions about places and prices.

Trust comes from several sources agreeing. If your website says you open until 8 pm, Google Maps says 6 pm and a platform shows another price, AI tends to recommend someone whose facts are clearer.

How AEO differs from SEO

AEO does not replace SEO. Ahrefs found in February 2026 that Google sends about 40% of external website traffic against about 0.2% from ChatGPT, and Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode build answers from Google’s own index. Pages Google can find and understand are the foundation of both.

The 10-point AEO checklist

HDmall’s website health check report uses this same list to score readiness for AI assistants. Passing 8 or more means ready; fewer than 5 means AI has almost no reliable information about you.

The details of each follow. Several of items 1–7 can be fixed straight away with our free AEO tools, which create llms.txt, generate schema code and check AI crawlers.

1. Let AI assistants’ crawlers read your site

Your site’s robots.txt says which crawlers may read it. AI assistants have two kinds: one searches and answers patients in real time, which you should always allow; the other collects data to train AI, which you can allow or block as a matter of policy.

Check your site’s security settings too: aggressive bot protection sometimes blocks these crawlers without anyone noticing.

2. Structured data (schema) for the facility, doctors and hours

Structured data is code on the page that tells machines what each piece of information is, using the schema.org standard. Include:

• The facility, as Hospital, MedicalClinic or Dentist, with name, address, phone and coordinates
• Opening hours, with days, times and special holidays, so AI can say whether you are open now
• Doctors, as Physician, with name, specialty and where they practise
• Services, with each main service and its page

These must match the text people see on the page and on your Google Business Profile.

3. FAQs and FAQ schema

Patients ask AI full questions, such as which insurers you accept or whether to fast before a check-up. Pages with the same questions and short, direct answers are more likely to be used. Write questions the way patients ask them, answer in the first sentence, and add FAQ schema so machines know which parts are questions and answers.

4. An llms.txt file

llms.txt is a short text file on your site, such as yourclinic.com/llms.txt, written for AI assistants. It summarises who the facility is, its services, prices, location, hours and how to book, with links to key pages. Just as robots.txt says what crawlers may read, llms.txt says which information matters most.

# Example Dental Clinic
> Dental clinic near BTS Ari, Bangkok

## Services and prices
- Scaling and polishing: THB 900
- Clear aligners: from THB 45,000

## Opening hours
- Daily 10:00–20:00

## Book
- https://yourclinic.com/booking

llms.txt was proposed in 2024 (llmstxt.org). Some AI assistants may not use it yet, but it is easy and almost free to add, so it is worth having.

5. Markdown (.md) versions of pages

Normal web pages mix content with menus, scripts and decoration. A Markdown version is the same page as plain text, which AI can read faster and more accurately. The usual approach is a .md file alongside each important page, announced in the page head with an alternate link of type text/markdown. This article has one too: add index.md to the end of its URL.

6. Prices and key facts as text, not images

Prices, promotions, awards and accreditations often live inside images, which Google and AI cannot read. Always put the same information on the page as text. Every service page should open with a sentence saying what the service is, its starting price and who it suits, followed by inclusions, preparation, recovery and the doctors.

7. Your own website, not just social media

AI assistants answer patients from what they can read on the web, but most social platforms block AI assistants’ crawlers from reading while they answer.

Based on the HDmall team’s check of each platform’s robots.txt in October 2026, which may change. Keep using social media to talk to patients, but keep core information (prices, hours, doctors and booking) on your own website or mini-website.

8. Google Business Profile, reviews and booking

Google AI Mode and Gemini use Google Maps data directly, and AI assistants often cite reviews when recommending providers. A strong profile has a rating of 4.5 or more, 100 or more reviews, complete hours, details matching your website, and online booking.

• Consistent facts everywhere: name, address, phone, hours and prices must match on your website, Google Business Profile, social pages and the platforms you sell on, such as HDmall, which AI also draws on
• Reviews: ask every patient after treatment, not just happy ones, and never offer rewards for reviews, per Google’s policy. Timing matters: too early and patients have not seen results, too late and they forget the details. Reply to every review without disclosing treatment details
• Booking: make the Google booking button lead to your own booking page, connected to your real schedule; see Book Now and Google agentic health appointments

9. Multiple languages, if you serve international patients

International patients ask AI in their own language. With only Thai pages, AI has almost nothing to recommend. At minimum, have English pages for your main services.

10. Stay within advertising law

Website content inviting people to use your services still falls under Thailand’s hospital advertising law. The content AI prefers, clear facts, is what the law wants anyway: no exaggeration and no guaranteed results. See our healthcare advertising guide.

Measure it: how often does AI recommend you?

The most direct measure of AEO is asking AI the questions patients actually ask and counting how often you are recommended, every month, with the same questions. That figure is your share of AI answers, and it should rise every quarter. Enter your name, area and main services below to start.

AI answers vary with time, location and wording, so look at the monthly trend rather than any single answer, and ask from a logged-out or private browser window to reduce the effect of your own history.

Let the HDmall team check your website and Google presence for free

The tracker above measures the AI answers; this report checks where those answers come from, your website and Google profile, and tells you what to fix first.

Free for clinics and hospitals

Get a free website and online visibility health check

Most patients find a clinic on Google Maps or through an AI assistant before they visit its website. See how yours shows up, and what to fix first, ranked by impact on bookings, in a PDF report sent to your inbox.

What we check

• Design and trust in the first 5 seconds
• Turning visitors into bookings
• Mobile experience
• Website speed
• Google search (SEO)
• Readiness for AI assistants, and whether ChatGPT recommends you
• Your Google Maps profile and Book online button

No website yet? You’ll get a shorter report on your Google Maps profile and AI visibility.

Sample report A full PDF report, in Thai See a sample report (PDF)

1. Find your clinic on Google Maps

Search

Can’t find your clinic? Type its name instead

2. Where should we send it?

Your name

Email

Phone

Website

I agree that HDmall may contact me about its partner services, as set out in the privacy policy

Send me my free report

A 30-day plan to start

1. Week 1: measure your baseline with the tracker in this guide, and request the free report
2. Week 2: make facts match everywhere: website, Google Business Profile and the platforms you sell on
3. Week 3: build or improve pages for three main services, with prices, inclusions, doctors and FAQs as text
4. Week 4: add structured data, FAQ schema, an llms.txt file and .md page versions, check robots.txt and start asking for reviews systematically, then measure again next month

Sources

• Milan Novotny, ChatGPT vs Google search statistics 2026 (compiling Ahrefs, StatCounter and Similarweb data)
• Similarweb, AI Search Stats 2026
• HDmall, 15 healthcare marketing trends for 2027