Physio
What ChatGPT tells people who ask for a physio recommendation
Ask ChatGPT or Perplexity "best physiotherapist for a running injury in [city]" and, increasingly, you get a specific, synthesised answer — sometimes naming a clinic directly — rather than a page of links to click through. That is a genuinely new first step in a patient's research, and the clinics that get named are not chosen at random.
These tools draw on what is already publicly clear about a clinic: how specifically the website describes what it treats, and what its reviews say. The clearer and more specific a clinic's public information, the more there is for an AI model to work with when forming a recommendation.
Specificity beats general claims
A website that says only "we offer physiotherapy services" gives an AI model almost nothing to distinguish the clinic from any other. A website with a clear page on sports injury rehab, specifying common conditions treated and typical approach, gives the model something concrete and quotable to recommend against a specific patient question.
Reviews reinforce this the same way: reviews that name specific conditions and outcomes ("finally fixed my recurring hamstring issue after two seasons of re-injury") are easier for a model to match to a specific search than generic five-star praise.
It rewards the same fundamentals as Google
Clinics that show up well in AI answers are, almost always, the same ones doing well on Google for the same underlying reason: complete, specific, current information. AI visibility is not a separate strategy requiring different work — it is a natural consequence of being clearly and thoroughly documented online, which is also exactly what earns Google visibility and patient trust generally.
A growing share of first contact, not a niche behaviour
AI-assisted research for healthcare-adjacent decisions is growing quickly, particularly among younger patients comfortable asking an assistant a health question before a search engine. A clinic invisible to these tools today is invisible to a segment of demand that will only grow — while the fix requires nothing different from what already earns strong Google visibility.