From absent to recommended for the queries patients actually ask.
An established orthodontic practice in Texas had strong reviews and a loyal patient base. But when adults asked AI for an orthodontist, the answers named a competitor across town.
Practice
Orthodontic practice, TX
Category
Healthcare
Engagement
AI Starter
Duration
90 days
Representative AI Starter engagement. Figures are illustrative.
In this case file
01The before
Strong practice, invisible in AI answers.
The practice had everything a patient would want: experienced orthodontists, years of adult clear-aligner cases, and hundreds of strong reviews. From the inside, the problem wasn't visible. New adult inquiries had simply slowed.
The shift was in how adults started looking. Instead of scrolling search results, they asked ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI a direct question, and got back two or three names.
When adults asked AI for an orthodontist, they asked questions like:
- Who is the best orthodontist in Austin for adults?
- Is Invisalign or braces better for adults over 40?
- Which orthodontists near me offer clear aligners with financing?
- How much does adult orthodontic treatment cost in Texas?
- Which orthodontist can fix teeth that shifted after childhood braces?
These were not casual questions. They were the questions a patient asks right before booking a consultation.
We measured the practice across a fixed baseline of 24 high-intent prompts on six AI platforms. The practice was named in none of them. A competitor across town appeared in 15.
0 / 24
Practice named
15 / 24
Top competitor named
ChatGPT
0
Google AI
0
Gemini
0
Copilot
0
Perplexity
0
Claude
0
The problem was not reputation. It was readability.
When AI systems described adult orthodontics in the area, they pulled from directories, health publications and competitor pages. The practice's own information was scattered and inconsistent:
- The website described services by treatment name, not by the problems adults search for.
- Adult treatment was buried on a single page written for parents of teens.
- The practice's name, address and hours differed across four directories.
- No independent health or local publication mentioned the practice by name.
- Reviews praised adult results, but nothing connected those reviews to the services AI was asked about.
The practice had earned its reputation in the chair. It had not yet earned a place in the answer.
02The work
We translated clinical expertise into patient language.
The engagement started with one rule: improve the answer by improving the evidence behind it.
We didn't start by publishing more content. We started by mapping the questions patients were asking, capturing the answers they received, and identifying the sources shaping those answers.
That gave the practice a baseline it could act on.
1. We built a prompt map around real patient questions.
The 24-prompt map covered four stages:
- 1.Problem-aware prompts
Questions about crooked teeth, relapse and bite problems in adulthood. - 2.Comparison prompts
Questions comparing clear aligners, braces, cost and treatment time. - 3.Local provider prompts
Questions asking for the best orthodontist for adults in the area, including near-me and neighborhood searches. - 4.Decision prompts
Questions about financing, consultations and what to expect at a first visit.
Each prompt was checked across all six AI platforms every two weeks. That separated a one-off mention from a durable recommendation.
2. We clarified how the practice is described.
The practice didn't need a new identity. It needed one clear description that every source repeated: an adult-focused orthodontic practice known for clear aligners and discreet braces.
- One consistent practice description across the website, Google Business Profile and directories.
- A dedicated adult orthodontics page that answers cost, treatment time and comfort questions directly.
- The same name, address, phone number and hours across every listing.
The goal was not repetition for its own sake. It was consistency: every strong source should make it easier to understand who the practice treats, what it's known for, and why adults choose it.
Prompt
“Who is the best orthodontist in Austin for adults?”
Answer
For adults, Client is one of the most frequently recommended options, known for clear aligner treatment, adult-focused care and flexible financing. If you're comparing providers, it's worth booking consultations with two practices before deciding.
3. We earned placements in trusted sources.
AI systems trust what independent sources say about a practice more than what the practice says about itself. So the monthly work focused on editorial placements.
The work included:
- Five editorial placements every month on health and wellness publications, with an average authority of 88.2.
- Each placement answering a real patient question, such as how long adult aligner treatment takes.
- Anchor text and target pages matched to the prompts in the map.
- Every placement tracked and reported, with its live status and URL.
Each placement was written for patients first. Clear structure, direct answers and credible examples also made the content easier for AI systems to interpret and cite.
4. We corrected the third-party sources.
The practice could not control every source shaping an AI answer. But it could reduce the contradictions.
We audited the external profiles AI was most likely to rely on. Several still used outdated descriptions, an old phone number, or listed the practice under general dentistry. We updated the sources the practice controlled and corrected the rest through each platform's own process.
That work focused on:
- Healthcare directory profiles.
- Local business listings.
- Insurance and financing partner pages.
- Review platform descriptions.
5. We used measurement to decide what to improve next.
Every two weeks, we re-ran the original prompt set.
This kept the work from turning into a generic content program. When a prompt improved, we looked at which sources were cited. When an answer stayed weak, we identified the missing evidence and planned the next month's placements around it.
No paid ads or review campaigns were added during the engagement. The work focused only on making the practice easier for AI to understand, verify and recommend.
03The result
From unnamed to recommended for adult orthodontics.
9 / 24
Prompts naming the practice
ChatGPT
0 →3
Google AI
0 →2
Gemini
0 →1
Copilot
0 →1
Perplexity
0 →2
Claude
0 →0
Visibility score
24 →40
Answer accuracy
41 →86
At the end of the engagement, we re-ran the same 24 prompts across the same six AI platforms.
The practice was named in 9 of 24 prompts, up from 0 at baseline.
The broader movement mattered just as much:
- Brand mentions: increased from 0 of 24 to 9 of 24 tracked prompts.
- AI visibility score: increased from 24 to 40 out of 100, a 67% lift.
- Answer accuracy: increased from 41 to 86 out of 100.
- Placements: five every month, all live, average authority 88.2.
AI answers began describing the practice the way patients would: adult-focused, experienced with clear aligners, and flexible on financing.
In the most valuable local prompts, the practice moved from absent to one of the first two names recommended.
The improvement did not come from trying to influence a single answer. It came from making the practice easier to understand across the sources AI systems were already using.
Engagement summary · AI Starter
Five placements a month, a prompt map checked every two weeks, and one clear story about the practice, repeated everywhere AI looks.
Package
AI Starter
Investment
$1,099 / month
Duration
90 days