Fix what AI answers get wrong about your practice

Ask each supported answer system one direct question about the practice and one category question a prospective customer might use. Capture the answer, date, location context, links shown, and every incorrect or missing fact. Correct the public source you control, then recheck the same query. Do not promise that a correction will produce a citation, recommendation, ranking, or refresh date.

Generative engine optimization, or GEO, means improving the public evidence that answer systems may retrieve and summarize. For a solo practice, the useful work is less exotic than the label: accurate business facts, crawlable service pages, consistent records, source-backed answers, and repeated observation.

Start with an answer-and-source log

Google's current guidance for generative AI features says familiar search fundamentals still apply. A page must be indexed and eligible for a snippet to appear as a supporting link in Google's generative search features. Google also says there is no special schema markup or AI-only writing format required, and inclusion is not guaranteed.

Run a small, repeatable query set

Choose six to ten queries that reflect real customer decisions:

• the practice name and city;
• the practice name plus one core service;
• a category plus neighborhood or city;
• a service plus a practical constraint, such as availability or language;
• one question customers repeatedly ask before booking.

Run them in ChatGPT search, Perplexity, Claude with web search, and Google Search when its AI features appear. Availability and outputs vary. Keep the same query, date, system, and location context in the log.

Record a mention, citation, and recommendation separately. A system can mention the practice without linking it. It can cite a page without recommending the business. It can recommend the business using facts that are stale. Those are different observations and require different corrections.

Correct the source you control

Start with the practice's verified records. Google's Business Profile guidance lets an authorized owner or manager edit address, hours, contact details, categories, services, and other facts, subject to Google's review. Google's owner and manager guidance lets each authorized person use a separate account rather than sharing a password.

The practice website should publish current name, location or service area, contact information, hours, services, professional credentials, and policies in readable text. Use LocalBusiness structured data only when it matches the visible page. Structured data helps machines interpret facts; it does not guarantee an AI citation or search feature.

Correct an independent directory only when the practice has authority to update it or the publisher provides a correction route. Do not manufacture listings, reviews, or third-party mentions. A regulator or professional association record may require that organization to change the source.

Keep crawler access separate from answer performance

Crawler access can affect whether a service may retrieve a page. It does not prove that the page will appear in an answer. OpenAI documents its web crawlers, including separate controls for search and model-training use. Perplexity says PerplexityBot follows robots.txt for text indexing.

Google says llms.txt does not affect Google Search visibility. Keep llms.txt and Markdown mirrors current for systems that use them, but do not present those files as a ranking or citation tactic.

Turn one discrepancy into a checked correction

Assign recurring review without giving away public authority

FARO, the AI SEO strategist, can sample approved answer systems, check search and local records, prepare a search audit, and rank correction work by dated evidence. FARO advises and verifies. The owner's team edits the website, changes listings, responds to reviews, publishes content, and approves every public claim.

The why is my website not showing guide covers the wider technical and search diagnosis. The is SEO worth it worksheet helps decide whether the expected demand justifies recurring work. The outcome guide keeps the accepted result tied to an audit and correction record, not a citation promise.

Respect professional and legal boundaries

Medical, legal, financial, and other licensed practices should have the relevant professional approve service descriptions, credentials, regulatory claims, and advice language. Correcting an answer does not authorize the marketer or AI role to interpret a license, promise a result, or offer professional advice.

Reviews and testimonials require their own truthful record. Do not create fake reviews, draft undisclosed customer experiences, or reward only positive sentiment. Privacy rules may also limit the practice's ability to discuss a customer or patient situation publicly.