AI search (GEO) in healthcare — Virus Santé Communication

Your patients now ask their questions to ChatGPT

“Find me a dental clinic open on Saturdays in Laval.” More and more patients ask this kind of question directly to ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude rather than scrolling through a page of Google results. AI doesn’t offer ten links: it answers, compares and names a few businesses. If yours isn’t one of them, you’re absent at the very moment the patient makes their choice.

This shift is already well established in Quebec. According to the Académie de la transformation numérique, 52% of Quebec internet users have already used a generative AI tool, and 84% of them use ChatGPT (1). Health is no exception: half of Canadians have already turned to AI-generated search results or tools like ChatGPT for health information (2).

GEO, for Generative Engine Optimization, brings together the actions that allow your business to be understood, cited and recommended by these answer engines. At Virus Santé Communication, we build it into our search strategies for Quebec clinics and healthcare businesses.

What is GEO, or AI search optimization?

AI search optimization aims to make your site a reliable source that large language models (LLMs) choose to cite. To build their answers, these tools draw on the web, Google results, business listings and reviews. They favour information that is clear, precise, consistent from one source to another and backed by trust signals.

A well-run GEO strategy helps you:

Be cited in the answers of ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity and Google’s AI overviews.
Control what AI says about you: services offered, opening hours, locations and professionals.
Protect your appointment bookings even as clicks to websites decline.
Get ahead: AI search optimization is still little used in Quebec’s healthcare sector.

The questions your patients ask AI

Queries sent to AI are longer and more precise than a Google search. They mention a city, a neighbourhood, a service or a scheduling constraint. These are the questions your business needs to be able to answer.

“Find me a dental clinic open on Saturdays in Laval”
“Which dental centre in Rosemont offers Invisalign?”
“Where can I see a physiotherapist for a running injury in Quebec City?”
“Which veterinary clinic in Longueuil takes emergencies?”

A GEO method designed for healthcare businesses

AI search optimization doesn’t rely on a trick, but on the quality and consistency of the information you share across the web. Princeton University researchers have shown that content optimized for generative engines can increase its visibility in answers by up to 40% (3). With more than 12 years in healthcare marketing, our team has built a five-part method designed for Quebec clinics and healthcare businesses.

AI visibility audit

We query ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini with your patients’ real questions, by city and by neighbourhood. You find out whether your business is named, what AI says about you and which competitors come up instead of you.

Content designed for AI

Service pages, FAQs and blog posts written to answer patients clearly: direct answers, verifiable information and a structure that is easy to extract. Content that AI can reuse without distorting it.

Structured data and technical work

Schema.org markup (local business, services, professionals, FAQ), AI crawler access to your site and consistent name, address and phone number: we remove the obstacles that prevent AI from reading your site.

Authority and trust signals

AI recommends businesses that are talked about beyond their own website. Google Business Profile, patient reviews, health directories and local media: we strengthen the signals that confirm your credibility and feed AI answers.

Monthly tracking of your AI visibility

Every month, we measure your mentions in ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini on a fixed set of local queries. You see where you appear, what is improving and where to focus efforts.

GEO and SEO: what’s the difference?

SEO works on your ranking in Google’s list of results. GEO works on your presence in the answer itself. The two reinforce each other: AI engines rely heavily on pages that already rank well, and a site that is strong in SEO remains the foundation of any visibility in AI. That’s why we build GEO into your organic search strategy rather than treating it separately.

Internet users’ behaviour is changing quickly. When an AI summary appears in Google, users click on a traditional result in 8% of visits, compared with 15% without a summary (4). With our clients, we see the same trend: organic traffic tends to decline, while the volume of calls and appointment requests remains stable. Visibility is increasingly decided before the click.

Responsible AI search optimization in healthcare

When a patient asks AI a health question, the quality of the answer matters. Canadian physicians are concerned about inaccurate AI-generated health advice (2). Making sure AI relies on accurate information from real professionals is also a way to serve your patients.

Our content follows the advertising rules of professional orders: no promise of results and no claim your order prohibits. Our work also complies with Quebec’s Law 25 on the protection of personal information.

Frequently asked questions about AI search optimization

What is GEO in SEO?

GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is the optimization of your presence in the answers produced by generative AI engines such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity or Google’s AI overviews. It is also called AI search optimization, LLM optimization or AEO (Answer Engine Optimization). It extends SEO: where SEO aims for a position in a list of links, GEO aims for a mention in the answer.

How do you get listed on ChatGPT?

There is no sign-up to appear in ChatGPT’s answers. The tool relies on what it finds on the web: your site, your Google Business Profile, your reviews, directories and the media that talk about you. To be recommended, your business needs a clear, well-structured site, consistent information everywhere and trust signals that AI can verify.

Does GEO replace SEO?

No. AI engines draw a large share of their sources from pages that already rank well in search engines. SEO remains the foundation; GEO adds a layer of work on content clarity, structured data and your business’s reputation elsewhere on the web.

How long before you see results?

Technical fixes and updates to your information can show up within a few weeks in tools that consult the web in real time. Content and authority work takes effect over several months. No agency can guarantee a spot in an AI answer; that’s why we measure progress every month and adjust the strategy.

How do you measure visibility in AI?

Every month, we test a series of queries worded the way your patients would ask them, for example “find me a dental clinic in Rosemont”, in ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini. We note whether your business is named, its place in the answer and the competitors cited, then present the progress in your report.

Is GEO only for dental clinics?

No. We apply it to all the healthcare businesses we work with: private medical clinics, physiotherapy, chiropractic, veterinary clinics, medical aesthetics, pharmaceutical and more.

Request a free assessment of your AI visibility

Does your business come up when your patients ask ChatGPT? What does AI say about your services and your competitors? We offer a free GEO diagnosis, including: