The Real Estate Method · Free checklist

47-Point AEO Checklist for Medical Practices

How to make sure ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity recommend your practice when patients ask AI for specialists in your field.

Built for: Medical specialists, GP groups, dentists, aesthetics practices — solo or multi-doctor.

By the author

Kabelo More

AI Visibility Consultant · Pretoria · 8 years local SEO

Published 31 May 2026 · Updates as methodology evolves

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Heads up — this checklist is SA-tuned. It references South African platforms (HelloPeter, BBBEE Verification, CSD, HPCSA, LSSA, etc.) that don't apply outside South Africa. The 7-property structure works globally — but the specific platforms don't. UK and US versions ship Q1 2027.

47 checks across 7 properties · last updated May 2026

How to read this checklist

Effort tags

Quick = under an hour, mostly setup
1-3 days = needs focused work
Ongoing = compounding monthly work

Impact tiers

Foundation = required to be findable at all
Growth = compounds visibility over weeks
Authority = compounds for years; market-leadership work

Property 1 of 7

Website + Schema

Your owned property. AI engines and search engines read it first.

1
Title tag includes your specialty + city (e.g. 'Cardiologist in Sandton — Dr X Practice')
Quick· Foundation ·
AI engines pattern-match queries to title tags. 'Best cardiologist Sandton' won't surface a tag that says 'Welcome to our practice.'
2
Meta description: 140-160 chars, leads with primary specialty + practice positioning
Quick· Foundation ·
First touchpoint in search results. AI engines use this as snippet source.
3
MedicalBusiness or Physician schema deployed on homepage
1-3 days· Foundation ·Google Rich Results Test
Tells AI what you are. Without this, AI has to infer from text — and gets it wrong.
4
Each procedure listed as MedicalProcedure schema (separate URL)
1-3 days· Growth ·
Lets AI engines recommend you for specific procedures, not just specialty queries.
5
Person schema for each practitioner with HPCSA registration + qualifications
1-3 days· Foundation ·
AI engines cite credentials. 'Trust' signals to LLMs come from structured data, not prose.
6
FAQ schema deployed for common patient questions (10+ questions answered)
Quick· Growth ·
AI engines pull FAQ schema directly into answers. Your questions become AI's quotes.
7
/llms.txt file added with practice description, services, and credentials
Quick· Authority ·
Almost no SA medical practice has this. It's how AI engines self-discover entity information. 15-min job, 30-day citation lift.
8
Mobile responsiveness ≥ 90 (Lighthouse mobile score)
1-3 days· Foundation ·Chrome DevTools → Lighthouse
70% of patient queries start on mobile. AI engines penalise unreadable mobile sites.
9
Page speed ≥ 80 (Lighthouse performance score)
1-3 days· Growth ·
Slow pages don't get crawled deeply by AI training pipelines.
10
Each specialty/procedure has its own URL — not bullets in description
1-3 days· Growth ·
Granular URLs let AI cite specific procedures, not just brand. Compounds over time.

Property 2 of 7

Google Business Profile

The single biggest local SERP block. AI engines harvest GBP heavily.

1
Primary category: most specific (e.g. 'Cardiologist' not 'Doctor')
Quick· Foundation ·
Specificity drives AI matching. Generic categories get filtered out for specialty queries.
2
5-9 secondary categories covering all sub-specialties + procedures
Quick· Foundation ·
Each category = a query you can rank for. Free real estate.
3
All medical aid plans accepted listed in description (Discovery, Bonitas, Momentum, GEMS, etc.)
Quick· Growth ·
Buyer-intent queries like 'cardiologist who accepts Discovery in Sandton' need this exact match.
4
HPCSA registration number visible in description or services section
Quick· Foundation ·
Trust signal. AI engines cite verified credentials over unverified claims.
5
30+ photos including practice exterior, waiting room, equipment, team
1-3 days· Growth ·
Photos are the single biggest GBP ranking factor in 2026. AI uses image counts as activity signal.
6
Weekly GBP posts mixing patient education + practice updates
Ongoing· Growth ·
Stale GBPs lose ranking. Consistent posting tells AI engines the practice is active.
7
Q&A section: 10+ common questions answered by practice (not random patients)
Quick· Growth ·
Owned answers > random answers. AI engines weight practice-authored Q&A higher.
8
Appointment booking link integrated (Snapscan/Bookem/Healthbridge)
1-3 days· Growth ·
Removes friction. Conversion lift + GBP feature priority.

Property 3 of 7

LinkedIn (practitioner + practice)

Powers AI search results — especially Perplexity and ChatGPT.

1
Practice company page complete with industry tagged ('Hospital & Health Care' or specialty)
Quick· Foundation ·
LinkedIn is heavily indexed by AI engines for B2B/professional queries. Untagged pages get skipped.
2
Practitioner personal page headline includes specialty + qualifications (MBChB, FCS, FCP, etc.)
Quick· Foundation ·
Headline is the most-cited LinkedIn field by AI engines. 'CEO at Practice' is wasted real estate.
3
About section tells the practice story — patient outcomes, philosophy — not just credentials list
1-3 days· Growth ·
AI engines pull narrative for 'tell me about Dr X' queries. Bullet lists get ignored.
4
Posting cadence: 1+ post/week, educational > promotional ratio
Ongoing· Authority ·
Active LinkedIn profiles get cited 3-5× more by Perplexity. Educational posts compound.
5
Tagged credentials/awards from professional bodies (SA Heart Association, SASOG, etc.)
Quick· Growth ·
Verified-via-tag credentials are AI's gold standard. Plain-text credentials get less weight.

Property 4 of 7

Industry citations + directories

Third-party trust signals. The most under-invested area in SA medical.

1
HPCSA registry profile verified + complete
Quick· Foundation ·
Highest-trust medical citation in SA. AI engines cross-reference HPCSA before recommending.
2
Discovery Health Network listing (if accepting Discovery)
1-3 days· Growth ·
Discovery covers ~50% of SA private medical aid market. Direct buyer-intent platform.
3
Bonitas / Momentum / GEMS provider lists (where accepting)
1-3 days· Growth ·
Same logic as Discovery — direct buyer-intent platforms tied to medical aid plans.
4
South African Medical Association (SAMA) member directory
Quick· Foundation ·
Industry-body trust signal. Cited by AI engines as professional verification.
5
Sector-specific specialist body listings — SA Heart Association, SASOG, Plastic Surgery Society of SA, SADA (SA Dental Association), Aesthetic Medicine Society of SA
Quick· Growth ·
Specialty-specific trust = highest-trust citation for specialty queries. SADA and Aesthetic Medicine Society are particularly underused by SA dentists and aesthetics practices.
6
FindADoc / RateMDs / Vermeulen Specialists — claimed profiles
Quick· Growth ·
Patient-facing directories. AI engines surface these in 'reviews for' queries.
7
Brabys + Yellow Pages SA basic listings
Quick· Foundation ·
Tier-1 SA citation foundation. Cheap to set up, baseline trust signal.
8
Hospital affiliation pages: practice listed on each hospital's specialist directory
1-3 days· Authority ·
Hospital domains are high-trust. Affiliations get AI to associate practice with institution.

Property 5 of 7

Reviews velocity

Trust at scale. AI engines weigh review count + recency heavily.

1
Google reviews: 25+ with average ≥ 4.5 stars
Ongoing· Foundation ·
Below 25 reviews = AI engines treat as 'unverified.' Above 25 + 4.5★ = recommended.
2
HelloPeter profile claimed and active (SA's largest review platform)
Quick· Growth ·
Critical for SA. ~70% of SA buyers check HelloPeter before booking. AI engines harvest it.
3
Sector-specific platforms: RateMDs (medical), Realself (aesthetics)
1-3 days· Growth ·
Specialty-specific review platforms get cited above general ones for specialty queries.
4
Response rate: ≥ 80% of reviews responded to within 7 days
Ongoing· Growth ·
Engagement signal. AI engines penalise practices that ignore reviews.
5
Review request automation: post-procedure email/SMS asking for review (POPI-compliant — explicit opt-in for testimonial use)
1-3 days· Authority ·
Reviews don't happen organically at scale. Automated request = 5-10× review volume. POPI requires explicit consent for using patient identifiers in testimonials — bake this into the request workflow.

Property 6 of 7

AI engines (test + monitor)

The output layer. If you don't measure, you can't improve.

1
Test 'Best [specialty] in [city]' on ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity — appear in answer? (Apple Intelligence + Microsoft Copilot integration coming Q1 2027)
Quick· Foundation ·Free AI Visibility Scan at kabelomore.com/scan
The headline test. If you're not in the answer for your home query, nothing else compounds. Apple Intelligence reaches every iPhone user — the 5th major engine to optimize for.
2
Test 'Best [specialty] who accepts [medical aid]' across all 4 engines
Quick· Foundation ·
Buyer-intent query that converts. Need to appear here even more than generic specialty queries.
3
Test 'Reviews for [practice name]' — accurate info returned?
Quick· Foundation ·
Branded query — patients due-dilly check this. Inaccurate AI info kills trust.
4
Branded search reveals: hospital affiliations, qualifications, specialties — all accurate?
Quick· Growth ·
AI engines compose your introduction. Make sure they have the right facts.
5
Daily AI monitoring tool deployed (tracks visibility across 4 engines)
1-3 days· Authority ·Local Growth Lite from R2,950/mo
AI engines update weekly. You need to know when your visibility shifts before patients do.
6
Quarterly re-scan with documented before/after
Ongoing· Growth ·
Improvement requires measurement. Quarterly cadence catches drift + validates retainer ROI.

Property 7 of 7

Competitive intelligence

Where the gap actually is — versus where you assume it is.

1
Identified the 3 specialists/practices AI engines recommend INSTEAD of you
Quick· Foundation ·
Your real digital competitors are who AI surfaces — not who you see at industry events.
2
Documented gap analysis: their schema vs yours, citations vs yours, content vs yours
1-3 days· Growth ·
Forces objectivity. Closes the 'we're better' delusion.
3
Hospital affiliations: are competitors more visibly affiliated?
Quick· Growth ·
Affiliation density matters. AI weights institutional credentials.
4
Specialty associations: are competitors more visible (publications, talks, conferences)?
Ongoing· Authority ·
Conference talks + papers = high-trust citations. Compounds for years.
5
Patient testimonials: do competitors have more public testimonials with permission?
Ongoing· Authority ·
POPI-compliant testimonials are scarce — but high-trust. Competitors who solve this dominate.

What happens when you complete it

If you complete all 47, your practice will be in the top 5% of SA medical practices on AI visibility. Most practices score 8-15 out of 47. The compounding effect of getting to 35+ shows up within 60-90 days as new patient inquiries from 'I asked ChatGPT and your name came up.'

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