Which aesthetic and cosmetic dermatology clinics in San Diego do ChatGPT and other AI assistants name?

What ChatGPT and other assistants named for San Diego aesthetic clinics

Our data On October 14 we asked ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Gemini and Microsoft Copilot six questions someone in San Diego might ask about aesthetic and cosmetic dermatology clinics. All 24 answers came back, and together they named 57 different clinics, med spas and doctors. 33 of those were named only once, and only one clinic was named by all four assistants. This is one run per question, so read the counts as a snapshot, not a ranking.

That clinic, Cosmetic Laser Dermatology, was named in 18 of 24 answers, on average second in the list. The next names were far behind: La Jolla Cosmetic Laser Clinic & Dermatology in 6 answers, from ChatGPT and Google AI Mode only, and M Beauty Clinic, MedDerm Dermatology, Coastal Medical & Cosmetic Dermatology and Dermatology & Laser Center of San Diego in 5 each. Several of these came mostly from a single assistant: all 5 mentions of MedDerm Dermatology came from Copilot, and 4 of the 5 for Coastal Medical & Cosmetic Dermatology from Google AI Mode.

For an aesthetic clinic, this means one name was present almost everywhere, and the rest of the field depended heavily on which assistant was asked. A clinic named by one assistant could be absent from the other three for the same question.

Doctors, departments and spellings

Some answers named individual physicians rather than practices, for example "Dr. Sabrina Fabi" and "Sabrina Fabi, MD", or "Dr. Michelle Pelle". Large health systems appeared under several names too: Scripps Clinic, Scripps Clinic Laser and Cosmetic Dermatology Center and Scripps Health Dermatology were counted separately, as were different spellings of the UC San Diego Health dermatology clinic. If you count your own mentions, include your doctors' names and every version of your clinic's name.

Questions that changed the answers

For the clinic "specializing in sensitive skin treatments", all four assistants named Cosmetic Laser Dermatology first. For the question about reasonable pricing, the answers went in four directions: each assistant put a different name first, and Google AI Mode alone named seven clinics and med spas.

The question about "alternatives to big med spa chains like Ideal Image" brought up a different group altogether. Google AI Mode and Gemini named Ideal Image itself first, Copilot named it last, and the rest of these answers were mostly med spas (Google AI Mode listed twelve names) rather than the dermatology practices that filled the other answers. Depending on how a patient words the question, a med spa and a dermatology practice may not appear in the same lists.

Google AI Mode answered with Google Maps places

Our data All 6 of Google AI Mode's answers came as Google Maps places: 31 places in total. Their average rating was 4.9 stars, every one had 4.5 stars or more, the median number of reviews was 421, and the place with the fewest still had 110.

That does not show why a place was included. It only describes the places in this snapshot: they had high ratings and substantial review counts. The data does not show how a different rating or review count would affect an answer.

Where the names come from: websites cited for San Diego aesthetic clinics

Our data Only ChatGPT and Copilot attached source links, to all 6 of their answers each. The most-cited website was clderm.com (6 of 24 answers), which appears to be Cosmetic Laser Dermatology's own site, followed by scripps.org, the Scripps Health site (5), a dermatologist rating page on trustanalytica.org (4) and health.ucsd.edu, UC San Diego Health (3). RealSelf, Zocdoc, bestinhood.com and thecliniccompass.com were cited twice each.

So the sources were a mix of clinic and health system websites, rating lists and patient platforms. For the Ideal Image question, ChatGPT cited a different kind of site: med spa directories and review sites, matching the different group of names in that answer.

Where US aesthetic clinics are usually listed (advice): Google Business Profile (it feeds Google Maps), Yelp, RealSelf, Zocdoc and Healthgrades. For board-certified dermatologists, the American Academy of Dermatology's "Find a Dermatologist" directory. Make sure every listing names the same clinic, address and providers.

How patients ask about San Diego aesthetic clinics

Our six questions covered skin rejuvenation, sensitive skin, reasonable pricing, trust and reviews, appointments available today and alternatives to a large med spa chain. Real patients often ask about a specific treatment, provider or concern. Questions worth testing for your own clinic, written the way people type them:

• "Board-certified dermatologist in La Jolla for a laser treatment consultation"
• "Med spa in North Park with transparent pricing per unit"
• "Where can I get a skin consultation in Carlsbad this Saturday?"
• "Cosmetic dermatologist in San Diego experienced with darker skin tones"
• "Who does a free consultation for fillers near Del Mar?"

Use the neighborhoods you actually serve and the treatments you actually offer. A question without a place in it can return clinics in another city.

Related snapshots: beauty salons in Austin and dentists in Denver.

What an aesthetic clinic can check about how AI assistants name it

Advice: these checks are concrete and most take an hour or two. None of them can promise a mention; they make the facts about your clinic easy to find and hard to get wrong. Describe treatments factually and avoid promising results, both for patients and because medical advertising rules apply.

1. Say who performs each treatment. Board-certified dermatologist, physician assistant, nurse injector or aesthetician: name the provider, their credentials and which treatments they do. Answers in this run named individual doctors, so link each provider to the clinic.
2. Give each treatment its own page. What it is, who it is for, what a consultation involves, typical number of sessions and recovery time as your providers describe them, without promises about results.
3. Publish prices or price ranges. One question asked for reasonable pricing. "From" prices per treatment, per unit or per session, and whether the consultation is free or credited, stated in plain text.
4. Make booking clear. One question asked for appointments today. Say how consultations are booked, typical lead time, and whether you take same-week or Saturday appointments.
5. Use one clinic name everywhere. Check your site, Google Business Profile, Yelp, RealSelf and Zocdoc for the same clinic name, address and provider list. Different spellings were counted as different names in this run.
6. Say whether you are a medical practice or a med spa. Patients compare the two, and the answers did too. State the medical oversight, the setting and what sets your clinic apart, in plain words.
7. Complete your Google Business Profile. All Google AI Mode answers in this run were Maps places. Check the category, hours, photos of the clinic itself, and that recent reviews have a reply where one is useful and allowed under patient privacy rules.

How to check if ChatGPT names your own clinic

Write five or six questions your patients would ask, with San Diego or your neighborhood in them and the treatments you offer, and ask several assistants the same questions. Note who is named and which websites are cited, then repeat in a few weeks, because the answers change. CheckAI checks your own customer questions across the same four assistants and shows the names and the cited websites for each answer; a first check on ChatGPT and Google AI Mode is free.