Measuring the Frequency of AI-Assisted Search

May 31, 2026 - David Hall
Category: Artificial Intelligence/GEO

At Infinity Dental Web, as we are gearing up for searches using artificial intelligence, we see the key metric here to be how often patients are actually using artificial intelligence tools to find a dentist. So in January of this year we developed a tool for surveying patients to find out how often they were doing that. Now, every month we are sampling about 600 patients who found our dentists on the internet and determining if they used conventional search or AI-assisted search. Here is a graph showing the trend:

The raw numbers are:

• February – 2.6%
• March – 4.3%
• April – 6.1%
• May – 5.6%

While the growth is a little sporadic, it is real. The frequency of patients using AI tools for searching has doubled in four months. We expect to see continuing growth with occasional surges as consumer behavior adapts to this new technology.

It is also interesting to see the questions patients are asking ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, and other AI engines, which our tool is also assembling. “Best dentist” types of questions are frequent. People are also looking for specific characteristics of the practice. One patient said she uploaded a photo of her face and asked the engine what her best option was. Here is a sampling of some of the questions they asked:

Best dentist for bonding
good dentist
Best cosmetic dentist near Cincinnati
fix my smile
root canal
Holistic dentist
Top veneers providers in Ohio
Family Dentistry Lexington Ky
Mouth and tooth pain
Zirconia Crowns
best dentist in portage
Professional teeth whitening
Best dentist in Monroe for complex dental issues
TMJ specialist near me
emergency, non-judgemental, compassionate [sic]
Natural cosmetic dentist
Dentists on Humana’s network
Best friendly dentist in Naples
Long term care and kids
I uploaded a picture of my face and asked what would be the best option for my teeth.
Best TMJ dentist near me
Cosmetic dentist Nashville
IV sedation root canal San Antonio
Need help to align my bite
metal free implants
best dentist near me to fix my front tooth
ZOOM Whitening providers near ZIP 34109

Having tools to discern what is actually going on in the dental internet marketplace has helped us develop powerful tools for optimizing our clients for these searches and has put us a little ahead of the competition. For any dentists who want to be optimized for these AI-assisted searches, our Generative Engine Optimization services are available. Just give us a call. We recommend getting in on the ground floor of this rapidly developing area of internet marketing.