33 : What Should a Dentist Do to Get Recommended by AI Search? It’s Not What You Think!

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is rapidly replacing traditional SEO as the primary way patients discover dental practices online. In this episode, digital marketing expert Kasim Aslam shares 18 months of hard data on exactly how AI engines like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Perplexity decide which dental practices to recommend — and the findings contradict almost everything the SEO industry has been saying. EPISODE OVERVIEWKasim Aslam spent nearly two years running a structured data study with a five-person team, analyzing tens of millions of data points across major AI platforms to answer one question: what makes an AI engine cite or recommend a business? In this episode, he breaks down what he found and what it means for dental practices competing for patients in 2026 and beyond. Dentists will walk away understanding why schema markup is the single most important technical factor for AI search visibility, why personal authority now outranks brand identity in AI recommendations, and how to begin building the kind of multimodal, deep-expertise content that AI engines actually trust. This is not theory. It is research-backed strategy that any dental practice can begin implementing today. ABOUT KASIM ASLAMKasim Aslam is a serial agency founder who built and sold the number one ranked Google Ads agency in the world, exiting in October 2022 to a SoftBank-backed martech company. With nearly $100 million in managed Google Ads spend across his career, Kasim understands search traffic value at a level few marketers can match. After his exit, he launched a long-form research initiative into Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), studying how large language models (LLMs) source citations, culminating in one of the most comprehensive independent datasets on AI-driven search behavior ever compiled. He is a partner at Pareto Talent staffing agency, a co-creator of AEO training content alongside Perry Belcher and Molly Pittman, and is launching a dedicated AEO agency in March 2025 alongside Smart Marketer partners Molly Pittman and Ezra Firestone. He is also the author of the AEO Blueprint. Kasim has direct experience marketing dental practices, including working with Dr. Ginger Price (creator of Coconut Toothpaste) and the Arizona Pediatric Dentistry Organization. AI AND TECH COMPANIES MENTIONEDChatGPT (OpenAI): https://chat.openai.comGoogle Gemini: https://gemini.google.comPerplexity AI: https://www.perplexity.aiClaude (Anthropic): https://www.anthropic.comGrok (xAI): https://grok.x.aiAnswer the Public (Neil Patel): https://answerthepublic.comAhrefs: https://ahrefs.comSEMrush: https://www.semrush.comSearch Atlas: https://searchatlas.comSchema.org (Schema Validator): https://schema.orgPareto Talent: https://www.paretotalent.comSmart Marketer (Molly Pittman / Ezra Firestone): https://smartmarketer.comThe Hoth (Link Building): https://www.thehoth.comPosiRank: https://www.posirank.comReddit: https://www.reddit.comGoogle My Business: https://business.google.comBetter Business Bureau (BBB): https://www.bbb.orgMapQuest: https://www.mapquest.comYellow Pages: https://www.yellowpages.comPubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.govBing (Microsoft): https://www.bing.comAmazon Web Services (AWS / Anthropic): https://aws.amazon.comAEO Blueprint (Kasim Aslam's Book): https://www.aeo.agency ADDITIONAL EDUCATION• https://mysocialpractice.com/2026/02/zero-click-ai-overviews/ • https://mysocialpractice.com/2026/02/diy-dental-marketing-byte-sized/ • https://mysocialpractice.com/2026/02/ai-search-dental-website/ Host: Adrian LeflerWebsite: https://mysocialpractice.com/dental-marketing-expert/Phone: 877-316-7516 👍 Subscribe for more on dental marketing, AI in dentistry, and practice growth. #AEO #DentalAI #AISearchForDentists #DentalMarketing #ArtificialIntelligenceInDentistry #DentalPracticeGrowth #AnswerEngineOptimization TERMS & TRANSLATIONS (FOR SHOW NOTES)AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)The practice of optimizing a dental practice's online presence so it gets recommended or cited by AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity when patients ask questions. Think of it as the AI-era version of ranking on Google — except instead of appearing as a link, your practice becomes the answer the AI gives to a patient's question. Schema Markup / Schema ValidationA layer of structured data added to a website that acts like a table of contents for AI and search engines. It tells AI tools exactly what a site contains — services, locations, providers, hours, and more — so they can understand and trust the content without having to guess. Kasim's research found that over 90% of all AI-driven citations come from websites with validated schema, yet only about 12% of websites on the internet have it. For dental practices, this is the single highest-leverage technical improvement available. Citation (AI Context)When an AI tool like ChatGPT references a specific source — a website, social media post, review, or directory listing — while generating its answer to a patient's question. Being cited by an AI is the...