- The analysis covers 1,000 prompts and 3,000 AI responses from ChatGPT, Grok and Gemini.
- Two surgeons lead the comparison of surgeons, clinics and hospitals, at 8% and 5% visibility
- The remaining surgeons, clinics and hospitals in the comparison record between 2% and 4% visibility
Miami, FL, Nov. 13, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A new Zen Media study examines which surgeons and clinics AI engines name when patients ask about plastic surgery. The study of AI visibility for plastic surgeons finds that the highest-ranked surgeon records 8% visibility and the next records 5%. The study covers 1,000 patient-style questions and 3,000 responses from ChatGPT, Grok and Gemini.
“People considering plastic surgery are asking AI which plastic surgeons and procedures they should consider. The answers and recon are part of what helps people build their shortlist,” said Sarah Evans, CEO at Zen Media. “Our research shows how much visibility changes based on the procedure, location and AI platform. For plastic surgery practices, it’s essential they are being recommended when a potential patient asks AI where to go, who is the best and who to trust.”
Methodology
The study ran on Zen Media’s ZAVI AI Visibility Engine. Buying and comparison questions account for 63.3% of the prompts; the rest cover informational, evaluation and problem-solving questions. No surgeon, clinic or hospital included in the report was notified before data collection.
This release focuses on surgeons, clinics and hospitals in ZAVI's published ranking. Certification bodies, review platforms and other organizations are excluded from this comparison. Each name retains its published visibility score, which the report defines as how often the name appears across the prompts. Surgeon and clinic scores are not combined, and visibility scores do not measure source-link citations.
How Procedure and Location Shape AI Visibility for Plastic Surgeons
The report finds that procedure and location shape which surgeons, clinics and hospitals the engines name. It describes different surgeon shortlists for cities and regions across the United States, highlighting Miami, Los Angeles, New York and Houston as hubs.
Surgeons also surface for specific procedures, such as deep-plane facelifts, rhinoplasty and BBL. Hospitals in the ranking appear for complex reconstructive cases, implant-related conditions and body contouring after major weight loss.
How the Engines Describe the Surgeons They Name
The report's profiles of the highest-ranked surgeons rest on specific skills: a named surgical technique such as the deep-plane facelift, revision work on earlier surgery, and academic or research contributions. Natural-looking results are a recurring theme across all three engines. A practice's own pages can state the same kinds of facts about its surgeons, including the techniques they use, the revision cases they take and their training.
How ChatGPT, Grok and Gemini Differ
The report describes ChatGPT's answers as detailed surgeon shortlists, with the fullest lists for questions that pair a city with a procedure. Gemini groups surgeons by metropolitan area and points to review platforms more often. Grok more often explains how to evaluate a surgeon and refers patients to credential checks. Based on these patterns, the report recommends detailed surgeon pages for ChatGPT, regional presence and reviews for Gemini, and easily verified credentials for Grok. Results from one engine may not match the other two.
What the Pattern Means for Practices
A practice can compare its surgeons with the names returned for its procedures and service area. Zen Media's AI Published Monthly program begins with a prompt baseline for the practice's city and procedures. The baseline records each surgeon's name and the practice name separately, their positions in the answers and the competing names returned. The next steps are content built around the questions patients ask the engines, third-party coverage the engines can cite, and repeat measurements that show results next to the work published in between.
Frequently Asked Questions
Question: What does AI visibility for plastic surgeons look like in AI answers?
Answer: In the report's ranking, the top surgeon records 8% visibility and the second records 5%. The other surgeons, clinics and hospitals in the comparison record between 2% and 4%. These figures leave out certification bodies, review platforms and other organizations.
Question: How can a plastic surgery practice see whether AI engines name its surgeons?
Answer: A practice can run patient-style questions about its procedures and city through ChatGPT, Gemini and Grok. It can record which surgeons and clinics appear, where they appear in each answer and which other names appear next to them. Surgeon names and clinic names are easier to compare when they are recorded separately.
Question: What does a prompt baseline give a plastic surgery practice?
Answer: A prompt baseline is a record of how AI engines answer a set of patient questions at one point in time. It shows which questions name the practice's surgeons, which questions do not and which other names appear. Zen Media's Published Monthly program begins with this kind of baseline.
Question: What work supports AI visibility for a plastic surgery practice?
Answer: The report recommends detailed surgeon pages for ChatGPT, regional presence and reviews for Gemini, and easily verified credentials for Grok. A practice can review these parts of its public record against the questions its patients ask. Content that answers those questions and third-party coverage can add to that record.
Question: Where do certification boards and review platforms rank?
Answer: They hold the first 11 places in the full ranking, together with professional societies, facility accreditors and a financing company. AI engines often point patients to these organizations to check a surgeon's board certification, a facility's accreditation or patient reviews. The first surgeon in the list appears at place 12.
Sources: Zen Media ZAVI AI Visibility Engine, Plastic Surgery industry report, 1,000 patient-style prompts and 3,000 AI responses across ChatGPT, Grok and Gemini, November 11, 2026. Visibility figures are the report's published values from its ranking of the 101 most visible names. The comparison of surgeons, clinics and hospitals excludes certification bodies, review platforms, professional societies, facility accreditors, financing companies and device makers.
About Zen Media
Zen Media is a strategic communications and marketing company helping brands shape how they are discovered, understood, and chosen across media, search, and AI. The company combines public relations, content, demand generation, and proprietary AI visibility technology to build authority across the buyer journey, from earned media and search to AI-generated answers. Zen Media works with companies across industries and stages, from growth-stage brands to global enterprises, that want to build authority, demand, and visibility across modern discovery channels.
Beyza Aydogan Zen Media pr@zenmedia.com
