What Does It Mean When AI Recommends an OB-GYN but Cites Another Practice’s Website?
When an AI assistant recommends an OB-GYN but cites another practice's website, it means the recommendation rests on evidence found on someone else's site. There are five common reasons. The doctor may have moved, while the old practice still lists them. They may work in more than one place, such as a hospital group and a private practice. Another practice may mention them on a referral or partner page. They may have been confused with a doctor who has a similar name. Or the citation may not support the claim at all. Open the cited page and search it for the doctor's name, since what it says tells you which case you have. The fix starts with the doctor's own bio page.
What can the cited page tell you?
| What the cited page shows | What it means | Risk to patients | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| The doctor's old bio at a previous practice | The doctor moved, and the old page was never updated | Patients call the old practice and may be booked with someone else | Ask the old practice to replace the bio with a note giving the new practice |
| The doctor listed at a hospital or medical group | The doctor works in more than one place | Wrong location, phone number or booking route | List every location on the doctor's own page and keep the group profile accurate |
| A referral, partner or covering-physician page | The doctor is mentioned, not described | Low, but your own page is being outranked | Make the doctor's own bio page the most complete source |
| A doctor with a similar name | Identity mix-up | Patients book the wrong doctor | Disambiguate with full name, credentials, photo and NPI number |
| No mention of the doctor at all | A loose or wrong citation | Answer may be partly invented | Check the doctor's own sources; report the answer |
| A "best OB-GYNs in [city]" article on another practice's site | A competitor's list page | Depends on accuracy | Correct errors about the doctor; strengthen own sources |
Wrong citations are common in AI search. A 2025 study by Columbia Journalism Review's Tow Center found eight AI search tools, taken together, answered incorrectly on more than 60% of queries asking them to identify a news article's source. A citation is a pointer, not proof, so always check what the page says. How citation and recommendation differ is covered in the difference between being cited by AI and being recommended by AI.
Why are OB-GYNs especially prone to this?
- Split practice. Many OB-GYNs see patients in an office but deliver at one or more hospitals, and some also operate at surgical centres. Each place may have its own page about them.
- Group practices and call schedules. Patients may be seen by several doctors in a group, and group sites often list everyone together.
- Moves between groups and health systems are common, and old bios often stay up for years.
- Name changes. A doctor who changes surname may be listed under both names across different sites.
- Hospital-owned practices publish doctor profiles on the health system's site as well as the practice's own.
Patients also ask questions that only certain pages answer, such as "Which hospital does Dr. [Name] deliver at?" If the doctor's own page does not say, the assistant finds the answer, or a guess, somewhere else.
Why doesn't the assistant cite the doctor's own page?
- There is no individual bio page, only a name on a team page.
- The bio is thin: a photo, a name and "board certified", with no services, hospitals, locations or languages.
- Key details are in PDFs or scripts, such as a provider directory widget that loads after the page opens. Most AI crawlers do not run JavaScript.
- The name is written differently from other sites, such as with or without a middle initial or credentials.
- The page does not answer patient questions about accepting new patients, insurance, delivery hospitals and booking.
How do you check what is going on?
- Ask assistants in your area: "Best OB-GYN in [city]", "OB-GYN accepting new patients in [city]", "Dr. [Name] OB-GYN", "Where does Dr. [Name] practise?" and "Which hospital does Dr. [Name] deliver at?". Run each several times.
- Record every cited URL and what the answer says about the doctor.
- Open each cited page and search for the doctor's name, then classify it using the table above.
- Check official records. The NPI registry and the state medical board show the practice address and licence details on file.
- Check the doctor's Business Profile and the main doctor directories for outdated locations or phone numbers.
What should you fix?
Build a complete bio page for the doctor on your practice's site, with:
- Full name as used professionally, credentials, and any former name ("formerly Dr. [previous name]")
- Board certification, for example by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Services and special interests, such as prenatal care, high-risk pregnancy, minimally invasive surgery or menopause care
- Hospitals where the doctor delivers or operates
- Office locations, hours and phone numbers
- Accepting-new-patients status and insurance accepted
- Languages spoken and a booking link
How to present new-patient status so assistants find it is covered in which AI answers reveal that patients cannot find your accepting-new-patients status.
Mark it up. schema.org has an IndividualPhysician type, and its practicesAt property can list the hospitals, clinics and practices where the physician works. Add sameAs links to the doctor's directory profiles.
Update the records other sites copy: the practice location in NPPES, which covered providers must update within 30 days of a change, the Business Profile following Google's rules for individual practitioners, and the main doctor directories and insurer listings. Google's practitioner rules are covered in why ChatGPT recommends the wrong business when several share one address.
Handle the old practice's page. Ask it to replace the bio with a short note: "Dr. [Name] now practises at [new practice]." Many will, since misdirected calls cost them time; if it will not, ask at least for the bio to be removed, and rely on the stronger current sources described below.
What might an illustrative case look like?
Consider an illustrative OB-GYN who joined a new group practice a year ago. Assistants recommend the doctor for "high-risk pregnancy OB-GYN in [city]" but cite the previous practice's website. Patients call the old number and are offered appointments with other doctors. The old practice still has the doctor's full bio online. The new group's site lists the doctor only on a team page. The new group builds a full bio with the doctor's high-risk pregnancy work, delivery hospital, locations and booking link. It adds IndividualPhysician markup and updates NPPES, the Business Profile and three directories. The old practice replaces its bio with a forwarding note. Six weeks later, assistants cite the new group's bio page in most runs.
What do people ask about AI citing other practices for a doctor?
Is it a problem if the assistant cites the hospital's page?
Not necessarily. If the hospital page is accurate and links to the practice, it may help. Make sure it lists the right office and booking route.
Can we make the assistant cite our page instead?
Not directly. Make the doctor's own page the most complete and current source, and correct the others.
What if the old practice will not update its page?
Keep strengthening the new sources: the bio page, NPPES record, Business Profile and directories. Over time, current and consistent sources usually outweigh one stale page.
Published by The Kovmere Team · updated Sep 29, 2026 · More resources