Monofocal vs multifocal vs toric.
One clear distance, usually covered, or more range paid out of pocket.
For ophthalmology practice owners
AI visibility for ophthalmology practices
When cataracts start taking someone's night driving, they ask ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity whether they need surgery and which surgeon to see. The reply names a few practices. AEOptim shows an eye practice whether its name is one of them, and what to fix if it isn't.
The Free AI Check puts one eye patient's question to an AI engine in your city and shows you the answer as it came back. About two minutes, no card, no phone call.
The pathEach step stands alone.
- Free AI Check$0
- Search & Ask Workup$450one time
- Answer Kit$350one time
- AEOptim Visibilityfrom $350a month
The patient's questions
Read down the chart your patients are reading
An eye patient's questions narrow the way the letters on a chart do, from a big worry to one name. Tap a line.
20/200 · Do I need cataract surgery
"My night driving has gotten bad and my optometrist mentioned cataracts. Do I need surgery, or can I wait?"
The AI explains cataracts and when surgeons usually act, then points to an exam.
What your site needsa plain cataract page, with when surgery makes sense and when it can wait.
20/100 · Which lens is right for me
"Monofocal, multifocal or toric: how do people choose a lens for cataract surgery?"
The AI lays out the tradeoffs, using language from whichever practice explained them most plainly.
What your site needsthe lenses you actually offer, and who each one suits.
20/70 · What will Medicare cover
"Does Medicare cover cataract surgery, and what do the premium lenses cost out of pocket?"
The base surgery is usually covered and the lens upgrade usually isn't. Few eye practice sites cover the second half, so the AI quotes the ones that do.
What your site needswhat's covered, what isn't, and the out-of-pocket prices you're willing to publish.
20/40 · When can I drive again
"When can I drive after cataract surgery? How long until LASIK vision settles?"
The AI repeats whatever recovery guidance it can find.
What your site needsrecovery steps for each procedure, in plain words.
20/20 · Which surgeon near me should I trust
"Who is a good cataract surgeon near me who takes Medicare?"
Now the AI gives names. Then the patient calls or fills in a form.
What your site needsyour surgeons, the plans you take, and a way to request an appointment.
Check your own site
What AI needs to read before it names an eye practice
An eye practice gets described from its site and listings. Read yours against this list. Each gap is something the AI will leave out or guess.
Who you are
- Every ophthalmologist by name, with MD or DO, and what each one treats: cataract, cornea, glaucoma, retina, oculoplastics, children
- Fellowship training and board certification, named only when the surgeon holds it
- Each office's address, phone and hours, and where surgery happens (your surgery center or a hospital)
What you do in house, and what you refer
- The procedures you perform, and the ones you send elsewhere
- The lenses you offer at cataract surgery, including premium lenses
Insurance and money
- Medicare, the Medicare Advantage plans and the commercial plans you take, written the way they appear on a patient's card
- The difference between a routine vision plan and medical insurance, and which one your visits bill to
- Out-of-pocket prices for premium lenses and LASIK, and any financing
Getting in
- Whether you're taking new patients, and whether they need a referral
- How you work with referring optometrists, including shared post-op care
- What to do about sudden vision loss, flashes or a curtain over the eye, and when to go to the ER instead
- How to request an eye exam or a surgical consult
The same facts everywhere
- Name, address, phone, hours, surgeons and plans matching across your site, your Google Business Profile, Healthgrades and your insurers' lists
Near me
The answer in Kansas City isn't the answer in Nashville
Eye questions come with a place attached: a cataract surgeon near me, LASIK near me, a retina doctor who takes my plan. The same question gets a different short list in every city.
We can't promise AI will name you, and we won't pretend to. We ask the questions in your market, show you the answers word for word, and give you a fix list in order.
The map matters too. Per BrightEdge's healthcare data through December 2025, Google still shows the map and local listings for "near me" searches for doctors, which puts weight on your Business Profile.
Patient vocabulary
The words eye patients bring to the chat box
The eye terms patients look up before a consult.
- Cataract
- the clouding of the eye's natural lens that turns headlights into glare
- Monofocal lens
- the standard replacement lens, one clear distance, usually covered
- Multifocal or toric lens
- premium lenses for range or astigmatism, usually paid out of pocket
- YAG capsulotomy
- the quick laser treatment when vision clouds again after cataract surgery
- LASIK, PRK, SMILE
- the laser vision correction procedures patients compare
- ICL
- an implanted lens for prescriptions a laser can't correct
- SLT
- a laser that lowers eye pressure in glaucoma, sometimes in place of more drops
- Eye injections for macular degeneration
- the treatment patients look up before their first retina visit
Each term is a question a patient types, and a place on your site where your practice can answer it. The Answer Kit starts there.
What a clear site does
How your website helps AI help eye patients and their families
When your site states your facts clearly, an AI assistant can do four things for a patient, or for the grown son or daughter who is often the one asking.
Find you.
It matches the question to your practice: cataracts, LASIK, a retina problem, your side of town. Google's May 2026 guidance says no special files or code are needed for its AI features. Clear procedure pages and consistent listings do the work.
Repeat your facts.
Old Medicare Advantage lists get repeated as current. In rater8's 2026 patient survey, nearly half of respondents had used AI to research providers, and 66% of them had seen incorrect details, including insurance. No AI tool looks up a patient's coverage for them.
Show whether you're a fit.
Does this practice take my Medicare Advantage plan? Does it offer a toric lens? Does it see children? The AI can confirm only what your site confirms.
Help them schedule.
Since August 2026, someone in the Gemini app can make an appointment with a doctor listed on Zocdoc without leaving it. If you're on Zocdoc, ask them whether your listing shows up there. Everywhere else, the patient still ends up at your phone or your website, where a scheduling request form catches the evening question after the front desk has gone home.
What we won't do
The lines we don't cross in eye care
- No patient information. AEOptim reads only public information and what you tell it. Your EHR and patient records are never connected to it.
- No ad tracking on patient forms. We don't place ad pixels on pages that collect patient information, and we sign a BAA whenever our work touches PHI.
- Accessibility. The HHS accessibility deadline for most practices that take Medicaid or Medicare Part A is May 11, 2027 (May 10, 2028 if you have fewer than 15 employees). We build to that standard, WCAG 2.1 AA. Your counsel can confirm whether the rule applies to your practice.
- No outcome promises. We don't write "best", we don't promise 20/20 or life without glasses, and we name a certifying board only when the surgeon holds that certification.
- No invented reviews. Testimonials aren't something we write. Patient photos or stories go up only with the patient's written permission.
- Your approval first. Nothing goes live under your name until you approve it. You own your site, domain, accounts and listings.
It's built to stay inside your state medical board's rules, and you approve every word. Rules vary by state, so check with your own compliance reviewer. We don't guarantee rankings or AI mentions. Nobody honestly can.
The path, with prices
What the check shows, and what comes next
AEOptim shows you what AI says about you. Web Everything does the work to change it. Each step stands alone.
$0
Free AI Check
One live AI engine (Perplexity), one patient question, in your city, and the answer as it came back. About two minutes, no card. No login, nothing to interpret.
$450, one time
Search & Ask Workup
Your patients' questions asked on Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude, plus live Google search data: what people search, where you rank, who's ahead. A fix list in order. The report is yours to hand to anyone.
$350, one time
Answer Kit
Your homepage plus up to six procedure pages. Answers drafted using only what your pages already say. You approve every answer.
from $350 a month
AEOptim Visibility
Your questions re-asked every month on all five engines, several runs each, with a plain verdict on whether a change is real. Change or stop any month.
Listings Cleanup, from Web Everything
If your site, Google Business Profile and directories disagree on your surgeons, hours, address or plans, fix that first: Listings Cleanup puts one accurate record on your site, then corrects every directory that matters to match.
If you'd rather have it done for you: Web Everything.
Owner questions
FAQ
Our patients skew older. Do they really ask AI about eye surgery?
Many do, and when they don't, a son or daughter often asks for them, sometimes from three states away, worried about a parent's night driving, and texts two names home. Your practice is weighed by people who will never sit in your waiting room. A 2026 rater8 survey of U.S. adults found nearly half had used AI tools to research providers. Run the free check to see the answer a family member in your town would get.
Most of our surgical patients come from optometry referrals. Does that stop mattering?
Referrals still send the name. What changed is that many referred patients look that name up before they call, and what the AI says about you is part of what they read.
We rank on Google for cataract surgery. Why would we need more?
It helps, and it's not the same test. The AI answer is a few names inside a sentence, and a practice at the top of the search results can still be absent from it. The free check shows whether yours is.
Where does this stand on advertising rules and HIPAA?
It's built to stay inside your state medical board's rules, and you approve every word. Rules vary by state, so check with your own compliance reviewer. AEOptim never reads patient records. When our work touches PHI, we sign a BAA.
What does our team have to do?
Not much. Give the free check your field, specialty, practice name, city and email. Have someone read and approve the Answer Kit's answers, then Web Everything (price on inquiry) or your current web company installs them using the placement guide.
When will the AI start naming our surgeons?
There's no date anyone can promise you, and a promised date should make you suspicious. Answers move from run to run, so the monthly measure asks each question several times before deciding a change is real.
This page is informational only and is not medical advice. AEOptim shows how AI engines represent your practice, and helps you improve it. It does not guarantee rankings, citations, patient volume, or any specific outcome.
Start here
See the answer your patients see.
Run the free check with your city and see if your practice is named. It's about two minutes, and free.
Not an eye practice? The medical practices page lists the rest.