When someone finally decides to get help, they ask AI first. Be the practice it names.
The decision takes months: the sleepless stretch that will not lift, the fight that scared them, the parent watching a teenager go quiet. When it finally comes, more and more people open an AI engine and ask a plain question before they call anyone. The answer comes back with names in it, and in most metros the mental health answer is still wide open. AEOptim helps independent practices claim it, with the rules of your field built in and a visible path to emergency help in everything we build.
of consumers now use AI to find local recommendations. A year ago it was 6 percent.
In most metros, no mental health practice has set up to be the AI answer yet. Early, done responsibly, tends to hold.
mental and behavioral health specialties, each with its own question map.
The search for help moved upstream. And it got quieter.
Nobody starts with "therapist near me." They start with the feeling: is this anxiety or am I overreacting, do I need therapy or medication, how much does therapy cost without insurance. Those questions get AI answers almost every time, across Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude. And there is a second thing about this field. An AI chat is private. The hesitation that keeps someone from asking a friend or calling a front desk does not keep them from asking an engine, so the plainest, most personal questions go to AI first. The practice cited in those upstream answers is the one a person remembers when they are finally ready to book. That upstream answer is what we measure and what we build for.
What people actually ask AI, by specialty.
Pick a specialty. These are the questions from our research into each field, asked the way people actually ask them, and the ones an AI engine answers with a short list of names.
Every corner of the field, mapped by how people actually ask.
Five specialties have standalone playbook pages today. Every one of the eighteen is covered by the free check, and more pages are on the way.
The field's front door. When someone is finally ready to talk to someone, the AI short list is often the whole search.
The therapy playbook → Anxiety & depression therapyThe most asked-about conditions in the field. People ask AI to name what they are feeling before they name a therapist.
The anxiety & depression playbook → Psychiatry & medication managementTherapy or medication is the comparison question at the center of the field, and AI answers it. A prescriber's scope needs to be described accurately.
The psychiatry playbook → Couples & marriage counselingUsually one partner researching quietly for two. Does it actually work comes before who is near us, and both get AI answers.
The couples counseling playbook → Addiction & substance-use treatmentThe highest stakes and the most predatory search landscape in the field. Independent programs win by being the verifiable answer.
The addiction treatment playbook → Child & adolescent therapyA worried parent is the searcher, and the questions are urgent and specific: who works with teens, who takes our insurance, how soon.
Run the free check → Trauma & PTSD therapyPeople arrive half-knowing the acronyms. What is EMDR, does it work, who offers it: questions AI answers with names attached.
Run the free check → PsychologistsTesting, assessment, and doctoral-level care. The psychologist versus therapist question is asked constantly, and AI answers it every time.
Run the free check → ADHD evaluation & treatmentOne of the fastest-growing searches in the field. Who evaluates adults, what it costs, and whether insurance covers it decide the call.
Run the free check → Family therapyWhole-family problems arrive one member at a time. The practice that explains how the work actually goes earns the first call.
Run the free check → Eating disorder treatmentOften a scared parent sorting through levels of care they have never heard of. Plain explanations matter more here than almost anywhere.
Run the free check → IOP & PHP programsStep-up and step-down care that people meet for the first time when they need it. AI explains the acronyms; the named local program wins.
Run the free check → Neuropsychological testingReferral-driven but heavily researched. Families ask what testing shows, how long it takes, and what it costs before any appointment.
Run the free check → OCD treatmentERP is the treatment people are told to look for, and few practices say clearly that they offer it. AI rewards the ones that do.
Run the free check → Perinatal & postpartum mental healthNew parents search at odd hours with specific fears. Being the calm, accurate local answer is the entire job here.
Run the free check → LGBTQ-affirming therapyAffirming is the word people actually search. Practices that state it plainly, with the training behind it, get named.
Run the free check → Grief & loss counselingPeople ask whether grief needs counseling at all. The honest answer builds the trust that brings the call when they are ready.
Run the free check → Autism evaluation & servicesWaitlists are long and information is scattered. Families ask AI where to start, and the practice with clear answers stands out.
Run the free check →Three moments. AI is in all of them now.
The first question is about the feeling, not the clinician. AI answers it, and if a practice's content is the source, that practice's name rides along.
Now the questions are about approaches, cost, and what a first session is actually like. The practice whose pages answer plainly becomes the explainer this person trusts.
The naming moment. AI hands back a short list, and for a growing share of people that list is the search. Our work is making sure your name is on it.
The compliant version is the effective version.
Mental health carries stricter rules than any other field we work in: HIPAA, the APA ethics code, state licensing boards, and a duty of care to people who may be in real distress. We treat those rules as the design spec, not an obstacle, and the work that passes them is the same work AI engines trust most. Five rules govern everything we build for a practice in this field.
No client stories, no identifiable details, ever. Everything we help you publish is clinician-authored and general: about conditions, approaches, and the practice itself. Even review replies get care, because a simple thank-you can confirm that someone is a client.
The APA ethics code and most state boards restrict soliciting testimonials from therapy clients, so we never solicit, script, or publish them. Trust gets built on licensure, training, specialties, and plain facts instead, and engines weigh facts more than praise anyway.
No cure claims, no timelines to better, no success rates. Progress is described as what the process looks like, never as a guarantee. Our own claim stays about visibility, being found and accurately described, never about clinical results.
A therapist is not a prescriber, a psychiatrist is, and a coach is not a licensed clinician. We make sure AI describes your actual license and scope accurately, which is both a compliance safeguard and a visibility win: engines reward the practice whose facts check out.
Any content we build that could meet a person in distress routes crisis and self-harm intent to 988, by call or text, and to 911 or the nearest emergency room, and states plainly that the practice is not emergency care. A practice is never positioned as a substitute for emergency help. Being the answer in this field carries responsibility, and we build to it without exception.
Start free. Every price on the page.
We ask a live engine the question someone looking for help in your market would ask, and show you who it names. Two minutes, no card, no call afterward.
The questions your clients ask before they book, answered on your site with the schema underneath, written to HIPAA and board rules by default.
Where you stand today across the engines: every question a client travels, every answer, who gets named instead.
The full diagnostic in two halves: how AI answers about your practice, and the search demand around you.
The engines re-polled every month in your market, with a verdict on what moved: real, or noise. Optional, month to month.
Answers vary by city, and they vary by engine. A practice named in Denver may be invisible two counties over, which is why we measure where you actually practice instead of reporting national averages.
The questions practice owners ask us.
Do people really ask AI to find a therapist?
Is this compatible with HIPAA and my board's rules?
What about someone in crisis finding this content?
Can you guarantee AI will recommend my practice?
Which mental health specialties do you cover?
Where should a practice start?
Somewhere in your city, someone just decided to ask for help.
Two minutes tells you whether your practice is the answer they find. Free, no card.
Run your free check →