Research
What people find when they look for a therapist.
We ask Google, Google’s AI, and ChatGPT for a therapist the way people do. Then we check what the practice websites they lead to tell a prospective client.
Wave 1 of a study we plan to repeat each quarter. Data captured October 8, 2026.
Wave 1 at a glance
- 50cities, the largest in each state
- 6questions about finding a therapist
- 1,750answers from Google, Google’s AI, and ChatGPT
- 3,393practice websites checked
Wave 1 findings
What we found.
These are totals across all 50 cities. The full report gives every measure with the count behind it.
Read what it means for your practicePsychology Today is on Google’s first page almost every time.
It appeared in Google’s top 10 for 267 of 300 searches and ranked first in 119. On “therapist near me,” directories held 53% of the first page and practice websites 21%.
Google’s AI names practices beyond the map pack.
Google’s AI Mode named a practice or clinician in 265 of 300 answers. Only 40% of the places AI Overviews named were in the map pack on the same page.
ChatGPT reads Psychology Today and answers with people.
ChatGPT searched the web in all 900 of its answers and cited Psychology Today in 89%. Between 81% and 90% of its first answers named an individual clinician, depending on how strictly a name is counted.
Ask twice, get a different list.
Only 29% of the businesses ChatGPT named appeared in all three runs of the same question. Where Google’s AI Mode and ChatGPT both named providers for the same city and question, they shared at least one in 26% of cases.
Practice websites leave basic questions open.
Of the 3,393 practice websites that loaded, 45% state what a session costs and 40% link to online booking or a client portal. Only 20% say whether they are taking new clients.
How we did it
We asked the way people ask, in every state.
On October 8, 2026, we asked six questions in the largest city of each state. We asked in four places, then visited the practice websites the answers led to.
Where we asked
- Google search, with its map pack and AI Overview
- Google Maps, reading the first 20 listings
- Google’s AI Mode
- ChatGPT, three times for each question
What we asked
- General
- “therapist near me”
- Anxiety
- “anxiety therapist [city] [ST]”
- Couples
- “couples counseling [city] [ST]”
- Child
- “child therapist [city] [ST]”
- Trauma
- “trauma therapy [city] [ST]”
- Online
- “online therapist [state]”
AI Mode and ChatGPT were asked the same six as requests, such as “Can you recommend a therapist in [city], [ST]?”
What we checked
We fetched every practice website a person would see in those answers, 3,665 in all. For the 3,393 that loaded, we read the home page and up to four pages about fees, booking, contact, or questions.
Separate code recounted the headline measures straight from the raw files, and every one matched. We name no practice or clinician.
What one wave cannot show
- Each wave is one day, from one desktop location per city, logged out. Results shift from week to week.
- We searched the largest city in each state, so rural searches may look different.
- Six questions are a small part of how people ask.
- The ChatGPT app people use may remember them and answer differently.
- We report patterns. Where two things appear together, we make no claim that one causes the other.
All research
Studies and field notes.
Study, wave 1October 2026
Where Patients Get Sent
Where Google, Google’s AI, and ChatGPT send people looking for a therapist in 50 cities, and what 3,393 practice websites tell them.
Field notesOctober 2026
What ChatGPT Searches to Find a Therapist
Six questions sent to ChatGPT, Gemini, and Meta AI, three times each, with every search they ran recorded.
Quoting our research
You are welcome to quote these findings. Please name the study and link to this page, for example: Credible by Design, Where Patients Get Sent, wave 1 (October 2026).
Send questions or corrections to hello@crediblebydesign.com.
Your practice
See how your practice shows up.
Start with a free credibility audit, focused on search and AI answers. We work with therapy and private healthcare practices on their websites and on how they show up in search.