We’ve been nagging, cajoling and badgering you for years about getting more reviews for your cosmetic practice. So what are we on about this time?
Well, with new AI tools, chatbots and AI agents flourishing, what your patients are saying about you matters more than ever. In fact, we’ll go ahead and declare it the single most important thing for your online marketing. Yep, more important than updating your website, blasting out offers, or even posting to social. We’re serious here! AI optimization for medical practices is an essential part of your online success.
Let’s take a look at why reviews are extra hair on fire critical now.
A (Super) Brief History of Online Reviews
Before AI, Google used reviews primarily to validate how trustworthy your business is. They weren’t factored into search engine rankings per se, but they influenced map results and local listings quite a bit, and of course featured prominently in search results.
Now, AI tools are straight up using reviews in their decisionmaking about which businesses to recommend. You’ve probably wondered why certain businesses come up in Google’s AI Overviews, or, if you’re a ChatGPT user, why certain products or services are recommended over others. If you have limited reviews, or many crappy reviews, you can forget about attracting patients who are using these tools. It’s like you don’t exist.
It’s Time to Cover the 3 Review Essentials
So for the umpteenth time, you have to get a review process in place that works. Our clients have review management through RepuGen, which immensely helps to tackle these 3 critical aspects of online reviews. There are other review management solutions too, and you may even choose to fly solo, but the point is to nail all 3 of these factors so your reviews have the most impact in the eyes of the ‘bots.
1. Volume
Total review count matters a lot. And we’re not saying gobs and gobs of 5 star reviews only. The fact is that having 500 reviews, even with a few 1 or 2 star grumps in the mix, is far better for your brand positioning in AI tools (and Google search) than having a perfect 5 star rating with only 30 reviews. In short, volume beats perfection, so do not be shy in asking everyone (except those you know have not been happy) to post a review.
2. Recency
Over two-thirds of consumers focus on recent reviews when learning about a business. This means that review solicitation is never a “one and done” activity, and should not be a focus for just a month a year and then sidelined for other priorities. Both AI tools and actual patients are looking to reviews to show them the customer experience at your practice right now.
That said, we’ve found AI tools digging very deep into client review history, surfacing reviews from a decade or more ago when sharing information about a practice. Some of this is because AI tools have been trained using older data sets, and we expect the relevancy of older reviews to diminish over time. But if several of your old reviews have plenty of likes, or if you used to respond to reviews and have since stopped, those reviews may remain front and center longer than you hope.
3. Engagement
Speaking of review likes and responses, these are critical engagement factors that demonstrate to AI tools how certain reviews carry more resonance than others. Reviews that have many views, likes, and an owner response are rightfully seen as more indicative of overall customer experience, and therefore carry more weight. This is yet another reason why it’s so important to respond to reviews.
Beyond Google Reviews
While Google reviews remain the heavy hitter, keep in mind that your patients may be reviewing you in many other places, and that’s a good thing. You might get reviewed on social media, RealSelf (yes, it still exists), Reddit or even (lord forbid) Yelp.
AI tools are monitoring all these platforms for review sentiments, meaning you should as well. In fact, having many reviews on a variety of sources actually improves your trustworthiness in the eyes of AI, since it can cross reference these multiple sources and be more confident in its analysis.
You can broaden your practice’s review footprint by using your review management software to direct users to different review platforms. This way of “spreading the love” makes it easier on your patients, rather than sending them a link to 5 different review sites and asking them to choose.
Your Reviews To Do List
Here’s how to maximize your reputation management effort and position your practice in the best possible light in emerging AI tools.
Must Do:
- Set a monthly goal for number and quality of reviews and review progress quarterly.
- Utilize RepuGen or a similar review management platform to automate review gathering.
- Target patients that have not yet left a review through email, SMS, phone and in-person requests.
- Mix up where you are requesting reviews so you have a nice assortment on all the top review sites, not just Google.
- Respond to reviews regularly while keeping HIPAA in mind. For negative reviews, try to work with the patient offline on a resolution rather than engaging publicly.
- Keep your Google Business Profile listing fully updated with services, new photos, and offers.
Extra Credit:
- Collect offline or internal reviews and post them to your website marked up with machine-readable schema.
- Build buzz through community events, media mentions, and other activities that will organically lead to more reviews.
- Develop an internal staff incentive program for meeting or exceeding new review goals.
