Do Healthgrades, Zocdoc and Vitals profiles affect AI answers, and how do I claim them?

I’m a marketer, not a lawyer, and nothing here is legal advice. Replying to reviews on these sites raises HIPAA questions, so agree the rules with your compliance officer before anyone at the practice replies. This page covers the profile facts, which hold no patient information.

Do they affect what AI says?

In my AI answers field report, pooled across 9 businesses in different industries, not medical practices specifically, directories, review sites and social profiles turned up in the answers for almost every business. The most-cited domains across 8 businesses were facebook.com, google.com, linkedin.com, reddit.com, bbb.org, yelp.com, youtube.com.

Doctor directories aren’t on that list. The report only charts domains cited for at least 5 businesses across different fields, so no field’s own directory can appear. I haven’t measured a lift from claiming Healthgrades or Vitals. I’d claim them anyway, because a stale profile can feed a wrong fact.

The accuracy side I can measure. Between 15% and 35% of the answers that named a business got at least one fact wrong (per-business range across 5 businesses in different industries, not medical practices specifically, in my field report). An unclaimed directory profile is a listing nobody at the practice controls.

Start with each provider’s NPI record

Directories build doctor profiles from public records. The NPI registry is the record a HIPAA-covered provider must keep current: changes must be reported “within 30 days of the change” (45 CFR 162.410, checked October 27, 2026). Updates go through NPPES, the CMS system behind the NPI Registry (checked October 27, 2026).

For each provider, check the practice location address, the phone number and the specialty taxonomy. Then the organization’s own NPI, if the practice has one. Do this before the directories, so the record they compile from is already right.

Healthgrades

• What it is: a doctor directory with ratings, profiles listed whether or not the doctor claimed one.
• To claim: go to Healthgrades for Professionals (checked October 27, 2026), find your profile and join for free. Expect to verify that you’re the provider.
• Then: correct the practice locations, phone numbers, hours, accepted insurance and specialties, and add a photo and bio. Healthgrades says that when you update your profile, “your data syncs across all of our partner brands,” so one correction travels.
• Paid options exist. The free profile is enough to get the facts right.

Vitals

• What it is: a directory that says it “lists all actively licensed physicians in the United States” from public records, and that physicians “may not decline listing” (Vitals FAQ, checked October 27, 2026).
• To claim: use the “claim this profile” link on your profile page, or Vitals’ claim page (checked October 27, 2026). Only physicians or their staff may claim.

Zocdoc

• What it is: a booking marketplace, not a free directory. Zocdoc charges “a one-time booking fee” when “a new patient books through the Zocdoc Marketplace or affiliated partners,” with “no upfront or subscription costs.” The fee “varies by specialty and location,” and existing patients don’t trigger it (Zocdoc, published December 17, 2025, checked October 27, 2026).
• What’s free: Zocdoc says bookings through its button on your own website and through your Google Business Profile don’t carry the fee.
• Is it worth it for AI answers? I can’t tell you that from data. Join Zocdoc if the per-booking cost works for your schedule. If you list there, keep the profile’s locations, insurance and doctor list matching everything else.

Insurer directories and the general listings

Patients ask assistants which practices take their insurance, and insurer directories are one place that answer can come from. Check your listing in each plan you take, and in the directory of any hospital where your doctors have privileges.

Your Google Business Profile, Bing Places and Apple Business Connect come next. They feed maps for every business, medical or not. Google’s guideline is to “represent your business as it’s consistently represented and recognized in the real world” (Google Business Profile guidelines, checked October 27, 2026). One name, one address and one phone per location, the same as your NPI record.

Keep one version of every fact

The free What AI says about you template has a ledger with one row per fact and one column per source, including a column for your field’s directory. Add a row per provider. In the shorter snapshot checks, part of the same data, pooled across 9 businesses in different industries, not medical practices specifically, 4 of 4 businesses had facts that disagreed across their own site and listings. The ledger is how you find yours.

When the facts agree, ask the assistants about the practice by name and compare. The guide to why ChatGPT doesn’t name a practice covers the questions to ask.

When to bring me in

Bring me in when AI answers get your hours, address or services wrong, when they name competitors for the work you want, or when you’ve fixed your listings and want to know whether the answers changed.

I'm Conner Crowe, and I write every audit myself. Send your website and your market. There’s nothing to grant, and within 48 hours you'll have a written read on what each AI assistant says about you and where the wrong facts come from. No call needed, and nothing in your account or store changes.

Get a free AI answer snapshot →

Or run the check yourself with the free What AI says about you template.