Because ChatGPT and Perplexity don't lean on Google the way you'd expect — they draw heavily on Bing (alongside their own crawlers), so a clinic can rank well on Google Maps and still be missing from ChatGPT if it's incomplete on Bing. Claiming and completing a Bing Places listing — and making sure your site is indexed by Bing — is a fast, commonly-skipped fix.
When you ask ChatGPT or Perplexity for a recommendation, they run a live search and assemble the answer from the top results — and that search leans heavily on Microsoft Bing rather than Google (the engines also run their own crawlers). One study found the large majority of ChatGPT's local citations matched Bing's top results. So your Google Business Profile, no matter how complete, isn't the main thing ChatGPT reads.
This is engine-specific. Google's own AI Overview and Gemini do use Google data (Business Profile, Maps), so a clinic strong on Google can win there while losing in ChatGPT. To cover all of them you need presence in both ecosystems — Google Business Profile for Google's AI, and a claimed, complete Bing Places listing plus Bing indexing for ChatGPT and Perplexity.
The practical first step is the cheapest one: claim Bing Places, fill in every field (hours, services, photos, categories), and submit your site to Bing Webmaster Tools so it's indexed. Most clinics have never done this, which is exactly why a competitor can be the one ChatGPT names.
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