When someone asks ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity to recommend a private dentist in Manchester, which practices actually get named? We measured it — and the answer is sobering for almost everyone.
We asked the three assistants the 16 questions real patients ask (“best private dentist in Manchester”, “who’s good for implants”, “is X taking new patients”), repeated across runs, and scored each practice 0–100 on how often AI recognises and recommends it — not merely whether its name appears. In our June 2026 scan, twelve practices ranked. Here’s what we found.
The leader scored 65. Half the field scored under 48.
In the June 2026 scan, top of the table was Gartside Street Dental Lounge at 65/100— the only one of the twelve to break 60. Behind it: City Centre Dental & Implant Clinic (53), Ringway Dental (51), Manchester Dental (50). The median score across those twelve was just ~47, and the bottom of the ranked list sat at 40. In other words, even Manchester’s most AI-visible private dentist was only moderately visible — and most were closer to invisible.
No private dentist in Manchester is the clear answer when AI is asked to recommend one. The category is wide open.
You can be the answer on one assistant and missing on another
The per-engine numbers were the most revealing part. In that June 2026 scan, Gartside Street scored 79 on ChatGPT but only 51 on Gemini— a strong answer for some patients, a weak one for others, depending purely on which assistant they happen to use. Visibility isn’t one number; it’s different on every engine, and most practices have no idea where they stand on any of them.
Why this matters now
45% of consumers used an AI assistant to find a local business in 2026 (BrightLocal), and ChatGPT recommends only around 1.2% of business locations when asked (SOCi, across 350k locations). In June 2026 a score of 65 made you the local leader; a score in the 40s means that when a patient asks AI for a dentist, you’re simply not in the conversation — and the practice down the road is.
See the full ranked table and per-engine scores on the Manchester Private Dentists AI Visibility Index, and read exactly how we measure — the method is public, and it’s a snapshot for June 2026, so scores will move as practices fix their data.