Tag: google Search

From Dr. Google to Your Exam Lane – What Online Search Trends Reveal About Today’s Contact Lens Patients

Buying-Selling A Practice, Practice, Technology

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From Dr. Google to Your Exam Lane - What Online Search Trends Reveal About Today’s Contact Lens Patients

by Dr. Harbir Sian, OD 

In an era when patients ask Dr. Google before they call their optometrist, the way people seek vision care information is changing fast.

The Contact Lens Institute’s 2025 Digital Discovery report dives into thousands of real-world searches from across North America including Google queries, TikTok reels, voice-assistant prompts, and AI-generated answers to uncover what contact-lens wearers (and would-be wearers) really want to know.

The results offer valuable lessons for eye-care professionals: how to anticipate patient questions, fill the information gaps that online sources leave behind, and strengthen in-office trust in an AI-powered world.

Price First, Value Second

The study found that 65% of all contact-lens-related Google searches focus on buying—price comparisons, retailers, rebates, and “cheap contact lenses.” That means many patients come to their exam with a pre-set idea of what lenses should cost based on what they’ve seen online.

Clinics can turn that to their advantage. Discuss rebates, insurance coverage, direct shipping, easy exchanges, and personalized service early in the visit and not as an afterthought at checkout. Showing the full value proposition helps move the conversation from “How cheap can I get them?” to “Why should I get them from you?”

Automated reorder reminders and in-office or online purchasing portals also keep patients from drifting toward online retailers when it’s time to restock.

A Removal Problem, Not an Insertion One

One of the most surprising findings: searches for how to remove contact lenses outnumber how to insert by more than 2-to-1. It’s a reminder that removal anxiety, not insertion, could be driving frustration and dropout among new wearers.

Make removal part of every fitting conversation. Printed guides, short explainer videos, and structured follow-ups can dramatically reduce anxiety. Even better, send patients your own trusted video link so they don’t have to scroll through questionable TikToks for help.

Shifting the “Either-Or” Mindset

Search behavior also shows a major misconception: only 6% of comparative searches used the word “and” (as in contacts and glasses), while 94% used “or.” Many consumers still believe they have to choose one or the other.

 That’s a missed opportunity. Ask every patient about “life moments” that could benefit from both: vacations, sports, weddings, or even long workdays. Offering in-office trial experiences, where the optometrist inserts and removes the lenses, can help hesitant patients imagine contact lenses as part of their everyday routine, not a replacement for spectacles.

Voice Search and AI: The New Front Door

Up to 20% of all contact-lens searches now happen through voice assistants such as Siri, Alexa, or Google Assistant. Phrases like “eye doctor near me” dominate.

For clinics, that means visibility depends on digital housekeeping: complete your Google Business profile, use location-specific keywords, and include “eye doctor” or “optometrist” on your site pages.

Google’s new AI-driven summaries (via Gemini) often answer a query without users ever scrolling down. Practices that publish credible local content, blogs, service pages, and videos, are more likely to be cited or surfaced by these AI summaries. In other words, digital authority begins with your own website.

Countering Misinformation—Gently

Patients trust AI assistants, but that trust is misplaced more often than not. When the Contact Lens Institute asked major AI platforms where consumers should go for lens information, results ranged from the American Optometric Association to, surprisingly… Forbes.com.

Rather than dismissing what patients read online, invite the discussion:

“That’s interesting—where did you find that information?”

This simple question opens the door to clarify misconceptions and reinforces your role as the most reliable source for personalized guidance.

Meeting Patients Where They Search

The CLI Digital Discovery report offers a clear takeaway: the online behavior of today’s patients can help shape better real-world care. When optometrists view digital channels as extensions of their exam lanes, they can anticipate concerns before they’re voiced, provide trustworthy education, and make every interaction, online or in-office, count.

By embracing proactive education, promoting dual wear, and optimizing for digital discoverability, eye-care professionals can ensure that Dr. Google leads patients right back to where they belong, in your exam chair.

 

Dr. Harbir Sian, OD

Dr. Harbir Sian, OD, is an optometrist, entrepreneur, and award-winning advocate. Co-owner of multiple clinics in British Columbia, he specializes in myopia management and dry eye care. A TEDx speaker and host of Canada’s most downloaded optometry podcast, he is a trusted Key Opinion Leader and sought-after educator.

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Why Online Practice Visibility Matters More Than Ever

Digital Marketing, Marketing

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Google, ChatGPT, AI

AI is not just changing how patients search. It is changing what shows up and what they actually see. Visibility today is about shaping the digital signals that AI platforms rely on to guide patient decisions.

Ask most practice owners what visibility means

You will hear a range of answers: being on Google, showing up in search, posting on social media. But all of those channels have evolved and so has the way patients engage with them. Visibility is not only about being found; it is about being chosen. In a post-AI landscape, how your practice is seen matters just as much as where it appears.

AI changed the optics, literally

Until recently, most patients searched for care using familiar tools like Google Maps, “near me” searches, or Instagram location tags. But with the rise of large language models such as ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews, and Perplexity, a new shift has taken place. AI is now interpreting your entire online presence for the patient.

Patients can ask a question like:
“What is the best eye doctor near me who takes time with patients?”

Instead of offering a list of websites, AI now delivers a direct response based on patterns pulled from reviews, business listings, social posts, and web content.

If your practice has the right signals in place, it can become the answer. If those signals are missing, if your reviews are generic, your Google Business Profile is outdated, or your website lacks specific content on common conditions, your practice may not be shown at all.

Your practice is a data source, whether you know it or not

Here is what many practices have not yet realized: you do not need to opt in for AI tools to pull your data. These systems are already scanning and summarizing the public web, including:

  • Your Google Business Profile (Get Started)
  • Patient reviews
  • Instagram captions and hashtags
  • Website content and FAQs
  • Online articles or directories

AI platforms like OpenAI’s models and Google’s new Overviews are not just scanning one post or listing. They are gathering information from dozens or even hundreds of sources and using those signals to generate a synthesized, direct answer to the patient’s question.

Your practice is not judged by a single listing or blog post. It is being interpreted based on the totality of your digital presence across platforms, formats, and third-party mentions.

The story AI tells about your practice is not based on what you say. It is based on what the internet says about you. And in many cases, that story is incomplete or outdated.

Discoverability has a new layer

Traditional local search focused on:

  • Proximity / Location
  • Keyword relevance
  • Website performance

These factors still matter, but AI has added a new layer of context. It now considers:

  • Does your content answer patient-specific questions?
  • Do your reviews speak to real outcomes?
  • Are you mentioned or referenced outside of your own website?

AI does not simply collect information. It summarizes it. This means surface-level SEO and generic descriptions are no longer enough. Your online presence must be specific, consistent, and rich with meaningful signals.

Today’s platforms:

  • Scan 30, 50, even 100 sources at once
  • Pull patterns, phrasing, and consensus from across the web
  • Deliver a single answer, often without showing the user where that answer came from

Instead of a potential patient clicking on your website or blog, the AI is summarizing what it already knows about your practice—based on everything else it can find.

Visibility is an ecosystem, not a checklist

Many practices still approach visibility as a list of tasks:

But in today’s search landscape, visibility depends on how those pieces connect.

When your Google profile is active, your reviews are recent and detailed, and your content reflects your expertise, it creates a trust signal that platforms recognize.

This kind of visibility is not a one-time marketing effort. It is a living system that supports long-term discoverability.

What this means for your practice

Every practice can improve visibility using tools it already has access to. Patient reviews are one of the most powerful and underutilized visibility signals. Reviews that mention the doctor’s name, the condition treated, and the city are especially effective. For example:

“Dr. Morris in Whitby helped me manage my dry eye, and now I can get through the workday without discomfort.”

This kind of review is not just about reputation. It gives search engines and AI platforms the information they need to understand your relevance and local connection.

Practices that start investing in this type of clarity and specificity now will be in a stronger position as AI-driven discovery continues to evolve.

Being seen no longer depends on just having a website or a few good keywords. Visibility today is about shaping the signals that patients and platforms rely on to make decisions.

Louise Courville

Louise Courville is a visibility strategist and founder of EYE Reputation, an agency built to help eye care practices increase visibility across Google, social, and AI platforms.

She brings decades of experience in the optical industry and over eight years in digital marketing. Louise writes about how search, AI, and trust signals are reshaping the way patients find eye care online.

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