AI SEO Statistics: Spine Surgeon (2026-07 edition)

Reading the 120 answers model by model shows how differently the three assistants treat the same spine surgeon questions. On the most consequential behavior — whether to send the buyer to a professional at all — the rate ranged from 72.5% (ChatGPT) down to 37.5% (Gemini), a 35-point gap on an identical question set.

Across the 40 spine surgeon answers it produced, ChatGPT recommended hiring a professional in 72.5% of them and suggested a DIY approach first 7.5% of the time. It named a specific provider in 5% of answers (about 0 distinct providers per answer) and included price or cost information 5% of the time. ChatGPT asked a clarifying question before answering in 60% of cases, warned about red flags or scams in 17.5%, and told the buyer to verify credentials in 25%, averaging 502 words per answer. On the remaining cues it told the buyer to check reviews in 15%, pointed to case studies or a portfolio in 12.5%, and framed the choice around local proximity in 20%; a selection-criteria checklist appeared in 45% of its answers and a recommendation to gather multiple quotes in 27.5%.

Across the 40 spine surgeon answers it produced, Claude recommended hiring a professional in 62.5% of them and suggested a DIY approach first 7.5% of the time. It named a specific provider in 5% of answers (about 0.1 distinct providers per answer) and included price or cost information 5% of the time. Claude asked a clarifying question before answering in 57.5% of cases, warned about red flags or scams in 10%, and told the buyer to verify credentials in 22.5%, averaging 296 words per answer. On the remaining cues it told the buyer to check reviews in 10%, pointed to case studies or a portfolio in 2.5%, and framed the choice around local proximity in 20%; a selection-criteria checklist appeared in 37.5% of its answers and a recommendation to gather multiple quotes in 17.5%.

Across the 40 spine surgeon answers it produced, Gemini recommended hiring a professional in 37.5% of them and suggested a DIY approach first 0% of the time. It named a specific provider in 10% of answers (about 0.2 distinct providers per answer) and included price or cost information 5% of the time. Gemini asked a clarifying question before answering in 2.5% of cases, warned about red flags or scams in 10%, and told the buyer to verify credentials in 10%, averaging 283 words per answer. On the remaining cues it told the buyer to check reviews in 5%, pointed to case studies or a portfolio in 0%, and framed the choice around local proximity in 15%; a selection-criteria checklist appeared in 32.5% of its answers and a recommendation to gather multiple quotes in 7.5%.

Taken together, ChatGPT is the assistant most likely to route a spine surgeon buyer to a professional (72.5%) and Gemini the least (37.5%). ChatGPT produced the longest answers, at 502 words on average. Specific providers were named most often by Gemini (10%) — even there, roughly one answer in 10 carried a name.

On other behaviors the three models move almost in lockstep — the points of near-consensus for spine surgeon, where all three landed within a few points of each other:

• Gives price or cost information: 5% across all three models.
• Names a specific provider: 5%–10% across all three (a 5-point spread).
• Mentions local proximity: 15%–20% across all three (a 5-point spread).
• Suggests a DIY approach first: 0%–7.5% across all three (a 8-point spread).

Measured question by question, the three assistants coded a response the same way most consistently on "gives price or cost information" (identical coding in 100% of questions) and least consistently on "asks a clarifying question" (20%).

Beyond whether to hire, the rubric codes how carefully each assistant protects the spine surgeon buyer once a decision is made. Telling the buyer to check reviews or ratings appeared in 10% of answers on average. Verifying credentials or certifications appeared in 19.2%. Warning about red flags or scams appeared in 12.5%.

On structuring the decision, a selection-criteria checklist showed up in 38.3% of answers on average and a recommendation to gather multiple quotes in 17.5%. The single least-reproduced protective signal for spine surgeon is "tells the buyer to check reviews" at 10% on average — the clearest opening for content that supplies it, since the models are not yet reliably surfacing that guidance on their own.

The 40 questions behind every percentage on this page were drawn from real spine surgeon (healthcare services; buyer hiring decisions for this specific service) buyer journeys. Each was put to all 3 models once, with identical wording, so the rates above describe how the assistants handled this exact spine surgeon question set — not a general prior or a hand-picked subset. The full list is shown earlier on this page; the coded percentages are what those specific questions produced.