Dental Index 2.0: Aspen Dental Leads in AI Answers

Summary: Aspen Dental leads the Dental Index 2.0. It was named in 91 of 288 AI answers (31.6%; 95% interval 26.5–37.2%) across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity, ahead of PDS Health at 54 of 288 (18.8%; 95% interval 14.7–23.7%). Google AI Overviews appeared on 49 of 59 searches (83.1%). All answers were measured on October 30, 2026.

Appearance rate across 288 four-engine answers. The bar is the 95% confidence interval; overlapping bars cannot be told apart at this sample size.

How do all 19 tracked companies rank?

Own-domain citation is the share of 283 grounded answers that cited the tracked name's own domains (subdomains included). Citation share is of all 2,435 citations.

How do the top eight companies compare?

ChatGPT named ADA MouthHealthy in 16 of 72 answers. The other engines named it in 3 to 6 of 72.

ChatGPT

72 asked · 72 returned · 72 grounded

Claude

72 asked · 72 returned · 67 grounded

Gemini

72 asked · 72 returned · 72 grounded

Perplexity

72 asked · 72 returned · 72 grounded

Google AI Overviews were captured through 59 U.S. desktop searches and scored only where an overview appeared, so five-engine figures use 288 + 49 = 337 answers.

Google AI Overviews appeared on 49 of 59 searches (83.1%, CI 71.5–90.5%). The other 10 searches showed no overview. Within the 49 overviews, Aspen Dental was named in 12 (24.5%), Invisalign was named in 9 (18.4%), Zocdoc was named in 6 (12.2%), Dental Care Alliance was named in 5 (10.2%). google.com was the most-cited source, with 19 citations and an appearance in 9 of 49 overviews.

Which company does each question surface first?

Six questions from the set. Each tile uses that question's own four-engine answers as the denominator.

The four engines produced 2,435 citations in total. beckersdental.com was cited most often, with 117 citations (4.8%) across 45 answers. Next came aspendental.com (78), en.wikipedia.org (42), zocdoc.com (39), aae.org (36), mouthhealthy.org (35).

Four AI engines · share of 283 grounded answers

Google AI Overviews · share of 49 overviews

Which types of sources get cited?

Share of all citations by the type of site cited.

How can companies improve their AI visibility?

These steps follow from the measured results above. They describe what the engines cited in this study and are not a guarantee of results.

Frequently asked questions

Which company do AI engines name most often?

Aspen Dental, named in 91 of 288 four-engine answers (31.6%, CI 26.5–37.2%). PDS Health was second at 54 of 288 (18.8%).

Which company is named first most often?

Aspen Dental was the first company named in 60 of 288 answers, with an average first position of 1.5.

How often do Google AI Overviews appear for these questions?

An overview appeared on 49 of 59 searches (83.1%, CI 71.5–90.5%). Within those 49 overviews, Aspen Dental was named most often, in 12 (24.5%).

Which sources do the engines cite?

Across 2,435 four-engine citations, beckersdental.com was cited most (117 citations, in 45 of 283 grounded answers), followed by aspendental.com (78 citations).

Do the four engines agree?

Only in part. ChatGPT named ADA MouthHealthy in 16 of 72 answers, against 3 to 6 of 72 on the other engines. ChatGPT named Heartland Dental in 18 of 72 answers, against 3 to 13 of 72 on the other engines.

Which source types do AI engines cite most?

Sites not yet classified made up 1,639 of 2,435 four-engine citations (67.3%). Among the classified types, company and brand sites supplied 360 (14.8%), health publishers 83 (3.4%) and official and government sites 81 (3.3%).

Which sources do Google AI Overviews cite?

aspendental.com appeared in 22.4% of the 49 overviews, google.com in 18.4% (19 citations, the most of any source), youtube.com in 16.3% and reddit.com in 14.3%. Community and social sites supplied 23 of 208 AI Overview citations (11.1%).

Which company is cited from its own website most often?

Aspen Dental, whose own domains were cited in 51 of 283 grounded answers (18.0%). Zocdoc followed at 38 (13.4%), ADA MouthHealthy at 35 (12.4%) and WebMD at 33 (11.7%). 6 of the 19 tracked companies had no own-site citation.

Which companies were named for the best dental insurance for individuals?

None of the 19 tracked companies appeared in any of the 12 four-engine answers to "What is the best dental insurance for individuals?" The study scored only tracked names. Delta Dental and Cigna Healthcare were among the untracked names named often across the study.

How many questions and engines did this study measure?

24 questions were each asked 3 times on ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity, giving 288 answers, plus 59 U.S. Google searches, 49 of which showed an AI Overview. All answers were measured on October 30, 2026, in English.

How was this study measured?

24 questions × 3 runs each × 4 AI engines = 288 answers + 59 Google searches · 49 AI Overviews

24 questions asked three times on each of ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity, measured October 30, 2026. United States, English; Google retrieval uses desktop results. Models: gpt-5-mini, claude-sonnet-5-5, gemini-3.6-flash only, sonar-pro. Google AI Overviews come from DataForSEO, not inferred chat answers. Appearance counts returned text, including ungrounded answers; citation rates use grounded answers. Longer overlapping names suppress shorter ones; First mention is the earliest eligible name order. Own-domain rates include declared domains and subdomains; shared parent scopes may count for multiple names and cannot be summed as unique citations.

Own-domain citations count a domain plus all its subdomains, with the same rule in every table.

Definitions

• Appearance rate: answers naming the tracked name ÷ answers returned, with Wilson 95% intervals.
• First mention: average order in which the tracked name first appears (1 = first).
• Own-domain citation: grounded answers citing the tracked name's domains ÷ grounded answers.
• Citation share: citations to the tracked name's domains ÷ all citations.

Limits

• Only 19 tracked companies are ranked; results are not an exhaustive market ranking.
• Only the tracked brands were scored. Untracked names that appeared often were not scored, including American Dental Association (44 answers), Delta Dental (30 answers), ClearChoice Dental Implant Centers (24 answers), Cigna Healthcare (20 answers), ClearCorrect (20 answers).
• 347 of 360 planned results were returned. 13 AI Overview lookups were excluded after at most three total attempts.
• 59 successful Google searches: 49 overviews shown; 10 without an overview. Failures are excluded, not scored as zero.
• 5 chat answers had no search sources and are left out of the citation figures.
• Unverified own domains are not available, never zero or guessed. Source types use Company / brand sites only for verified official organisations; other unresolved sites are Other / unclassified.
• Wilson 95% intervals are descriptive; overlapping leading intervals do not establish a sole leader. Measurements do not endorse medical, legal, financial or product claims.
• The tracked names are the nine dentist-finder and health sites and eight dental service organizations from the original report, plus Invisalign, which a Core question names. Pacific Dental Services is counted as PDS Health, its current name. Google Business Profile and ADA Find-a-Dentist count only their own product pages, not all of google.com or ada.org.
• Two Core questions name brands: "Is Aspen Dental a good place to get dentures?" and "Invisalign vs braces". Without the first, Aspen Dental is named in 79 of 276 answers, still clear of PDS Health (54).
• Answers came from each engine's API (model IDs above); the consumer apps can answer differently.

Which 24 questions did we ask?

Questions marked "Core question" are the original study questions, asked word for word. The others are added neutral questions.

About the author: 5W Research Team

5W Research publishes the 5W AI Visibility Index series. 5W is an independent PR, creative and AI Visibility agency founded in 2003, and we get you in the chatbox. Last updated November 6, 2026.

About 5W

5W is an independent PR, creative and AI Visibility agency founded in 2003, and we get you in the chatbox. All of our work is done in house, including media relations, site building and content. Learn more about our GEO practice and our AI PR and digital marketing practice, or write to info@5wpr.com.