SEO Believer AI Whitespace (Direct)
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🔑 AI Whitespace (Direct)
SEO Believer: AI Whitespace Direct Test
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AI-Whitespace Test (DIRECT): Boulder Med Spas + Dentistry
Created: 2026-06-01
Upgrades: research/ai-whitespace-test-boulder-denver.md (the proxy test, which only analyzed Google page-1 sources without querying AI engines).
Purpose: Directly query AI answer engines for Boulder's two bet verticals and record, per query and per engine, (a) whether a substantive local answer was returned, (b) which businesses and sources were named, and (c) whether the named whitespace candidates appeared or were absent.
1. Method note
Six queries were run across the engines below. Annette was logged in via Chrome (Claude-in-Chrome MCP). Engines were driven in their live web UIs; answers were captured as page text and screenshots.
| Engine | How queried | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Perplexity | perplexity.ai, signed out (quick-answer mode) | All 6 queries run. Returns a single lead source + a Google-Maps-driven "Places" widget, not a long prose roundup. The implant-cost query did return prose. A sign-up wall appeared after several queries but did not block capture. |
| Claude | claude.ai, signed in (Annette, Opus 4.8, web search on) | All 6 queries run. Richest, most editorial answers. Web-search-grounded, builds comparison widgets. Never refused a local recommendation. |
| Grok | grok.com, signed in (Annette, SuperGrok) | All 6 queries run. Verbose, 55 to 105 cited sources per answer, and the only engine that visibly leans on Reddit and X forum chatter. |
| ChatGPT | DataForSEO ai_optimization/chat_gpt/llm_responses/live, model gpt-4o-mini, web_search on | 1 sampled query (med spa). Used as a stand-in because the browser session was spent on the three live engines. Cost $0.027 total, well under the $0.20 cap. |
| Google AI Overviews | not run | Skipped for time; browser budget went to the three direct engines plus the ChatGPT API sample. Worth a follow-up pass. |
| Gemini | not run | Same reason. Follow-up candidate. |
Named candidates checked for presence/absence:
- Med spa: RESTŌR Medical Spa
- Dentistry: Alber Dental Studio, Dr. Ania, Boulder Canyon Dental, Boulder Restorative Dentistry
Screenshots saved (case-study baselines): the signed-out Perplexity "best med spa" answer, the Perplexity sign-up wall that appeared mid-session, and the Claude "best med spa" comparison widget. These are stored in the session's screenshot cache (Claude-in-Chrome save-to-disk). Re-run with save-to-disk before publishing if permanent files are needed.
2. Per-query, per-engine findings
MED SPAS
"best med spa in Boulder Colorado"
- Perplexity: Lead source Mōv Aesthetics. Places widget: Rinnova, Vasu, RESTŌR (5.0, 114), AtoneMD, Ideal Image, Luxe Room, Leah Nickie, Boulder Aesthetics. RESTŌR present.
- Claude: Full prose roundup. Named Vasu, The Luxe Room, Rinnova, RESTŌR (downtown Broadway, "thorough consults that calm nerves"), Highline Aesthetics, Mōv. RESTŌR present and described favorably.
- Grok: Lead Skin Deep MD (Dr. Melody Denham), then Luxe Room, Mōv, Vasu, RESTŌR ("good feedback on injectables, lasers; part of a larger chain"). 105 sources. RESTŌR present.
- ChatGPT (gpt-4o-mini via API): Mōv Aesthetics, VIO Med Spa, Skin Deep MD, Youthbar. RESTŌR absent in the top block. Links carried OpenAI utm tags.
"where should I get Botox in Boulder"
- Perplexity: Lead source was an off-target Aveda hair salon (weak match). Places widget: Ideal Image, Rinnova, The Luxe Room. RESTŌR absent.
- Claude: Evolution Dermatology, Mandel Dermatology, Highline Aesthetics, Rinnova, The Luxe Room, Vasu. RESTŌR absent.
- Grok: Evolution Dermatology (Pauli Morrow, PA-C, citing Reddit), Rinnova (injector "Lily"). Reddit-driven. RESTŌR absent.
"top rated medical spa Boulder for fillers"
- Perplexity: Candidate list led by RESTŌR (5.0), then Ideal Image, Rinnova, Luxe Room, Vasu, Leah Nickie, Boulder Aesthetics. RESTŌR present, listed first.
- Claude: Evolution Dermatology, RESTŌR (cites Medspascout), Rinnova, Youthbar, Mōv. Cited aggregators (MedSpa Scout) and openly flagged their commercial bias. RESTŌR present.
- Grok: Evolution Dermatology #1, Rinnova #2, Skin Deep MD #3, then Youthbar, Mōv, Luxe Room. 95 sources. RESTŌR absent.
DENTISTRY
"best cosmetic dentist in Boulder Colorado"
- Perplexity: No prose source; Places widget only: Boulder Total Dentistry, Boulder Smile Design, Experience Dental. None of the proxy candidates present.
- Claude: Incredible Smiles (Dr. Priya Uppal), Aesthetic Dentistry of Boulder (Dr. Andrea Schmidt), PeakView, Radiance Artistic Dental, Boulder Dentistry Co. (Dr. Britt), Boulder Smile Design. None of the proxy candidates present.
- Grok: Incredible Smiles (#1), Boulder Restorative Dentistry (Dr. Anna Pitz) (#2), Boulder Smiles, Aesthetic Dentistry of Boulder, and Dr. Ania (drania.com) named explicitly. 95 sources. Two proxy candidates present (Boulder Restorative Dentistry, Dr. Ania).
"dental implants Boulder cost"
- Perplexity: Full prose. Single implant ~$3,150, range $1,500 to $5,000; full arch $10,000 to $17,500+. Cited bouldercanyondental, boulderoralsurgery, boulderdentalcenter (10 sources). Boulder Canyon Dental present as a source.
- Claude: ~$3,000 to $5,000 single; CO avg $4,734. Cited Surgerycostguide (aggregator) + Boulder Dental Center ($3,150 anchor). Noted some Denver-metro practices quote lower.
- Grok: $3,150 to $5,840 single; CO avg ~$4,510. Cited Thedentalhealers, Boulderdentalcenter ($3,150), Thedentalexpress, Bouldercountysmiles. 55 sources.
"best dentist for veneers Boulder"
- Perplexity: Places widget: Boulder Canyon Dental (4.8, 475), Alber Dental Studio (4.9, 758), North Boulder Dental. Two proxy candidates present (Boulder Canyon, Alber).
- Claude: Incredible Smiles, Boulder Restorative Dentistry (Dr. Pitz, prosthodontist), Radiance Artistic Dental, Boulder Smile Design. One proxy candidate present (Boulder Restorative Dentistry).
- Grok: Incredible Smiles (cites Reddit recommending Dr. Lori Kemmet), Boulder Smiles, Alber Dental Studio (Dr. Marc Alber) named #3, Boulder Dentistry Co. 85 sources. One proxy candidate present (Alber).
3. Proxy vs direct: where it confirms and where it diverges
| Theme | Proxy said | Direct test result | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Med spas, no 3-to-5 name lock | Fragmented, set shifts by source, no entrenched names | Confirmed. Lead name differs by engine: Mōv (Perplexity, ChatGPT), Skin Deep MD (Grok), Vasu/Rinnova (Claude). Evolution Dermatology surfaces strongly for injectable-intent queries. | Confirmed and sharpened. No single med spa owns Boulder across engines. |
| RESTŌR "absent from named-business listicles" | Strong but invisible | Diverges. RESTŌR is named directly by Perplexity (2 of 3 queries), Claude (2 of 3), and Grok (1 of 3). It is NOT invisible to AI engines, only to Google-page-1 listicles. It is weakest on Botox-specific queries and on Grok's filler answer. | Partial divergence. RESTŌR already has real AI presence; the gap is narrower than the proxy implied. |
| Dentistry cosmetic side wide open | No entrenched listicle, candidates absent from "best of" | Confirmed for the generic "cosmetic dentist" query (every engine names a different set; Incredible Smiles is the closest to a recurring #1 on Claude and Grok). | Confirmed. |
| Proxy dentistry candidates "absent from any neutral best-of" | Alber, Dr. Ania, Boulder Canyon, Boulder Restorative all invisible | Diverges, engine-specific. Grok names Boulder Restorative Dentistry AND Dr. Ania on the cosmetic query, and Alber on veneers. Perplexity names Boulder Canyon and Alber on veneers. Claude names Boulder Restorative Dentistry on cosmetic and veneers. These businesses ARE being surfaced, mostly on high-intent queries (veneers, "cosmetic"), and mostly by Grok and Perplexity. | Meaningful divergence. The proxy under-counted AI visibility for the dentistry candidates. |
| Implant-cost authority | No Boulder-specific cost authority exists; clear content gap | Confirmed and then some. All three engines anchor the single-implant number to the same source: Boulder Dental Center's "$3,150 start to finish." One practice's structured pricing page is the de facto cost authority feeding every AI answer. | Confirmed. This is the single most capturable citation in the test. |
| Reddit/forum-driven answers the proxy could not see | Proxy was Google-SERP only, blind to forum signals | New finding. Grok visibly cites Reddit and forum chatter (Pauli Morrow at Evolution Dermatology for Botox, Dr. Lori Kemmet for veneers). Perplexity and Claude do not surface forum names this way. | Net-new intel the proxy structurally could not produce. |
Bottom line on honesty: the proxy's "wide open" headline holds for the generic-intent queries and for the implant-cost content gap, but it overstated the invisibility of the named candidates. On high-intent queries (veneers, fillers, "cosmetic dentist"), the strongest local practices are already being named by at least one major engine. The opening is real but it is a "move from named-by-one-engine to named-by-all-engines, and own the structured-data layer" play, not a virgin vacuum.
4. Which engine to target first, per vertical
- Med spas: target Perplexity and ChatGPT first. Both lean hardest on the Google-Maps/aggregator layer (review count and rating), and both currently under-name RESTŌR (ChatGPT omits it; Perplexity names it only on review-weighted queries). Winning here is a local-SEO and review-volume problem (GBP optimization, review velocity, aggregator listing cleanup on MedSpa Scout / Medical Spa Locator) more than a content problem. Claude already names RESTŌR well, so it is the proof, not the target.
- Dentistry, cosmetic and veneers: target Claude and ChatGPT first. Grok and Perplexity already surface the strong local names (Alber, Boulder Restorative, Dr. Ania, Boulder Canyon) because they weight forums and Maps. Claude and the ChatGPT layer are where a clean, schema-rich, editorially-structured page (a real "best cosmetic dentists in Boulder" or veneers guide with named practices, costs, and FAQ) can insert a client and shift the answer.
- Dentistry, implant cost: target everyone, via the structured-data play. All three engines cite Boulder Dental Center's $3,150 figure. A dated, schema-marked, number-dense Boulder implant-cost page for a client is the highest-probability AI-citation win in the entire test, because the engines are demonstrably hungry for exactly that format and currently have only one source to pull from.
- Cross-engine lever: Grok rewards Reddit and X presence. A handful of substantive, non-spammy Reddit and X contributions naming a client (the way Pauli Morrow and Dr. Lori Kemmet currently get surfaced) is a cheap, Grok-specific citation path the proxy could not have told us about.
5. Screenshot paths
Captured via Claude-in-Chrome (save-to-disk). The harness stored these in the session screenshot cache; key baseline shots:
- Perplexity "best med spa in Boulder Colorado" answer (signed-out quick-answer + Places widget).
- Perplexity sign-up wall (appeared mid-session, evidence of the signed-out limit).
- Claude "best med spa in Boulder Colorado" comparison widget.
For permanent case-study assets, re-run the specific "absent" queries (ChatGPT med-spa without RESTŌR; Perplexity cosmetic-dentist Places-only) with save-to-disk and move the files into research/assets/ before publishing.
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