SEO Believer: AI Whitespace Extended Test : Hub

AI-Whitespace Test (EXTENDED): 4 New Verticals + Nationwide HRT

Created: 2026-06-01

Extends: ai-whitespace-DIRECT-test-2026-06-01.md (med spas + dentistry, direct 6-engine) and ai-whitespace-test-boulder-denver.md (the original proxy).

Purpose: Two new probes. PART A: four medical verticals never whitespace-checked (LASIK/cataract, cosmetic surgery, fertility/IVF, orthodontics) across Boulder + Denver. PART B: how open the LOCAL, in-person HRT/TRT/pellet ground is to AI across five geographically diverse US metros, and whether AI defaults to telehealth brands (Hims/Defy) instead of brick-and-mortar clinics.

1. Method note

Same method and rigor as the prior direct test: AI answer engines were queried live and answers captured as page text.

Engine	How queried	Coverage this run
Perplexity	perplexity.ai via URL query params, Annette's Chrome session	Primary engine. ~15 queries across both parts. Returns either a prose answer with cited sources or a Google-Maps-driven "Places" widget (local intent triggers the widget). A "complete payment" enterprise banner appeared mid-session but did not block capture.
Grok	grok.com via URL query param, signed in (SuperGrok)	1 prose answer (HRT Denver) for the telehealth-vs-local cross-check. Visibly searched the web + Reddit.
ChatGPT	DataForSEO `ai_optimization/chat_gpt/llm_responses/live`, gpt-4o-mini, web_search on	2 sampled queries (HRT Denver, cosmetic surgery Boulder). Answer text lives in `items[].sections[].text`, links carry `utm_source=openai`.
Claude	not run this pass	Browser budget went to Perplexity breadth + Grok/ChatGPT cross-checks. Prior direct test already characterized Claude as the richest prose engine that never refuses a local rec.
Gemini / Google AI Overviews	not run	Follow-up candidates, as before.

Metros chosen for PART B (size + region spread): Boulder CO (small), Denver CO (mid), Phoenix AZ (large SW), Nashville TN (mid SE), Tampa FL (mid SE/retiree), Austin TX (large SW/TX).

DataForSEO spend this session: 5 live calls at ~$0.0271 each = ~$0.136 total. Under the $0.15 cap (the first 3 calls included two empty-parse probes that still billed; noted so the next run parses sections on the first try).

2. PART A: four new verticals (Boulder + Denver)

Verdict table

Vertical	Boulder	Denver	Single cost-authority?	Case-study read
LASIK / cataract	Winnable, leaning closed , one name (Dishler Laser Institute) anchors Perplexity's prose answer as the default	Closed-ish on cost , chains + national aggregators own it	No local one (cost spread across chains + lasik.com)	Low priority. A single incumbent + national chains.
Cosmetic / plastic surgery	Open , Places widget, no name lock; ChatGPT prose names a totally different surgeon set than Perplexity's Maps set	Open but crowded , 8+ practices in the Places widget, fragmented	No (each practice cites its own pricing page)	Winnable, high deal value, but crowded in Denver.
Fertility / IVF	Closed , same two regional chains (Conceptions/RMA, CCRM) spill over from Denver metro	Closed , CCRM + Conceptions/RMA own the Places widget and prose	Emerging local one: denverfertilitycare (cited repeatedly on IVF-cost)	Drop. Two chains own the ground; review-count moats are huge.
Orthodontics	Winnable , Places widget, fragmented (Yamashiro, Boulder Orthodontics, Boulder Smile Design)	Winnable, awards-driven , prose leans on 5280 Mag / Colorado Parent award signals	YES on cost: `dentistsranked` aggregator dominates "braces cost Boulder"	Best of the four. Clear cost-authority opening (see below).

Per-vertical detail

LASIK / cataract

Perplexity "best LASIK surgeon Boulder": prose led by Dishler Laser Institute ("30+ years, 100,000+ procedures") as the default #1, then UCHealth Boulder, Boulder Eye Surgeons, TLC LASIK. Dishler is functionally the entrenched name AI reaches for first.
Perplexity "LASIK cost Denver": $1,800-$5,000/eye, cited to chains and aggregators (20/20 Institute, Hines Sight, LasikPlus, lasik.com). No local cost authority; national chains own the number.
Read: a mature category dominated by one experience-leader (Boulder) and national chains (Denver). Thin opening.

Cosmetic / plastic surgery

Perplexity "best cosmetic surgery Boulder": Places widget only , Boulder Plastic Surgery (4.8, 408), Alpine Surgical (4.8, 288), Boulder Valley Plastic Surgery (4.9, 167).
Perplexity "best plastic surgeon Denver": large Places widget, 8+ names (Aesthetic Surgery & Dermatology of Cherry Creek, Denver Plastic Surgery, Jack Zamora MD, AirSculpt, Thompson Facial Plastics...). Fragmented.
ChatGPT "best cosmetic surgeon Boulder": prose names individual surgeons (Dr. Kyle Cox, Dr. Peter Schmid, Dr. Nathan Roesner, Dr. Jeffrey Swail, Dr. Debora Ma) , a completely different set from Perplexity's Maps names. No cross-engine name lock = genuine opening, but high-trust/board-certification vertical with big review counts.
Perplexity tummy-tuck-cost Denver: $15k-$28k, each practice citing its own pricing page (Center for Cosmetic Surgery, Colorado Plastic Surgery, Broadway, Campanile, Millard). No cost authority.

Fertility / IVF

Perplexity "best fertility clinic Denver" AND "...Boulder" both return the same two regional chains in the Places widget: Conceptions Reproductive Associates / RMA and CCRM Fertility (with a Lafayette + Louisville location bleeding into the Boulder query). This is the most consolidated of the four.
Perplexity "IVF cost Denver": $12k-$30k, cited to cnyfertility (national budget brand), denverfertilitycare (cited 4+ times , the closest thing to a local cost authority), and CCRM's own page. denverfertilitycare is quietly becoming the IVF-cost source.
Read: two chains with deep review moats own discovery; cost has an emerging local authority already in place. Poor opening for a new independent.

Orthodontics

Perplexity "best orthodontist Boulder": Places widget, fragmented (Yamashiro 4.6/151, Boulder Orthodontics 4.8/130, Boulder Smile Design 4.9/375).
Perplexity "best orthodontist Denver": prose with strong editorial-award signals (Colorado Orthodontics "#1 by Colorado Parent," 5280 Magazine top lists, Eberle, Speaks, Trommeter). More awards-driven and consolidated than Boulder.
Perplexity "braces cost Boulder": the standout finding. The cost numbers ($3,450-$8,050 traditional) are anchored almost entirely to a single aggregator, dentistsranked, cited repeatedly as THE source, supplemented by nonprofit/charity references (Dental Aid, Smiles Change Lives). This is the same shape as the dentistry implant-cost finding, except the incumbent authority is a generic aggregator, not a local practice. A dated, schema-rich, Boulder-specific braces-cost page for a client could displace dentistsranked the way Boulder Dental Center owns implant cost.

3. PART B: nationwide HRT / TRT (local, in-person)

The headline finding answers Annette's core question directly: across every metro and every engine tested, AI surfaces LOCAL, in-person clinics for HRT/TRT/pellet queries. It does NOT default to telehealth brands. Zero Hims, zero Defy, zero Hone in any answer. The local map-pack / Places layer is what feeds these answers. The real competition is not telehealth, it is multi-location TRT FRANCHISES colonizing the local map pack.

Per-metro verdict

Metro	Engine read	Verdict	Local independents visible?
Boulder CO	Perplexity Places: Gameday Men's Health Boulder (5.0/225), Colorado Urology (Ariel Griffin PA-C), INNOVAES Life Optimization	Most OPEN , smallest field, franchise present (Gameday) but not dominant, room for independents	Yes, strongly
Denver CO	Perplexity + Grok prose + ChatGPT all name local: Ageless Men's Health (Cherry Creek), BodyLogicMD, Denver Hormone Institute (Dr. Kenton Bruice), ThriveMD, R2 Medical, Renew Vitality, Denver Urology	Open-to-moderate , mix of one long-standing specialist (Denver Hormone Institute) + franchises; no single lock	Yes
Phoenix AZ	Perplexity Places HRT: Spectrum Medical, Phoenix Men's Health Center, Identity Hormones. TRT query: Gameday x2, Ageless, Renew Vitality, Activ8	Moderate , franchises (Gameday, Ageless) entering the map pack but plenty of independents	Yes
Nashville TN	Perplexity: lead source a local practice (sommerwhitemd.com); Places: Tennessee Men's Clinic, American Male Medical, Nashville Wellness & IV, Renew Health	OPEN , mostly local/regional names, light franchise presence	Yes, strongly
Tampa FL	Perplexity Places: BioDesign Men's Clinic (5.0/1,033), AgeRejuvenation (4.8/686), BioDesign Clinic+MedSpa (4.9/493)	Most CONSOLIDATED , huge local incumbents with 500-1,000+ review moats	Visible but dominated by 2-3 giants
Austin TX	Perplexity Places: Gameday, Ageless, Low T Center, Total Men's Primary Care (1,158 reviews)	CONSOLIDATED by franchises , national TRT chains own the map pack	Independents drowned by chains

Pattern read

Telehealth is NOT the competitor. This was the key worry and it is unfounded: AI answers for "near me"-style local HRT queries are map-pack-driven and surface brick-and-mortar clinics. Telehealth brands simply do not appear in local-intent answers.
The real moat is the multi-location TRT franchise. Gameday Men's Health and Ageless Men's Health recur across Phoenix, Austin, Denver, and Boulder. Where they have planted multiple locations (Austin, Phoenix), they crowd the Places widget. Where they have one or none (Nashville, Boulder), independents own the ground.
Widest local openings (most invisible incumbents, most room): Nashville and Boulder. Both are franchise-light, independent-heavy, and AI surfaces local practice names readily , a clean local-SEO/GBP + review-velocity play would move the answer fast.
Tightest: Tampa (organic local giants with 1,000-review moats) and Austin (franchise lock). Hard to dislodge.

4. Combined recommendation: rank ALL tested verticals

Scored on opening width x deal value x code-fixability (the SEO Believer GEO lever). Higher = better case-study bet.

Rank	Vertical	Opening	Deal value	Code-fixability	Verdict
1	Dentistry , implant cost (Boulder)	One source (Boulder Dental Center $3,150) feeds every engine	High	Very high (one dated, schema-rich cost page)	LEAD. Highest-probability single AI-citation win in any test. Confirmed prior.
2	Orthodontics , braces cost (Boulder)	One aggregator (`dentistsranked`) owns the cost number	Medium-high (long treatment, $3.5k-$8k tickets)	Very high (same structured-cost-page play)	STRONG ADD. New this run. Identical mechanic to implant cost, incumbent is a beatable generic aggregator.
3	Med spas / aesthetics (Boulder)	Fragmented, no cross-engine name lock	High (recurring, monthly)	High (review velocity + GBP + aggregator cleanup)	KEEP. Already the program's proof vertical; RESTOR named by Claude/Perplexity/Grok.
4	HRT/TRT , Nashville or Boulder (local)	Wide where franchises are absent	High (recurring memberships)	High (GBP + review velocity + local content)	KEEP as the nationwide/portable play. Telehealth fear unfounded; target franchise-light metros. Boulder is local-market ready; Nashville proves portability.
5	Cosmetic / plastic surgery (Boulder)	Open, no name lock across engines	Very high (surgical tickets)	Medium (high-trust, big review moats, slower)	OPPORTUNISTIC. Real opening and big deal value, but trust-heavy and crowded in Denver.
6	Dentistry , cosmetic/veneers (Boulder)	Open on generic queries	High	High	KEEP (prior finding). Move a client from named-by-one-engine to named-by-all.
7	Orthodontist "best of" (Boulder)	Fragmented but Maps-driven	Medium	Medium (Maps/review play more than content)	Secondary. The cost query (#2) is the real opening, not the "best of."
8	LASIK / cataract	One incumbent (Dishler) + national chains	High	Low-medium	DROP / opportunistic only. Mature, one entrenched name plus chain advertisers. Like PI law: a poor case-study bet.
9	Fertility / IVF	Two regional chains own it; cost authority (denverfertilitycare) already exists	Very high	Low	DROP. Most consolidated medical vertical tested. Chain + review moats + an existing cost authority leave little code-fixable ground.
,	Personal injury law (prior)	Directory + ad saturation	High	Low	STAYS DROPPED (prior finding).

Bottom line

The two best new findings are (a) orthodontics braces-cost in Boulder is a near-clone of the implant-cost win , one beatable aggregator owns the number, and a dated schema-rich cost page can take it; and (b) the nationwide HRT probe kills the telehealth worry: AI surfaces local clinics everywhere, so HRT is a legitimate portable local-SEO/GEO product, best sold into franchise-light metros (Nashville, Boulder) and avoided in franchise- or incumbent-locked ones (Austin, Tampa). Fertility and LASIK are the new "PI law" of this test: real money, but closed. Drop them as case-study bets.

Honest boundary (unchanged): these are consideration-phase and citation-layer wins, not proof AI drives more booked revenue than Maps today. Lead client cases with the Maps/organic volume win; layer the AI-citation win as the ahead-of-the-curve proof.

SEO Believer AI Whitespace (Extended)

SEO Believer: AI Whitespace Extended Test