Get Found with AI Search Visibility for your doula business

You may have noticed something feels different lately about how clients are finding you.

People are asking questions out loud to ChatGPT instead of typing them into Google.
And sometimes they decide who to contact before they ever visit a website – just based on AI’s advice.

AI search visibility suddenly matters – a lot. More than most doulas realize.

The shift is being driven by AI tools like ChatGPT and Google’s new AI search results. AI-powered tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google’s AI overviews now reach billions of users each month, and they’re becoming a major way people find answers online, not just websites.

Plus, about half of all Google searches now include AI-generated summaries, meaning users often get answers without clicking a single link.

And projections suggest traffic driven by AI-powered search experiences could surpass traditional web search traffic by around 2028! Yikes, y’all. That’s FAST, given that a year or two ago we weren’t even having this conversation.

I keep hearing variations on the same questions around AI search visibility:

“My website ranks on Google. So why am I not showing up in AI tools?”

“Newer doulas in town are all showing up on ChatGPT, but I’m not – even though I’ve been in business for much longer. What can I do?“

The assumption is usually that something is wrong. What I see instead is simpler.

AI doesn’t understand you – yet.

The way people are searching for your services has changed

For a long time, visibility meant ranking well in search results.
If you showed up on page one, you were in the game.

That is no longer the whole picture.

Doing well in traditional search does not automatically translate into visibility in AI search results.
These systems work differently.

Search engines have always sorted and ranked pages based on a multitude of factors.
AI tools, in contrast, scan the web and try to interpret and explain.

When someone asks an AI tool for help finding a doula, the system is quietly asking a few basic questions.

• Who is this for?
• What problem do they solve?
• Could I describe this business in one or two clear sentences?

If the answers are fuzzy, the AI moves on to something it can explain more easily.

Why poor AI Search Visibility may be impacting your doula website:

This is where many caring, experienced doulas get unintentionally filtered out.

Not because their work is unclear in real life.
Not because they are bad at business.
But because their websites often use poetic, layered, or shifting language that feels beautiful to humans and confusing to AI.

Doula work is nuanced – relational – rooted in being human. Definitely about as far from AI as you can get!

Most doula websites are written for people who already know they want a doula.
They focus on values, philosophy, and feeling.

All of that matters.
But AI needs clarity first.

If it cannot confidently explain what you do to someone else, it will not recommend you, even if your care is excellent.

What AI actually responds to

AI Search Visibility comes when you have a clear online identity and use consistent language to talk about your work.

Who do you help as a doula?
What do you actually do for clients?
How does someone know you are a good choice as their doula?

When those pieces line up across your website pages and online profiles, AI starts to trust what it sees.

Trust is a bit part of this as well.

• Testimonials.
• Clear service descriptions.
• Specific experience.
• Plain language about your role.

These details help AI decide whether it feels safe mentioning you.

This is also why newer or less experienced providers sometimes show up first.
They are often easier to describe.

That does not mean they are better.
It means they are clearer.

Visibility now means being understood

Visibility today is less about being found and more about being understood.

If an AI tool cannot explain your work in everyday language, it will not show you in AI results.
That can happen even when your reputation is strong and your referrals are steady.

This is not about chasing algorithms or turning your site into a sales page.
It is about helping both humans and AI understand you faster.

Think of it like this: If someone asked you at a dinner party what you do, you would not answer in abstract phrases about sacred birth. You would explain it plainly – or at least try to!

Your website needs more of that same clear-spoken energy.

A simple way to check if AI knows about you:

There is an easy way to see how have good AI search visibility or not:

Go to an AI tool such as ChatGPT (the free version is fine!) and ask it to describe your business, and what kind of clients would be a good fit for you.

“Heya. Can you tell me all about Cherish Doula Services in Chattanooga, TN? Which services do they provide? What kind of families would be a good fit for their services?”

You can also try asking:

“Based on my website content and public info [my website is xxxx], how would ChatGPT likely describe my doula business to a potential client?”

or even simpler:

“How would ChatGPT describe this business [URL] to a potential client in two sentences?”

If the answers feel vague, incomplete, or slightly off, that is useful information. It shows you where your message needs more clarity, consistency, or plain language. Improve the clarity on your website and AI can better understand you – it’s that simple.

Or try asking…

“Based on this website, how does this doula business differ from most doulas you know about?”

If the answer sounds generic, AI sees you as generic. That’s fixable. See my post about “meaningful specific” doula niching. You can even ask it to guide you in what to improve:

“What’s unclear, vague, or missing from this site that would help you describe this business more confidently?”

Dig a little deeper into AI Search Results

Now, dig a little deeper! Your ideal clients are using AI to fine-tune the information they are getting, and asking super-specific questions such as:

• “Who are the best [your service] in [your location]?”
• “Where can I find a [your service] near me?”
• “What’s the cost of [your service] in [city]?”
• “Which [your service] are covered by insurance in [city]”
• “Which [your service] providers in [city] specialize in [your specialty areas or unique approaches such as VBAC, trauma-informed care, inclusive care, etc…]

Again, do you show up in the responses? Is the information accurate? Is there a way you could better answer those questions on your site so the AI can recognize you as an ideal result for the folks who are searching for you?

Why AI Search Visibility matters now for doulas

AI search is not coming. It is already here.

Families who are your ideal clients are already using it to find local services such as doulas, wellness practitioners, midwives, and more.

They’re finding that it gives them quick, detailed answers – helpful when they are already feeling overwhelmed.

Which means they are using it in the exact moments your work matters most.

If your website does not speak clearly to AI, someone else is getting chosen.
Not because they are better.
Because they were easier to understand.

So yes, it matters.

A grounded place to start building your presence on AI:

Most of you as doulas or wellness practitioners did not enter this work to have to think about technology updates with websites or AI.

You want to do the work you are called to do.

As a web designer specializing in website design & SEO for birth, postpartum, and wellness pros, my role is to translate stuff that can feel techy into human language and practical steps.

You do not need to master AI. You just need to meet it halfway.

7 Simple Steps to Teach AI About Your Business

Step 1. Pick one clear idea

Write one simple sentence. Who do you help? What do you help them do? If you try to be five things, AI gets fuzzy.

Example: “I help first-time parents feel calm and confident during birth, especially people who are anxious or overwhelmed.”

Step 2. Say it the same way everywhere

AI learns patterns. Consistency matters more than clever wording.

Use the same core phrasing on:

• Your homepage headline
• Your About page
• Your services page
• Your bio on other sites
• Guest posts or interviews

Step 3. Write like someone is asking a question

AI responds to questions, and it LOVES FAQ. Your site should answer each question with clear, simple language. Convey a similar approach to your care in all of them, echoing variations on your primary sentence above.

• “What does a doula do for anxious parents?”
• “Is a doula helpful if I’m scared of birth?”
• “How does emotional support during labor work?”

Note: Include unique FAQ on specific service pages, and don’t include any links in your FAQ – Google doesn’t like ’em.

Step 4. Name your ideal clients out loud

If you don’t say who you serve, AI guesses. By listing the types of families you serve, you are helping AI to know when and how to show your site, improving your AI Search Visibility.

• First-time parents
• People with birth anxiety
• Clients who want calm, steady support
• Parents who feel overwhelmed by modern obstetrics
• Families with a history of traumatic birth
• VBAC clients
• People planning a home birth
• People having a planned cesarean or with a high-risk pregnancy

This helps AI match you to the right questions that your ideal clients are asking.

Step 5. Use plain language, not industry talk

AI mirrors how people talk. “Calm support during labor” beats “holistic perinatal emotional care.” Simple words will serve your business far better.

My hope is that knowing this will help you feel more confident writing copy for your website. It doesn’t have to be ultra-poetic and lovely. It needs to feel real and understandable. People are overwhelmed enough during pregnancy without having to decipher what you mean by “I support optimal energetics for your birth. (what????!)”

Step 6. Let others describe you through testimonials

Testimonials matter more than you think – and they should be included on each of your service pages, specific to that service. These are a simple addition to your site to improve your AI search visibility.

“She helped me feel calm.”
“I finally trusted my body.”
“I felt supported, not judged.”

Those phrases get reused by AI when it summarizes you. Chat GPT will actually read them and tell searchers what your reviewers have said. “People say that this doula is known for her calm energy and gentle ways.”

Step 7. Say it again…

You might feel like a broken record, but AI sees clarity. That repetition is what makes you “known for” something.

FAQ

Get your Free Guide to AI Search Visibility

Be sure to download my short, no-fluff cheat guide “AI Search Visibility for Doulas & Wellness Pros“!

It explains what AI tools look for and where doulas & wellness pros most often lose clarity, plus small changes that actually help.

Be sure to also check out my blog post on how to show up in AI Overviews in Google Search Results. You can also do a free trial on Ubersuggest (the best affordable SEO research tool out there!) to get more insight into how you are showing up on AI.