The Platform Priority Matrix: Where AI Actually Reads by Industry
8 min read
One of the most common mistakes in review strategy is treating all platforms as equal. They're not — not for your industry, not for AI citation, not for potential customer trust. The platform that moves the needle for a restaurant is different from the one that matters for a personal injury attorney.
Here's a practical breakdown by industry, based on which platforms appear most frequently in AI-generated answers when someone asks for business recommendations in each category.
Healthcare and Medical Practices
Primary: Google Business Profile, Healthgrades
Secondary: Zocdoc, WebMD Provider Directory, Vitals
AI systems handling healthcare queries lean heavily on Healthgrades data. A physician or practice with strong Healthgrades reviews appears in AI answers at a rate disproportionate to the platform's overall traffic. Google remains important for general proximity queries ("doctor near me"), but Healthgrades is the platform most worth developing for healthcare providers seeking AI citation.
Dental Practices
Primary: Google Business Profile, Healthgrades
Secondary: Zocdoc, Yelp
Dental queries are heavily Google-weighted, more so than general healthcare. The "best dentist near me" query pattern returns Google Business Profile results prominently in AI answers. Healthgrades matters for specialty dental queries (pediatric dentist, orthodontist, oral surgeon). Yelp has surprisingly strong dental review data in major metros.
Restaurants and Food Service
Primary: Google Business Profile, Yelp
Secondary: Tripadvisor, OpenTable
Restaurants are the category where Yelp's training data footprint matters most. AI systems answering restaurant queries regularly surface Yelp review data alongside Google. Tripadvisor matters significantly for tourist-area restaurants. OpenTable matters for fine dining where reservation patterns factor in.
Legal Services
Primary: Google Business Profile, Avvo
Secondary: Martindale-Hubbell, Justia, Lawyers.com
Legal AI citations draw heavily from attorney-specific directories, particularly Avvo. A personal injury attorney with 50 Avvo reviews gets cited in AI answers for their practice area more reliably than one with 150 Google reviews and nothing on Avvo. Building a complete profile on legal directories is unusually high-leverage for attorneys seeking AI visibility.
Home Services (Plumbing, HVAC, Electrical, etc.)
Primary: Google Business Profile
Secondary: Angi, HomeAdvisor, Yelp
Home services queries are overwhelmingly Google-weighted. AI systems answering "best plumber near me" or "HVAC repair" queries rely on Google Business Profile data more than any other platform. Angi and HomeAdvisor matter for specific job-type queries ("how much does a water heater replacement cost?" often surfaces providers on these platforms). Yelp has moderate coverage in major metros.
Fitness and Wellness
Primary: Google Business Profile
Secondary: Mindbody, Yelp, ClassPass
Fitness studio queries are primarily Google-driven, but Mindbody's data appears in AI answers when someone asks about class schedules, pricing, or booking. Studios on ClassPass appear in answers to queries about trial classes or affordable options.
Automotive
Primary: Google Business Profile
Secondary: Yelp, DealerRater (for dealerships)
Auto repair shops see high Google weighting. Dealerships should prioritize DealerRater and Cars.com in addition to Google — AI answers about car buying regularly pull from both.
How to Use This Matrix
Start with Google regardless of industry — it's the baseline for every category. Identify the one or two secondary platforms most relevant to your industry and build a review presence there before spreading to others. A review funnel with weighted routing makes this systematic: you can allocate 70% of traffic to Google and 30% to your industry's key secondary platform, automatically, without manual direction from customers.
The businesses appearing in AI answers today didn't get there by accident. They identified which platforms AI reads for their category and built a presence there, consistently, before their competitors did.