AI visibility · Mental health & therapy · UK

When someone asks ChatGPT for a therapist in London, who gets named?

We put real questions about therapy, counselling and workplace mental health to ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews over nine days in August 2026, and tracked which of 15 UK providers, directories and professional bodies each answer named. BACP appeared in 26% of answers. The best-placed private practice appeared in 15%. Ten of the fifteen were named in fewer than one answer in ten.

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1,122Answers analysed
6Topics covered
2AI engines
15Brands tracked
9Days, Aug 2026

Share of answers naming each brand

14–22 August 2026 · ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews, UK · questions that named a provider directly are excluded, so this is who the AI chose to name.

#BrandShare of answersChatGPTGoogle AI Overviews
1
BACPProfessional body
26.5%27.3%25.7%
2
Harley TherapyLondon practice
14.8%15.3%14.3%
3
Psychology TodayDirectory
14.5%11.6%17.5%
4
Self SpaceLondon practice
12.3%14.8%9.8%
5
Counselling DirectoryDirectory
11.5%9.8%13.2%
6
BetterHelpOnline platform
9.2%11.4%7%
7
Health AssuredWorkplace provider / EAP
7%7.5%6.6%
8
SpillWorkplace provider
7%6.6%7.3%
9
UnmindWorkplace provider
6.7%7.8%5.5%
10
MeelaMatching service
4.5%7.1%1.8%
11
OlivaWorkplace provider
4.4%4.8%3.9%
12
TalkspaceOnline platform
1.8%0.2%3.4%
13
KoothOnline service
1.8%0.7%2.9%
14
OnebrightClinic network
1.6%3%0.2%
15
The Chelsea Psychology ClinicLondon practice
1.1%0.4%1.8%

A brand counts once per answer that names it. Percentages are of all 1,122 answers; engine columns are of that engine’s 561 answers.

What the answers are made of

Four things the data says about how AI assistants talk about therapy in the UK.

18%of answers cite the NHS

Institutions own the answer

The NHS, BACP (16%), Mind (14%), Psychology Today (12%), Counselling Directory (10%) and UKCP (9%) are what the assistants treat as the truth about therapy. The first private practice appears at 7%. Registers and directories are now AI visibility work, not admin.

78%of local answers show a map

ChatGPT draws a map

32% of all ChatGPT answers in this set carried a map with local listings; for questions like “therapy near King’s Cross” it was 78%. Your map listing, opening hours and address consistency now decide whether you are on it.

0Reddit or YouTube citations on ChatGPT

Two engines, two playbooks

Google AI Overviews cited Reddit in 16% of its answers and YouTube in 15%. ChatGPT cited neither once, and leaned on the NHS (23% of its answers against 13% on Google). What earns a place on one engine barely registers on the other.

24%BACP’s share of the cost answers

Whole topics with nobody home

Questions about what therapy costs produced 180 answers. BACP was named in 24%, BetterHelp in 12%, and no London practice above 6%. The same is true of “how do I choose a therapist” questions. A clear, dated price page could own a topic almost nobody is answering.

Where the answers come from

Sites cited, as a share of the 1,122 answers. A site counts once per answer it is cited in. Map-tile attributions are left out.

#Site citedShare of answersChatGPTGoogle AI Overviews
1
nhs.ukNHS
17.9%23%12.8%
2
bacp.co.ukProfessional body
15.7%16.8%14.6%
3
mind.org.ukCharity
13.9%5.7%22.1%
4
psychologytoday.comDirectory
12.5%10.2%14.8%
5
counselling-directory.org.ukDirectory
10.1%8.4%11.8%
6
psychotherapy.org.ukProfessional body (UKCP)
9.4%4.6%14.1%
7
england.nhs.ukNHS
8.7%7.5%10%
8
reddit.comCommunity
8.1%0%16.2%
9
youtube.comVideo
7.4%0%14.8%
10
theselfspace.comPractice
6.8%4.1%9.4%
11
harleytherapy.co.ukPractice
6.5%3.6%9.4%
12
healthassured.orgWorkplace provider
6.5%2.3%10.7%
13
thelondonpractice.comPractice, not tracked
5.2%3.7%6.6%
14
bupa.co.ukInsurer
4.6%4.3%5%
15
spill.chatWorkplace provider
4.3%2.5%6.1%
16
cityoflondontherapycentre.co.ukPractice, not tracked
4.3%1.2%7.3%
17
goingprivateuk.co.ukGuide site
3.9%0.2%7.7%
18
eapa.org.ukTrade body
3.7%7.1%0.4%

Two London practices that nobody on the list tracks, The London Practice and City of London Therapy Centre, were cited more often than the websites of eight of the fifteen tracked brands.

Who owns each question

Share of answers naming each brand, by topic. Top five shown; highlight a brand above to see where it lands.

Finding a therapist in London

258 answers

  1. 1BACP31%
  2. 2Psychology Today28%
  3. 3Harley Therapy26%
  4. 4Self Space26%
  5. 5Counselling Directory19%
  6. 6The Chelsea Psychology Clinic3%
  7. 7Kooth0%
  8. 8BetterHelp0%

Workplace mental health and EAPs

234 answers

  1. 1Health Assured34%
  2. 2Unmind32%
  3. 3Spill29%
  4. 4Oliva21%
  5. 5BACP11%
  6. 6Onebright6%
  7. 7Harley Therapy2%
  8. 8Self Space2%
  9. 9BetterHelp1%
  10. 10Kooth1%
  11. 11Talkspace0%

Choosing the right therapy

198 answers

  1. 1BACP30%
  2. 2Psychology Today20%
  3. 3Harley Therapy10%
  4. 4Counselling Directory10%
  5. 5Meela5%
  6. 6Self Space2%

What therapy costs

180 answers

  1. 1BACP24%
  2. 2BetterHelp12%
  3. 3Harley Therapy6%
  4. 4Counselling Directory5%
  5. 5Self Space4%
  6. 6Kooth4%
  7. 7Meela3%
  8. 8Psychology Today3%
  9. 9Onebright1%

Access and waiting times

144 answers

  1. 1BACP24%
  2. 2Harley Therapy22%
  3. 3Self Space15%
  4. 4Psychology Today11%
  5. 5Counselling Directory8%
  6. 6BetterHelp5%
  7. 7Kooth2%
  8. 8The Chelsea Psychology Clinic2%
  9. 9Talkspace2%
  10. 10Onebright1%

Comparisons and alternatives

108 answers

  1. 1BetterHelp67%
  2. 2BACP48%
  3. 3Counselling Directory38%
  4. 4Self Space32%
  5. 5Meela31%
  6. 6Harley Therapy30%
  7. 7Psychology Today27%
  8. 8Talkspace15%
  9. 9Spill9%
  10. 10Kooth6%
  11. 11Onebright1%

What a practice can do about it

Five moves, in the order the data suggests.

  1. Be listed where the AI already looks

    Four sources sit in more than one answer in ten: BACP, Psychology Today, Counselling Directory and UKCP. A complete, current register entry and directory profile, with the same name, address and specialisms everywhere, is the cheapest visibility there is.

  2. Answer the money question in plain text

    “How much does therapy cost in London?” was answered 180 times and no practice was named in more than 6% of them. A dated page with session fees, concessions and insurance is the kind of thing an assistant quotes.

  3. Be on the map

    A third of ChatGPT answers rendered a map. One Google Business Profile per location, accurate hours, a consistent address and real reviews decide whether your rooms appear on it.

  4. Run a different playbook per engine

    Google AI Overviews reads Reddit and YouTube; ChatGPT reads the NHS and the professional bodies. Threads and videos move one, authoritative pages move the other.

  5. Write the “how to choose” pages

    198 answers explained what CBT is, what a first session is like and how to pick a therapist, and the directories took nearly all of them. Practices that explain the process in plain language get quoted explaining it.

Get your practice’s numbers

We will run your brand against the same questions on ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews for nine days and send you this table with you in it: your share of answers, the sources behind them and the topics you are missing from.

Free and no obligation. The numbers are yours to keep.

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How we measured it

Window. 14 to 22 August 2026, nine consecutive days.

Engines. ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews, both from the UK. 1,122 answers were captured.

Questions. Six topics, written the way people type them. A few name a provider directly (for example “What are the drawbacks of BetterHelp?”), and those brands’ totals include them. Questions about one specific provider were excluded from every figure on this page.

Brands. 15 UK providers, directories and professional bodies. A brand counts as named when the answer mentions it by name, anywhere in the text. Share of answers is the number of answers naming the brand divided by all answers in the set.

Sources. A site counts once per answer that cites it, whatever the number of links. ChatGPT’s map attributions (Mapbox and OpenStreetMap) are reported separately as the map figure and left out of the sources table.

Caveats. Nine days is a snapshot, and answers move week to week. The question set leans towards London and in-person therapy because that is the brief it was built for. Perplexity, Gemini and Claude were not part of this run.

Example questions

Finding a therapist in London
  • How do I find a good therapist in London?
  • What are the best therapy services in London?
  • Where can I book in-person therapy in London?
Workplace mental health and EAPs
  • How can HR improve mental health support at work?
  • How do I choose a workplace mental health provider?
  • How much does an EAP cost per employee in the UK?
Choosing the right therapy
  • How do I choose a therapist?
  • How do I find a therapist who speaks my language or shares my background?
  • What is CBT and is it right for me?
What therapy costs
  • Can I use private health insurance to pay for therapy in the UK?
  • How much does a single therapy session cost in London?
  • How much does couples therapy cost in the UK?
Access and waiting times
  • Can I get therapy in the UK without a GP referral?
  • Can I see a therapist this week in London?
  • How quickly can I start therapy in the UK?
Comparisons and alternatives
  • Is it better to use an online therapy platform or a local London practice?
  • Should I use Counselling Directory or Psychology Today to find a therapist in the UK?
  • What are the best alternatives to BetterHelp in the UK?

Questions people ask us

How visible are UK therapy providers in ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews?

Not very. In this August 2026 measurement only five of fifteen tracked brands were named in more than one answer in ten. BACP, the professional body, led at 26% of answers. The best-placed private practice, Harley Therapy, was named in 15%.

Which sources do AI assistants cite for therapy questions in the UK?

The NHS (18% of answers), BACP (16%), Mind (14%), Psychology Today (12%), Counselling Directory (10%) and UKCP (9%). Individual practices were rarely cited in more than 7% of answers.

Does ChatGPT show a map when someone asks for a therapist near them?

Usually. 78% of ChatGPT answers to local questions such as 'Where can I get therapy near King's Cross?' included a map with local listings, so map-listing data now shapes who gets recommended.

How does a therapy practice get named by ChatGPT?

Be present in the sources it already trusts, which means professional registers and the major directories. Publish plain-text answers to the questions people actually ask: what it costs, what to expect, how to choose. Keep map listings accurate for every location. Then measure it weekly, because the answers change.

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