How AI Search Is Recommending Fertility Clinics: Monthly Trends

Executive Summary

The fertility clinic category shifted from a stable leader-led structure in September 2026 to its most active month of the four-month series in October 2026. CCRM Fertility remains the coverage leader at 36.6%, but its raw mention presence fell 13.6 points from July 2026 (67.4% to 53.8%) and its rank-one rate dropped 8.2 points (19.0% to 10.8%). The leader holds the top position while the metrics beneath it narrow. The gap to second-place RMA Network now stands at 4.0 points, down from 19.8 points in July 2026.

RMA Network was the strongest upward mover, with valid recommendation coverage rising from 14.1% in July 2026 to 32.6% in October 2026, up 18.5 points across the series. The prior month saw a 12.7-point jump from September (19.9%) to October alone. Raw mention presence rose 18.6 points to 43.4%, top-three rate moved from 5.4% to 17.9%, and rank-one rate from 0.4% to 5.0%.

Kindbody is the sole significant decliner across the series, with coverage falling from 14.5% in July 2026 to 5.0% in October 2026, down 9.5 points. The decline has now run three consecutive months. Raw mention presence fell 10.9 points (22.7% to 11.8%) and top-three rate dropped 6.0 points (7.8% to 1.8%). The gap between Kindbody and RMA Network widened every month, moving from a 0.4-point Kindbody lead in July to a 27.6-point deficit in October.

Each monthly run begins with 625 prompt-surface observations (479 unique questions) in October 2026, up from 567 prompt-surface observations (407 unique questions) in September 2026, 480 (391 unique questions) in August 2026, and 367 (302 unique questions) in July 2026. Of those, 547 mentioned a tracked brand or competitor in October (567 in September, 480 in August, 367 in July); 476 were relevant and 71 were irrelevant in October (498 relevant and 69 irrelevant in September; 424 relevant and 56 irrelevant in August; 318 relevant and 49 irrelevant in July). The public metrics use the 279 observations in October 2026, 332 in September, 305 in August, and 242 in July that survive both qualification stages.

Key Findings

AI Response Inconsistency Alerts

Three high-severity factual inconsistencies were detected across six AI platforms, spanning NYU Langone Fertility, Shady Grove Fertility, and US Fertility. Each conflict involves two platforms providing incompatible information in response to the same question.

NYU Langone Fertility

A high-severity pricing conflict (confidence 0.90) was identified between Google AI Mode and Google AI Overviews when asked "How much does NYU fertility treatment cost?" Google AI Mode stated that a self-pay IVF cycle starts at $12,650 to $17,600, while Google AI Overviews stated the range is $17,600 to $21,200. Both responses cited the same source page — the NYU Langone Fertility Center Financial Information and Patient Forms page — alongside different supporting pages. The flagged source for the lower figure was a page titled "Managing IVF Costs," which states the self-pay fee for an IVF cycle using autologous eggs starts at $12,650 (flagging confidence 0.95).

Shady Grove Fertility

A high-severity factual conflict (confidence 0.90) was identified between Gemini and Copilot when asked "What is the Shady Grove Fertility lawsuit?" Gemini described E.M. v. Shady Grove as a case about handling, release, and transfer of frozen eggs, with conversion and breach of contract claims allowed to proceed toward trial. Copilot described the same case as a discrimination and retaliation suit where a jury ruled in favor of Shady Grove, rejecting claims under the D.C. Human Rights Act and consumer protection laws. Gemini cited a federal court opinion and a law firm press release; Copilot cited Justia case pages and a vLex entry for the same case number.

US Fertility

A high-severity factual conflict (confidence 0.95) was identified between Perplexity and ChatGPT when asked "Who owns US Fertility?" Perplexity stated that US Fertility is physician-owned and physician-led, formed through a partnership between Amulet Capital Partners and Shady Grove Fertility. ChatGPT stated that US Fertility is primarily owned by two private-equity firms, L Catterton and Amulet Capital Partners, with physicians holding approximately 15% ownership. The flagged sources for the physician-owned description included the company's own newsroom and about pages (flagging confidence 0.90); ChatGPT cited a PR Newswire release and a separate company newsroom page.

Benchmark Context

Questions This Section Answers

• How does the qualified benchmark set differ from the raw collection universe?
• What do the October 2026 benchmark-level metrics say about recommendation content and shortlist share?

The report separates the raw collection universe from the qualified analysis set. Brand-level recommendation percentages are calculated within the qualified benchmark set.

The qualified benchmark observations are the denominator used for every brand-level coverage percentage that follows. August 2026 recorded 480 total prompts, 391 unique questions, 424 relevant, 56 irrelevant, and 305 qualified observations; September 2026 recorded 567 total prompts, 407 unique questions, 498 relevant, 69 irrelevant, and 332 qualified observations. The raw collection grew across the series while the qualified set contracted in October, narrowing from 332 observations in September to 279.

Benchmark-Level Metrics

Recommendation-shaped answers were 77 of 242 qualified observations in July 2026, 80 of 305 in August, 90 of 332 in September, and 100 of 279 in October. Valid recommendation shortlists rose from 99 in July to 121 in August, 149 in September, and 161 in October. September 2026 sat between these months with a recommendation-shaped share of 27.1% and a valid shortlist share of 44.9%. The October qualified set was smaller than September's but carried a higher share of recommendation content, meaning more of a smaller denominator produced valid shortlists.

AI Recommendation Trend

Questions This Section Answers

• Which fertility clinics lead valid recommendation coverage in October 2026?
• Which brands cleared their series significance thresholds this month, and in which direction?

The Leader Holds While Three Brands Clear the Significance Threshold in October 2026

The October 2026 result is not a category-level shift carried by several small movements. Three brands cleared their series significance thresholds: RMA Network, NYU Langone Fertility, and Pacific Fertility Center. Kindbody cleared its threshold on the downside. The remaining five brands stayed within normal month-to-month variation.

What Changed This Month

CCRM Fertility

CCRM Fertility's valid recommendation coverage moved from 33.9% in July 2026 to 36.6% in October 2026, up 2.7 points across the series, with a 7.1-point gain from September (29.5%) to October. This monthly move falls just short of the threshold for a significant single-month change. The leader's coverage rose even as its supporting metrics contracted.

Raw mention presence fell from 67.4% in July to 53.8% in October, a 13.6-point decline — the sharpest presence decline of any brand in the series. The brand appeared in 150 of 279 qualified observations in October, generating 102 valid recommendations. Rank-one rate dropped from 19.0% to 10.8%, an 8.2-point decline, with 30 rank-one placements in October against 46 in July.

The distinction to notice: the brand appears less often and is named first less often, yet its share of valid recommendations rose. Coverage and presence are separate signals here, and they moved in opposite directions.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Whether the presence decline reflects a change in the prompt mix, a shift in which surfaces carry the brand, or a genuine narrowing of its footprint across the qualified set.

RMA Network

RMA Network recorded the strongest upward movement across the series, with coverage climbing from 14.1% in July 2026 to 32.6% in October 2026, up 18.5 points, clearing the threshold for a significant rise across the series. The prior month's move was also significant: coverage rose 12.7 points from September (19.9%) to October, the largest single-month move in this series for any brand. The upward streak has now run three consecutive months.

Raw mention presence rose from 24.8% to 43.4%, up 18.6 points, with the brand present in 121 of 279 qualified observations in October. Top-three rate moved from 5.4% to 17.9%, a 12.5-point gain, with 50 top-three placements in October against 13 in July. Rank-one rate climbed from 0.4% to 5.0%, with 14 rank-one placements in October against one in July. Valid recommendations grew from 34 in July to 91 in October.

The distinction to notice: presence, top-three placement, and rank-one placement all rose alongside the primary coverage metric. This is a broad-based gain, not a single-placement shift.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Whether the rank-one gains concentrate in specific prompt types or surfaces, and whether those are the same prompts where Kindbody lost ground.

Kindbody

Kindbody is the series' only significant decliner. Coverage fell from 14.5% in July 2026 to 5.0% in October 2026, down 9.5 points, clearing the threshold for a significant decline across the series. The decline has run three consecutive months, with the largest single-month move of 4.3 points occurring earlier in the series.

Raw mention presence moved from 22.7% to 11.8%, down 10.9 points, with 33 present observations in October against 55 in July. Top-three rate declined from 7.8% to 1.8%, down 6.0 points, with five top-three placements in October versus 19 in July. Valid recommendations fell from 35 in July to 14 in October. Rank-one rate sits at 0.0% in October, with no rank-one placements.

The distinction to notice: the brand has now fallen out of rank-one placement entirely while remaining visible at 11.8% presence. Presence is not converting to recommendation at any tier.

The gap between Kindbody and RMA Network widened every month of the series, moving from a 0.4-point Kindbody lead in July 2026 to a 27.6-point deficit in October 2026, a 28.0-point swing. A second gap, between Kindbody and NYU Langone Fertility, also widened every month, moving from a 1.3-point Kindbody lead in July to an 18.7-point deficit in October.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which prompts previously produced Kindbody recommendations and now surface RMA Network or NYU Langone Fertility.

NYU Langone Fertility

NYU Langone Fertility's valid recommendation coverage moved from 13.2% in July 2026 to 23.7% in October 2026, up 10.5 points across the series, clearing the threshold for a significant rise. The prior month's move was also significant at 10.7 points from September (13.0%) to October. The upward streak has run two consecutive months.

Raw mention presence rose from 21.9% to 26.9%, up 5.0 points, with the brand present in 75 of 279 qualified observations in October. Top-three rate moved from 9.5% to 22.2%, a 12.7-point gain, with 62 top-three placements in October against 23 in July. Rank-one rate climbed from 2.5% to 5.4%, with 15 rank-one placements in October against six in July. Valid recommendations grew from 32 in July to 66 in October.

The distinction to notice: the brand's top-three rate gain (12.7 points) exceeds its coverage gain (10.5 points), meaning it is converting more of its visible observations into top-tier recommendations.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Whether the top-three gains cluster in the pricing and comparison prompts where the benchmark detected conflicting cost information across platforms.

Shady Grove Fertility

Shady Grove Fertility's valid recommendation coverage moved from 26.0% in July 2026 to 22.6% in October 2026, down 3.4 points across the series, within normal variation. The prior-to-current move was flat at 0.3 points from September (22.3%) to October, and the brand has recorded two consecutive monthly gains.

Raw mention presence fell from 50.8% to 37.3%, down 13.5 points. The brand appeared in 104 of 279 qualified observations in October, generating 63 valid recommendations. Top-three rate declined from 19.0% to 15.4%, down 3.6 points, with 43 top-three placements in October against 46 in July. Rank-one rate moved from 3.3% to 2.1%, with six rank-one placements in October against eight in July.

The distinction to notice: presence fell significantly while coverage and top-three stayed within normal variation, meaning the brand is appearing less often but holding its recommendation share among the observations where it does appear.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Whether the presence decline concentrates on specific surfaces, and whether the benchmark-detected case-history inconsistency affects how the brand is described in discovery prompts.

Pacific Fertility Center

Pacific Fertility Center's valid recommendation coverage moved from 5.0% in July 2026 to 10.4% in October 2026, up 5.4 points across the series, clearing the threshold for a significant rise. The prior-to-current move was 2.9 points from September (7.5%) to October, within normal variation. The upward streak has run three consecutive months.

Raw mention presence moved from 23.5% to 20.4%, down 3.1 points, within normal variation. The brand appeared in 57 of 279 qualified observations in October, generating 29 valid recommendations. Top-three rate rose from 3.7% to 8.2%, up 4.5 points, with 23 top-three placements in October against nine in July. Rank-one rate moved from 2.1% to 2.9%, with eight rank-one placements in October against five in July.

The distinction to notice: coverage and top-three rose while presence fell slightly. The brand is converting a slightly smaller visible footprint into more placement.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Whether the top-three gains concentrate on the Google AI Mode surface, where the platform summary shows Pacific Fertility Center as the top-authority brand.

Boston IVF

Boston IVF's valid recommendation coverage moved from 3.3% in July 2026 to 4.7% in October 2026, up 1.4 points across the series, within normal variation. The prior-to-current move was 2.3 points from September (2.4%) to October, also within normal variation. This is the brand's first monthly gain in the series.

Raw mention presence moved from 7.0% to 6.8%, down 0.2 points. The brand appeared in 19 of 279 qualified observations in October, generating 13 valid recommendations. Top-three rate rose from 0.4% to 1.8%, with five top-three placements in October against one in July. Rank-one rate moved from 0.0% to 0.7%, with two rank-one placements in October against none in July.

The distinction to notice: with 13 valid recommendations and small absolute counts, the top-three and rank-one changes represent a handful of observations. These figures should be read as directional, not as a durable pattern.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which prompts produced the five top-three placements after three months at or near zero.

Spring Fertility

Spring Fertility's valid recommendation coverage moved from 7.4% in July 2026 to 8.2% in October 2026, up 0.8 points across the series, within normal variation. The prior-to-current move was 1.9 points from September (6.3%) to October, within normal variation. The brand has recorded two consecutive monthly gains.

Raw mention presence moved from 11.6% to 12.2%, up 0.6 points. The brand appeared in 34 of 279 qualified observations in October, generating 23 valid recommendations. Top-three rate rose from 2.9% to 5.0%, with 14 top-three placements in October against seven in July. Rank-one rate moved from 0.4% to 2.5%, up 2.1 points, with seven rank-one placements in October against one in July.

The distinction to notice: coverage and presence stayed close to flat while rank-one placement showed the largest move of the three metrics. The gain is concentrated at the top of the recommendation list, not in overall visibility.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which prompts produced the seven rank-one placements, and whether they overlap with the prompts CCRM Fertility vacated at rank one.

Illume Fertility

Illume Fertility's valid recommendation coverage moved from 0.0% in July 2026 to 0.7% in October 2026, up 0.7 points across the series, within normal variation. The brand has recorded three consecutive monthly increases. The prior-to-current move was 0.1 points from September (0.6%) to October.

Raw mention presence moved from 13.6% to 9.3%, down 4.3 points. The brand appeared in 26 of 279 qualified observations in October, generating two valid recommendations. Top-three rate rose from 0.0% to 0.4%, with one top-three placement in October. Rank-one rate also moved from 0.0% to 0.4%, with one rank-one placement in October.

The distinction to notice: with only two valid recommendations and one rank-one placement, the brand's coverage figure rests on a single observation. The three-month upward streak is real but the absolute counts are small, and the movement should be read alongside the underlying counts.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Which prompts produced the two valid recommendations after three months at or near zero.

US Fertility

US Fertility's valid recommendation coverage held at 0.0% in October 2026, unchanged from August and September, down 0.4 points from July 2026. The brand recorded no valid recommendations in October, as in the two prior months.

Raw mention presence moved from 1.2% to 1.8%, up 0.6 points. The brand appeared in five of 279 qualified observations in October, with all five classified as neutral and none converting to a valid recommendation. Top-three rate and rank-one rate both sit at 0.0%.

The distinction to notice: presence and coverage are fully decoupled. The brand appears in the qualified set but never in a position the benchmark counts as a recommendation.

Highest-priority diagnostic: Why the five observations where the brand appears do not produce any placement, and which brands occupy the corresponding recommendation slots.

Buyer-Intent Interpretation

Questions This Section Answers

• What do the October 2026 buyer-intent clusters show about where recommendation behavior concentrates?
• Why can't this benchmark answer commercial questions about pricing or head-to-head comparison for fertility clinics?

All 279 qualified observations in October 2026 fell into the Brand Recommendation class, consistent with July, August, and September 2026. The commercial questions about cost positioning and direct head-to-head comparison remain beyond what the qualified benchmark set can answer for fertility clinics, since no qualified observations were captured in the Pricing and Value or Multi-Brand Comparison classes across the four-month series. The category-level movement observed this month therefore reflects recommendation behavior in discovery-oriented prompts, not pricing or comparison prompts.

Brand Opportunity Summary

The benchmark identifies where attention is warranted; a company-level analysis is needed to explain why.

Evidence Behind the Benchmark

The aggregate metrics are built from prompt-level observations (query, surface, recommendation outcome, rank, sentiment, and citations where exposed). Company-level analysis can go deeper into prompt, competitor, surface, and evidence patterns. Source presence is not automatically treated as proof of causation. The three high-severity inconsistencies detected this month show that AI platforms can cite the same underlying page and still produce incompatible figures or descriptions, which is why citation frequency is not treated as endorsement and why flagged sources are reported separately from claim values.

About This Benchmark

This report is part of the LLM Authority Index AI Visibility Market Discovery research program.

• AI Visibility Industry Market Methodology
• AI Visibility Industry Market Metrics
• AI Visibility Industry Market Standards

Report-Specific Interpretation Notes

• Qualified denominators (242 in July 2026, 305 in August 2026, 332 in September 2026, 279 in October 2026) differ from raw collection counts (367, 480, 567, and 625); all coverage percentages use the qualified set.
• Small-count movements, such as US Fertility holding no valid recommendation and Illume Fertility holding two, reflect individual observations and may not indicate a durable pattern.
• The four-month series analysis (July through October 2026) classifies Kindbody as a significant decliner and RMA Network, NYU Langone Fertility, and Pacific Fertility Center as significant risers. Movement across the series identifies changes worth investigating; it does not by itself establish cause.

Next Step

The Public Benchmark Shows Where a Brand Is Winning or Losing. A Company-Level Audit Shows Why.

Beneath the aggregate coverage percentages lie specific questions: which high-intent prompts does a brand win, which competitor takes the recommendation when a brand loses, what attributes do AI systems associate with each clinic, and which external sources shape those answers. This month's conflicting cost, case-history, and ownership responses show that the same underlying pages can produce incompatible answers across platforms, and the benchmark alone does not reveal which sources drive the divergence.

A company-specific AI visibility audit maps those prompt, surface, competitor, ranking, sentiment, and evidence-source patterns into a prioritized visibility strategy.

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