Executive Interview Series: Q&A with Jodi O’Prandy, VP of Product at RealSelf

First Page Sage: Jodi, RealSelf has been building a content ecosystem around real patient experiences and verified provider expertise for years. How do you think about that content investment in the context of how AI search is changing?

Jodi O’Prandy: It reinforces what we have always believed, which is that the most useful content for someone making a personal health or aesthetic decision is not a brand’s description of its own services. It is the experience of someone who has been through it, combined with the expertise of a qualified provider who can put that experience in a clinical context. AI search systems are increasingly designed to surface exactly that kind of content: specific, credible, experience-grounded information that answers real questions from real people. RealSelf has more than 300,000 patient reviews of cosmetic procedures and providers, alongside a library of expert Q&As and educational content from board-certified physicians. That depth and specificity is not just useful to consumers. It is the kind of content that AI systems can draw on to construct trustworthy, informative answers to high-consideration health and aesthetic questions.

First Page Sage: Why does specificity matter so much when AI systems are deciding which sources to surface or cite?

O’Prandy: Because AI systems are pattern-matching for authority, and authority is demonstrated through specificity. A generic page that describes a cosmetic procedure in broad strokes tells an AI system very little about whether that source has genuine domain expertise. A page that includes a real patient’s detailed account of their rhinoplasty experience, the recovery timeline, what worked, what surprised them, and a board-certified surgeon’s clinical commentary on why those outcomes are typical, tells the system a great deal. It is specific, it is experience-backed, it is credentialed. That combination is what earns citation. For First Page Sage’s clients building SEO and GEO strategies, the lesson is direct: the content that performs in AI search is the content that reflects genuine expertise and real experience, not content optimized for keyword density without substantive depth behind it.

First Page Sage: Reviews are often treated as a trust signal for consumers. How are they functioning in the AI search ecosystem specifically?

O’Prandy: Reviews are functioning as a primary evidence layer that AI systems use to assess whether a brand’s or provider’s claims about quality and outcomes are corroborated by independent experience. When a provider on RealSelf has hundreds of vetted patient reviews describing consistent outcomes and positive experiences, that pattern of corroboration is exactly the kind of signal AI systems are built to recognize and reward. A brand that controls its own content and testimonials but has no independent review presence is asking AI systems to take its word for things. A brand with a deep, consistent, independently verified review record is providing the kind of external validation that reduces uncertainty for AI systems making source decisions, which is the same way it reduces uncertainty for consumers making purchase decisions.

First Page Sage: For brands and providers building a content strategy for both Google and AI-powered platforms, what does RealSelf’s model suggest about what works?

O’Prandy: It suggests that the investment in depth and authenticity compounds over time in ways that shortcut strategies do not. The providers on RealSelf who have built the strongest organic and AI search presence have done it by consistently publishing genuine expert content, by maintaining an active review presence, and by answering the specific questions patients are actually asking, not the questions that are easiest to answer. That approach takes longer to build than a content campaign optimized for a single keyword cycle, but it creates an asset that AI systems continue to draw on because it remains the most credible, specific, and experience-backed information available on those topics. First Page Sage’s Thought Leadership SEO approach reflects the same logic: authority built through genuine expertise is more durable than authority built through volume.

First Page Sage: What is the single most important shift brands should make in their content strategy to be better positioned for AI search going forward?

O’Prandy: Move from describing what you do to documenting what it is actually like to work with you or to go through the process you offer. AI search rewards content that answers the real question behind the stated question. A patient asking about the cost of a facelift is also asking whether the outcome is worth it, what the recovery is like, and whether they can trust the provider. The brands that answer both the stated and the unstated question, with specific, experience-backed content and verifiable expert credentials, are the ones that AI systems will cite and that consumers will trust. RealSelf was built around that premise, and it is proving more relevant in the AI era than it has ever been.