Regardless of the topic at hand, for many of us, our go-to research tool is an online search engine like Google. The reality is that most of today’s digital search tools incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities (e.g., natural language processing, machine learning and data analytics) to provide answers to user queries.
What does that mean for web-based research? Traditionally, internet searches resulted in a page of relevant website links for you to browse and sort through for answers (or, at least, pieces of answers). Now, with the rise of AI, most internet search results come in the form of an overview, or AI-generated summary of the answer based on assessment by an algorithm.
A large language model (LLM) is an AI trained on vast amounts of text that acts as a smart engine for search, understanding what you ask in plain language and synthesizing clear, conversational answers from across the web. Google AI Mode, ChatGPT and Perplexity are all examples of LLMs commonly leveraged for search. In other words, these days when you open Google’s home page and type a term or question into the search bar, the first “result” isn’t a direct link, as it was in the past, but a brief explanation that synthesizes information from various sources.
Families and prospective residents researching their senior living options often start by jumping online and using a search engine or chatbot to find out more information. Now by default, this process includes AI-driven search functions that can be used to evaluate quality, understand costs and explore pricing, care types, on-campus offerings and more.
In short, it’s relatively accurate, and yes, AI can be an excellent resource for narrowing down your options. It’s important, however, to avoid unquestioning reliance on AI outputs and to double-check all the facts.
In terms of senior living research, you can generally use AI search functions to:
Help explain general funding options.
Summarize large amounts of data, such as reviews or trends.
Compare options and explain differences in care types.
Note that AI search uses current news and recent posted updates to analyze, assess and rank senior living communities. It pulls from various publicly available online sources, most notably media coverage announcing awards or testimonials from websites that the AI algorithm deems reputable. Although there’s no way to determine the algorithm’s exact ranking criteria, you can verify AI’s findings against objective sources. For example, accolades such as the U.S. News & World Report Best Senior Living recognition or the Five-Star Quality Rating System that the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services uses can be referenced for this information.
AI search can be incredibly helpful for finding thorough information about senior living options, but it’s not good at everything. When it comes to summarization, differentiation, data analysis or structural organization, AI dominates. On the other hand, if you’re looking for live data on occupancy and staffing, a diagnostic tool for clinical judgment or local evaluations of communities, you may want to tap into another resource.
Let’s look more closely at how to adequately use AI to research senior living:
You can use AI to surface different community options and information about what they offer. However, beware that AI can be confidently wrong, outputting expertly crafted responses that can be entirely inaccurate or hallucinated by the AI.
Remain vigilant. Check against sources like the community’s Google Business Profile (the information found on their company’s Google location listing), government agencies and advocacy organizations. Some examples include:
Even if you feel satisfied with the answer you receive, always verify AI claims with official sources, community team members and in-person visits to ensure you have all the right information.
AI is only one resource available for senior living research; there are often numerous ways to verify the information you receive from AI search queries. So, if you’re wondering, “Can I use ChatGPT to find senior living?” The answer is yes! ChatGPT and other LLMs can be very helpful for aggregating your options, but they shouldn’t be the only tool you use, especially as you vet individual choices and look further into community-specific details.
If you need more information about certain offerings or inclusions, it’s best to mine it straight from the source. Visit and browse the community’s website for insights and use it to verify what the AI tells you. Keep in mind that AI technology is still new, which means it makes mistakes, sometimes even completely fabricating responses if it can’t locate the answer outright (known as “hallucinating”). If you can’t find the answer to your question on the organization’s website, contact the community directly via phone or using an online form.
Your AI search prompts should include specific information, including preferred locations, budget requirements and nonnegotiables or must-have amenities. However, keep in mind that AI might say a community has an amenity it doesn’t — or say a community doesn’t have an amenity that it does. But once you have some general criteria to point you in the right direction, you can use AI to build a checklist of questions or talking points for when you ultimately tour a prospective choice. Our foundational list of 9 Questions to Ask Senior Living Communities is a great place to start.
Also, if searching with queries like "best senior living options” or something similar, be sure to specify what’s meant by the word “best.” This inquiry is sometimes interpreted by AI as “least expensive,” so it’s critical to clarify whether you’re referring to the best value, highest satisfaction rate, award-winning or otherwise. For example, instead of “What are the best senior living communities in California?” try a query that's more along the lines of “What are the highest-rated senior living communities in southern California?”
It’s important to never use AI as a diagnostic tool or to determine what level of living is necessary. Rely strictly on assessments from medical professionals for clinical judgment and wellness evaluations, which should be performed only by a physician or qualified clinician.
Sharing or inputting sensitive information like medical history or personal health data to an AI model is not recommended. Prompts should not include any identifying personal information or requests for clinical diagnoses.
Although specificity is important in your prompts, you should avoid inputting confidential or sensitive information, such as social security numbers, personal financial data or account numbers. Sharing any proprietary, private or especially sensitive data with a public LLM or any unauthorized software is discouraged. There’s no way to be sure if or where that data is being stored or who has access to it.
Avoid inquiries about real-time availability, event calendars or other highly variable information. Yes, AI search features leverage the most recent published data to generate responses, but the databases aren’t constantly updated or synced, so there’s no way to tell if the data being referenced by the AI is in fact the most recent. That means you aren’t guaranteed to receive the most up-to-date information in the response.
AI search algorithms struggle with factors high in variability or subjectivity, so they can’t verify things such as current staffing ratios, turnover or lived resident experience. AI search pulls from public website pages that meet the algorithm’s search criteria, which may include stale or third-party information. Similarly, it doesn’t always provide the full picture in regards to pricing breakdowns — AI tools often give outdated or averaged pricing that doesn't reflect entrance-fee models, refund options or nonprofit fee structures.
Expanding on that, AI search tools tend to overlook the distinction between nonprofit and for-profit organizations in the quest for additional information about a senior living provider. Search algorithms often don't surface ownership structure as a factor, even though it affects reinvestment, fees and mission.
AI search can be great for gathering options, but understand that it might not gather all available options. Cross-check against other programs like Google Maps to get a clear picture of what's in your area. Read real reviews from actual residents and their families, and don’t be afraid to talk to community members when you’re on a tour for the inside scoop.
Some other tips include:
Ask AI questions about the communities, but beware of hallucinations and ask for a list of sources.
Once you have your short list, verify information directly on the senior living community sites to make sure your info is right. Then take a tour.
When in doubt, make a call to the community. The community you choose should be happy to verify information and answer your questions quickly.
The bottom line: Although it’s a powerful option, AI is still only one tool that can be used to research senior living options. If you’re using an AI search function for research, always verify what you read, be specific in your prompts and never input private or confidential information.
Remember, finding the right community for you starts with knowing what’s right for you. Start senior care planning and decision making early, so you can be prepared for whatever the future has in store. For guidance and help getting started, access our bundle of resources to learn more!