Line by line: ten patient questions on optometry websites, from 86% down to 7%

See the full reportDownload the PDF

An eye chart is sorted by difficulty. The top line is one large letter that nearly everyone reads; each line below is smaller, until most people start guessing. We sorted the ten patient questions in our study the same way, and the result reads like a chart held up to the websites of independent eye care.

The State of Independent Optometry Websites 2026 covers 123 independent family practices, pediatric and vision therapy practices, specialty contact lens and dry eye clinics, and optical boutiques with an optometrist, read from the home page and the pages it links to. The top line is easy. The smallest line is where nearly every site misses: only 7% of the 123 sites show any price for an exam, a contact lens fitting or a pair of glasses.

How was the chart read?#

Each question has a fixed pass rule, applied to the page text a patient sees: a booking link, a named vision plan, a dollar amount tied to an exam or eyewear, a doctor named with O.D. Plan and frame brand logos count when their image descriptions name them, because a patient sees the logo. The study records what a site says, never the quality of anyone's eye care. Across all 123 sites the margin of error is ±8.8 points.

Below, each question gets its line on the chart, the share of sites that answer it, and what a miss costs the practice.

Line 1, 20/200: "Can I book an eye exam online?"#

86% answer. The big E. Almost every practice links to a scheduler or an appointment request form. Pediatric and vision therapy practices are lowest at 78%. A miss sends every decision made after closing time to a phone line that is closed.

Line 2, 20/100: "Can I get contact lenses fitted?"#

85% answer, and family practices (95%) and specialty lens clinics (96%) almost all do. The odd result is pediatric and vision therapy at 52%, in a group where myopia control lenses and ortho-k are a growing part of the work. A parent asking about lenses for a child cannot tell from half of these sites.

Line 3, 20/70: "Do you see children?"#

78% answer. Pediatric practices say so on 96% of sites, as they should. Optical boutiques say so on 54%. A boutique whose optometrist sees children, and never says it, hands back-to-school exams to the family practice down the road.

Line 4, 20/50: "How do I reach you, and when are you open?"#

75% pair a tappable phone number with opening hours. Specialty contact lens and dry eye clinics are lowest at 60%. A number a patient has to copy by hand, or hours they have to call to learn, is one more step before the booking.

Line 5, 20/40: "Who will examine me?"#

73% name an optometrist with O.D. or their training. Pediatric and vision therapy sites lead at 89%; boutiques trail at 57%. Without a named doctor, an optical with an exam lane reads like a shop that happens to test eyes.

Line 6, 20/30: "Can you see me today for a red or injured eye?"#

56% say whether they see eye emergencies or same-day visits. Pediatric and vision therapy practices say so on 30%. An independent practice that can see a red eye today and doesn't say it sends that patient to urgent care, and loses a medical visit and often the patient with it.

Line 7, 20/25: "Do you take my vision plan?"#

51% name a vision or medical plan they take. Family practices reach 60%; pediatric and vision therapy practices 37%. The other 49% leave the first question most patients have to the phone, and every one of those calls lands at the front desk.

Line 8, 20/20: "Which frames do you carry?"#

50% name three or more frame brands. Boutiques do it on 79% of sites, pediatric practices on 19%. The frame wall is the clearest reason to choose an independent over a chain, and on half the sites it doesn't appear.

Line 9, 20/15: "Do other patients vouch for you?"#

33% show reviews in a widget, in review markup or as quoted patient testimonials. Boutiques are lowest at 21%. The praise exists on the practice's listings already; the website is the one place it isn't.

Line 10, 20/10: "What will an eye exam cost me?"#

7% show a price. Specialty clinics do best at 16%; family practices show one on 2% of sites. A patient without vision cover, or with a plan that excludes contact lens fittings, finds no number at all. A discount, an allowance or a financing limit does not count as a price.

What about the parts a patient never reads?#

The technical checks sit outside the chart but change how it reads on a phone. 88% of the sites miss the 2.5 second load target on a phone. 71% have text below the WCAG contrast minimum, on websites for people whose eyesight is the reason they are visiting. 33% leave images without descriptions. The median overall score is 77 out of 100, and no site in the study answers all ten questions.

Which line should an agency read first?#

Start at the bottom. Price, reviews, frames and vision plans are the four lines where about half or more of the sites miss, and none of them needs a redesign: each is content the practice already has, in its fee schedule, its plan list, its frame orders and its review profiles.

The study names one site as best in class: Ideal Family Eye Care in Chicago, which answers nine of the ten questions. Even there, the smallest line stays blank: it shows no price.

For a fixed-scope offer built on these lines, read the two-week pilot. For the same insurance question in another health practice, see our dental insurance finding.

Go to the findingsGet the data