AI reshapes online search behavior and marketing strategies

AI is reshaping healthcare online search, marketing, and patient engagement. Here’s how healthcare marketers should adapt their content and SEO strategies to changing consumer behaviors in 2027.

—

For more than 20 years, internet users relied on a relatively static process for acquiring information: Type a string of keywords into a search engine (such as “best Cleveland cardiologists”), then click through the sites listed in the top results until you find what you’re looking for.

Today, users can ask increasingly complex questions of Google, Bing, and other search engines in plain language and receive conversational responses—of varying quality—synthesized from multiple digital sources using generative artificial intelligence (AI).

Google’s AI Overviews, Microsoft’s Copilot, and conversational search engines like Perplexity and You.com are changing how consumers search for everything, from recipes to healthcare information. As consumer behavior changes in light of this evolving landscape, healthcare marketing teams will need to change as well to effectively reach and engage their target audiences.

In 2027, we expect successful healthcare marketing teams to employ new content, digital, and SEO strategies to meet the shifting demands of an increasingly online, AI-friendly consumer base. Before we explore those strategies, let’s take a look at the online search landscape today, and where it’s headed next.

Consumer AI is maturing, but trust remains a challenge

Google introduced AI Overviews in U.S. search results in 2024, bringing AI-generated summaries and source links directly to the search experience. Fast forward to today, and AI-powered search has exploded into the mainstream. Google is adding agentic features, including background “search agents,” while AI Mode has surpassed one billion monthly users. AI is becoming a central part of how people find information online.

But quick answers don’t mean accurate ones. AI tools such as Google’s AI Mode as well as Claude, Copilot, and ChatGPT-6 have a stubborn and intractable problem: they are prone to generating false or misleading information, including fabricated citations, making it difficult for users to distinguish fact from fiction.

In one evaluation of 15 AI models, the top-performing model achieved only 68.8% accuracy, underscoring the limits of relying on AI-generated answers without checking their sources. Yet Google users click fewer links when shown an AI Overview at the top of their search results, according to a Pew Research Center report.

That accuracy deficit is especially concerning when people turn to AI for health information. A 2026 KFF poll found that 29% of U.S. adults use AI tools or chatbots for health information or advice at least monthly, up from 17% in 2024. This includes about one in six who say they use it “every day.” Yet 44% say they are not too or not at all confident in their ability to tell what is true or false when it comes to health information from AI chatbots.

Confidence in distinguishing true from false AI-generated health information or advice

Fig. 1 - Confidence in distinguishing true from false health information or advice from AI tools or chatbots. Source: KFF, Tracking Poll on Health Information and Trust, June 17, 2026.

AI Overviews are also making consumers more likely to notice ads. According to a Forbes survey, only 17% of participants overlooked all ads when an AI Overview was present, compared with 41% when one wasn’t.

As more consumers turn to AI-powered search and chatbots to guide their decision-making, healthcare marketers face a dual challenge: earning visibility in AI-generated results and ensuring the information audiences encounter is credible, accurate, and clearly sourced. It also means optimizing content for generative engine optimization (GEO) so healthcare brands are more likely to be cited in AI-generated answers, wherever consumers turn for information online.

How to optimize your healthcare SEO strategy in the age of AI

Digital marketers are used to taking a reactive approach to strategy. Shifting algorithms, search behaviors, and browser capabilities have kept marketing teams on their toes, making regular adjustments to strategies to cater to the fickle whims of Google (and, to a lesser degree, Bing).

In that way, the rise of gen AI search results presents a new—but not entirely unfamiliar—challenge to healthcare marketers: Adapting content to how consumers discover information for the LLM world.

Enter generative engine optimization, the practice of improving the likelihood that AI tools will surface or cite a brand’s content in generated answers. GEO builds on traditional SEO, extending the focus beyond search rankings to include the sources AI systems draw on and the information they use to answer questions.

This doesn’t mean neglecting traditional SEO practices targeting search engine crawlers, but rather augmenting those practices to reach both human and AI audiences as well. Consider these tips:

1. Optimize content for AI-driven search

Most consumer-facing AI systems are trained on publicly available, high-authority content. They rely on logically structured, semantically clear, and conversationally presented information to generate responses.

To gain priority with these systems, healthcare marketers should create accessible, indexable online content that’s easy for AI to read, complete with schema markup, clear headings and metadata, and consistent formatting. As often as possible, it should be ungated and rendered with limited JavaScript.

Consumers engage with AI systems in a conversational manner, so your content should be written with this in mind. Incorporate plain-language questions and answers into your resources (such as with FAQs or query-oriented headings), and include plenty of links to emphasize expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.

Topical authority matters to human readers and AI trainers, so include author profiles with listed credentials, links to published content, and featured citations.

You should regularly test AI tools with questions related to your business, services, or products, and assess their responses to further inform the formatting and subject matter of your content.

2. Feed the models that feed the chatbots

The LLMs that feed AI systems often scrape publicly available information from major healthcare publishers and data providers. In some cases, they may license that information in partnership with the healthcare organization.

Partnering with organizations that are already training LLMs can get your information where it needs to be for chatbots and AI search tools to reference it. Consider how your organization could provide informative content and other resources—like blogs, data analyses, or thought leadership content—to current LLM partners to improve your brand visibility.

Sharing unique data and insights in places frequented by consumers and LLMs alike can help to establish your brand as an authority and ensure your content feeds the right models:

• Wikipedia
• Newswires
• Peer-reviewed journals
• LinkedIn
• Reddit
• Substack

3. Write for an AI-informed audience

Even if your content isn’t being cited by AI, assume visitors to your site have at least skimmed the AI-generated summary for their query and are coming to you for deeper insights.

As you build landing pages and consumer-facing materials geared toward specific keywords and queries, include more in-depth questions and answers (in a simple, direct, and conversational tone) to provide value beyond the top-level summary offered by AI.

The rise of AI-generated content could ultimately make validation from real humans even more important. Create content that positions your providers, MSLs, and other experts as trusted voices that offer a level of empathy and lived experience that AI can’t match.

Be sure to highlight case studies, customer/partner logos, research citations, and brand mentions to build positive sentiment around your brand. In an AI-driven digital environment, it’s increasingly important to highlight the human element in your work, and the impact it has on real people.

4. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em

If your organization has the resources and expertise to do so, developing your own branded AI assistant can help consumers transition from a third-party AI tool or traditional search engine to take the next step in their journey with your business, whether that’s scheduling an appointment, accessing reference materials, or comparing products and services.

Of course, your in-house AI should be HIPAA-compliant, well-trained, and clear about the difference between educational information and medical advice.

Learn more

Despite shortcomings in accuracy, AI-assisted search and LLMs are likely to dominate digital spaces for years to come. In 2027 and beyond, it’s safe to assume that a considerable portion—if not the majority—of your target audience will use AI to engage with your corner of the healthcare industry, from choosing their physician, to learning about new medications and treatment options, to exploring the activities of key opinion leaders.

Definitive Healthcare’s comprehensive intelligence delivers deep insights into markets, care networks, and consumer trends. To see how our solutions can help your organization find clarity, acquire and retain more patients with precision marketing, expedite growth, and improve patient outcomes, sign up for a demo today.