Your Patients Are Asking ChatGPT for Medical Advice. Is Your Practice Even Part of the Conversation?

Something shifted in healthcare marketing last year, and most practice owners missed it entirely.

Patients stopped Googling symptoms the old-fashioned way. Instead, they started asking ChatGPT. And Siri. And Alexa. And Google's own AI overview feature that now sits above the traditional search results like a velvet rope at a club you weren't invited to.

Here's the number that should get your attention: according to OpenAI, over 230 million people worldwide ask ChatGPT health and wellness questions every single week. That's not a typo. Every week. And earlier this year, OpenAI launched ChatGPT Health — a dedicated search experience specifically for medical questions. People can even upload their medical records directly.

Meanwhile, Google's AI Overviews are changing the game on traditional search. When Google serves up an AI-generated answer at the top of the page, organic click-through rates drop to 0.6%, compared to 1.6% when there's no AI overview. That means fewer people are scrolling down to find your website, even if you've been doing SEO for years.

So what does this mean for your dermatology practice in Scottsdale? Or your chiropractic office in Mesa? Or your wellness clinic anywhere in the Valley?

It means the rules changed, and nobody sent you a memo.

The Old Way vs. The New Way

The traditional patient journey used to be straightforward. Someone gets a backache, they Google "chiropractor near me," they look at a few websites, maybe check some reviews, and they call somebody. Your website, your Google Business Profile, your reviews — that whole ecosystem worked together to get you found.

That still happens. But it's no longer the only path.

Now a growing number of patients are asking an AI assistant a conversational question — something like "What kind of doctor should I see for chronic fatigue?" or "Can you recommend a dermatologist in Phoenix that accepts Blue Cross?" — and the AI gives them an answer. Maybe it mentions your practice. More likely, it doesn't.

A 2025 survey from rater8 found that 70% of patients are now open to using AI tools to research physicians. A quarter of patients said they used voice search to find a doctor in 2025, mostly for practical things like directions and hours. And 84% still check online reviews before booking — but increasingly, those reviews are being summarized by AI rather than read on the actual review site.

This isn't science fiction. This is Tuesday.

What Makes a Practice "Visible" to AI?

Here's the thing most marketing agencies won't tell you, because they either don't understand it yet or they're still selling you the same SEO package from 2019: AI search tools pull from specific types of data. They like structured information. They like schema markup. They like clean, consistent data across your web presence.

If your website doesn't have proper schema markup telling AI tools that you're a medical practice, what your specialties are, where you're located, what insurance you accept, and what hours you're open — you're essentially invisible to the AI layer of search.

Your Google Business Profile matters even more now, because AI overviews pull data directly from GBP listings. If your profile is incomplete, outdated, or inaccurate, you're not just losing clicks — you're being excluded from AI-generated answers entirely.

And then there's the content on your site. AI tools need something to reference. If your website is a digital brochure with five pages and stock photos of people in lab coats shaking hands, there's nothing for an AI to cite when a patient asks a question you could answer.

What You Can Do About It (Without a PhD in Computer Science)

This isn't as complicated as it sounds, but it does require someone who understands both the technical side and the healthcare side. Here's what we focus on for our clients:

Structured data / schema markup — We make sure your website tells AI tools exactly who you are, what you do, and where you do it. This includes your practice name, address, phone, specialties, accepted insurance, and individual provider profiles.

Google Business Profile optimization — Not just filling in the blanks, but actively managing it with posts, photos, Q&A responses, and review management. Businesses with complete profiles are 2.7 times more likely to be considered reputable by potential patients.

Content that AI can actually use — FAQ pages. Condition-specific content. Provider bios with real information. The kind of stuff that answers the questions patients are actually asking, whether they're typing into Google or talking to their phone.

An llms.txt file — A relatively new standard that helps AI crawlers understand your site. Think of it as a sitemap specifically designed for large language models.

The Bottom Line

You spent years building a practice. You earned your reputation one patient at a time. But the way patients find you is changing fast, and the practices that adapt are the ones that'll keep growing.

The ones that don't? They'll wonder why the phone stopped ringing.

We've been doing this since 1995. We've watched the internet go from novelty to necessity, watched Google rewrite the rules a dozen times, and now we're watching AI rewrite them again. Each time, the practices that move early come out ahead.

If you want to know where your practice stands in the AI search landscape, we'll tell you — no charge for the conversation. Call us at (623) 780-0000 or hit the contact form. We'll take a look and give you a straight answer.

That's kind of our thing.