AI (artificial intelligence) is changing the game when it comes to healthcare marketing. Programs are able to create social media posts that match your brand, video creators can pump out virtual avatars for visual content, and the SEO landscape is being affected by new Google initiatives.
At Functional Medicine Marketing, we’re keeping tabs on all of these advancements. But if you’ve interacted with our brand before, you know that SEO is the cornerstone of our strategies. So, in this blog, our SEO director, TJ Neathery, is going to give you an overview of how AI is changing search and how you can apply these insights to your own healthcare marketing strategy.
Let’s Start with AI Overviews. Here’s Why They Matter
AI Overviews are a new feature from Google that use generative AI to summarize answers directly at the top of the search results page. Instead of traditional snippets or lists of links, users now see a synthesized response created by large language models (LLMs) trained to understand and repackage web content. These AI-generated answers often cite 2–3 sources and appear above the organic results—sometimes even before ads.
For healthcare providers, this means that showing up in organic search is no longer enough; your website needs to be structured and authoritative enough to be selected for these AI-powered summaries. As tools like ChatGPT and Google’s Search Generative Experience become more mainstream, patients are not only using AI to find doctors—they’re using AI to understand conditions, treatments, and wellness options before they ever land on your site.
To be eligible for inclusion in AI Overviews, your site must be crawlable, well-indexed, and content-rich. Google uses bots to scan your site and follow internal and external links, collecting pages that are accessible, informative, and technically sound. That means having a clean site architecture, updated sitemaps, fast page speed, and mobile optimization are all foundational. Once crawled, your content must also be indexable—meaning it isn’t blocked by “noindex” tags or errors. Google stores indexed pages in its database and evaluates them based on EEAT: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. Pages that are original, well-structured, and provide accurate, helpful answers to common health questions are far more likely to be surfaced in generative AI search results. The rise of large language models (LLMs) makes technical SEO more critical than ever, since these tools are trained on the indexed web and favor content that’s easy to parse and synthesize.
If you’re a healthcare provider or marketer, optimizing for AI-driven search isn’t just about ranking—it’s about visibility in an entirely new format. Start by ensuring your website is fully crawlable and indexed, then review your use of headings, schema markup, and internal links. Tools like Yoast now include LLM compatibility features—enable them to increase your site’s AI readiness. Create content that answers real patient questions, using clear formatting and medically accurate information. Think beyond keywords and focus on becoming a trusted, AI-friendly source. As AI search tools continue to evolve, practices that invest in technical SEO and content strategy now will have a clear advantage in capturing patient attention and building digital authority in the future of healthcare search.
TJ Neathery says, “As much as SEOs want to provide clear guidance to clients, we’re still early in the game. Google is consistently providing updates on their AI strategy. The best short-term approach? Work with an SEO team that stays up-to-date on the latest developments while sticking to a robust strategy. The last thing you want to do is pivot your core content strategy 10 times in a year just because Google added one more feature to their AI SERP results.”
ChatGPT, Google’s AI Beta, and the Rise of LLMs
People aren’t just searching for healthcare services—they’re searching with AI. Tools like ChatGPT and Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) are becoming part of the everyday research journey. Patients are asking complex, multi-part health questions and expecting clear, immediate, AI-curated answers.
Because large language models are trained on indexed data, your content’s visibility and structure now directly influence whether you’re included in AI responses.
That means it’s no longer just about keyword rankings. You need:
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Clear topic authority
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Strong internal linking
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Updated, well-structured content
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Proper schema markup and indexing
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Helpful content that answers real questions
Your AI-Ready Website Checklist
Google and other AI models pull from high-quality, crawlable, and trustworthy sites. That means your site needs to be technically sound and content-rich. A few things you should check:
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Yoast LLM Feature: If you use Yoast SEO, make sure the “LLM” feature is enabled. This helps structure your content in a way that’s more compatible with AI-driven search engines.
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Proper Indexing: Use tools like Google Search Console to confirm all key pages are being indexed correctly. If your pages aren’t indexed, they’re invisible to AI overviews.
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Content Format: Use headings, lists, FAQs, and authoritative tone. AI favors well-organized, scannable formats that it can easily parse and summarize.
Here’s a screenshot of how to activate LLMs on your website using Yoast.
AI Content: The Aggregator of Average
Let’s talk about content. Despite all the changes happening to search during 2025, content is still king. Whether you want to show up in AI overviews, traditional search, or Maps, one thing is staying the same – create valuable content.
Why?
Because Google’s goal is simple: deliver the best, most relevant content to users. With the rise in AI content, we can also add “unique” to this list of descriptors.
The drive behind the EEAT guidelines is to generate unique, expert content. Today, anyone can produce a 600-word blog on any topic just by asking ChatGPT to “Write a blog about squirrels” or “Write a blog about George Washington.” This content, however, is becoming less and less valuable by the day. Google doesn’t want to show users 500 blogs that all read the same. In fact, we’ve noticed that Google is unindexing more and more “low-quality” pages. Unless you’re paying attention to your Search Console and keeping up on your site index, you might have dozens of pages that are invisible to the Google bots. These unindexed pages often rely heavily on unedited AI content and low-effort ideas.
Here’s the thing. AI content is inherently average. It takes information from the whole internet and synthesizes a basic, inoffensive summary. It isn’t able to draw upon your expertise or personal experiences. At this point, AI rarely adds anything new to the conversation. However, Google’s AI Overviews want to source the most reliable and informative sites, so that means you can stand out in the crowd with unique content.
“When can you use AI for content creation?”
This is a question we often hear at Functional Medicine Marketing. AI tools are great for brainstorming ideas and writing about factual, medical information. You can prompt an AI with a broad topic—like “wellness marketing ideas” or “ways to explain diabetes to patients”—and instantly receive a list of angles, titles, or outlines. This helps you break through creative blocks and explore perspectives you may not have considered on your own.
Now let’s talk about factual information. Need to explain how the thyroid works or summarize the benefits of red light therapy? AI can quickly deliver structured, accurate overviews based on established knowledge. While it’s still smart to double-check facts for the most current updates, AI tools offer a strong foundation for drafting educational or professional content.
The bottom line: AI won’t replace your voice or critical thinking—but it can save you hours of effort by accelerating the research, outlining, and drafting process. Use it as a collaborator to unlock new ideas and communicate clearly, confidently, and consistently.
Will AI Overviews Replace Traditional Search Entirely?
Google is aggressively expanding the role of AI Overviews in search. That much is clear. However, AI overviews aren’t always helpful for every search intent. This is especially true for local searches. When you look for a restaurant in your city, you don’t want to read two paragraphs of AI content about local restaurants. You want to see a map or check out a helpful guide to the 10 best places. Yes, AI overviews are becoming more sophisticated and will soon be able to present the information you want, but not everyone is going to use them. Or Google might reorder their search results and place AI overviews at the bottom of the page. It’s still early!
TJ Neathery notes, “Local search seems to be driven primarily by what we call traditional search. When looking for a thyroid clinic in Cleveland, your potential patients are still going to be presented with Maps SERP and traditional organic results.”
The world of SEO is changing rapidly in 2025 and 2026. New advancements are announced every month. But so far, Google’s core guidelines haven’t changed. Create great content that people want to engage with. If you can do that, you’ll be able to reach your potential clients no matter what!