Medical Practices & Small Businesses Can Appear In AI Overviews and ChatGPT
New research shows a dramatic shift in the consumer search journey, as 9 in 10 Americans surveyed said they always double check or expand their search to confirm the first search result.
If you have searched online lately, you’ve most likely seen the AI Overviews at the top of Google’s search results. Depending on what you typed, the AI Overview may directly answer your query, or contain more than one answer with citations to the website which the AI Overview answer was generated from.
The good news is Google’s AI Overviews have begun including direct citations with links to websites more than 50% of the time, and we have seen increased visibility in AI for our agency as well as our client websites.
Just 11% of U.S. consumers trust the first tool they use when searching online. That means nearly 9 in 10 Americans double-check or expand their search elsewhere “because they don’t trust the first answer,” according to new survey results from digital presence platform Yext.
Information discovery is fragmented:
- Traditional search still leads – 45% of U.S. consumers start product research on a search engine.
- But AI tools (15%) and review sites (14%) are fast-rising alternatives.
- Nearly three-quarters (73%) said they’ve used AI-powered search tools more in the past year, and 45% use them daily.
- Consumers still rely on traditional search for sensitive (62%) and everyday (60%) topics.
Social media remains a powerful discovery channel:
- 52% of respondents said they use it to find reviews
- 48% for local recommendations
- 47% for how-to guidance
Source: The findings are based on a weighted sample of 1,057 U.S. respondents from a broader survey of 2,237 adults in the U.S., U.K., France, and Germany, conducted March 20 to April 6, by Researchscape International on behalf of Yext. Respondents had to have purchased something online in the past three months and used voice or conversational AI to find information online.
How To Appear In Google AI Overviews & ChatGPT – Create Helpful Content
Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T)
Small business owners and medical practices serving your local or regional market can take advantage of these exciting new opportunities by creating content with all of today’s tools in mind. Pediatric Ophthalmology practices who offer treatment for strabismus – misaligned eyes – can create content which will first explain strabismus and then proceed to describe how early diagnosis may allow patching treatment to retrain the brain, and how eye muscle surgery can be performed at any age through an outpatient procedure with no external scar.
This content should also include information that demonstrates expertise and trustworthiness: “With over 20 years of experience treating strabismus in patients of all ages…”; or “Sometimes the right glasses or targeted therapy are all that’s needed. When surgery is recommended, you’ll be in the hands of experienced surgeons who perform this procedure every day.”
By creating content which begins with a description, contains treatment options, timelines, and expertise, you are providing AI tools with more confidence that your business should be included in their answers. Even if your business is new you can still be cited! One of our clients appeared in Google’s AI Overview for a targeted phrase within the first year after business registration and website launch.
