HIGH SALIENCE / INDUSTRIES / HEALTHCARE
Healthcare AI SEO Agency for Google and AI Search
Healthcare AI SEO now spans Google and AI search: patients ask AI where to go, who to see and what a treatment involves, and the answer points to a handful of sources. High Salience is a healthcare AI SEO agency that measures which providers and sources Google's AI Overviews and ChatGPT point patients to, and what it takes to be one of them. Built for health systems, practices, digital health and health services companies with real patient demand.
Transcript
Buyers ask ChatGPT who to buy from. Does it say your name? It searches the web and reads what others say. Then it names a few brands, and picks one. Here's the catch. Seventy-eight percent of ChatGPT's recommendations went to brands whose own site did not rank in Google's top ten for the question. So how do you become the pick? Be the brand AI recommends. High Salience.
01Why Healthcare
Why healthcare SEO is held to the highest standard
Healthcare SEO is held to the highest standard because Google's search quality rater guidelines name health and safety as a Your Money or Your Life topic, where accuracy and agreement with expert consensus matter most. Google says people ask Search more than a billion health questions a day, and it has expanded AI Overviews to thousands more health topics while holding them to a high bar for clinical accuracy.
That combination shapes the work. The sources that win are the ones that are clearly accurate, clearly reviewed and clearly accountable. Marketing claims without evidence do not get quoted.
02Our Data
What 25 patient questions showed about Google and ChatGPT sources
Across 25 patient questions, Google and ChatGPT answered from largely different sources.
| Measure (25 questions, September 26, 2026) | Result |
|---|---|
| Google showed an AI Overview | 22 of 25 |
| Overview links from sites in Google's organic top ten | 67 of 98 (68%) |
| ChatGPT cited sites that ranked in Google's top ten | 18 of 52 (35%) |
| ChatGPT cited sites that were also in Google's Overview | 6 of 52 (12%) |
| Reddit in Google's top ten / cited by ChatGPT | 8 questions / 0 answers |
Corrected October 23, 2026: in late September Google answered some automated searches with swapped results pages, and 6 of these 25 Google pages came back that way, so their top ten is now Google's page for the same question on October 23. The Overview link row counts only Overviews from pages that passed that check (13 of the 20 whose sources we could read); the other rows of Google figures use all 25 questions. Before the correction the table read 91 of 151 (60%) for Overview links, 15 of 52 (29%) for ChatGPT's cited sites and 9 questions for Reddit.
We asked ChatGPT and Google the same 25 patient questions on September 26, 2026, from choosing a primary care doctor to comparing telehealth services. Google showed an AI Overview on 22 of them. ChatGPT leaned on government sources: 17 of its 52 cited sites were .gov health sites or the NHS. Beyond those, its citations were spread thinly across individual health systems and directories.
Google's side looked different again: YouTube was linked in 10 of its AI Overviews, and major health systems such as Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic (5 questions each) ranked in the top ten. Only 12% of ChatGPT's cited sites also appeared in Google's Overview for the same question. See the full dataset.
03The Rules
HIPAA and privacy rules for healthcare website tracking
Healthcare marketing measurement has its own privacy rules, starting with HIPAA guidance on online tracking, and we plan around them from day one:
- Tracking on logged-in pages: HHS guidance says tracking technologies on authenticated pages such as patient portals generally have access to protected health information, and vendors that receive it need a business associate agreement.
- Public pages: on June 20, 2024, a federal court in American Hospital Association v. Becerra vacated the part of that guidance that treated an IP address plus a visit to a public health page as protected information. HHS dropped its appeal in September 2024. The rest of the guidance still stands, and public pages that collect health details, such as booking forms, need care.
- Health apps outside HIPAA: the FTC's updated Health Breach Notification Rule (effective July 29, 2024) covers health apps and similar products, and treats unauthorized disclosure as a breach.
None of this stops good SEO. It means measuring visibility with methods that do not depend on tracking patients, which is how our research works anyway: we measure the answers, not the people asking.
04The Work
What our healthcare AI SEO services include
Our healthcare AI SEO services include four capabilities in each engagement, and the patient-question data decides where the effort goes.
The patient questions in your market, measured
Condition, treatment, provider-choice and cost questions measured across Google and the AI surfaces, against the providers and publishers that appear.
Pages that are safe to quote
Clinician-reviewed pages with named reviewers, clear facts and sources, structured so answers can use them accurately.
Service line and location pages that rank
Architecture for service lines, providers and locations, on a technical foundation that respects privacy limits.
Presence in the sources patients and AI trust
Directories, health publishers and reputable coverage: accurate, current and consistent.
For how we track patient questions across Google and AI answers, see our AI search agency work.
05Fit
Who our healthcare AI SEO agency is built for
As a healthcare AI SEO agency, we work best with organizations whose clinicians or medical reviewers can sign off on content and stand behind it.
High Salience is built for
- Health systems, specialty practices, digital health and health services with real patient demand
- Clinicians or medical reviewers who can sign off on content
- Competitors appearing in AI answers and Overviews where you do not
- A privacy and compliance process we can work within
Probably not for you if
- You want medical content published without clinical review
- You need rankings guaranteed by a date
- You rely on tracking patients across logged-in pages
- Evidence will not be allowed to change the plan
06Investment
How much does healthcare SEO cost?
Healthcare SEO with High Salience is priced per engagement, so the cost differs by market. The price follows the scope, and the scope follows the evidence in your market.
From $7,500/month
Focused engagement: typically one market, a concentrated set of constraints and collaborative implementation.
$10,000 to $20,000/month
Work where several visibility layers, workstreams, markets or substantial execution need to move together.
Scope is determined by the market, not a package sheet. Every engagement starts with the $750 Category Salience Brief, credited in full against an engagement signed within 60 days.
07FAQs
Healthcare SEO FAQs
The answers below cover what healthcare SEO involves, from AI sources to medical review.
What makes healthcare SEO different?
Healthcare SEO differs because health is the clearest Your Money or Your Life topic in Google's rater guidelines, so accuracy and trust decide everything. On top of that, tracking and privacy rules limit what you can measure, and AI answers lean heavily on government and major medical sources.
Where does ChatGPT get its health information?
ChatGPT leans on government sources for health information. In our snapshot of 25 patient questions, 17 of the 52 sites ChatGPT cited were government health sites such as MedlinePlus, NIH, CMS, FDA and HealthCare.gov, or the UK's NHS. No single hospital or directory dominated, which leaves room for providers with clear, well-sourced pages.
Can healthcare websites use tracking pixels?
Healthcare websites can use tracking pixels, carefully and with privacy counsel. HHS guidance says tracking tools on logged-in pages such as patient portals generally have access to protected health information. A 2024 court ruling vacated part of that guidance for public pages, but the rest still stands. We plan measurement around those limits.
Do you write medical content?
We plan and structure medical content, and we work with your clinicians or medical reviewers, who own the facts. Health pages should carry named, qualified reviewers. We do not publish medical claims without them.
08Sources
Sources and further reading
This page relies on the sources below, from Google's rater guidelines to our own dataset.
- Google Search Quality Rater Guidelines (September 11, 2025)
- HHS: Use of online tracking technologies by HIPAA covered entities and business associates
- American Hospital Association v. Becerra, N.D. Tex., order of June 20, 2024
- FTC: Changes to the Health Breach Notification Rule (April 2024)
- Google: The Check Up 2025, health AI updates (March 18, 2025)
- Google: The Check Up 2026, health AI updates (March 17, 2026)
- High Salience: AI answers in four industries (dataset)
09Next Step
See where you stand when patients ask Google and AI
The Category Salience Brief tells you where you stand when patients ask Google and AI. It runs your patients' questions across Google and the AI surfaces, shows which providers and sources win them, and ranks what to fix first.