As Google’s AI Overviews Arrive, Here’s What Health Marketers Should Know

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AI Overviews officially launched in May 2024. Our experts explain how this feature impacts health consumers, brands, and publishers. 

Google’s AI Overviews are already changing the user search experience, raising questions about how it could impact consumer health education and health marketing. What changes should the industry expect, and how can marketers prepare? 

To answer this question, we sat down with two Healthline Media experts — Matt Smith, VP, SEO, and Erin Cross, VP, Product Marketing —who are closely tracking the AI Overview rollout. Below, they share their insights and explain why Healthline Media remains committed to world-class health content that helps users at every part of the research funnel. 

The User Experience Has Changed, Despite a Minor Rollback

With the current iteration of AI Overviews, Google search users often, but not always, receive responses generated by a large language model (LLM). The feature displays some source citations and gives users the chance to ask contextual follow-up questions. 

Matt discussed how this feature currently appears for health queries. “AI Overviews show up, but inconsistently, for questions across health categories, including lifestyle wellbeing, chronic conditions, and some pharmaceutical drug searches,” he said. “They sometimes appear for drug comparisons like “adderall vs vyvanse,” though typically not for brand terms on their own.”

Already, the limitations of this new feature are becoming clear as users flag incorrect and potentially harmful answers. Google’s problematic answers have already forced them to make a large update and scale back AI Overviews across all health topics. 

Matt explained,We track a large subset of AI Overview results for health keywords on a weekly basis. Since Google’s problems came to light, we have seen AI Overviews for fewer answers — just 45% of the health queries we track.”

He notes, however, that this is likely a temporary dip. The shift isn’t going away and the industry will have to adapt. 

How AI Overviews Could Impact Health Consumers

It’s an open question whether consumers will trust AI Overviews enough to use it for their health information. Surveys suggest three in five consumers are wary about trusting AI systems. In all likelihood, consumers living with chronic conditions will be slower to trust the information provided by AI Overviews. 

Erin explained the potential impacts of AI Overviews, given the current limitations: “For now, the potential lack of accuracy, with the lack of medical review, could leave some people confused about what information to trust. Others may make a decision based on inaccurate information, which could negatively impact their wellbeing.” 

On the other hand, she noted,“The AI Overview feature has the potential to improve outcomes for health consumers — if trained using high-quality, medically reviewed, and vetted information and content. It could help people find foundational knowledge more quickly so they can get the products or services they need more quickly. It could even spark more thoughtful and productive conversations with their care providers.”. 

How AI Overviews Could Impact Health Platforms

As with previous Google updates, health platforms will need to make changes to adapt to the shift in how people use search engines. AI Overviews could present a major disruption to the way users search and the percentage of people who click on a website.

Previous changes to the Google search experience, such as knowledge graphs, Featured Snippets, and People Also Ask features led to a 10-20% loss in sessions for health publishers. 

Matt said, “Whether Google admits it or not, AI Overviews are an even more aggressive feature for answering a user’s search. If you were to Google ‘symptoms of diabetes’ you can now find all the symptoms and citations associated with the search. The user is less likely to click one of the results because they already have an answer, and in a worst-case scenario, health publishers could see a 20-35% loss in sessions.” 

Erin suggested what’s ahead for health publishers: “In addition to evolving content and resource publication to show up within Overviews and answer the initial query effectively, it is critical for publishers to signal a deeper understanding of the user’s intent and need at that moment, enticing clickthrough for a deeper understanding or experience, to be able to serve users further down the funnel.” 

How Health Platforms Are Adapting for Consumers

Given the accuracy issues already seen with AI Overviews, and the fact that consumers prioritize trust in health, there is still a strong need for high-quality, accessible health education. 

Matt explained how Healthline Media is ensuring its health education remains accessible: “We are staying closely attuned to the algorithmic changes and developing best practices to ensure our content continues to show up for consumers. Using proprietary software, we analyze Google AI Overview results weekly and frequently test new strategies for answering user search intent and capturing rankings.”

Even as the industry shifts, platforms like Healthline Media offer evergreen value thanks to factors that include:

  • Established trustworthiness and medical credibility 

  • Authentic, personal connections and testimonials 

  • Personalized experiences and engagement opportunities, like newsletters and condition-specific communities 

Erin noted how Healthline Media is still evolving for consumer benefit: “We are developing more utility for the user, so the algorithm and users see Healthline Media properties as not just a source for answering a query but a true partner in taking a step forward toward a health or wellness decision, getting access to treatment savings, and connecting to care services of all kinds — ultimately leading people to improved health outcomes.” 

Navigating Industry Transformation With Confidence

As Google’s AI Overviews continue to evolve, health marketers must stay agile and informed. As the landscape shifts, the commitment to quality health education and consumer trust will be the cornerstone of success for health marketers navigating the AI Overview era.

Healthline Media continues to adapt, blending robust SEO strategies with valuable resources. By focusing on maintaining trust, ensuring accuracy, and providing deeper, personalized content experiences, health platforms and marketers alike can continue to thrive.

Discover more Healthline Media insights or reach out directly to talk to our team.

About Healthline Media

As the #1 health media property in the US, Healthline Media reaches more than 94MM unique visitors each month (Comscore, August 2021). We provide credible health information with a compassionate approach.