Google’s AI Overviews Are the New Front Door: 4 Stats That Show It’s Time to Rethink Your Funnel [Webinar]

Summary

• Overviews show up in more than half of healthcare-related Google searches, reshaping how patients find and evaluate care.
• 25% of users stop reading after the AI-generated answer, and many never scroll to traditional search results.
• If your content isn’t in the AI summary, someone else’s is. And 41% of users believe those summaries are based on content quality. (So you want to get in there.)

How does AI impact the patient search experience?

Healthcare marketers have spent the last decade optimizing websites, building keyword strategies, and investing in content to attract patients through Google. But a major shift is happening — and it’s powered by AI.

Google’s AI Overviews now appear in more than half of healthcare-related searches. That means even if a patient is clinging to old-school Googling, they’re interacting with AI, and often forming first impressions of your brand based on that AI-generated summary.

So what does that mean for your funnel strategy?

Recent research from Aha Media Group and Klein & Partners sheds light on how consumers search for healthcare in the age of AI. These 4 stats will help you understand what’s changing and how your content strategy needs to evolve.

1. 73% of consumers know AI powers the top of the Google results page

Consumers see AI Overviews for up to 80% of healthcare queries, and they’re quickly learning how to interact with them.

From: https://www.brightedge.com/ai-overviews

Around 75% of survey respondents said they’re aware that AI is generating the top response on Google. And that awareness is even higher among men, Gen Z, millennials, and college-educated adults with higher incomes.

41% said that the AI-generated answer is based on content quality. So, when you show up, many in your audience believe that visibility is a mark of accurate and relevant information.

Why it matters:
AI, whether it’s ChatGPT or Google, is influencing your audience’s first impressions of a topic. If your content isn’t contributing to these overviews, your competitors’ content (or worse, inaccurate third-party sources) could be. Being part of the AI answer isn’t just about visibility; it’s about shaping how your brand shows up when trust is on the line.

2. 23% of people stop at the AI answer

Since they can get the answer right on the SERP, click-through rates are down 30% (across all industries), but people are still clicking links.

• 23% said they stop at the AI-generated answer without scrolling further. That number jumps among digital-native Gen Z users.
• 22% click on links within the AI box — meaning they never reach the traditional organic results below.
• 31% still go to the traditional search results, skipping the AI Overview entirely.

All clips in this article come from a November 2025 eHealthcare Strategy and Trends webinar. Members can access the full recording here.

Why it matters:
Your homepage may no longer be the first impression. As AI-generated answers increasingly dominate the top search results, healthcare marketers can’t rely on traditional SEO tactics alone. To stay competitive, your content must do double duty: It needs to be structured well enough to be sourced by AI and compelling enough to earn the click.

Lead with a strong brand voice, offering unique insights AI can’t replicate, and write headlines and metadata that make your audience feel like you get them — not like you’re chasing keywords in a vacuum.

3. 76% of users can’t recall the brand name in the AI result

Even if your hospital appears in the AI overview, most users won’t remember your name after they leave the page. Only 24% of survey respondents could recall a brand or hospital cited in an AI response just moments after reading it. And some that they recalled were not even brands cited in the Overview.

Don’t completely despair, however: When asked what they would do if a hospital they knew appeared in the AI overview, 43% said they’d click to learn more. This stat is both hopeful and challenging. Consumers are open to action — if you’ve built enough brand awareness and trust beforehand.

Why it matters:

Visibility is not the same as memorability. To build brand affinity, your messaging and recognition cues must extend across platforms and be reinforced in other digital touchpoints (like email, social, and search).

4. Comfort with AI in healthcare has nearly doubled in one year

Here’s the stat that shocked even the researchers:

• 2024: Only 23% of U.S. healthcare decision-makers said they were comfortable using AI in healthcare.
• 2025: That number jumped to 44%.

Adoption isn’t just growing — it’s accelerating.

Why it matters:

The time to optimize for AI isn’t next year or even next month. It’s now. The longer you wait, the more likely it is that third-party sites, outdated summaries, or competitors will shape your patients’ search experience for you.

Hot tip: If you’re not creating content, someone else will define your brand for you

AI overviews pull from what’s available online. If your content isn’t present, accurate, and well-structured, third-party sources — or even competitors — may fill the gap. That can lead to misinformation, missed opportunities, or patients forming impressions based on content you didn’t create (or haven’t updated in 5 years).

• Nearly 40% aren’t sure how AI chooses what to show.
• But 41% of users believe that AI-generated overviews are based on content quality, meaning people assume what they see is accurate and may be tied to your brand.

Why it matters:
This issue is about brand trust as much as it is about visibility. Patients and caregivers might not even realize the content they’re reading didn’t come directly from your organization. That’s a huge risk, or a huge opportunity, depending on how proactive you are.

So what should you do next?

The AI-powered search landscape is still taking shape. But here’s what you can do now to make sure your brand stays visible and trustworthy in this evolving funnel:

• Balance findability with brand consistency. If someone lands on your site from an AI result, make sure your visual identity and tone match what they’ve seen elsewhere.
• Invest in top-of-funnel content … AI tools need high-quality educational content to draw from, and yours could be the source. Make sure your condition pages, service line content, and wellness topics are accurate, current, and well-structured.
• … but don’t count on it for traffic. Searchers are increasingly reading information in AI answer engines and then bouncing fast. Track the clicks that count: the ones to your mid- and bottom-funnel content that’s designed for conversion.
• Test what’s showing up. Try Google’s AI Overview and tools like Perplexity or ChatGPT to see how your content appears and what gets cited.
• Build emotional familiarity. Recognition and recall are built through repeated, consistent exposure. Use email, social media, and local campaigns to reinforce what patients see in search.
• Optimize your content for credibility. Use schema markup, clear subheadings, and plain language to help AI engines parse your pages correctly.

AI is the new front door. Don’t let someone else greet your patients.

Your patients may never visit your homepage — but they’re still forming impressions, asking questions, and making decisions based on what they see at the top of the SERP.

Make sure the content they find reflects your voice, expertise, and values.