Healthcare AEO: How to Get Your Medical Practice Recommended by AI Search

Why Patients Are Switching to AI Search

Healthcare is one of the highest-stakes search categories in existence. When someone needs a doctor, dentist, therapist, or specialist, they are not casually browsing — they are making a decision that directly impacts their health, their family, and their quality of life. And increasingly, they are making that decision by asking an AI.

Health-related queries have always been one of the largest categories in search. Google processes billions of health searches per year. But the way those searches happen is fundamentally changing. Instead of scrolling through ten blue links, reading fragmented review sites, and comparing providers across multiple tabs, patients are asking ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews questions like:

• "Best pediatric dentist in Austin who is gentle with anxious kids"
• "Therapist for postpartum depression near me that takes Aetna"
• "Top-rated dermatologist for eczema treatment in Chicago"
• "Orthopedic surgeon specializing in ACL repair — who has the best outcomes?"
• "Family doctor accepting new patients in Denver with Saturday hours"

And AI gives them a direct answer. Not a list of ads. Not a directory page with 50 names. A specific, curated recommendation with provider names, credentials, reasons to choose them, and often a link to book an appointment. For the patient, this is a dramatically better experience. For the practice that gets recommended, it is the most valuable referral channel in modern healthcare marketing.

The numbers tell the story. ChatGPT has over 400 million weekly active users, and healthcare queries are among the fastest-growing categories. A 2025 survey found that 44% of patients under 40 have used an AI chatbot to research symptoms, treatments, or providers. That number is climbing every quarter. When someone asks AI for a recommendation and gets a confident answer with a specific provider name, they are far more likely to book than someone scrolling through a generic directory listing.

This is where Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) meets healthcare. AEO is the practice of optimizing your online presence so AI search engines recommend you. For healthcare providers, it means structuring your practice data, provider credentials, patient education content, and technical signals so that when a patient asks AI for a provider in your specialty, your practice is in the answer. This guide gives you the complete playbook.

How AI Recommends Healthcare Providers

Before diving into the optimization steps, it helps to understand how AI search engines decide which providers to recommend. AI does not randomly pick names from a directory. It synthesizes data from multiple sources and evaluates several signals:

Structured data and schema markup. AI looks for MedicalOrganization, Physician, and MedicalClinic schema on your website. This structured data tells AI your exact specialties, location, accepted insurance, credentials, and services in a machine-readable format. Practices with complete schema markup are dramatically more likely to be cited because AI has confident, verified data to work with.

Review signals. AI aggregates reviews from Google Business Profile, Healthgrades, Zocdoc, Vitals, RateMDs, WebMD, and your own website. It evaluates overall rating, review volume, recency, and sentiment. A practice with 200 Google reviews averaging 4.8 stars is far more likely to be recommended than one with 12 reviews averaging 4.2.

Provider credentials and authority. AI values board certifications, hospital affiliations, years of experience, published research, and professional memberships. The more verifiable credential data you make available on your website, the more confident AI is in recommending your providers.

Content depth and topical authority. Practices that publish detailed patient education content — condition pages, treatment guides, FAQ sections — demonstrate expertise that AI recognizes. When a patient asks "what causes TMJ and how is it treated," AI is more likely to cite and recommend a dental practice that has a comprehensive TMJ page than one with a single-sentence mention of TMJ in a services list.

Directory and citation consistency. AI cross-references your practice information across directories, your website, and review platforms. Consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone) data across all sources builds trust. Inconsistencies — different phone numbers, outdated addresses, conflicting hours — reduce AI confidence in your practice data.

Appointment accessibility. AI increasingly considers whether patients can actually act on a recommendation. Practices with online booking, clear appointment information, new-patient forms, and visible insurance acceptance details make it easy for AI to recommend them with actionable next steps.

7 Steps to Get Your Practice Recommended by AI

Step 1: Implement MedicalOrganization Schema

MedicalOrganization schema is the most impactful technical change you can make for healthcare AEO. This structured data markup tells AI search engines exactly what your practice is, where it is located, what you specialize in, and how patients can reach you — all in a machine-readable format that AI models prioritize over unstructured text.

Here is a complete MedicalOrganization schema template for a healthcare practice:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "MedicalOrganization",
  "name": "Springfield Family Medical Center",
  "alternateName": "SFMC",
  "@id": "https://www.springfieldfmc.com/#organization",
  "url": "https://www.springfieldfmc.com",
  "telephone": "+1-555-123-4567",
  "email": "info@springfieldfmc.com",
  "description": "Springfield Family Medical Center provides comprehensive primary care, pediatrics, and preventive medicine. Board-certified physicians accepting new patients with same-day appointments available.",
  "medicalSpecialty": [
    "Family Medicine",
    "Pediatrics",
    "Preventive Medicine",
    "Sports Medicine"
  ],
  "address": {
    "@type": "PostalAddress",
    "streetAddress": "1234 Main Street, Suite 200",
    "addressLocality": "Springfield",
    "addressRegion": "IL",
    "postalCode": "62701",
    "addressCountry": "US"
  },
  "geo": {
    "@type": "GeoCoordinates",
    "latitude": 39.7817,
    "longitude": -89.6501
  },
  "openingHoursSpecification": [
    {
      "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification",
      "dayOfWeek": ["Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday"],
      "opens": "08:00",
      "closes": "17:00"
    },
    {
      "@type": "OpeningHoursSpecification",
      "dayOfWeek": "Saturday",
      "opens": "09:00",
      "closes": "13:00"
    }
  ],
  "priceRange": "$$",
  "currenciesAccepted": "USD",
  "paymentAccepted": "Cash, Credit Card, Insurance",
  "hasMap": "https://maps.google.com/?cid=YOUR_GOOGLE_CID",
  "image": "https://www.springfieldfmc.com/images/practice-exterior.jpg",
  "logo": "https://www.springfieldfmc.com/logo.png",
  "sameAs": [
    "https://www.facebook.com/springfieldfmc",
    "https://www.healthgrades.com/group-directory/il-illinois/springfield/springfield-family-medical-center",
    "https://www.zocdoc.com/practice/springfield-family-medical-center"
  ],
  "aggregateRating": {
    "@type": "AggregateRating",
    "ratingValue": "4.8",
    "reviewCount": "312",
    "bestRating": "5",
    "worstRating": "1"
  },
  "member": [
    {
      "@type": "Physician",
      "name": "Dr. Sarah Chen",
      "medicalSpecialty": "Family Medicine",
      "qualifications": "MD, Board Certified Family Medicine",
      "memberOf": {
        "@type": "MedicalOrganization",
        "name": "American Academy of Family Physicians"
      }
    }
  ]
}

The key fields AI relies on most heavily are medicalSpecialty, address with geocoordinates, openingHoursSpecification, aggregateRating, and the member array listing your providers. Without these fields, AI has to extract this information from unstructured page content — and it often gets it wrong or skips your practice entirely. You can generate your schema with our free schema generator tool.

Step 2: Build Detailed Provider Profiles

Individual provider pages are one of the most important assets for healthcare AEO. When a patient asks "best dermatologist for eczema in Portland," AI is looking for specific physicians with specific credentials — not just a practice name. Each provider on your team should have a dedicated profile page that includes:

• Full name and credentials — MD, DO, DDS, PhD, LCSW, PsyD. Include all relevant post-nominal letters.
• Board certifications — Specify the certifying board (e.g., American Board of Dermatology) and year of certification. AI treats board certification as a strong authority signal.
• Medical education and residency — Medical school, residency program, and any fellowship training. AI uses this to assess provider quality.
• Specialties and sub-specialties — Be specific. Not just "dermatology" but "medical dermatology, eczema, psoriasis, acne, skin cancer screening." AI matches patient queries to specific conditions.
• Years of experience — When the provider started practicing or how many years of experience they have.
• Hospital affiliations — Which hospitals the provider has privileges at. This is both an authority signal and practical information patients need.
• Professional memberships — American Medical Association, specialty-specific societies, local medical associations.
• Languages spoken — Critical for patients searching in languages other than English or specifically looking for bilingual providers.
• Insurance accepted — List every insurance plan your provider accepts. Patients frequently include insurance in their AI queries: "therapist that takes UnitedHealthcare near me."
• A professional photo — Practices with provider photos build more trust and get higher click-through rates.

Add Physician schema markup to each provider page with these details structured as data. This is one of the highest-impact AEO moves in healthcare because most competing practices either do not have individual provider pages at all or have minimal pages with just a name, photo, and one-line bio.

Step 3: Create Patient Education Content

Patient education content is the backbone of healthcare AEO. When patients ask AI about symptoms, conditions, treatments, or procedures, AI needs authoritative content to reference. If your practice publishes comprehensive, medically accurate education content, AI associates your practice with expertise in those topics — and recommends you when patients need a provider for those conditions.

The content types that matter most for healthcare AEO:

Condition pages. Create a dedicated page for each major condition you treat. A dermatology practice should have separate pages for eczema, psoriasis, acne, rosacea, skin cancer, and every other condition in their scope. Each page should explain the condition, common symptoms, when to see a doctor, diagnostic process, treatment options, and what patients can expect. Write at an 8th-grade reading level with medical accuracy.

Treatment guides. For each major treatment or procedure you offer, create a guide explaining what it is, who it is for, how it works, what to expect before and after, recovery time, potential risks, and typical outcomes. Patients ask AI questions like "what happens during a root canal" and "how long is recovery after knee replacement." Practices that answer these questions on their own website earn AI trust.

Symptom guides. Create content that maps symptoms to conditions. "What does a sharp pain in my lower right abdomen mean?" is exactly the kind of question patients ask AI. Your symptom guide content should explain possible causes, when it is an emergency, and when to schedule an appointment — always encouraging patients to seek professional evaluation rather than self-diagnosing.

Prevention and wellness content. Guides on preventive care — annual checkup guides, vaccination schedules, screening recommendations by age — position your practice as a comprehensive care resource. This type of content builds topical authority across your entire specialty area. If your practice overlaps with fitness and wellness, our fitness industry AEO guide covers gym, personal trainer, and wellness brand optimization.

Every piece of patient education content should include a clear call to action: "If you are experiencing these symptoms, schedule an appointment with our team" with a direct link to your booking page. AI notices when content connects educational information to actionable next steps at a specific practice.

Step 4: Optimize for "Best [Specialty] Near Me" Queries

"Best [specialty] near me" queries are some of the highest-value searches in healthcare. When a patient asks AI for the "best pediatric dentist near me" or "top orthopedic surgeon in Houston," AI is evaluating providers based on a combination of credentials, reviews, location proximity, and content authority.

To optimize for these queries:

Include your city and state on every page. Your homepage, about page, provider pages, and service pages should all clearly mention your city, neighborhood, and service area. AI needs to confirm your location to recommend you for location-specific queries.

Create area-specific service pages. If your practice serves multiple neighborhoods or cities, create pages for each: "Pediatric Dentistry in North Austin," "Family Medicine in Downtown Denver." These pages give AI location-specific content to reference.

Claim and optimize your Google Business Profile. AI search engines heavily reference Google Business Profile data. Ensure your GBP listing has accurate hours, services, insurance information, photos, and active review responses. A well-optimized GBP is one of the strongest signals for local healthcare AEO — see our complete guide on local business AEO for the full strategy.

Ensure NAP consistency. Your practice Name, Address, and Phone number must be identical across your website, Google Business Profile, Healthgrades, Zocdoc, Vitals, and every other directory. AI cross-references these sources and inconsistencies reduce its confidence in recommending you.

Add LocalBusiness schema alongside MedicalOrganization. You can nest LocalBusiness properties within your MedicalOrganization schema to give AI both medical and local business signals. Include areaServed to explicitly tell AI which geographic areas your practice covers.

Step 5: Build and Structure Patient Reviews

Reviews are the social proof that AI needs to confidently recommend a provider. A practice with 400 Google reviews averaging 4.9 stars sends a dramatically stronger signal than a practice with 20 reviews averaging 4.5. AI weighs review volume, recency, rating, and the specificity of review content.

Building a systematic review collection process is essential:

• Post-visit email or text. Send an automated message 2-4 hours after each appointment with a direct link to leave a Google review. Keep the message short and personal: "Thank you for visiting Dr. Chen today. If you have a moment, a Google review helps other patients find our practice."
• In-office QR codes. Place QR codes at checkout and in exam rooms that link directly to your Google review page. Patients who had a positive experience are most likely to leave a review while still in the office.
• Follow-up for specific platforms. After collecting Google reviews, periodically direct patients to Healthgrades, Zocdoc, or Vitals. AI aggregates across platforms, so review diversity strengthens your overall signal.
• Respond to every review. AI considers review response patterns. Practices that respond professionally to both positive and negative reviews demonstrate active engagement. Keep responses HIPAA-compliant — never reference specific treatments or conditions in public review responses.

On your website, display reviews with proper AggregateRating schema markup. This gives AI direct access to your review data without relying solely on third-party platforms. Include the total review count, average rating, and individual review excerpts (with patient permission).

Step 6: Make Appointment Information Machine-Readable

AI search engines are increasingly action-oriented. When AI recommends a provider, it wants to include actionable next steps: "You can book an appointment online" or "This practice accepts new patients and offers same-day appointments." Making your appointment information machine-readable helps AI include these details in its recommendations.

Key appointment data to make explicit and structured:

• New patient acceptance. Clearly state on your website and in your schema whether you are accepting new patients. Patients frequently ask AI "doctor accepting new patients near me."
• Online booking link. If you use an online scheduling system (Zocdoc, Calendly, your EHR portal), make the booking link prominent and include it in your schema data.
• Wait times and availability. If you offer same-day or next-day appointments, say so explicitly. "Same-day appointments available" is a powerful signal AI can reference.
• Insurance accepted. List every insurance plan in a structured format on a dedicated insurance page and in your schema. Insurance is one of the most common filters patients include in AI queries.
• Telehealth availability. If you offer virtual visits, include this in your services and schema. Post-pandemic, telehealth queries remain a significant category.

Structure this data using the availableService and makesOffer properties in your schema markup. The more specific and structured your appointment data, the more confidently AI can recommend your practice with actionable booking information.

Step 7: Add FAQ Sections for Common Patient Questions

FAQ sections serve double duty in healthcare AEO. They answer the exact questions patients are asking AI, and they generate FAQPage schema markup that AI search engines prioritize. Every major page on your healthcare website should have an FAQ section tailored to that page's topic.

Homepage FAQ: Cover practice-level questions. "Are you accepting new patients?" "What insurance do you accept?" "Do you offer Saturday hours?" "How do I schedule an appointment?" "Where are you located?"

Provider page FAQ: Answer questions about each specific doctor. "What is Dr. Chen board certified in?" "Does Dr. Chen speak Spanish?" "Where did Dr. Chen complete residency?" "How long has Dr. Chen been practicing?"

Condition page FAQ: Address patient concerns about each condition. "Is eczema contagious?" "What triggers eczema flare-ups?" "When should I see a dermatologist for eczema?" "What are the treatment options for eczema?"

Treatment page FAQ: Cover procedure-related questions. "How long does a root canal take?" "Is the procedure painful?" "What is the recovery time?" "How much does it cost with insurance?"

Add FAQPage schema markup to every page with an FAQ section. This structured data tells AI exactly what questions your page answers, making it far more likely to be cited when patients ask those questions. You can create your FAQ schema with our free schema generator. Use the content checker to verify your pages are optimized for AI readability.

Specialty-Specific AEO Tips

Dentists

Dental practices have a unique AEO advantage: dental procedures are among the most commonly searched healthcare topics. Patients ask AI about teeth whitening, Invisalign, dental implants, root canals, and emergency dental care constantly. To capitalize on this:

• Create individual pages for every procedure you offer — cleanings, fillings, crowns, veneers, implants, root canals, extractions, Invisalign, whitening, and emergency dental care.
• Include pricing ranges where possible. "How much does Invisalign cost?" is one of the most common dental AI queries. Even a range ("$3,000-$7,000 depending on complexity") gives AI data to work with.
• Use DentistryOrganization or Dentist schema types for more specific structured data signals.
• Add before-and-after content (descriptions, not photos with identifiable patients) for cosmetic procedures. AI references outcome information when recommending cosmetic dental providers.
• Include emergency dental information prominently — hours, after-hours availability, and what constitutes a dental emergency. "Emergency dentist near me" is a high-volume, high-intent query.

Therapists and Mental Health Providers

Mental health is one of the fastest-growing healthcare AI search categories. Patients searching for therapists often include very specific criteria that AI must match against provider data:

• List every therapeutic modality you practice — CBT, DBT, EMDR, psychodynamic therapy, couples therapy, family therapy, play therapy. Patients ask AI for specific modalities: "EMDR therapist near me for trauma."
• Specify populations you serve — children, adolescents, adults, couples, families, LGBTQ+, veterans. Patients search for therapists who specialize in their demographic.
• List specific conditions you treat — anxiety, depression, PTSD, ADHD, OCD, eating disorders, grief, relationship issues. Be comprehensive. AI matches patient condition queries to provider specialty lists.
• Include your licensing information prominently — LCSW, LPC, LMFT, PsyD, PhD. Different licenses indicate different capabilities that AI uses to match patients to appropriate providers.
• Specify session formats available — in-person, telehealth, or both. Many mental health patients specifically search for virtual therapy options.
• Include a sliding scale or cash pay rate if applicable. Cost is a major factor in therapy searches and AI frequently includes pricing information in recommendations.

Dermatologists

Dermatology queries are heavily condition-specific, making content depth critical for AEO:

• Create detailed condition pages for every condition you treat — eczema, psoriasis, acne, rosacea, melasma, vitiligo, skin cancer, warts, fungal infections, and hair loss. Patients search AI by condition name.
• Include cosmetic dermatology service pages — Botox, fillers, chemical peels, laser treatments, microneedling. Cosmetic dermatology is a high-volume AI search category.
• Add skin cancer screening information with risk factors, warning signs, and screening recommendations. This builds topical authority for dermatology-related queries.
• Specify which dermatological procedures you perform in-office versus those requiring referral. AI uses this to match patients to providers who can treat their specific condition on-site.

Pediatricians

Pediatric healthcare searches are driven by parents, which changes the query patterns AI must match:

• Create age-specific content — newborn care, infant milestones, toddler health, school-age checkups, adolescent medicine. Parents search by age group.
• Include vaccination schedules and well-child visit information. These are among the most searched pediatric topics.
• Address common childhood conditions — ear infections, strep throat, asthma, allergies, ADHD, developmental delays. Parents frequently ask AI about these conditions.
• Emphasize same-day sick visits and after-hours availability. Parents searching for pediatricians often need urgent care and AI prioritizes practices with accessible availability.
• Include information about your approach to nervous or anxious children. "Pediatric dentist who is good with anxious kids" and "gentle pediatrician" are common queries that AI matches to practices that describe their approach.

HIPAA Considerations for Healthcare AEO

Healthcare providers often worry that AEO work could create HIPAA compliance issues. The good news: healthcare AEO is fully HIPAA-compliant when done correctly, because everything you optimize is public information that has nothing to do with protected health information (PHI).

What you CAN and SHOULD publish for AEO:

• Provider credentials, education, board certifications, and professional memberships
• Practice location, hours, contact information, and insurance accepted
• General condition information, treatment descriptions, and procedure guides
• FAQ content about conditions, treatments, and your practice
• Services offered, specialties, and areas of expertise
• Aggregate review data (overall rating and total count)
• General outcome statistics published in medical literature (not your own patient outcomes)

What you must NEVER include in AEO content:

• Patient names, photos, or identifying information (without explicit written HIPAA authorization)
• Specific case studies with identifiable details
• Individual patient outcomes or treatment results
• Information from patient records or charts
• Before-and-after photos that could identify patients (without written authorization)

Review response HIPAA guidelines: When responding to patient reviews — which is essential for AEO — never confirm or deny that someone is a patient. Never reference specific treatments, diagnoses, or visit details. A compliant response to a negative review might be: "Thank you for your feedback. We take all concerns seriously and invite you to contact our office directly so we can address this." Do not say "We are sorry your root canal experience was not positive" — that confirms a treatment and violates HIPAA.

Patient testimonials: If you want to include patient testimonials on your website, obtain written HIPAA authorization that specifically covers the use case. Many practices use a simple testimonial consent form that patients sign after voluntarily providing feedback. Only use testimonials from patients who have given this explicit authorization.

The bottom line: healthcare AEO is about making your practice information, credentials, and educational content more accessible to AI. None of this requires sharing any patient data. If you stay focused on practice-level and provider-level information, you can implement every step in this guide without any HIPAA concerns.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Practices That Start Now Will Win

AI patient search is not a future trend. It is happening right now, at massive scale. Hundreds of millions of people are asking ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews to recommend healthcare providers — and those AI models are evaluating your website, your reviews, your structured data, and your content to decide whether to recommend you.

The vast majority of healthcare practices have done zero AEO work. They have no MedicalOrganization schema, minimal provider profiles with a name and a headshot, zero patient education content, and no FAQ sections with structured data. Their review collection is passive, their appointment information is buried in unstructured text, and many are blocking AI crawlers without even knowing it.

Every step you implement from this guide puts distance between your practice and your competitors. Start with the highest-impact changes: implement MedicalOrganization schema (Step 1), build out detailed provider profiles (Step 2), and create patient education content for your top conditions (Step 3). These three changes alone can dramatically increase your AI visibility.

Then build out the remaining steps: local optimization, review collection, machine-readable appointment data, and FAQ schema. Each step compounds. Together, they create a patient acquisition channel that grows as AI search grows — and AI search is growing faster than any other channel in healthcare marketing.

Want to see how AI-visible your practice is right now? Scan your website free with Vida AEO and get your AI visibility score in under 60 seconds. See exactly which optimizations your practice needs and where to start.