No study shows that patients now use ChatGPT more than Google to find a doctor. Google still carries most of the searching. What has changed is how many people ask an AI assistant about their health at all, and one 2026 survey found AI tools had drawn level with Google search as an influence on which doctor people chose.
This guide sets out what the research says, where the "ChatGPT beats Google" claim comes from, and what it means for a private practice.
Leak 1 of 7: not being found. Whether patients start in Google or an AI assistant, a practice neither one names is the first of the seven leaks between a first search and a returning patient.
Where the "ChatGPT beats Google" claim comes from
The claim traces back to rater8's 2026 Patient Choice Report, published in June 2026. rater8 surveyed 992 US adults online in April 2026. It asked the 714 who had chosen or looked for a new doctor in the past year which sources most influenced their decision, and let each person pick up to three.
| Source that influenced the choice | Share who picked it |
|---|---|
| Friends or family | 43% |
| Insurance website or portal | 43% |
| Review sites | 40% |
| AI tools such as ChatGPT and Claude | 36% |
| Google search results | 34% |
| A doctor's referral | 32% |
| Social media | 19% |
So AI tools edged Google search, 36% to 34%. A year earlier, the comparable answer in rater8's survey was 17%. Before repeating the headline, three things are worth knowing:
- It measures influence, not searching. The question asked what shaped the decision, not where people typed their first search.
- Two points is a tie. The sample is an online panel and the report gives no margin of error, so treat AI and Google as level on this measure.
- Other sources ranked higher. Friends and family, insurance portals and review sites all came first.
rater8 sells reputation software to practices, so it has an interest in the subject. The trend it shows is still real, and the independent surveys below point the same way on AI use for health.
Google still handles most searching
Measured by what people do rather than what they report, Google is far ahead. Across 41 websites where Americans search on desktop computers, SparkToro and Datos found Google accounted for 73.7% of search activity in the last quarter of 2025. All AI tools together accounted for 3.2%, and Amazon, Bing and YouTube each saw more search activity than ChatGPT.
That study counts desktop computers only, and a lot of AI use happens in phone apps, so it undercounts AI. But an earlier Datos analysis for SparkToro found the people taking up AI tools kept using search engines: about 95% of Americans used one every month, with almost no decline from 2023 to mid-2025.
AI is being added to search, not swapped for it.
What has changed: AI for health questions
The real shift is in health questions, and every major survey shows it.
| Survey | Fielded | Finding |
|---|---|---|
| Rock Health, 8,000 adults | December 2025 | 32% had used an AI chatbot for health information, up from 16% a year earlier |
| KFF, 1,343 adults | February to March 2026 | 32% had turned to AI chatbots for health information in the past year |
| West Health-Gallup, 5,660 adults | October to December 2025 | 25% had used an AI tool or chatbot for health information or advice |
| Pew Research Center, 3,488 adults | June 2026 | 34% have ever used an AI chatbot for at least one of eight health reasons |
Most of that happens in general-purpose assistants. Rock Health found nearly three-quarters of people using AI for health turned to tools like ChatGPT, against 5% using a chatbot offered by their provider. OpenAI said in January 2026 that more than 230 million people worldwide ask ChatGPT health and wellness questions each week (TechCrunch).
Do people use AI to find a doctor?
Some do, but it isn't the main use. In Rock Health's survey, searching for providers was among the least common reasons people used AI for health. Even so, almost a third of AI users had done it.
Most AI health use is about understanding something: symptoms, a diagnosis, a treatment, lab results. Pew found 15% of Americans have used a chatbot to help decide whether to see a doctor at all. And doctors are still the source people rely on most: in an earlier Pew survey, 85% of adults got health information from health care providers at least sometimes, against 22% from AI chatbots.
AI mostly sits around a visit rather than replacing one. Among recent users in the West Health-Gallup study, 59% used AI to research before seeing a doctor and 56% after.
Many patients already see an AI answer: Google's
A lot of AI search happens inside Google. rater8 also asked which part of a Google results page people trust most: 37% chose AI Overviews, against 20% for the regular results, 13% for the map and 7% for ads.
Google says there are no extra requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode: a page has to be indexed and eligible to show a snippet in Search (Google Search Central). So the work that gets a practice into Google's AI answers is mostly the work that gets it into Google.
What this means for your practice
- Don't drop Google. It still carries most searches, and its own AI answers are built from the pages it already indexes. See medical practice SEO.
- State the facts that decide a booking in plain text. What you treat, what you charge, where you are and whether you take insurance. An assistant can't quote a fee that only exists in a photo of a price list.
- Keep your details the same everywhere. Your site, your Google Business Profile and your directory listings should agree.
- Look after reviews. In the same rater8 survey, 75% said they wouldn't book with a provider rated below 4.0 stars. See Google reviews for doctors.
- Check what the assistants say about you. Ask them the questions your patients ask. Our AI visibility audit guide shows how, and how to show up in ChatGPT covers what to fix.
Fill The Lobby runs this for practices as AI visibility: the checks every month, the fixes at the source, and no promise of placement, because nobody can make one.
Sources
- rater8 — 2026 Patient Choice Report (June 2026; n=992, fielded April 2026), checked 24 September 2026
- SparkToro — Search happens everywhere: an analysis of 41 websites (3 March 2026, Datos desktop panel), checked 24 September 2026
- SparkToro — 20% of Americans use AI tools 10X+ a month, and traditional search hasn't dipped (26 August 2025), checked 24 September 2026
- Rock Health — 2025 Consumer Adoption Survey, health AI insights (23 March 2026), checked 24 September 2026
- KFF — 1 in 3 adults are turning to AI chatbots for health information (25 March 2026), checked 24 September 2026
- Gallup — Americans turning to AI to supplement healthcare visits (14 April 2026), checked 24 September 2026
- Pew Research Center — Why Americans use AI chatbots for health (25 August 2026), checked 24 September 2026
- Pew Research Center — Where do Americans get health information, and what do they trust? (7 April 2026), checked 24 September 2026
- TechCrunch — OpenAI unveils ChatGPT Health, says 230 million users ask about health each week (7 January 2026), checked 24 September 2026
- Google Search Central — AI features and your website, checked 24 September 2026
- OpenAI — Overview of OpenAI crawlers, checked 24 September 2026