Yes—your traffic and rankings are down. But that doesn’t mean your strategy is broken.
Across industries, brands are noticing the same trends:
Fewer clicks
More variability
Inconsistent rankings
What looks like a drop in visibility isn’t an SEO failure.
It’s a paradigm shift.
AI-driven search has fundamentally changed how visibility works. At Healthcare Success, we’re watching this shift closely, adapting our strategies, and guiding our clients through it.
The good news? You still have control. But you need to track smarter.
Welcome to the Age of Personalized Search
Holding a static spot on page one of the search engine results pages (SERPs) is no longer the goal. What matters now is how and when your brand shows up across channels, devices, and formats.
Why? Google’s AI-powered algorithms tailor search results to each user, including:
- A user’s location.
- Their search history.
- The device they’re using.
- What Google thinks they want next (search intent).
- And even broader context, like emails, documents, past activity across Google properties.
This is more than SEO. It’s a shift in how people experience search.
Let’s take the “apartment hunt” example from Google I/O 2025. What once required 30+ individual searches (e.g., rent prices, commute times, pet policies, neighborhood reviews, etc.) was bundled into a single, AI-curated experience that planned, tracked, and returned tailored results.
Your brand’s visibility depends on how well it aligns with these moments.
What Personalization Means for Healthcare Brands
The Disappearance of “Universal Rankings”
Universal search pages are gone, baby—GONE. They’ve been replaced by SERPs shaped by context, behavior, and intent. Your brand will show up differently for every potential patient.
And those search metrics you’ve relied on for years (e.g., static keyword rankings)? They no longer tell the full story. To remain competitive, you need to focus on:
- Brand presence across the full digital ecosystem.
- Signals of trust and authority (e.g., AI citations, patient reviews, and featured snippets).
- Real patient intent, measured through engagement with high-value pages and actions.
AI Mode, Incognito, and Device Variability
Healthcare search results are now influenced by how someone searches. Let me explain:
- A patient searching from their smartphone might see something entirely different than when they search later on their desktop.
- Searches in Incognito mode might vary from what’s shown in AI-driven summaries.
- Google’s ongoing AI updates will continue shifting results.
So, if you can’t replicate your brand’s results across devices or sessions, it’s not a measurement error. It’s our new reality in search.
Remember: Google protects user privacy, so personalized search results are uniquely tailored without sharing exact data. So, it’s normal that rankings look different from device to device and person to person.
4 Healthcare SEO Metrics That Matter Now
It’s time to shift your focus from keyword rankings to performance indicators that reflect brand visibility in AI search, patient behavior, and real-world outcomes.
1. Branded Search Impressions
(via Google Search Console)
This shows how often your brand appears in searches that include your business name, services, products, or other differentiators. For example: “Beach House Center for Recovery drug rehab for veterans.”
Note: Branded impressions are one of the clearest indicators of growing brand awareness and trust.Even if click- through rates take a hit (thanks to zero-click searches and AI Overviews), an upward trend means more people are searching for your business by name.
It’s your reputation in motion.
2. AI Citation Frequency
(Manual Checks + AI Tools)
How often your brand name is mentioned in AI Overviews or featured answers matters in an AI-driven environment. Track how often your brand is:
- Mentioned in AI Overviews.
- Featured in Google’s “Sources.”
- Referenced in tools like Perplexity.ai, ChatGPT, or Bing Copilot (each with its own context and bias). For example, Bing Copilot may be used more in work settings and on work devices.
Unfortunately, there’s no single tool to help you spot or track these trends (yet). However, emerging tools (e.g., Profound, Waikay, and ChatRank) can offer early insights for shaping your SEO and LLM visibility strategy.
We may never reach the scale or precision of SEMrush or Sistrix-style rank tracking, and that’s okay. AI visibility operates on semantic relevance, not keyword match types.
You’re not just ranking. You’re being recognized.
Tip: Use these tools alongside manual checks, Google Search Console, and website engagement data to gain a clearer understanding of your visibility and authority across AI systems.
3. Consistency in Featured Snippets, Map Pack Placement, & Local Signals
- Map Pack—Is your brand showing up for location-based queries (e.g., “Find me a walk-in urgent care within 10 miles, open evenings and weekends, with a pediatrician on-site who specializes in newborn care.”)?
- Featured Snippets—Does your content answer common patient questions directly in the SERP?
- People Also Ask—Is your brand contributing to these FAQ-style results?
However, it’s equally important to consider your brand’s visibility beyond the SERP. Mentions in local news stories, podcast interviews, community event listings, and coverage by local bloggers can help signal your brand’s relevance and authority to search engines and patients.
| Stop asking, “Are we ranking #1?” Start asking, “Are we visible where and when it matters most?” |
Note: Because search features vary by location and device, using tools that mimic different search settings helps you see how your brand appears to different patients.
4. Traffic Trends from High-Intent Pages
Stop looking at pageviews in isolation. They do not equal performance.
Instead, focus on how patients interact with high-intent pages, such as:
- Location pages.
- Service-specific pages (e.g., IVF success rates, joint replacement recovery).
- Appointment booking or contact forms
Track these behaviors:
- Form submissions.
- Click-to-call activity.
- Time on page.
- Scroll depth.
These can help you understand how your pages are performing, including what’s working and what needs optimization.
Note: And don’t forget site speed and mobile usability. Google favors fast, easy-to-use pages that keep patients engaged.
Reframing the Conversation: What to Tell Stakeholders About Modern SEO
SEO hasn’t stopped working. Full stop.
Search is no longer a static scoreboard. It’s a dynamic, AI-personalized experience that adapts to user behavior, device, intent, and location in real time.
Modern SEO success requires consistent, contextual visibility in the right places, at the right times, and with the right messaging.
Visibility ≠ Rankings
Visibility today is multifaceted. These should all be considered wins:
- Map Pack placement.
- AI Overviews.
- Featured snippets.
- People Also Ask visibility.
- Branded search queries.
- Third-party citations.
- Videos.
- Local media and community mentions.
- And more.
AI experiences are still built on top of traditional SEO signals. That’s why Google has clamped down on how results are tracked, blocking many old-school rank trackers and forcing a rethink of how we measure visibility.
Clicks are down. Impressions are up. Why?
AI bots are flooding the system, ignoring protocols like robots.txt, inflating metrics and creating noise in what used to be clean analytics.
It’s time to shift your mindset, zoom out, and look for visibility that reflects real authority, not just position. Because in AI search, recognition beats rank.
Presence, Trust, and Authority Across Multiple Touchpoints
Real influence is being everywhere your patient looks, not just on page one.
Focus on these fundamentals:
- Consistent NAP (name/address/phone) across online directories.
- Strong schema markup.
- A steady stream of patient reviews.
- Helpful and high-quality content that answers real patient questions.
- Inclusion in AI Overviews, local map packs, and third-party sources.
Note: Using the right structured data (e.g., healthcare-specific tags) helps Google better understand your services, increasing your chances of appearing in featured snippets and AI Overviews.
Final Thought
AI-powered search has redefined what success in SEO looks like.
Stakeholders and healthcare leaders must understand that presence, consistency, and trust are the new trifecta of search success.
And remember, SEO is just one part of your digital presence. To strengthen your visibility across all patient touchpoints, combine SEO with brand marketing, paid ads, helpful content, and social proof.
FAQ
Why do search results look different for different people?
Personalized search results vary from person to person, aiming to provide the most relevant and helpful information based on:
- Location.
- Device type.
- Time of day.
- Search history.
- And more.
How does AI affect search rankings?
It’s not just keyword matching anymore. AI is helping search engines understand user behavior, user intent, content relevance, website authority, and content quality for a given search query.
Can you still track SEO performance in AI-driven search?
Yes, but tracking methods and content strategies must adapt to effectively navigate AI-driven search and maintain a strong online presence. Focus on:
- Visibility signals.
- Branded impressions.
- Patient engagement.
