An orthopedic practice owner made a decision in early 2025 that cost him two months of patient acquisition. He had been reading about AI search: how patients were using ChatGPT for medical questions, how Google's dominance was being challenged, how the future of search was conversational. He decided to reallocate his Google Ads budget to content production, reasoning that AI search was the future and Google Ads were yesterday's investment.
Thirty days later, his lead volume had dropped by 60%. Not gradually. Immediately and sharply. The patients who had been finding him through Google Ads were still searching on Google. They just were not finding him because he was no longer running ads.
He called Practice Growth Co. We restarted the campaigns. Lead volume recovered within two weeks.
AI search vs. Google Ads for healthcare is not a competition where one replaces the other. They serve different patient needs at completely different stages of the decision journey. A practice that shows up in both is better positioned than one that appears in only one. A practice that abandons Google Ads because "AI search is taking over" is making a bet that is not supported by where patients actually go when they are ready to book.
Here is how AI search and Google Ads actually interact in the patient journey.
AI Search vs. Google Ads for Healthcare: Two Different Moments in the Patient Journey
The patient journey for most healthcare procedures moves through at least two distinct phases before a practice receives a call or a form submission.
The first phase is research and consideration. The patient is asking questions. Should I do this? What does recovery look like? Is this procedure right for someone my age? What are the risks? These are the questions that patients are increasingly taking to ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overview, and similar tools. AI handles this phase well: it synthesizes information quickly, answers questions conversationally, and helps the patient build a mental model of the procedure or condition.
The second phase is provider selection. The patient has decided (or is deciding) that they want to pursue the procedure. Now they are asking a different kind of question: who does this near me, what are they like, what do their patients say, how do I contact them. These questions still go to Google. Google local results, map packs, practice websites, and review pages answer the provider selection question. AI tools are not particularly useful here because they cannot tell a patient which practice has the best outcomes for hip replacement in Dallas or which plastic surgeon in Atlanta is accepting new patients.
AI search vs. Google Ads for healthcare is the difference between those two phases. AI handles the early, informational phase. Google (and Google Ads specifically) handles the late, decision phase. Cutting Google Ads does not eliminate the need for that decision-phase infrastructure. It just removes the practice from the moment when the patient is most ready to act.
AI Search Patient Journey Healthcare: What Patients Do Before They Hit Google
Understanding the AI search patient journey for healthcare requires recognizing that patients do not arrive at Google ready to book. They arrive at Google having already done their thinking.
A patient considering rhinoplasty does not immediately search "best rhinoplasty surgeon Phoenix." They start by asking AI questions: "Am I a good candidate for rhinoplasty? What does recovery look like? How do I know if my surgeon is qualified? What questions should I ask at a consultation?" ChatGPT and similar tools answer those questions conversationally and thoroughly.
By the time the patient opens Google, they have already formed opinions about what they are looking for. They know what credentials matter, what questions to ask, what recovery involves, and roughly what the procedure costs. The Google search is not the start of their research. It is the translation of completed research into provider selection.
A practice that shows up well in AI search during that research phase, through content that AI tools cite, structured clinical information, and E-E-A-T signals that establish provider authority, has an advantage when the patient arrives at Google. The patient has already encountered the practice name or the practice's content in an AI context. The Google result for that practice looks familiar rather than unknown.
This is why the two channels are additive, not competitive. AI search warms the patient. Google Ads captures the patient once warmed. A practice optimized for both is meeting the patient at both stages of the journey rather than missing one.
How AI Search Affects Google Ads Performance for Medical Practices
The practical question for practices running Google Ads: is AI search reducing the number of patients who search on Google for healthcare providers? The data suggests a nuanced answer.
For informational queries (how procedures work, what conditions involve, general health questions), AI search has captured a meaningful share of searches that previously went to Google. Patients who would have searched "what does rhinoplasty recovery involve" and landed on a practice blog are now asking ChatGPT and getting the answer without touching Google.
For purchase-intent and provider-selection queries (best surgeon near me, book a consultation, top-rated practice in city), there is no meaningful evidence that AI tools have reduced search volume. Patients are not asking ChatGPT to find them the best plastic surgeon in Phoenix because ChatGPT cannot verify current review data, confirm which practices are accepting patients, or provide localized, real-time provider information.
The concern that AI search reduces Google Ads volume is partially valid and largely misapplied. It is valid for informational queries. It does not apply to the queries that Google Ads targets: purchase-intent searches from patients who are ready to contact a practice.
A practice's Google Ads campaign targeting "orthopedic surgeon [city]" is not competing with ChatGPT for that query. It is competing with other orthopedic practices for the patient who just typed that into Google after spending 20 minutes asking ChatGPT about knee replacement options.
ChatGPT Google Ads Healthcare: The Practice That Shows Up in Both
The practice best positioned for patient acquisition in 2026 is not the one that chose AI search over Google Ads or Google Ads over AI search. It is the one that built presence in both channels and let them do different jobs.
ChatGPT and Google Ads for healthcare are not competing for the same patient at the same moment. ChatGPT sees the patient when they are asking general questions. Google Ads sees the patient when they are ready to find a specific provider. If the practice has invested in both (content and structured information that gets cited by AI tools, plus Google Ads that capture the purchase-intent search), the patient encounters the practice at two points in the journey.
The compound effect is real. A patient who encountered a practice's content in a ChatGPT response during their research phase and then sees that practice in a Google Ad when they search for a provider is more likely to click and convert than a patient seeing the practice for the first time in a Google Ad. Familiarity built in AI search lowers the barrier at the Google Ads moment.
Practice Growth Co helps practices structure this two-channel presence. The content strategy that earns AI citations (FAQ format, structured content, named clinical sources, E-E-A-T signals) overlaps significantly with the content strategy that supports Google Ads Quality Scores and landing page performance. These are not separate programs. They are the same content investment producing results in two channels.
The practice that cuts Google Ads because patients are using ChatGPT loses the revenue from patients who have already done their AI research and are ready to book. The practice that cuts content investment because "Google Ads work fine" loses the AI search presence that builds familiarity before the Google search happens. Both cuts reduce patient acquisition.
What This Means for How Practices Allocate Marketing Budget
Budget allocation for AI search vs. Google Ads for healthcare should not be a binary choice. The question is how much to invest in each channel relative to the practice's current situation.
Practices with strong Google Ads volume and no AI search presence: The Google Ads investment is producing returns. Add a content and AI search strategy that builds the familiarity advantage without disrupting what is working. This is not a reallocation. It is an addition, and the content investment pays dividends across organic SEO as well.
Practices with a strong content library but weak Google Ads performance: The research-phase presence exists. Patients are encountering the practice in AI contexts and organic results. The gap is at the decision phase: patients do not have a consistent paid presence capturing them when they search for providers. Add Google Ads to capture the patients that content and AI search have already warmed.
Practices starting from scratch: Google Ads first. AI search and content build over months. Google Ads produce leads immediately. The sequence matters: build the revenue channel first, then add the compounding channel.
Practices considering cutting Google Ads for AI search: Do not do it for the reason the orthopedic practice did. AI search is not a patient acquisition mechanism for the moment patients are ready to book. It is a trust-building mechanism for the moment before they search. Cutting Google Ads removes the capture mechanism for patients at the end of the journey. Content and AI search have no mechanism to capture that demand.
Practice Growth Co manages both channels for practices that are ready to build a full-journey presence. The starting analysis is always the same: where is the patient journey most underserved, and which investment closes that gap first?
For the complete framework on AI search optimization, see the full guide to AI search optimization for healthcare practices. To talk through how your specific practice should sequence these investments, book a strategy call with Practice Growth Co.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will AI search replace Google Ads for healthcare practices? Not for purchase-intent queries. AI tools are effective at answering general informational questions, which means they have reduced Google search volume for some research-stage queries. However, patients use Google when they are ready to find a specific provider, read reviews, visit a practice website, or book an appointment. Those queries are not moving to AI tools because AI tools cannot answer them accurately (they lack real-time local data, current availability, and verified review information). Google Ads targeting purchase-intent keywords is not threatened by AI search.
Should a healthcare practice invest in AI search optimization in addition to Google Ads? Yes, because they serve different purposes. AI search optimization (structured content, FAQ format, E-E-A-T signals, named clinical sources) builds the trust and familiarity that makes patients more likely to click and convert when they see the practice in a Google Ad or organic result. The content investment that earns AI citations also improves organic SEO performance, making it a multi-channel asset rather than a single-channel cost.
How do I know if my practice is showing up in ChatGPT or other AI search tools? Search for queries your patients are likely to ask during their research phase: "what should I know about [procedure] recovery," "how do I choose a [specialty] surgeon," "what credentials matter for [procedure] providers." See whether your practice name or your content is referenced in the AI response. For local provider queries ("best [specialty] in [city]"), AI tools rarely cite specific practices because that data is not reliable in AI training data. Those queries still go to Google.
What is the right Google Ads budget for a practice that is also investing in AI search content? Google Ads budget should be set based on the competitive cost per click in your market and your target cost per consultation, not as a percentage of an AI search budget. These two investments do not compete for the same spend category. Determine your Google Ads budget based on what a booked patient is worth and what the market charges for clicks in your category. Determine AI search content investment separately based on how much content production you can sustain and optimize over time.
Book a Strategy Call
If you are trying to figure out how to sequence AI search investment and Google Ads for your specific practice situation, Practice Growth Co maps both channels and builds the allocation framework based on your procedure mix, market, and current lead volume.
About the Author
Mike Funkhouser is the founder of Practice Growth Co, a patient acquisition agency focused exclusively on healthcare practices. He advises practices on how AI search and paid search interact in the patient journey and how to build marketing infrastructure that captures patients at every stage of the decision process.
Citations
- Google Search Central: How Google Search works and how AI Overviews fit into search results. Google LLC. https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-overviews
- OpenAI: ChatGPT capabilities and limitations for local search queries. OpenAI. https://openai.com/chatgpt
- Perplexity AI: How Perplexity handles medical and local provider queries. Perplexity AI. https://www.perplexity.ai
- Google Ads Help: Search intent and keyword match types. Google LLC. https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2453986