GEO for healthcare

People ask AI tools about symptoms, medicines and test results. The answer often names a few sources.

If your clinic or health site is one of those sources, you help people at the moment they look for answers. This guide shows what AI search expects from health content.

Google gives its quality raters written guidelines. Topics that can seriously affect someone’s health, money or safety are called “Your Money or Your Life”, or YMYL.

Health falls under “YMYL Health or Safety”. The guidelines are not a ranking formula: they are how Google tells its raters to judge quality.

For these topics, expertise and trust matter most. Read more in our guide to E-E-A-T.

1. May 2024

   Google said it added extra “triggering refinements” for health questions in AI Overviews, to strengthen its quality protections.

   Google’s announcement

2. January 2026

   TechCrunch reported that AI Overviews stopped appearing for some medical searches, after a Guardian investigation into answers about liver blood tests. Google did not comment on single removals; a spokesperson said its clinicians found that “in many instances, the information was not inaccurate”.

   TechCrunch report

So for some health questions there is no AI answer at all. Where there is one, your page competes on trust, not on tricks.

1. Name the author and the reviewer

   Show who wrote the page and which healthcare professional checked it. Add their role, and their registration number if your country has one.

2. Show when it was last reviewed

   Put a “last reviewed” date on the page and update it when the advice changes. Old health advice can do harm.

3. Link to your sources

   Point to medical guidelines, health authorities or studies. A claim with a source is easier to trust, and easier to quote.

4. Say when to see a doctor

   Tell readers clearly when self-care is not enough. Health content that knows its limits is safer.

5. Keep your practice details current

   Check your opening hours, address and services in your Google Business Profile. Google says Business Profile can help you show up in AI responses.

No. Google’s list of rich results has no medical type, so medical markup does not change how your page looks in Google.

Google also says you don’t need special files or markup for its AI features. If you use basic schema, such as Organization or Article, make sure it has no errors.

Our tools cannot judge whether medical advice is correct. They check the signals around it.

• Page analysis

  Scores one page on 22 metrics, including author and credential signals (E-E-A-T), sources and citations, update dates and AI crawler access.

• Schema validator

  Checks your JSON-LD for errors and shows which Google rich results it can still earn.

No tool can make AI cite you. For some health questions, AI search shows no answer at all.

Our credential check mainly recognises titles in English and Dutch. A German or French page may score lower on that part than it deserves.

• E-E-A-T: how to show expertise and trust
• How to show up in Google AI Overviews
• Citations and sources on your pages
• Keeping content fresh