As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly integrated into the digital landscape, your website is no longer just a destination for users – it’s an input for generative AI models.
Voice assistants, AI overviews, and smart agents are changing the way we search online. Google’s AI Overviews and tools like Perplexity are now pulling content directly from websites to answer voice and text-based queries.
These AI crawlers don’t just list websites either; they synthesise answers, summarise services, and decide what information is most credible.
Ensure your website is built for speed and accessibility
People expect fast sites and so does AI. Google’s Core Web Vitals now prioritise INP (Interaction to Next Paint), a new metric that measures site responsiveness. While Core Web Vitals may not directly influence AI rankings, it is important for a good user experience. Sluggish pages = poorer experience and higher abandonment, for both people and bots.
To ensure your site performs well:
- Compress images and enable lazy loading.
- Prioritise mobile design and responsiveness.
- Remove unnecessary plugins or third-party scripts.
- Conduct regular site audits.
Accessibility is equally important. AI models need to interpret your content accurately, which means:
- Ensuring your site supports screen readers.
- Maintaining proper heading hierarchy (H1 > H2 > H3, etc.).
- Providing alternative text for non-text elements.
Use structured data (schema markup)
Structured data helps AI understand the context of your content. For example, schema.org markup allows you to tag content such as FAQs, events, medical conditions or opening hours. This tagging not only helps AI-powered search tools extract information more effectively but can also increase your chances of being featured in rich results, such as Google’s AI Overviews or voice search snippets.
Write about topics that match AI queries
AI search engines don’t just match keywords; they interpret intent. So your content needs to answer real questions clearly, in the formats AI tools love. Generative AI reinterprets, synthesises, and reframes questions using a broader understanding of context. That means your website needs content that anticipates and matches this depth.
Identify AI-surfaced queries
Try searching your top services or common patient questions. Is your content being featured in the search results?
To increase the likelihood of your content appearing, plan to post content such as blog articles, guides, or explainer videos that:
- Address broader topic clusters and real-world patient concerns (not just narrow keywords).
- Include medical context, patient-friendly language, and clinical authority.
- Follow a format similar to AI Overviews – clear, factual, and summarised.
Optimise your content for AI
To stay visible, your content needs to be optimised for AI.
1. Voice search
(via assistants like Google Assistant, Alexa, and Siri)
Why it matters:
Voice search is growing, especially on mobile. More patients are asking health questions out loud. People speak differently than they type; queries are longer, more conversational, and often phrased as questions. AI and voice assistants rely heavily on natural language processing. AI assistants like Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant pull answers from sites that sound conversational and natural. They answer conversational questions without jargon-heavy, keyword-stuffed content. This means your site must mirror how people talk, not just how they type.
Update your FAQs and service pages to mirror real speech patterns. This increases your chances of being chosen for voice search responses and featured snippets.
Example voice queries:
- “What happens during a skin cancer check?”
- “When should I book my baby’s first immunisation in Australia?”
- “Find a female GP near me open on Saturday.”
How to optimise:
- Use conversational language: Phrase headings and subheadings as questions that people might ask out loud.
- Optimise FAQs: Include an FAQ section on key pages that mirrors real patient concerns (e.g., “Is a mole check covered by Medicare?”).
- Keep answers concise: Voice assistants pull answers from content that delivers a direct, 40-60 word response.
- Local relevance: Mention suburbs, clinic hours, and appointment availability in a natural way; this helps with “near me” and time-based queries.
2. Visual search
(with platforms like Google Lens and AI vision models)
Why it matters:
Patients often use visual tools like Google Lens to identify skin conditions, locate clinics from storefronts, or scan signage. AI vision models also crawl websites and images to understand what’s visually represented.
Example use cases:
- A patient uses Google Lens to scan a rash and gets directed to dermatology services.
How to optimise:
- Add descriptive alt text to all images: Instead of “Image 1”, use “Dermatologist consulting a patient during a skin check”.
- Use meaningful captions: Add short, context-rich captions under images to support vision model comprehension.
- Rename image files clearly: Avoid generic image names (e.g., IMG_0054); instead, use paediatrician-brisbane-exam-room.jpg.
3. AI-generated summaries
(via tools like Google SGE, Perplexity AI, ChatGPT, Gemini)
Why it matters:
These AI tools summarise content from across the internet to answer user queries instantly, often without showing traditional search results. To be included, your content must be credible, structured, and written in a way that AI can easily synthesise.
Example query outcomes:
- A patient searches “how to manage menopause symptoms” and sees a summary pulled from HealthDirect, your blog and a government source.
- A chatbot returns your clinic’s information when asked, “Where can I get a cervical screening in Brisbane?”
How to optimise:
- Write summary-style content: Use intro paragraphs that provide direct answers before diving into detail. Bullet points work well here.
- Cite trusted sources: Link to government, academic or peak body sites (e.g., HealthDirect, RACGP, AHPRA) to reinforce your credibility.
- Keep publishing evergreen and topical content: Blogs, explainer videos, and service pages should be regularly updated to match what people are currently asking AI tools.
4. Conversational search
(where people ask complex or multi-step questions)
Why it matters:
AI models excel at interpreting multi-layered questions like, “What are the treatment options for acne in teenagers, and do I need a referral to see a dermatologist in Australia?” Your content needs to provide depth, context and localisation to match.
Example conversational queries:
- “What’s the difference between a GP and a skin cancer clinic?”
- “Can I see a dietitian for IBS without a referral in NSW?”
- “How do I prepare for my first mental health care plan appointment?”
How to optimise:
- Structure content to follow logical pathways: Use subheadings that reflect each step in a patient journey (e.g., symptoms > diagnosis > treatment > referral > aftercare).
- Use transitional phrases and real questions: e.g., “Here’s what you need to know about getting a referral…” or “Patients often ask if…”
- Create longer-form blog content that covers themes in depth: e.g., “Everything you need to know about Medicare mental health care plans.”
- Add internal links between service pages and blog content: This helps AI understand the relationship between related topics.
- Make use of patient scenarios: Case-style storytelling or hypothetical questions help AI tools match your content to nuanced searches.
Why does AI optimisation matter for healthcare websites?
For healthcare organisations, getting your content in front of the right audience isn’t just about visibility; it’s about trust, accessibility, and providing timely, accurate information.
AI agents are becoming gatekeepers to that information. Whether it’s explaining a treatment, showcasing your team, or answering common patient questions, your site must be able to communicate clearly with both people and machines. If your website isn’t optimised for how these systems work, you risk being excluded from the conversations patients are having through voice assistants, answer engines, or multimodal tools.
Think like your patient – and their assistant.
Your website needs to:
- Be technically strong and fast
- Use structured data/schema markup
- Anticipate patient queries (typed, spoken, or asked to AI)
- Present and convey information clearly in both medical and natural, conversational tones
- Provide machine-readable visuals and metadata.
Optimising your website for AI is not a one-time task; it’s a shift in how you think about digital presence. By investing in your technical foundation, expanding content, using natural language that mimics your patient queries, and ensuring visuals are machine-readable, you set your site up to perform now and into the future.
Need help building an AI-friendly website that converts?
At Splice Marketing, our healthcare marketing experts can audit your site, restructure your content, and position your clinic or practice for tomorrow’s digital landscape. Book a free growth workshop now.
