As artificial intelligence (AI) transforms the digital landscape, medical writers and health communication professionals must adapt their content strategies to stay relevant in search engine optimization (SEO). AI-driven search algorithms are reshaping the way health care content is ranked and discovered online. In this evolving environment, content must be clear and concise while balancing the need for accuracy in health communication.
How can medical writers make sure audiences see their content today?
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Understand how AI influences health care SEO.
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Use actionable, up-to-date strategies.
The Role of AI in SEO
Search engines like Google now use AI to refine how they analyze and rank content. Instead of relying on keyword density and match, Google’s algorithms have shifted to focus on understanding search intent.
AI summaries often appear at the top of search results, pulling from top-ranking content to answer user queries and link to source sites. But top-ranking doesn’t always mean most accurate—especially in health care—so strong SEO is key to ensuring reliable content is featured.
Key Health Care SEO Strategies
To improve content visibility in today’s SEO landscape, here are nine strategies to start using now.
How you apply these strategies will depend on your specific role as a medical communicator. If you are writing blogs or social media posts for client sites, you may be given a list of keywords to align content with or be asked to contribute to competitive analysis. If you have your own blog or website focused on health care communication, you may also be concerned with content performance and technical SEO issues.
1. Focus on Search Intent
Since AI prioritizes content that aligns with user search intent, write for people, not search engines. To create top-ranking content
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Answer user questions, whether informational, navigational, or transactional, instead of just inserting keywords.
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Use conversational language to match users’ voice search queries.
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Write for your specific audience and their interests and concerns, whether patients, health care professionals, or caregivers.
2. Provide Quick Answers
Content that provides a clear, quick answer to a search query is more likely to be chosen as a top response.
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Answer the search query in the first couple paragraphs, while also providing accurate information.
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Optimize for featured snippets by using bullet points and tables in addition to short, clear responses.
3. Leverage AI-Powered Keyword Research Tools
Since keyword stuffing is ineffective in today’s SEO landscape, medical writers should focus on clear, accurate, and helpful content that naturally incorporates relevant terms. Search engines now prioritize quality, context, and trust. Overusing keywords can hurt both rankings and credibility. Instead, weaving in keywords thoughtfully while addressing the reader’s intent ensures the content performs well and maintains professional integrity.
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AI-powered SEO tools like Semrush and Ahrefs can analyze search trends and keywords that reflect audience interests.
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Identify long-tail and semantic keywords tied to user concerns, recognizing that health care professionals, for example, may use more technical, long-tail keywords compared to a general audience.
4. Develop AI Prompts to Support SEO
By using effective AI prompts in chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini, health care communicators can boost content visibility. Examples of useful prompts include
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To rank higher for the keyword “how to stop grinding teeth,” what should I change?
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Compare the keyword strategies for top-ranking articles on this topic.
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What are common patient questions related to “diets for heart disease”?
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Develop a thorough keyword map to find content opportunities for patient concerns about sleep apnea.
5. Use AI as an Editorial Assistant
Using AI chatbots as an “editorial sidekick” means asking them to edit and generate ideas and outlines. With their help, you can also improve content SEO.
However, it's essential to carefully check all facts and medical information generated by AI—these tools can be helpful, but they may include inaccuracies or outdated information. Here are some examples of ways AI can assist
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Ask AI chatbots to help build a frequently asked questions (FAQs) section with questions of interest to different audience segments, such as patients or health care professionals.
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Prompt these tools to review draft articles from the perspective of patients or clinicians.
6. Build a Content Ecosystem for SEO Success
Creating a sustainable content ecosystem can improve online visibility. Here’s how
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Use search everywhere optimization by repurposing evergreen content for many platforms—TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn—which audiences now use like search engines.
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Build core content around audience pain points, answering questions in a conversational way. For example, people with diabetes may be concerned about what they can eat that is enjoyable and health care professionals may need support in talking to patients about medication adherence.
7. Align With E-E-A-T Guidelines
Google’s E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) guidelines significantly impact health care content rankings. To meet these standards, content developers can
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Include author bios, bylines, and relevant personal stories to highlight that content is created by people with real-world experience on the topic.
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Show expertise through content accuracy and depth and reviews by health care professionals.
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Produce information that is valued and mentioned in other respected sites.
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Cite credible, industry-relevant sources like peer-reviewed journals and medical associations and regularly update content.
8. Follow Best Practices for Technical SEO
Adhering to technical SEO best practices means that search engines will more easily find content. Make sure to
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Fix broken links, and eliminate any duplicate content so pages can be easily crawled and indexed.
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Have a clear website structure, and organize pages by topic.
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Not require logins for key content.
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Monitor page load times.
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Avoid redirecting users too many times to new pages.
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Make content accessible to those with visual impairments and other disabilities.
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Apply relevant schema markup so that search engines can easily understand content.
9. Optimize Content Performance
Once content is out in the internet, it is part of an ever-changing landscape. AI tools like Clearscope and Surfer SEO can help to monitor and optimize content performance.
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Identify content that is not performing well in search results and make adjustments.
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Increase backlinks from other sites, which can give content more authority and trustworthiness.
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Add more internal links, which helps search engines understand a website and discover new parts.
Ethical Considerations for AI and Medical SEO
AI literacy allows medical writers to decide the best ways to use AI to develop content that succeeds in search results. Once medical writers’ have an understanding of AI tools, they can assess the benefits and risks of using them, according to the AMWA Journal article Take the Leap! Steps to Integrate AI Into Your Work.
Risks that medical writers must be mindful of include
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Missing information in data sets. Information that AI is drawing from may not include the most recent information or content that is behind paywalls, not digitized, or in an inaccessible format.
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Outdated or incorrect sources. If individuals give AI tools outdated or incorrect sources and links in prompts, responses will be based on these.
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Misinformation risks. AI tools may generate inaccurate or misleading medical content.
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Lack of clear sources. AI-generated content does not always come with clear sources, even when prompted for this information.
Health care content should remain in the realm of health care writers, who can use AI when it adds value and efficiency. Human expertise remains a core part of health care communication, with writers carefully fact‑checking any AI-generated content for accuracy and aligning it with ethical writing standards.
Conclusion
AI is revolutionizing health care SEO, offering both challenges and opportunities for medical writers and editors. By focusing on search intent and leveraging AI-powered tools, medical communicators can enhance content visibility.
To stay current in this fast-evolving space, follow sources like Search Engine Journal and Moz for SEO trends, as well as AMWA for insights tailored to medical communication. Adapting to new developments in medical SEO ensures that quality health care information remains accessible for audiences.
AMWA acknowledges the contributions of Nicole Bowens, PhD, for peer review in the development of this AMWA resource.
