Clinic owners keep asking us the same question: if Google now answers health questions with an AI summary, and patients are asking ChatGPT which physio or chiropractor to see, does any of the work we’ve done on our website and Google profile still matter? It’s a fair worry. The search page looks different than it did two years ago, and most of what’s written about it comes from agencies selling “AI optimization” packages to every kind of business at once.
This guide is a plainer, Canadian take, written by a practising chiropractor who manages Google Ads and Business Profiles for clinics across the country. It covers what Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode actually are in Canada, how ChatGPT finds local businesses, how health topics are treated differently, what it means for your Google Ads, and the practical steps worth taking now. It also covers what you can safely ignore.
What’s Actually Changed in Search
There are three AI search experiences Canadian patients are using. They work differently, so it helps to separate them.
Google AI Overviews
AI Overviews are the AI-written summaries that appear at the top of many Google results, with links to the websites they drew from. They’ve been showing in Canada for a while now, and they appear most often on informational searches: “what causes sciatica”, “is physio covered by MSP”, “how long does a sprained ankle take to heal”. They appear far less often on searches with clear local booking intent, like “chiropractor Saanichton” or “RMT near me”, where the map results still do most of the work.
Google AI Mode
AI Mode is a separate, chat-style tab inside Google Search. Google launched AI Mode in Canada in English in August 2025. People use it for longer, multi-part questions, such as “I’m a runner in Victoria with knee pain, should I see a physio or a sports medicine doctor, and does my plan cover it?” It breaks the question into smaller searches, pulls from multiple sites, and writes one answer with links.
ChatGPT Search
ChatGPT can now search the web and show local businesses, often with a map, photos, hours and a short description. Importantly, it doesn’t read your Google Business Profile directly. Independent testing reported by Search Engine Land found ChatGPT’s local answers were built from Bing web results and then re-ranked by its own logic, favouring sources with clear business details such as hours, addresses and ratings. In practice, that means your website, your directory listings and what other sites say about you carry more weight there than your Google profile does.
How Health Topics Are Treated Differently
Health searches fall into what Google calls “Your Money or Your Life” topics: subjects where bad information can hurt someone. Google’s own guidance on helpful content says it gives extra weight to signals of experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trust on these topics. That applies to AI answers as well as regular results.
The AI tools haven’t always got health right. In January 2026, Google removed AI Overviews from some medical searches after a Guardian investigation found misleading summaries of liver blood test ranges. The lesson for clinics isn’t that AI search is going away. It’s that health answers are under more scrutiny, and the AI leans harder on sources that look credible: named, qualified authors, regulated professionals, and clear, accurate pages.
That works in your favour. A registered physiotherapist or chiropractor writing plainly about what they treat is exactly the kind of source these systems are designed to trust. A generic, anonymous article written to rank is not.
On the ChatGPT side, OpenAI says ads aren’t eligible to appear near health or mental health topics. So for now, clinics can’t simply buy their way into ChatGPT health conversations. Showing up there depends on being a credible, well-documented local business.
What It Means for Your Google Ads
This is the part most clinic owners care about, because it’s where the money goes.
- Ads still appear above and below AI answers. Google says ads can show above or below AI Overviews in more than 200 markets. Your search ads haven’t disappeared from the page.
- Ads inside AI Overviews mostly don’t apply to clinics. Google’s help page on ads in AI Overviews lists Canada as an eligible country (in English), but also says it doesn’t show ads within AI Overviews for sensitive verticals, including healthcare. If an agency tells you they’ll get your clinic’s ads “into the AI answer”, ask them to show you where.
- High-intent searches haven’t changed much. Someone searching “physio near me open Saturday” wants to book, not read a summary. Those are the searches clinic campaigns should be built around anyway (our guides for physiotherapy and chiropractic campaigns show how), and in the accounts we manage they still drive the large majority of calls and bookings.
- Informational keywords are worth less than ever. If your campaign pays for searches like “what is sciatica” or “exercises for neck pain”, an AI Overview now answers many of those on the page. These were rarely good ad keywords for clinics, and they’re worse now. Our search terms report guide shows how to find and block them.
- Broad match and AI Max need closer watching. Google’s automated matching is getting looser, partly to fit longer, conversational searches. That can find good new searches, but it can also spend on question-style searches that never book. Check your search terms monthly.
- Measure bookings, not clicks. If AI answers change who clicks, raw click counts become a poor guide. Proper conversion tracking for calls and online bookings is how you’ll know whether anything has actually changed for your clinic.
What Clinics Should Do Now
The good news is that almost nothing on this list is new. Google’s own guidance for site owners says there are no special requirements or optimizations needed to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode: the same fundamentals that work for regular search apply. Here’s what that looks like for a clinic.
1. Make Your Google Business Profile Complete and Accurate
Google’s AI answers for local searches draw on the same business information that powers Maps. The right primary category, every service listed, accurate hours (including holiday hours), real photos, and a clear description all feed into how Google understands your clinic. Our Google Business Profile guide for Canadian clinics covers the full setup, and regular Business Profile posts keep it active.
2. Keep a Steady Flow of Reviews
AI tools summarize what patients say about you. A clinic with a handful of reviews from 2022 gives them little to work with. A steady stream of recent, specific reviews (“helped with my shoulder after a rotator cuff strain, direct billed Pacific Blue Cross”) gives them plenty. Ask every satisfied patient, respond to reviews, and follow your college’s rules on testimonials, which generally restrict quoting patients in your own advertising.
3. Build Clear Service Pages
One page per main service, written for patients. What it is, who it helps, what a first visit looks like, who provides it, how billing works (extended health, ICBC, WorkSafeBC), and where you are. This is the content AI tools quote and link to. A single “Services” page with six bullet points gives them nothing to cite. Our landing page guide covers the structure, and it works for SEO pages too.
4. Answer Real Patient Questions
Add short FAQ sections to service pages using the questions your front desk actually hears. “Do I need a referral?” “Is this covered by MSP?” “Can I book the same week?” Keep answers factual and specific to your clinic. AI Mode in particular handles long, specific questions, and pages that answer them directly are easier to draw from.
5. Show Your Credentials
Name your practitioners. List their designations, their registration with their BC college (or the regulator in your province), their training and their areas of focus. Put an author name and credentials on your blog posts. On health topics, a page that clearly comes from a regulated professional is more trustworthy to patients and to the systems summarizing it.
6. Use Structured Data, but Don’t Expect Magic
Structured data (schema markup) tells search engines your clinic’s name, address, hours and services in a machine-readable way. It’s good practice and it helps keep your details consistent. But Google states plainly that there’s no special schema needed for AI Overviews or AI Mode. Treat it as housekeeping, not a secret switch, and make sure it matches what’s visible on the page.
7. Get Your Listings Consistent Beyond Google
Because ChatGPT draws on Bing results and third-party directories rather than your Google profile, it’s worth claiming and checking Bing Places and Apple Business Connect, and making sure your name, address, phone number and hours match across health directories and your website. Ten minutes of cleanup prevents an AI tool from confidently telling patients the wrong hours.
If you want the bigger picture on how these pieces fit together, our healthcare SEO guide for Canada goes deeper.
What Not to Panic About
There’s a lot of noise about AI search. Here’s what we tell clinic owners in our own accounts.
- “SEO is dead.” It isn’t. AI answers are built from web pages, and Google’s guidance says the same fundamentals apply. What has changed is that thin, generic content is worth even less.
- Paying for “AI optimization” or “GEO” packages. Most of what’s sold under these labels is the list above with a new name and a higher price. Ask exactly what will be done to your site and profile.
- llms.txt files and special AI markup. Google says you don’t need new machine-readable files to appear in its AI features. They won’t hurt, but they’re not a priority for a clinic.
- Dramatic traffic-loss headlines. Most published figures come from news and information websites, not local clinics. A clinic’s most valuable searches are local and booking-focused, which AI answers affect far less. Watch your own numbers in Search Console and your booking data rather than someone else’s chart.
- Blocking AI crawlers by default. Some sites block AI tools from reading their pages. For a clinic that wants to be found and recommended, that usually works against you.
Common Mistakes We See
- Anonymous blog content. Posts with no author, no credentials and no clinic details. On health topics, that’s the weakest kind of page you can publish.
- Outcome claims on service pages. “Fix your back pain for good” is a problem with your college and gives AI tools nothing accurate to quote. Describe what you do and who you help.
- Mismatched details. Old hours on Bing, a former address on a directory, a practitioner who left two years ago still on the website. AI tools repeat what they find.
- Chasing rankings for questions you can’t serve. Writing about conditions you don’t treat to get traffic. It rarely books patients, and it dilutes what your site is clearly about.
- Judging success by clicks alone. If fewer people click through to read a general article but more of the visitors you do get book, that’s a good trade. Track calls and bookings.
For a broader look at where clinic marketing goes wrong, our guide to SEO vs. Google Ads for Canadian clinics covers how the two channels support each other, which matters more as AI answers take up more of the page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Google AI Overviews available in Canada?
Yes. AI Overviews appear on many Google searches in Canada, and Google launched AI Mode in Canada in English in August 2025. They show most often on informational questions and less often on local “near me” searches.
Can my clinic’s Google Ads appear inside AI Overviews?
Generally not. Google says ads within AI Overviews are available in Canada in English, but it doesn’t show them for sensitive verticals, including healthcare. Clinic ads still appear above and below AI Overviews in the regular ad positions.
How do I get my clinic recommended by ChatGPT?
There’s no direct sign-up. ChatGPT draws on web results and third-party listings, so a clear website, consistent listings on Bing Places and directories, and recent reviews on multiple platforms give it accurate information to work with. OpenAI also says it doesn’t show ads near health topics, so paid placement isn’t an option there.
Do I need special schema or an llms.txt file for AI search?
No. Google states there’s no special structured data or AI file required for AI Overviews or AI Mode. Standard LocalBusiness or MedicalBusiness schema that matches your page is good housekeeping, but complete content and an accurate Business Profile matter more.
Will AI search reduce the number of patients finding my clinic?
It may reduce clicks to general health articles, but local booking searches are affected much less. The best way to know is to track calls and bookings, not just website visits, and compare month to month.
Want an Honest Look at Your Clinic’s Visibility?
SEO Medics was founded by a practising chiropractor, and we manage Google Ads and Business Profiles for clinics across Canada, including physiotherapy, chiropractic, massage therapy and counselling practices. We don’t sell AI packages. We make sure your profile, your pages and your ads are doing the basics properly, which is what AI search rewards anyway.
If you’re not sure where your clinic stands, book a free call with SEO Medics. We’ll look at your profile, your ads and your tracking, and tell you what’s working and what isn’t.
