How Healthcare Founders Can Build Trust In An AI Search World

Google is starting to feel like the old cable TV model, and we can’t ignore what that means for healthcare marketing. When search is packed with ads and generic answers, people do the obvious thing: they ask AI. We talk through the uncomfortable reality that patients and customers are increasingly turning to ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity for recommendations and “what should I do next” decisions, and why that makes the classic SEO-first playbook less reliable for physicians and healthcare entrepreneurs.

From there, we get practical about what actually builds trust now. Long-form video and live Q&As let people see the real person behind the clinic, telehealth platform, or healthcare product. In a world full of AI-generated content, “human-made” starts to function like a premium label: audiences can feel the difference between polished filler and real experience, real opinions, and real stakes. We also dig into why live streamers and authentic creators are winning attention, and what that signals about culture, platforms, and patient behavior.

We wrap with the bigger strategic move: stop trying to be everywhere and start owning your channels. Newsletters, websites, and communities create durable brand equity, invite collaboration, and turn passive followers into insiders. If you’re building a personal brand in healthcare, this is your roadmap for staying discoverable in AI search while staying deeply human. Subscribe, share this with a founder or physician friend, and leave a review with the biggest branding shift you’ve noticed lately.

Transcript

Long-Form Video Reality Check

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Let me tell you, if you're listening right now, if you're one of the billions listening, um and you're a healthcare entrepreneur or a founder or anybody who's listening or a physician, long form video, long form video. That's what is key. People want to watch those type of things. That's what they want to see. They wanna they want to see the real person behind the product they're buying or the service they're gonna be purchasing or the position they're going to see. If you can start doing that, think that way. And I know immediately I don't look good on camera, and I don't think that's a great idea, and I don't think get over it because that's where it's all going. Hey Eric, how's it going? Good, buddy. How are you?

SPEAKER_01 0:41

I'm doing good, I'm doing good, hanging in there. No complaints over here. We got content crib coming up in a couple weeks, which is crazy. I was almost said next week, but no, it's in a couple weeks.

SPEAKER_00 0:51

Yeah, don't scare me like that. Two weeks. No, I'm good. Yeah. It's uh it's a flurry of activity right now, getting ready. It's exciting. Got um some people, I think we have like one or two spots left, um, which I think they're gonna be filled today, but we'll see. But yeah, we're uh you know, we're talking about the one plus one equals three community, and this one's gonna be all about building something with the group and content crib, so it should be a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_01 1:20

Yeah, uh the group it looks incredible, by the way, so I'm really excited about that. Uh, we have super strong group, and um I don't know, it's just such an awesome time. It's like such a re-energizing get together. Yeah, it's almost perfect that it's like you know, we have it in fall, it's like right before the holidays. Get you, you know, re-energize and getting things together, or you know, tightening up projects or personal, you know, businesses or whatever you're doing. And then we have it again, you know, uh, you know, right after the winter slumber. You know, we've talked about maybe doing it just once a year, but the fact we're still doing it twice a year right now, and and you know, after winter slumber, people are get their momentum going. So no, it's good.

SPEAKER_00 2:04

Yeah, yeah, I'm I'm looking forward to it. It's um definitely after this winter. It's hopefully everybody coming down to Arkansas will get some nice warm weather, and uh we'll be at back at our same location at the ledger there where we have a huge outdoor space as well as an indoor space, which makes it very cool. And um yeah, so we're gonna we're gonna do another content crib in October. You know, we can kind of preview that right now a little bit. We're gonna do it in October. We'll let everybody know when that's gonna happen. And then like you said, I think we're gonna I think we're gonna move towards doing it as a once-a-year event and just really jam-pack it with a lot of value and a lot of opportunity for people to uh to attend.

SPEAKER_01 2:51

Yeah, well, you know, uh housekeeping stuff for us. We probably should ask, you know, what dates I have available in October before we forget so we get a book.

Where The Next Event Happens

SPEAKER_00 3:00

That's a good point. I should probably do I should probably ask that for sure. Yeah, um we don't know exactly where we're gonna go in October. Most likely it's gonna be in Bentonville. We may do it.

SPEAKER_01 3:12

Hey, Florida, you know.

SPEAKER_00 3:13

We may do Florida, we may do we may go back to Maine. I don't know. We'll see.

SPEAKER_01 3:17

How is the flight to uh your neck of the woods? What what's the closest airport for you?

SPEAKER_00 3:22

I usually Jacksonville, but um Orlando is an hour and a half, so um Jacksonville.

SPEAKER_01 3:28

And how far is Jacksonville?

SPEAKER_00 3:30

About an hour.

SPEAKER_01 3:31

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 3:31

Yeah, about an hour, and plenty of flights going in and out of Jacksonville, sure. For sure.

SPEAKER_01 3:35

So maybe there's a there could be a cool venue near, you know, within half hour of the airport, maybe.

SPEAKER_00 3:40

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Um probably we'll probably if we do it here a little later in October, so we don't deal with hurricanes, um, which last year we had zero, so we didn't have to worry about that. Um, but I live in St. Augustine, which is the nation's oldest city. So it's kind of a cool, cool venue. So anyway, we're we're gonna we're teasing it a little bit. We don't know exactly where we're gonna go, but wherever we go, it's gonna be a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_01 4:09

Yeah, and we want to talk a little bit today about a few different things. Um did you want to start off with uh what you were just mentioning to me about? I'm sorry, I forget what you mentioned.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

And then you saying that, I go, what did I mention? Oh well, I yeah, go ahead.

AI Search Is Rewriting Branding

SPEAKER_01 4:27

No, I was gonna say one thing I wanted to talk about is what seems to be a hot button topic right now is AI and branding. And you will, you know, we obviously talk about that broadly quite a bit. Uh but how 80% of people are getting their answers through AI and not on Google search anymore. And they're saying Gardner, some statistics projecting search engine volume will drop by 25% by 2026 as more consumers migrate towards these AI-powered virtual agents, which is it's not like this isn't happening in the future, it's already happening.

SPEAKER_00 5:03

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:04

And you know, the entire framework, most pre personal brand coaches, you know, are you know are teaching still and have been teaching, whereas you know, write SEO content, build a blog, drive chat traffic. And it's becoming structurally irrelevant. Um, so I think the personal brand game has just completely changed. And there's opportunity there. You know, your audience isn't Googling anymore. They're asking Claude, they're asking ChatGPT, or perplexity. Most people are canceling their chat GPT and switching to Claude, which sucks for me because now Claude's gonna get slower because I've been using Claude for a couple years now, but you know, that's just a complaint, minor complaint.

SPEAKER_00 5:40

Yeah, but hold on at ChatGPT. They'll they'll they'll get better. I'm I'm like an old school chat GPT guy. I I have Claude as well, but I don't, although I no, I I I've gone now to my whole AI agent guy, the do anything.com, that I I don't get anything from do anything.com. Have you also have you this open claw and clawed bot and all that stuff? Anyway, I won't go to the AI agent, but my wife the other night said, Are you literally talking to an AI, you know, a fake breath? Like, yes, I am, I am talking to that. Um but yeah, I I can tell you that I don't you know what's funny is I have like this gut reaction to if I go into put anything into Google search, I know that I'm gonna get 14 ads and you know nine things that I don't want, so I just don't even use it anymore. It's it's it's it's for me in my brain, it's like the old school television model where I'm gonna get ten ads when I watch something, so I just don't I don't wanna I don't wanna do that. I don't want to see that. That's gonna scare companies. Well, I know it must scare Google pretty bad.

SPEAKER_01 6:48

Yeah, I mean I you know they're tripling down on their Gemini. You know, I have to say that product is getting better, especially for their images. Um, but yeah, I mean in terms of like how you need to think about it, especially with you know the the physicians and and healthcare entrepreneurs we work with through ISG, you know, we explain that to them and we help we help build their architecture for their brand and their companies and what they're trying to accomplish. Uh a big part of that is um growing their content and making sure they're relevant on on these AI agents. Because that's where it's going and it's happening right now.

SPEAKER_00 7:21

Yeah, because when an AI agent goes out or AI goes out to find the answer to your question, they are going out everywhere on the internet and seeing where they it gets the most hits. That's part of the its algorithm immediately. Where where does it get the most hits? Where does it see the most instances of the question, the answer to the question you've asked? And if it's if you're at the top of the list, someone who's trying to create thought leadership, a personal brand, or you're you're an individual who's looking for another opportunity out there, you know, it's it's looking for the number of hits that it finds, and then it just drills down from there. So it's no longer the days of let's you know, how much did you pay Google to have you come up at the top of the list? Those days are gone. Now I'm waiting for the day when ChatGPT or one of the other ones says, you know what, we could really monetize this if we do, you know, that that's coming. They claim it's not coming, but it's coming.

SPEAKER_01 8:22

Oh yeah. I mean, there was it was supposed to be released a couple weeks ago, I heard.

unknown 8:26

Yeah.

Human-Made Content Becomes Premium

SPEAKER_01 8:26

Right around the Super Bowl or whatever. Um, you know, it's funny because you know, there's all these, you know, there's the AI evangelists, and there's like the anti-AI people. And I think that everyone I think really needs to understand is like we're like firmly in the middle, but more lean towards the human side. But the real uh recognize the AI thing isn't going away because there's an opportunity with the human-made badge, it's going to become a price premium. So we teach, we explain, we talk about building that personal connection and brand, but use different tools to help augment the process, not slop it up, right? Make it better, make yourself more efficient, make yourself more organized.

SPEAKER_00 9:09

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 9:09

Because this is the flip side of the AI slop crisis, and it's a massive opportunity that very few are positioning for. Um you know, like organic food, for example. At first it was really fringe and expensive, and then industrial food became ubiquitous and trust completely collapsed. And organic food became a you know a$60 billion industry. I I really believe we're at the beginning of a similar cycle with human-made thinking and human-made content and human-made relationships. And you know, this got me thinking earlier when you had brought up you know in-person events and whatnot, too.

SPEAKER_00 9:45

That's a great analogy with the food because that's exactly what's going on right now. And I was watching Alex Hormozy like consume a lot of his content. It's great. What he's doing right now is really good. There's a lot of lessons and teaching and things of that nature, but they were at some large event and they started, you know, introducing people. Like there was these A-listers or whatever, and they got a little bit of applause. And then they started, you know, then they started introducing, you know, YouTubers and things like that, and a whole ton of applause. And then the live streamers were like the one who got the most applause. So it's what's happening in our culture is here. I go down a maybe a deep rabbit hole here, but what's what's going on in our culture is people yearn for real interactions, watching people that are real, not the the days of the, you know, let's let's watch a movie and this a lister is, you know, popular and is gonna make me turn my head. Kids aren't doing that anymore. It's or when I say kids, you know what I mean? Very young people. You know, they like streamers. Why do they like streamers? Because it's real, authentic, raw on the screen, they're watching it. And they know when it's AI. I mean, and then the platforms are scared to death. That's why they're that's why YouTube just demonetized a ton of channels that were just deemed all AI and uh AI generated content. Demonetize hundreds of millions of dollars. I mean, that's wild that they did that. Um so reality is that real is making mistakes, doing things that humans do on a regular basis, is what's gaining attention, not perfectly cured videos that aren't anymore. Will it change? I don't know, maybe it will, but right now that's that's that's that's the reality. I mean, if you listen to any con any any content from Gary V right now, he is pounding the drum on live streaming. That's what is that's his thing, is because that's fun for people to watch. There's not stupid ads that run through it, and it it's a genuine person, and people are watching.

Why Live Streamers Beat Celebrities

SPEAKER_01 12:06

Yeah, you know, the personal brands and companies and you know brand companies that are loudly signaling and proving human human authorship are gonna, you know, have they're gonna own that premium positioning before it becomes obvious to everybody else. So I agree with you. I think that you know it's it's a real opportunity. Um I'll be interested to see you know how you know some players in our healthcare space kind of take advantage of this. I see that on a clinic level that there is um you know more and more physicians that are doing kind of like live stream Q ⁇ A's to get their um you know get their audience involved, especially if they have a telehealth platform and they can grow kind of nationally through social media. So just a way to think about it.

SPEAKER_00 12:52

Let me tell you, if you're listening right now, if you're one of the billions listening, um, and you're a healthcare entrepreneur or a founder or anybody who's listening or a physician, long form video, long form video. That's what is key. People want to watch those type of things. That's what they want to see. They want to they want to see the real person behind the product they're buying or the service they're gonna be purchasing or the position they're going to see. If you can start doing that, think that way. And I know immediately, oh, I don't look good on camera, and I don't think that's a great idea, and I don't get over it, because that's where it's all going. You know, hiring somebody to get you good Google SEO. If the if you hear somebody say that to you, if they're trying to sell you a s you know, it's some kind of marketing service and they say that to you, run, run like the wind, because that is not what people are doing these days.

Own Your Channels And Community

A Physician Brand People Remember

SPEAKER_01 13:49

No, no, it's definitely not. I mean they charge a pretty penny too, right? And it's definitely extremely watered down, and it goes back to what I brought up earlier with how that was the old playbook and now the new playbook is you know, agents and and uh personal branding. So finding that happy medium for sure. And on you know, on the topic on on the personal branding side, and I wanted to bring up was you know, the I think the strongest personal brands, they're not, and we talked about this, you know, I think the last like six or seven episodes, they stopped trying to be everywhere. And I definitely used to do this, and I think it was a good exercise for me to understand how to put my voice out there as I started to narrow it down. But I definitely used to be try to be everywhere, right? Yeah, but more creators are moving toward spaces that they own by really talking to that direct audience, but also owning the assets they're creating. So newsletters, really cool websites, communities, you know, the rise of this AI-generated content, making people focus on their unique voice again. People respond to those who you know really have something only they can say with an edge, like not being afraid of like putting their opinion out there. Because you know, the audience is they're not passive anymore. They're they're increasingly, you know, inviting themselves to engage, building shared projects, and and almost being collaborative collaborators in the space. Like, you know, now more than ever, I'm talking to people all the time, like in my space that are you know creating different side projects and like want my opinions or you know, wanted to see if I want to be involved. You know, a lot of that has to do with a lot of the content that I've been creating and putting out there and trying to be an authority in the space, but I also think it's inviting to other people to you know collaborate more, and I really think that's a really cool part of it. I don't think that was really as much of a thing a few years ago. I think people were um much more in their own lane and just you know working on their own thing. And that's a big theme of what what our content crib coming up in a couple weeks, it's all it's all based on. And I think it's just a really cool time, how really cool time and space we're in because communities are replacing just simple audiences.

SPEAKER_00 16:11

Yeah, you well, you you said it best a few episodes ago where you said, you know, the customer, the consumer is more educated than ever before. They know the answers to what they want to achieve. They know they can go find it on on chat or any of these other, you know, AI platforms. They can go find it. What they want to do now is match, hey, I know what I want. I want to match in my mind that this person or this company that is providing it is the one that I want to go with. So that's where the branding really comes in into play. And and for so many, I just I see it out there and like they're you know, Dr. Adrian Towson, so I'm gonna shout her out, you know. I she starts dancing on her video in LinkedIn, and I'm like, I'm watching, I'm like, how does she do that? How did how does that happen? How you know, and then I know she's got a new clinic that she just opened up in Pennsylvania for women, and and I, you know, and I I told my wife about it, I'm like, oh yeah, she's the one who does the it you know what I mean, but it's like when somebody goes to find out about you know a women's only clinic, and and I'm probably describing it incorrectly exactly what she does, but what what she does in Pennsylvania when they go it's a longevity optimization clinic based on motion and and uh precision medicine.

SPEAKER_01 17:30

Well, I mean she has mostly women clients, but she's also seeing men too, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:34

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

See, you're the smart one here because I think Well, she's a client of mine too, so it's a little easier for me to describe.

SPEAKER_00 17:40

Well, I just think she's the cool dancing doctor that I know. Yeah, yeah. I tell my wife you should go see.

SPEAKER_01 17:45

Yeah, but you're making a very good point here.

SPEAKER_00 17:46

Yeah, but I I I you're you're very exquisite in the explanation that you gave.

SPEAKER_01 17:51

I'm I have to be, it's my job.

SPEAKER_00 17:53

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:53

Okay, there you go. She's my client.

SPEAKER_00 17:55

I think the the explanation that I I would that the lady who's super cool that I've met a few times now, and she dances, and uh I'm I'm just I'm always watching, like, oh she in Italy.

SPEAKER_01 18:04

Well I have to have her on.

SPEAKER_00 18:05

Is she in Italy today, or where is she? Yeah, I know. And I'm like, all right, well anyway, all that to be said is I don't rem I mean I can go Google and find out whatever, but I make a connection with what I see that she's doing, you know, video-wise. So that's that's what I'm trying to say, is and and you know, she is masterful in what she's done, going from uh I think a complete novice like we all have, to she's uh pretty impressive what she's what she's accomplished.

SPEAKER_01 18:33

Uh big time. I mean I agree with you, and that's just you. Like what else is everybody else saying when they see you know in such relatable storytelling of her transition and daily basis and her wins, her struggles, her story, her passion. Um it's really inspiring stuff, and I think you know, we're all cheering for her, and uh, you know, she's got a big, a big cheering group, you know, rightfully so. I mean, she's a great person, and and but that's the way the story needs to be told, and that's what people want to engage with. And you know, I'm you know, chomping at the bit like until she can get you know physician licensure in Massachusetts so I can see her remotely, or you know, when she gets physician licensure in Florida so she can expand to, you know. I don't even know if she wants to do this, but I'm just hoping someday that happens.

SPEAKER_00 19:20

We're we're advising her from our podcast. Yeah, exactly. Probably have her on, yeah, instead of talking about it. That makes that makes a lot more sense. Probably should just have her on. Um, but yeah, I it's it's it's pretty cool to watch. But, you know, back to my original point, which I took way, way, way too long to explain. Um you know, i if we're looking for if you're looking for someone in for in a clinic like that, you can go and go into chat and find it. But then you're gonna Google and you're gonna what's gonna come up is all her videos and you're going to make a natural connection. And so that's what people want to do. They want to make a connection, a natural connection with the company that's providing the service, the product, or the physician who's you know, obviously wants to see you.

SPEAKER_01 20:09

Yeah, I mean the it just like to put a bow on this, you know, topic is you know what I think we're both trying to say is the broadcasting era personal branding, where you push content at followers, is dying, pretty much dead. Yeah. You know, the loudest brands aren't the winners anymore. You know, the ones that win are the ones that make the audience feel like insiders, like we just explained with Dr. Towson. You know, it's think less I have five uh 50,000 followers and more I have 500 people who'd miss me if I disappeared and stopped posting tomorrow.

Wrap-Up And Content Crib Invite

SPEAKER_00 20:45

Boy, that's and on that note I think we should end the podcast because that is dropping the mic right there. Perfectly said. All right. Yeah, well, yeah, all right.

SPEAKER_01 20:57

Well that's a that's an episode. That's we gotta uh record probably a couple episodes next week before the following week.

SPEAKER_00 21:03

So Yep, absolutely, let's do it. And uh content crib six point zero, March twentieth. If you're interested, shoot us a DM.