A quest for the crown: ruling digital relevance in the age of LLMs

Once upon a time, getting to the top of Google’s search results meant your brand was the hands-down winner of the internet’s golden crown. But the story today is changing faster than many healthcare organisations can adjust to. With large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Google Gemini vying for main character status as additional go-to sources for information, it’s time to update the search marketing book.

Today, four out of five HCPs say they’re using LLMs to support clinical decision-making. As these LLM models solidify their seats at the roundtable of trusted sources, it’s not just about driving clicks and search engine rankings – it’s about shaping the conversation itself.

At JPA Health, we see a shift from web visits as a primary success metric to a more nuanced approach where success means a healthy mix of visitors, LLM relevance and other engagement metrics. In this new era, brands and campaigns need to actively influence the way issues are discussed within the LLMs through AI optimisation.

In general, industry content hasn’t been optimised for this new world, meaning essential information – with potentially life-saving implications – can be overlooked. JPA Health expertise in HCP engagement, advanced AI and our proprietary methodology allow us to ensure a 360-degree search readiness strategy on a wide range of issues.

Recently, we completed a long-term project for a pharmaceutical company, tracking how the tone of online conversations evolved after targeted content interventions. The results were eye-opening. It wasn’t just our content that moved the needle. What truly shifted the narrative was elevating credible third-party sources. Some LLMs gave more weight to patient advocacy groups, while others leaned heavily on published research.

This logic shows an evolution from a tried-and-true SEO principle: the value of backlinking. The more credible sources link back to a site, the higher that site’s reputation score. We’re seeing the same idea manifested now on the LLM level. The implication? To shape the zeitgeist, you need to think beyond your own voice and strategically partner with and amplify trusted voices across the realm.

What worked in the past for SEO must evolve in a new era of AI-curated search results:

1. Elevate credible sources: don’t just publish your perspective. Actively reference and promote high-quality research, patient advocacy statements and expert commentary. LLMs are more likely to surface issues that are echoed by multiple credible sources.
2. Structure content for discovery: use Q&A formats, clear headers and schema markup (like FAQs or Article Schema) to make your content easily digestible for AI crawlers. This increases the odds your insights will be cited in AI-generated answers.
3. Monitor and adapt: regularly audit how LLMs are referencing your topics. If patient groups or academic studies are being cited more than industry voices, consider partnerships or coauthored pieces to bridge those worlds.
4. Update and refresh: keep your content current. LLMs prioritise up-to-date information, especially in fast-moving fields like healthcare.
5. Balance authority with neutrality: avoid overly promotional language. LLMs tend to filter out content that feels like an ad. Instead, focus on informative, well-sourced writing that stands on its own as a summary of the issue.

Ken Deutsch is EVP, Data Sciences and Carol Patel is EVP, Omnichannel Engagement, both at JPA Health