16. How Google’s AI-Powered Search is Changing the Game for Health Insurance Marketers

Brendan McLoughlin, President of e123, recently participated in an executive education course at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its implications for business strategy. This is the sixteenth in a series of blog posts where he shares some of the insights he gained and how they apply to health insurance distribution.

It’s not your Father’s Search

It’s 2024, and Google has made some serious changes to its search function. We're not talking about minor tweaks here—Google has integrated some powerful AI technology into its search engine, and it's already shaking things up. If you market health insurance, you need to get ready for these shifts because they’ll affect how you optimize your content, engage customers, and measure success.

What’s the Big Deal with AI Search?

New AI-driven search isn’t your traditional keyword search anymore. Instead of just delivering the pages most relevant to your search terms, AI is now considering who is typing the words, where they are located, when they are asking, what device they are using, and what they have searched in the past to deliver highly personalized and context-driven results. Companies like Google and Amazon are using advanced natural language processing (NLP) to truly understand what users are looking for. So, when someone searches for information, they’re getting way more than a list of links—they’re getting answers to suggested questions, summaries, and personalized suggestions.

Imagine typing in a question into a search bar and getting the exact answer you need before you even click on anything. That’s the power of AI here. We did a test of this new way of searching, typing “If I already have medicare advantage, do I have to reapply?”. In addition to a series of links to medicare plans and government information, the search returned this:

How is This Going to Impact Your Marketing Strategy?

If you’re in health insurance marketing, this means you need to rethink how you’re approaching content creation, customer engagement, and search engine optimization (SEO). While we’ll never know exactly what goes on behind the curtain at Google, here’s a breakdown of recommended best practices:

1. Content Quality Over Keywords
   
   Gone are the days of stuffing your content with keywords and hoping for the best. Google’s AI is now more focused on the overall quality of your content. It’s looking for context, relevance, and value. Your content needs to answer real questions and be genuinely helpful. This means insurance marketers will need to focus on creating authoritative content that speaks directly to what their audience is searching for. Consider the questions your customers ask on sales calls and create content that addresses them!
2. AI Summaries Link To The Best Content
   
   Google’s AI search now provides users with summaries of key information from web pages before they even click a link. That means if your content is structured the right way, with clear headings and bullet points, Google can pull it into these AI-generated summaries. The page that provides the information for the summary receives credit, top placement, and a link. The takeaway? Make your content easy to read, and use concise explanations that will help your brand get featured in these summaries.
3. Personalization is the New Black
   
   Personalized marketing isn’t a new concept, but Google’s AI search is taking it to another level. With AI, search results are customized based on users’ past behaviors and preferences. As a health insurance marketer, you’ll want to make sure your strategies are personalized too. Use data to tailor your content and messaging to individual user needs. The more relevant your content is to each user, the better your chances of standing out in AI-driven search results.
4. Paid Advertising Strategies Need an Update
   
   Google’s new AI search might reduce the number of clicks on traditional ads, which could simultaneously disrupt pricing as demand stays the same. Why? Because users are getting their answers directly from the search page, so they might not feel the need to click on an ad. To stay ahead, conduct keyword research using Google’s advertising and webmaster tools. Consider experimenting with new strategies like AI-powered display ads or conversational AI tech that engages customers directly within the search page as well as focusing on offer-driven ads that deliver a measurable ROI.
5. Voice and Visual Search is on the Rise
   
   Don’t forget that Google’s AI search is getting better at voice and visual search, too. People are asking questions with their voice or uploading images to search for information. This means you’ll want to optimize your content for natural language (think voice search patterns) and make sure your images and videos are tagged correctly to show up in visual search results. The same website accessibility tools you should already be using for ADA compliance can help you evaluate these metrics.
6. Don’t use AI to generate copy
   
   As tempting as it is to drop a prompt into ChatGPT, don’t. Google can easily recognize text written by AI and gives it a lower value. Instead, focus on what makes you and your customers uniquely human and include personal anecdotes, quotes, and—gasp!—humor in your writing so that it stands out from the inherent predictability of AI-generated copy.

What does this Mean for Health Insurance Marketing?

As we have discussed, companies that market health insurance products like Medicare, ACA plans, and supplemental insurance should be seeking to maximize customer lifetime value (LTV) and minimize customer acquisition costs (CAC) and advances in AI-powered search carry significant implications to these goals. The focus on personalized, context-driven search results means these companies will need to create highly relevant, quality content tailored to individual user intent.

This AI shift will make traditional SEO tactics, such as keyword stuffing and link building, less effective. Instead, insurance marketers should prioritize crafting comprehensive, authoritative content that answers specific customer queries about their policies and healthcare coverage options. Additionally, optimizing content for AI summaries, voice search, and visual search will become essential for standing out in search results. The need for personalized marketing strategies, driven by user data, is also critical, as Google’s AI increasingly customizes results based on user preferences. Companies that quickly adapt to these changes by delivering personalized and optimized content will be better positioned to attract and convert leads, ultimately enhancing customer acquisition and retention efforts.

Conclusion

The changes Google is making aren’t just surface-level—they’re deep and transformative. As health insurance marketers, you’ll need to stay on your toes and be ready to adapt to this new world of AI-enhanced search. The key takeaway? Focus on creating high-quality, personalized, and structured content that aligns with what AI-driven search looks for.

At the end of the day, while AI is shaking things up, it’s also opening new doors. This technology is going to help you connect with your audience in more meaningful ways, and if you play your cards right, your marketing strategy will come out stronger on the other side.

Want to learn more about e123 and the future of AI in insurance distribution? Get in touch here.

For prior posts in this series, click here or below: