Every year, patients get more selective about who they trust with their care. And every year, the tools they use to make those decisions change.
In this 30-minute session, join rater8’s Marketing Communications Manager, Emily Manuel, alongside Solutions Marketing Manager, Tara Tate, as they walk through what nearly 1,000 patients revealed about how they pick a new doctor. The session will highlight key findings from the 2026 Patient Choice Report, the third edition of rater8’s survey on patient search and decision-making behavior.
Topics covered include:
- Why online reviews are influencing who gets booked, skipped, or reconsidered.
- How AI has moved from an emerging trend to a major decision-maker in the patient search journey.
- Why provider responses and patient feedback now play a bigger role in earning trust, improving visibility, and keeping your practice competitive across every touchpoint patients use to search.
If you were unable to join us for the webinar, check out the recording below!
FAQ:
Q: Are there other ways to “manage AI” beyond responding to online reviews?
A: Responding to reviews is one important part of it, but it is not the only way to “manage AI.” The bigger goal is to manage the public information ecosystem that AI tools are pulling from. That includes review volume, review recency, provider responses, accurate listings, provider bios, practice pages, and other third-party profiles.
Q: What platforms does AI pull information from? Is Yelp Included?
A: There is not one universal source list because it depends on the AI tool, the query, and what sources are available or considered relevant. AI-powered search experiences can pull from a mix of public web sources, including practice websites, provider pages, Google Business Profiles, online directories, review sites, social profiles, and other third-party content.
Yelp could be included if it is accessible and relevant to the query, but for healthcare, we would typically prioritize the sources patients are most likely to use when choosing a provider: Google, healthcare-specific review sites, practice and provider pages, and major directory listings. Yelp still matters from an accuracy standpoint, but it is one piece of a much larger visibility picture.
Speakers:
Tara Tate, Solutions Marketing Manager, rater8
Tara Tate is rater8’s solutions marketing manager, helping healthcare organizations improve their online presence and attract more patients. With experience in sales, business development, and marketing, Tara works closely with medical practices to leverage insights about their challenges and translate them into solutions that help providers connect more effectively with patients online.
Emily Manuel, Marketing Communications Manager, rater8
Emily is rater8’s marketing communications manager, specializing in branding, content strategy, and digital storytelling. With three years of B2B SaaS experience in healthcare tech and certifications in HubSpot Content Marketing and Google AI Essentials, Emily shares insights that help practices improve their online reputations and stay ahead in the new era of AI-driven patient search. Her work has been published by Electronic Health Reporter, Medical Economics, and HealthITAnswers.
