Video Search: Why Adapting Your Strategy Matters in the Age of AI
Artificial intelligence is reshaping how search engines surface information, and video is leading how audiences engage with it. As patients turn to visual content across platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, healthcare practices that integrate video into their digital strategy can strengthen visibility, build authority, and stay ahead in the era of AI-driven discovery.
If it feels like artificial intelligence has completely reshaped digital marketing, that’s because it has. But rather than view this shift as a disruption, the most successful practices are treating it as an opportunity to evolve, connect, and grow in new ways.
Digital strategies now move at the speed of innovation. Algorithms shift, search behaviors evolve, and what worked a year ago may already be outdated. To stay ahead, healthcare practices must rethink their KPIs, refine their approach, and meet patients wherever they’re searching.
That’s where video steps in.
At Rosemont Media, we’re constantly doing what forward-thinking digital marketers do best: adapting. By understanding how AI, video, and search now intersect, we help practices like yours stay visible, trusted, and authoritative across every platform.
The Changing Search Landscape: AI and Authority
Search has never been static, but the rise of generative AI has accelerated change like never before. Instead of displaying ten blue links, AI-driven overviews now summarize results conversationally, often citing high-authority content.
That means healthcare practices can no longer rely on traditional keyword optimization alone. The next evolution of visibility lies in what’s called Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), a strategy focused on getting your content recommended within AI overviews.
The conversational tone of generative search changes the traditional sales funnel. Instead of a linear path from awareness to conversion, AI-driven interactions compress that journey into a single exchange. Authority becomes the deciding factor; the brands that consistently produce clear, trustworthy, and human-centered content will earn more visibility in these AI-powered environments.
Video Dominates Modern Content Consumption
Video has become the dominant form of online communication. People spend more time watching than reading (specifically over 150 minutes per day on video compared to just 16 minutes on articles).1 For marketers, that means one thing: if you’re still relying solely on text to engage audiences, you’re leaving reach and relevance on the table.
In addition, the way people search has expanded beyond Google. While Google still accounts for billions of daily searches, it only controls around 27% of them. The rest are distributed across platforms like YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and even Pinterest, all of which now function as discovery engines in their own right.
Video content is also inherently shareable. Studies consistently show that videos are shared up to eight times more often than blog posts. In an era driven by algorithms and attention, the content that gets shared – not just seen – determines whose brand stays top of mind.
Video as a Search Tool
Social media is now part of the search journey for roughly two-thirds of users, meaning people often begin their research directly within apps like TikTok or Instagram. These platforms serve not just as entertainment hubs, but as active discovery channels for healthcare information, treatments, and providers.
Video’s immersive and visual nature gives it an edge that text alone can’t replicate. It engages users emotionally, builds familiarity, and delivers complex information in seconds. This is critical in healthcare, where trust and comprehension matter most.
Bottom line: if patients are searching via video, your practice should be discoverable via video.
Understanding the Platforms
Each platform plays a unique role in how audiences consume and discover video content. To get the most from your strategy, it’s essential to tailor both your message and format to each one’s strengths.
YouTube
Long-form video thrives on YouTube, which is the only major platform where extended content consistently performs well. YouTube is also one of the most frequently cited sources in AI-driven search results, meaning its relevance extends beyond entertainment.
Videos here should emphasize education and authority: procedure explainers, patient testimonials, and practice introductions all perform strongly. Focus on long-tail keywords that address specific patient queries, since searchers are using more detailed, conversational phrases thanks to AI-influenced behavior.
TikTok
Short-form content rules TikTok. For healthcare providers, this platform is perfect for approachable educational snippets, such as quick tips, before-and-after showcases, or myth-busting content. To reach new and potential patients, the tone should be authentic and personable rather than overly polished.
Instagram bridges short and medium-form content, with both Reels and carousel videos performing well. It’s a strong platform for maintaining a consistent brand aesthetic and weaving video into broader seasonal or evergreen campaigns.
Snapchat and Pinterest
While often overlooked, these platforms can drive niche engagement, especially for cosmetic or lifestyle-oriented treatments. Pinterest’s visual search features and Snapchat’s geo-targeting tools make them valuable additions for practices looking to diversify visibility.
What Kind of Videos Should You Make?
The best strategies blend multiple formats.
- Short-form videos (under 90 seconds): Perfect for TikTok, Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Focus on quick takeaways, emotional resonance, and immediate impact.
- Long-form videos: Ideal for YouTube and websites. Use these to educate, explain, and demonstrate expertise. They build deeper authority and perform well in AI-driven results.
- Evergreen and seasonal content: Mix year-round educational topics with timely promotions or events. For instance, a dermatologist might pair a “summer skincare myths” reel with a long-form acne treatment video.
In addition, adding B-roll footage and thoughtful editing enhances professionalism without requiring Hollywood-level production. Even small touches (such as clean lighting, captions, and branded visuals) can make a significant difference in watch time and engagement.
Blending Video With Text-Based Content
The most effective digital strategies don’t pit video and written content against each other; they combine them. Embedding video in blog posts can improve time on page and signals relevance to both users and search algorithms.
Likewise, turning transcripts or key insights from videos into articles expands discoverability across multiple formats. This cross-pollination ensures your content appears in traditional search, social feeds, and AI overviews simultaneously.
Video and text support each other in building credibility: blogs establish depth, while videos provide authenticity and human connection. Together, they form a cohesive authority strategy.
Establishing Authority Across Platforms
In an AI-driven environment, credibility cues matter more than ever. As such, it’s vital that you keep your branding, tone, and messaging consistent across every channel.
When a potential patient encounters your content on YouTube, sees a related Instagram clip, and later reads your blog on the same topic, those touchpoints collectively reinforce expertise. This omnichannel consistency trains both algorithms and audiences to associate your practice with reliable, quality information.
By establishing authority across multiple platforms, your videos don’t just perform well in isolation; they elevate your entire digital ecosystem.
Adapting KPIs and Embracing New Metrics
As marketing evolves, so must the metrics that define success. Traditional vanity metrics like impressions or follower counts are giving way to engagement rates, retention time, and audience trust indicators.
The key is to focus on meaningful performance signals: how long viewers stay engaged, how often they share, and whether they take action afterward. These metrics provide a clearer picture of how video content contributes to growth, conversions, and long-term visibility.
The Future: Optimizing for AI Recommendations
AI will only become more influential in how content is surfaced and consumed. Optimizing videos to appear in AI overviews (whether through precise keywording, structured data, or topic authority) will be a defining factor in tomorrow’s marketing success.
Think of every video as a seed. Each one contributes to your broader ecosystem of visibility, building authority that compounds over time. The more strategically those seeds are planted, the greater your reach when AI platforms decide which results to recommend.
The Takeaway
The evolution of search is not about abandoning old strategies, but transforming them to meet new expectations. Video sits at the center of that transformation.
By producing high-quality, platform-specific videos; integrating them with your blogs; and optimizing for AI-powered discovery, you’re not just keeping up with change – you’re shaping it.
At Rosemont Media, our medical digital marketing experts help healthcare professionals adapt every element of their digital strategy for the age of video search. By combining SEO, content creation, and cross-platform visibility, we’re proud to build cohesive, future-ready plans.
Ready to see your practice thrive in the video era? Contact us today to get started!
Source: NP Digital 2025 Summit, September 2025