Doceree Dialogue Episode 14: AI Is Changing Healthcare Search — What Marketers Need to Know About Discoverability, Measurement & AI

Search is changing and AI is accelerating it. As search, paid media, and AI-driven platforms converge, healthcare marketers are being forced to rethink how discoverability really works. In the latest episode of Doceree Dialogue, Ritesh Patel, Chief Growth Officer, Doceree, spoke with Courtney Mullen, SVP, SEM – Department Lead at CMI Media Group, to unpack the shifts shaping AI-driven healthcare marketing visibility, measurement, and what brands need to do now.

With over a decade at CMI and deep experience across health agencies, Courtney brings a grounded, practitioner’s perspective on how pharma and healthcare brands can stay discoverable, relevant, and measurable in an AI-driven world.

From Early Audience Targeting to Global Scale

CMI Media Group has been ahead of the curve for years—long before “audience-first” became an industry buzzword. “We were doing audience targeting long before everyone else started,” Courtney shared. That early focus on precision and relevance has fueled not just client trust, but sustained growth—across categories and geographies.

Today, that mindset is helping CMI expand internationally, working with larger and more complex clients while navigating rapidly changing platforms and expectations. 

Search Isn’t Dying—It’s Getting Smarter 

Despite the noise around AI disrupting search, Courtney was clear: the core mission of search engines hasn’t changed. “The goal is still to get the most relevant information to people as fast as possible.” What has changed is how that information is surfaced—and what that means for advertisers. 

With AI overviews, conversational queries, and longer, more nuanced searches becoming the norm, brands need to move away from rigid keyword lists and toward adaptability. Broad match, intent-based signals, and smarter bidding strategies are no longer “experimental”—they’re foundational. 

The takeaway? 
Search isn’t shrinking. It’s evolving—and brands that don’t evolve with it risk invisibility.

Organic, Paid, and AI Discoverability Are Now One Conversation 

One of the most important shifts discussed was how discoverability now spans organic search, paid media, and AI-driven surfaces. 

Pharma brands can no longer think in silos: 

• Organic content needs to be structured, tagged, and authoritative 

• Paid strategies must anticipate new ad placements within AI environments 

• Content must be discoverable by chatbots—not just websites 

“Helpful, authoritative content still wins,” Courtney emphasized. “But it can’t live only on brand.com.” Video, audio, modular assets, and multi-format content are increasingly critical—not optional. 

Content at Scale—Without Breaking the Bank 

The obvious question: How do brands do all this within budget constraints? This is where AI is beginning to shift the economics of content creation. 

Courtney shared how CMI, alongside WPP, is leveraging AI-powered platforms like WPP Open to enable faster, more affordable, and more data-informed content development—without sacrificing quality or compliance. What’s changed isn’t just speed. It’s intelligence. Content today can be shaped by real data signals, making it more relevant, more modular, and more scalable than ever before. 

Measurement Beyond Click-Through Rates 

Another recurring theme: the industry’s over-reliance on surface-level metrics. Click-through rate alone doesn’t tell the full story—especially in healthcare, where influence and impact often unfold over time. 

Instead, Courtney highlighted a shift toward: 

• Value-based bidding 

• Action-driven measurement 

• Metrics tied directly to business outcomes, not vanity indicators 

“What actually drives prescriptions? What drives patients to ask? That’s what we need to measure.” It’s a more complex approach—but one that aligns media performance with real-world impact. 

Agility, Mindset, and “Nothing Is Impossible” 

The conversation also touched on Courtney’s experience at Agility, an unconference-style event focused on creativity, community, and patient-centric thinking. From building authentic patient communities to rethinking caregiver inclusion, one message stood out: 

Innovation isn’t about unlimited budgets—it’s about mindset. 

Inspired by speakers from Not Impossible Labs, Courtney summed it up simply: 
“Nothing is impossible. It may take time, or it may take money—but we can figure it out.” 

Looking Ahead: What Brands Should Prepare For 

As brands head into planning cycles, Courtney’s advice was clear: 

• Don’t pull back from search—lean into it 

• Get comfortable with AI-driven systems and automation 

• Focus on quality audiences over raw volume 

• Be open to new measurement models 

Patients and HCPs are still searching—more than ever. The brands that win will be those that meet them with relevance, trust, and value at every moment that matters. 

Watch the Full Episode 

Catch the full episode of Doceree Dialogue to hear Courtney’s insights on: 

• The future of search in healthcare 

• AI-powered discoverability 

• Smarter content and measurement strategies 

• And what “relevance” really means in 2026 and beyond 

Because in a world of intelligent platforms, intelligence in strategy is no longer optional.