Google used to be the go-to place for people who wanted to find out more about their health. The tide is slowly turning as more users turn to AI for health-related questions.
About one in four U.S. adults have used an AI tool or chatbot for health-related information or advice, according to a new study from the West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare in America. The results are based on a nationally representative survey of more than 5,500 adults conducted between October and December 2025.
The good news is that most people aren’t replacing their doctors with chatbots. More than half of AI healthcare users say they use it to complement their care, either by doing their own research before a visit or by understanding what their doctor told them afterward.
Why do people turn to AI for health questions?
Speed and curiosity are the two main reasons people turn to AI for health-related questions. According to the survey, 71% of people who used AI for health advice said they wanted quick answers, and another 71% wanted additional information. About 67% were simply curious to see what the AI would say.
| category | Reason | Adult AI healthcare users in the US |
| Speed and self-directed research | I wanted answers quickly | 71% |
| ” | I wanted additional information | 71% |
| ” | I was curious to see what the AI would say | 67% |
| ” | I prefer to do my own research before seeing a doctor | 59% |
| ” | I prefer to do my own research after seeing a doctor | 56% |
| Cost barriers | I didn’t want to pay for a doctor’s visit | 27% |
| ” | I was unable to pay for a doctor’s visit | 14% |
| Access barriers | I didn’t have time to make an appointment | 21% |
| ” | I had no access to a doctor or provider | 16% |
| ” | I wanted help outside of normal business hours | 42% |
| Quality and stigma barriers | I have felt rejected or ignored by a provider in the past | 21% |
| ” | I was too embarrassed to talk to a person | 18% |
However, not everyone who uses AI for health does so voluntarily. Of recent users, 27% said they turned to AI because they didn’t want to pay for a doctor’s visit, and 14% said they couldn’t afford one at all.
Do people trust AI for health information?
Trust in AI health information is almost threefold. About a third of current users trust it, a third are neutral and a third distrust it. 4% trust it completely, and about 11% said the AI has actually given them advice they thought was unsafe.
4% may seem like a small number, but if you scale it up, you’ll see that a few million people completely trust AI for their health, and that’s not a good result.
What should be done about it?
It is clear that you cannot generally prevent people from using AI for health advice. If the survey gives us any indication, it is that we need to improve healthcare and access to doctors so that people do not have to rely on alternative treatments.
AI companies also have a big role to play here, ensuring they label every health-related answer with a doctor visit disclaimer. Services like Perplexity Health and Copilot Health should become mainstream so that people can at least rely on AI systems that are specifically trained to provide accurate health advice.
