Michael Epps Utley 
In the era of AI-generated content, new data-driven insights from a human perspective will win.
Right now, we are in a transitional phase of the Internet. Google and the large language models (LLMs) can use existing content to generate content, but not ideas. And while the new AI tools make it easier to find information, they don’t create new insights.
So what are B2B services in the healthcare space to do now that information is commoditized and providing it does not offer the same opportunity to be discovered by your audience? The answer is this: dig deeper.
Here’s what that can look like.
Thought Leadership in Healthcare B2B Is Going to Change
The impact of AI tools on the Internet can’t be understated. We are shifting right now from a search-driven world of “questions seeking an answer” to a conversational query world of “problems seeking a solution.” Going forward, ‘answers’ will be completely commoditized. And solutions...solutions will require evidence to stand out.
“E-A-T” has long been the shorthand for who should be at the top of search results: expertise, authority, and trust (“experience” has become part of the equation, too). But there is a new member of the team: data.
Deeper Insights and Being an Original Source
For our purposes here, ideas start as raw information( or data), become insights, and then get used in business applications. The LLMs are eating that middle part. So, the best move here is to serve the other two: be a source of new data to be an authority to the LLMs, and provide better applications. These two areas, 1) truly new information and 2) creative application of ideas, are the new opportunities to build authority in developing marketing content.
Creating High-Value, Data-Driven Content
Publishing new content is still valuable, but the content has to bring more new revelations and applications to stand out. This means that new surveys, original research, and publishing in formats that allow LLMs to use you as a source will gain you access to the fountainhead of problem-solving. We used to use snippets to get into “search position zero” on Google, but now, we will publish new original data that becomes the authoritative origin of information.
Sounds expensive, right? It will undoubtedly be harder to stand out in this new phase of content marketing. But there are ways to bring it down to size. New data is available in abundance when we consider the value of solving fairy niche problems. If you offer software that helps patients make it to their appointments, you can likely analyze, run a test, or evaluate user data to answer once and for all a question like “How many text messages does it take to reduce no-shows, but not increase SMS unsubscribes?”
Leveraging LinkedIn and Industry-Specific Platforms
And, you don’t have to work hard to gain an audience for truly new insights that authoritatively answer common (but niche) problems. If you have a healthy and growing LinkedIn network, you likely have a built-in audience for your new, deeper insights.
Bonus tip: share your LinkedIn post on platforms where discussions happen around that niche topic. It will drive the conversation on LinkedIn, and that will give you exposure for your ideas. “Networking your insights” offers another avenue to gaining attention and being discovered as an authority.
Hosting Webinars and Speaking at Conferences
People look for inspiration in more places than search engines. They attend events in person and online. The planners and providers of those events typically need new incoming experts. Be that expert by making your new, original ideas available to them. It’s not hard to send an email and share a new gold nugget of hard-earned insight. And the more valuable the new source of truth, the more appeal it will have for learning event organizers.
And while text content is being commoditized, video is a massive answer-engine space that does not get eaten by LLMs in the same way as text. Use your insights to make videos, and you will be an authority in video search and in the attribution data of the LLMs.
Publications, Rich Media, and Influencers
One of my sons likes to do chemistry. And he writes about it. Chemistry journals include that content in their publications. Nothing is more niche than new ways to use copper to increase the yield of a multi-stage chemical reaction. As you pivot to data in your ideas for building authority on a subject matter, you can loop editors of publications into your new insights. You might be surprised at how small the insight can be to gain attention from a very niche audience. This tactic can also be used to gain podcast appearances, offer guest blog opportunities, and tango with influencers.
SEO for the LLM/AI Generation
SEO is not dead and never will be. Google is just failing to see what SEO has to do with them right now. We are headed for one of two things: citation of sources as a tool for gaining new eyeballs or a new leader for providing indexes to search the Internet. While we are waiting for this new reality to emerge, it’s a good idea to continue to be on page one of organic search with your ideas rather than your competition.
New data can be published as content on your website, and you can use the best current tools for making it available to search users. These tactics include keyword research to see what your audience is using to search.
Serving Your Insights Up to Google
Our best local Mexican restaurant in East Nashville has an entry area with, I counted, 52 different signage elements in 100 square feet. These signs range from printed to hand-written and cover topics like daily specials and rules for what kinds of animals are allowed in the building (service animals, yes, but sorry, emotional support animals: no burrito for you).
That kind of signage environment is how Google sees your website. Schema is their tool for allowing you to format some content to serve it into their index in a way that tells them what it is rather than letting them infer. We recommend using the tools Google offers, like schema for services content, locations, FAQs, and other popular-format content.
Ideas for Generating Original Data and Getting It Out There
The better the problem-solutions engine becomes, the more niche we will be in gaining new insights. But again, this doesn’t mean investing in scientific studies. Ideas for niche-but-real insights include:
User data analysis: study what you have sitting on your servers. Don’t underestimate the value of the obvious when it can be shared in an authoritative way.
Surveys: a good survey can last for decades as a cited source. The more niche the subject, the fewer records you need to have a decent idea of what people think or will say they want.
Research: conduct experiments. I once created a dataset of all the dentists in Maryland to see if I could sell them new websites. I found that only half of them had websites at all: ~75% of those in the coastal population centers down to ~25% in the mountains at the western end of the state. I asked a more rural dentist why he did not have a website. His answer was, “I’m next to a school, and those kids love sugar.” Great answer. It gave me a deep insight – sell staffing services out West, and websites out East.
And once you have a true revelation, get it out there with this game plan:
Publish your revelations on your own platform to best use its value: your website.
Network your insights to where people interact with your ideas.
Share your networked insights to what Seth Godin calls “sneezers”: the publishers and educators seeking the front edge of truth.
Publish again, but in formats that enable more discovery like video, podcasts, and as new tools like scoring mechanism.
Monitor your referral traffic. We are hoping the LLMs credit their sources and that users click the tiny links. If things play out that way, we will see referral traffic become interesting for the first time in a long time.
Overwhelmed by change? Want to talk about it? Give us a call.
