Reputation Management’s Impact on SEO & GEO

Jenny: Hi friends! Welcome to today’s episode of We Are, Marketing Happy, a healthcare marketing podcast. My name is Jenny Bristow and I’m your host and the CEO and founder at Hedy & Hopp, a full-service, fully healthcare marketing agency. I am so excited today to have with me our very own Kristen Weidman. She’s our project management lead, and she’s joining us today to talk about a topic that seems to be coming up in every single prospect and client conversation we have, and that is, GEO or AI and the huge impact and change of behavior we’re seeing on search.

But today, Kristin and I are specifically going to talk about reputation management effect on SEO and GEO. So, Kristen, welcome. 

Kristin: Thank you so much for having me, Jenny. 

Jenny: Yeah. Let’s start off by having you share a little bit about why reputation management matters. And I feel like that’s one of those things that conceptually, we all know it matters, but we talk to organizations time and time again that perhaps they’re spending lots of money on paid media or some other patient acquisition activity, and they’re not paying as much attention to reputation management.

So share it, if you will. A little bit about why it matters for organizations to be shining a spotlight on it.

Kristin: It is a great question. And obviously all of these other things are wonderful to invest your time and money into, but something that is can be invaluable and is something that you can’t necessarily buy, but is something that can be put into words as your reputation.

How do you treat your patients? Is your doctor really fast and really knowledgeable? Are the consumers looking for someone who is more family-oriented, who has bright colors on their walls? So when it comes to healthcare, it’s a lot about how consumers are what kind. So not just the keywords that consumers are searching for, but what types of healthcare professionals and facilities that they’re searching for.

And how does that align with your brand? 

Jenny: So absolutely, in fact, there was a study that came out earlier this year that actually showed that over half of all adults do research through the lens of reputation management. So whether it is listings like Google listings, looking at reviews or checking out social media profiles before actually reaching out to a practice to even schedule an appointment.

So this is pre-work that people are doing before you even talk to them. 

Kristin: Yes. 

Jenny: Let’s talk a little bit about the EEAT concept. Tell me how it fits into reputation management and how it’s applied.

EEAT is what Google is now using to, to determine their rankings. So how your website and how your listing rank on a Google search.

So E stands for experience. The second E stands for expertise. The third stands for authoritativeness, and the fourth stands for trustworthiness. Now, reputation management. So the information about your business, how consumers are feeling about your business applies to both the authoritativeness that you have in the space and obviously your trustworthiness. And who you are as, as a facility or as a provider.

And as that stands, again, that affects how you show up in search results.

Jenny: So, absolutely. As we’re thinking about, our clients and as they began leaning into SEO and GEO, which just to clarify, the abbreviation, GEO stands for generative engine optimization. We also have seen the term AIO (artificial intelligence optimization). And we are leaning more as an industry more towards GEO. So you’ll see us using that term more than AIO.

But let’s talk a little bit about when organizations engage with us for SEO and GEO. What are their goals? 

Kristin: So the three that I think make the most sense when you talk about reputation management are appearing in the map pack or the local pack. And what that is, is, the map, the three different, the three top locations or providers that show up, that are actual locations and listings on Google and then or they’re looking to be recommended by or be the recommended businesses by Siri or by Alexa or anything else that is powered by some of those AI.

AI programs. And then you want to earn more traffic via AI overviews or being on the first page of Google and those, I overviews is going to be your GEO. And more traditionally the first page of search results as SEO. 

Jenny: Absolutely. And I think just to share an interesting trend, we’ve talked about this on prior episodes, but we’ve seen a lot of our clients really starting to lose some of those long tail keywords.

So if you think about the evolution of SEO, it used to be, for example, for an orthopedic group, we would be targeting, kind of higher up in the intent search funnel phrases. So for example, like sharp knee pain on outside of knee. So maybe if they’re like trying to diagnose themselves or learn more about something research research-oriented.

It used to be that for SEO, all of these local groups would be trying to rank for that. Now because of GEO. Usually it’s going to be like a Cleveland Clinic or an organization with really, really high authority. So a lot of our efforts have really shifted for our clients to be more around those action-oriented phrases of like, orthopedic doctor near me or open a patient, open appointments soon, those kind of action-oriented phrases to kind of round it out a little bit.

But let’s talk a little bit about how reviews and review generation strategies can impact all of this. Why does timing matter and what are some key considerations that people need to be thinking about as they’re creating a review generation, a solicitation program? 

Kristin: When you think about review generation, you want authentic reviews, you want detailed reviews, if possible.

The timeliness really matters more across your reputation strategy. And then that signaling to Google on the back end. So what I’m talking about is timing matters. So sending out a review request within a couple of days is going to increase both the rate at which your patients are actually responding. And putting up those reviews and then as well as increases, the signals to Google that you are a consistent, authoritative business and a trustworthy business, and you’re really doing business on a day-to-day basis.

As simple as that. 

Jenny: Yeah. And you nailed a good point there it is about consistency. So it’s not about generating 500 reviews in a month and then sitting dormant for a year. It’s about ongoing continuous improvement and additions of reviews. Let’s talk a little bit about tools and workflows. I know here at Hedy & Hopp we implement a lot of reviews, elicitation tools that our clients already have implemented, whether it be reputation, social climb, the list goes on and on.

For a lot of our clients, though, if they do not yet have one, rater8 is the tool that we have chosen to partner with that we roll out because there’s a lot of really nice integrations and whatnot. Can you talk a little bit in general about tools and workflows? 

Kristin: Yeah. So, there are two different kinds. We call them.

Either they are integrated with your EHR or they are not. So if a system is not integrated with your EHR, that is anything from we will make QR codes that connect to the Google listings and to write a review. And we’ll put that up as a standard. You can put that up in your office at your front desk.

And then, anything that’s not EHR integrated is also any sort of system where you are downloading a report of your patient appointments that showed up and you are sending out, say, weekly, monthly, bi-monthly text or email blast. So those are still effective. You will still get reviews, you will still be authentic and trustworthy. What happens with the EHR integrated is they are typically on a rolling basis.

So let’s say somebody had an appointment yesterday. You can set up a system like rater8 that is connected into your EMR, your system that says great, they have an appointment yesterday, I want this morning at 9 a.m. everyone who had an appointment that was completed yesterday pull them out, shoot them a text this morning at 9 a.m. So that since it’s already top of mind since they just came into your office or facility, then they are more likely to respond.

They’re more likely to have details. I’m definitely not remembering the doctor’s appointment that I went to a month ago, let alone a week ago even. 

Jenny: Totally agree. So on that note, right, we’re setting up a process to continuously ping, can get new reviews and get those added to our profiles online. What happens when you get a bad one or just responding in general?

Like, what are some general philosophies and principles that people should be thinking about as part of the overall process? 

Kristin: So, a common misconception with responding to reviews is that we only respond to four and five-star reviews. That is a big no-no. Just like how you’re yeah, you’re not only, well, just like, oh, in person, you wouldn’t just respond to only positive things I said to you.

This is real life. These are real people’s experiences, typically with your office or your providers. So you are wanting to respond in an approved way. So you want it to be HIPAA compliant. You are not mentioning any other further details about their conditions or treatments that they got during the appointment. So fairly generic. What you can do is you can use some of those SEO keywords that you are looking to come up for.

Oh, so glad you got a fast appointment with our orthopedic doctor. That’s a little more fancy, but in general, you should be responding. Within 48 hours is typically the best marker. And what again, that signifies to Google is this business is active in receiving reviews and seeing patients. This business is also active and holding authority in responding to reviews and patients.

So they are active with an input of a review. And they are, active with an output of responding to that review, as well as just being a trustworthy business of being human and responding. 

Jenny: Absolutely. And Google, and the generative engine platforms clearly see that engagement and responsiveness is a positive indicator for your organization, which helps with ranking.

Kristin: Yes. One fun fact is, I have seen more and more recently that AI overviews are starting to pull from listings and from reviews. So they so if you’re saying what a to an AI, system, like what do you know about my business? And you ask them for the sources they are starting to source review and listing sites.

Jenny: They are. It’s really fascinating. So how about taking it to the next step and actually bringing the reviews into your website? What thoughts do you have about that? I think that is also extremely important and it is another indicator to Google. So in days of old you wanted new content on your website. So whether that be a new blog with your main keywords put in, but also alongside that now are these fresh new reviews from real people so that really underlines the authoritative ness of your site, because you are getting essentially content from a bunch of different individuals from across the internet who are also using the internet, which indicates to Google that you are more and more relevant. 

So it’s all about your relevancy and then you want it can be fresh. It’s user-generated. So that is also something that is a different signal to SEO versus being something that’s authorized by somebody from your actual website. So typically we are putting that into a widget on the website, and then that’s pulled through our system so that you’re getting those reviews in real time.

Jenny: Absolutely. And I think it’s really important to understand how this plays a bigger part in your overall digital ecosystem, because as we’re thinking about generative engine optimization, a lot of folks, you know, have come to us with the assumption that, hey, it’s just, you know, some back end coding tweaks or just some content changes on your website itself.

So, this really is a broader ecosystem strategy to make sure that you’re really, showing up the way that you want to, you know, with the right language, messaging and positioning to be able to continue to push your marketing efforts forward. So, Kristen, if you had to summarize a good takeaway for people as they’re thinking about SEO, GEO, and how reputation all really pulls into it, what would you share with our listeners?

Kristin: I think of reputation management for SEO, GEO or AIO however you want to call that as, free PR so these are real people that are waving their hand and saying, I went to this facility, I loved it, I read it 4 or 5 stars, and it’s basically our version of today’s day and age of word, of mouth advertising.

And not only is that going to help you, your listing alongside your website, your click through rate, your conversions. Really, at the end of the day, Google and really any of these search engines or even any of the AI overviews, all they are wanting to show is the most relevant, reputable search results and information and websites and listings, and they deliver the best experience to their users.

Jenny: Absolutely. Well, listeners, if you have specific questions for us, if you or if you want to chat about your own brand and how you can bring your organization in front of patients more easily, give us a call. We’d love to chat with you. We can chat about reputation management services, SEO, and GEO in addition to all of the other components of your marketing ecosystem.

And thanks listeners for tuning in. We have received a lot of really great content requests from our listeners. So if you have a topic you would like for us to cover in an upcoming episode, shoot us a note. You can reach me directly at jenny@hedyandhopp.com We would love to cover a topic that answers a burning question perhaps you and your team are trying to determine, and with that, please share and like this episode.

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