The data: Twenty-one percent of caregivers use AI several times a week or daily to look up health information compared with 12% of patients, according to CMI Media Vitals research discussed at CMI Media Group and Compas’ Agility 2026 event that we attended last week. Among caregivers who use AI for health, the most common uses are researching symptoms (48%) and side effect information (46%). Caregivers are also more likely to trust the health information AI provides: 57% of those who have used it rate it as trustworthy or very trustworthy compared with 41% of patients, per CMI.

Why it matters: Caregivers are a growing healthcare audience and active, trusting users of AI health information. Sixty-three million US adults, or about 1 in 4 are now caregivers for adults (59 million) or children under 18 with an illness or disability (4 million. That’s a 45% increase since 2015, according to a July 2025 AARP and National Alliance for Caregiving report.

One case study published in JMIR in February is an example of how caregivers may use AI. One family used ChatGPT to interpret test results, understand potential diagnoses and treatments, identify specialists, and prepare questions for surgical consultation.

Implications for healthcare and pharma marketers: While most direct-to-consumer healthcare and pharma marketing is built around patients, caregivers have their own information needs. CMI Media Group CEO Susan Dorfman noted that caregivers are often forgotten in marketers’ stories, messaging, and even targeting.

Marketers can reach this audience with information that’s related to managing someone else’s care, from understanding symptoms and side effects to comparing treatments and coordinating next steps. Marketers can organize medically useful content around those questions, using clear language, direct answers, and easily identifiable sources that AI tools can find and surface.

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