The data: Clinicians are frequently using AI tools at work, ranging from chatbots like ChatGPT to healthcare-specific AI platforms like OpenEvidence, according to a March 2026 survey of 1,165 physicians across 15 specialties in the US, UK, Canada, China, Germany, France, and Italy.

• High adoption: 92% of surveyed physicians use generative AI (like ChatGPT or healthcare-specific tools) in their clinical practice.
• High use across the board: High adoption is consistent across the medical field—no single specialty dropped below an 85% usage rate.
• Growth ahead: 85% of physicians expect their use of AI tools to increase over the next year.
• Which tools they’re using: ChatGPT (83%, which could include both the public models and newer clinician-focused versions); Gemini (50%); OpenEvidence (36%) and Wolters Kluwer’s UpToDate with AI search (32%).

Physicians are primarily relying on AI tools to:

• Review clinical guidelines
• Summarize clinical trial data
• Compare drugs within the same category
• Obtain real-time treatment guidance
• Find answers for specific, complex patient cases

Why it matters: Clinicians don't just use AI; they trust it to guide their decision-making. 80% of clinicians are satisfied with the AI-generated answers they receive to medical queries—and a significant share say AI influences their clinical decision-making either significantly (12%) or to some degree (61%). For pharma brands, that means: If your drug information isn’t current, accurate, and highly visible across AI platforms, you risk being excluded from many clinician-led medical searches

Implications for pharma brands and marketers: There isn’t a single path for pharma companies to reach physicians through AI. Some clinical platforms like OpenEvidence and Doximity accept targeted pharma ads, while others like UpToDate do not. Meanwhile, consumer giants like ChatGPT and Gemini are exploring ad models, but it’s unlikely they will permit direct prescription drug content anytime soon.

Pharma marketers must adopt a dual strategy: optimize brand websites for AI discovery, and secure visibility across the medical databases powering clinical AI.

• Generative engine optimization (GEO): Publish MLR-approved drug information on your brand websites structured to directly answer physicians’ most common clinical queries. This will ensure general-purpose AI tools like ChatGPT can easily find and digest your data.
• Win in walled-garden medical ecosystems: Audit which clinical AI platforms your target physicians use, and ensure visibility across the content sources that feed them, including medical journals, clinical trial registries, and professional society publications.

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