Successful digital marketing by doctors in 2026 takes two forms: institutional content libraries that AI assistants cite when patients ask health questions, and physician creators who build their own audiences. This page lists 20 examples across institutions, creators, digital health companies, hospital systems, pharma brands and reputation firms. Scores come from EPR's Healthcare Citation Share Index 2026. This page describes marketing practice, not medical guidance.
Which institutions lead in AI citations?
Large academic medical centers lead because they publish deep patient-education libraries. In EPR's index, the top three healthcare brands are all hospital systems.
1. Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic's patient-facing content library covers a wide range of conditions, procedures and medications. In EPR's index it ranks first with a composite score of 9.4, the most-cited healthcare resource across the five engines tested. See the Mayo Clinic profile.
2. Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland Clinic is strongest in cardiology through its Health Library and heart-focused patient education. It ranks second in EPR's index with a composite score of 7.1. See the Cleveland Clinic profile.
3. Johns Hopkins
Johns Hopkins is strongest on clinical-research queries, where EPR attributes its position to the volume of its published research. It ranks third with a composite score of 6.8. See the Johns Hopkins profile.
4. Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente combines the kp.org content library, the My Health Manager patient portal and physician-author bylines into one integrated patient-facing content system. Kaiser is not in the top 25 of the Healthcare Citation Share Index, so this entry reflects its content design rather than a measured citation score.
5. WebMD
WebMD remains a major citation source for symptom-checker and over-the-counter medication queries. It ranks fourth in EPR's index with a score of 5.9, ahead of every pharma brand, even as Wikipedia and Mayo Clinic have taken share in consumer health search.
Which physician creators run their own audiences?
Physician creators apply creator-economy mechanics to clinical expertise. Five examples show different models.
6. Dr. Mike Varshavski
Doctor Mike runs one of the largest physician channels on YouTube, built on reaction videos, myth-busting and health policy commentary.
7. Dr. Sandra Lee (Dr. Pimple Popper)
Dr. Lee's dermatology practice in Upland, California became a media property through Instagram and a TLC television show, alongside a skincare line. The show, the product line and the practice promote one another.
8. Dr. Anthony Youn
Dr. Youn built an audience on TikTok and YouTube through accessible cosmetic-surgery education, which feeds his Michigan practice and a skincare line.
9. Dr. Armin Tehrany
Dr. Tehrany combines an orthopedic practice with publishing and digital presence. See EPR's profile of Dr. Armin Tehrany.
10. Dr. Howard Luks
Dr. Luks built a national orthopedic audience through long-form blog writing and LinkedIn commentary on osteoarthritis, longevity and sports medicine, which shows that long-form text can still build clinical authority.
Which digital health companies market through content?
Direct-to-consumer and chronic-condition companies use content as an acquisition channel. Four examples follow.
11. Hims & Hers
Hims & Hers is a direct-to-consumer telehealth company that markets through category content, search and paid acquisition. It ranks 23rd in EPR's index with a score of 1.2, which shows how far a heavy paid and search presence sits from the institutional leaders.
12. Ro
Ro runs a similar telehealth, pharmacy and content model with a focus on men's health categories. It ranks 25th in EPR's index with a score of 1.0.
13. Hello Heart and Omada
Hello Heart and Omada pair app-based condition management with content-led acquisition. Omada's own job listings describe member acquisition through content strategy across email, direct mail and digital channels. Hello Heart's listings describe SEO-focused content for employers, health plans and individual users.
14. Goodpath
Goodpath publishes long-form patient education on chronic conditions such as back pain, irritable bowel syndrome and insomnia. EPR has not measured its citation share, so treat this as an example of the content model, not a ranked result.
How do hospital systems market?
Hospital systems market through physician-finder search pages and shared content across affiliated institutions. None of the three below is in the top 25 of EPR's index, so these entries describe approach, not measured results.
15. NYU Langone
NYU Langone's individual physician profiles are built to rank for specialty-plus-city searches across New York, in EPR's reading.
16. NewYork-Presbyterian
NewYork-Presbyterian coordinates content across its affiliated Weill Cornell and Columbia medical schools into one patient-facing surface.
17. Memorial Sloan Kettering
Memorial Sloan Kettering combines patient-education content, clinical-trial information and physician publications in oncology. EPR's index names it among the oncology centers that outrank Cleveland Clinic on cancer queries.
How do pharma brands market?
18. Eli Lilly
Lilly's communications for Mounjaro and Zepbound, across paid, earned and owned channels, is a widely studied pharma playbook of the GLP-1 cycle. Lilly ranks seventh in EPR's index with a score of 4.1.
19. Novo Nordisk
Novo Nordisk ran a parallel playbook for Ozempic and Wegovy, and the Ozempic name entered everyday language in a way few diabetes medicines have. Novo ranks ninth in EPR's index with a score of 3.6.
What does online reputation management look like for practices?
20. Repugen
Repugen is a healthcare online-reputation-management firm for physician practices, covering review aggregation, patient satisfaction and AI visibility. It is a vendor example rather than a doctor's own marketing, included here because reviews are part of how practices are found. See EPR's Repugen profile.
What principle connects these examples?
The principle is that digital marketing in medicine now works as citation infrastructure: the practices and institutions that win are the ones AI assistants name when a patient asks a question. EPR's reading is that practices still running 2015-era social media playbooks are less likely to be named. That is EPR's observation, not a measured result. For the wider picture, see How AI Engines Choose Healthcare.
The decision for a private practice is to publish accurate, physician-authored pages on the conditions and procedures it treats, with named authors and review dates, before it invests in social media.
