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Americans are using AI chatbots and other AI tools to get health information, often to prepare for or follow up on a doctor visit. But the available U.S. surveys do not measure ChatGPT use alone, and reported helpfulness does not establish medical accuracy or safety.
How many Americans use AI for health advice?
Two recent national surveys show substantial use, but they ask different questions and should not be treated as competing estimates of the same behavior.
| Survey | What it measured | Result | Field dates and sample |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare in America / Gallup | Used an AI tool or chatbot for health information or advice | 25% of U.S. adults | Oct. 27–Dec. 22, 2025; nationally representative survey of more than 5,500 U.S. adults |
| Pew Research Center | Had ever used an AI chatbot for at least one of eight specified health or medical reasons | 34% of U.S. adults | June 22–28, 2026; survey of 3,488 U.S. adults |
The difference is meaningful: Gallup asked about AI tools or chatbots and included questions about recent use, while Pew measured whether respondents had ever used a chatbot for a listed purpose. Neither figure is a direct estimate of Americans who use ChatGPT specifically.
What do people ask chatbots about?
Pew respondents who had used chatbots for health reasons most commonly cited getting information quickly and figuring out symptoms. Other reasons included learning about treatments, making sense of medical information, and deciding whether to seek care.
#1 Best Overall
| Reason for use | Share of U.S. adults in Pew’s survey |
|---|---|
| Getting health information quickly | 28% |
| Figuring out what was causing symptoms | 25% |
| Getting low-cost or free health information | 22% |
| Learning about treatment information | 22% |
| Learning more about a doctor’s diagnosis | 22% |
| Understanding lab results | 20% |
| Getting information about something they were uncomfortable discussing | 18% |
| Deciding whether to see a doctor | 15% |
These are reasons respondents selected in Pew’s survey, not scripted prompts. In everyday terms, the questions might sound like: “What’s causing these symptoms?”, “Can you explain my lab results?”, “What does this diagnosis mean?”, “What are the treatment options?” or “Should I see a doctor?”
Gallup’s survey also found that among recent AI health-information users, 61% reported using general conversational AI systems such as ChatGPT or Copilot, while 55% used AI summaries embedded in web searches. Their commonly reported topics included nutrition or exercise (59%), physical symptoms (58%), medication side effects (46%), interpreting medical information (44%), and researching a diagnosis or condition (38%). These percentages describe recent users in Gallup’s survey, not all U.S. adults.
Rank #2
Are people using AI instead of seeing a doctor?
Often, people use AI around a clinician visit rather than as a complete substitute. In Gallup’s survey, 59% of recent AI health-information users said they used AI to research before seeing a doctor, and 56% said they used it after a doctor visit.
At the same time, 14% of those recent users said AI information had led them to skip a provider visit in the previous 30 days. Gallup projected that self-reported share to an estimated 14 million U.S. adults. The survey does not establish whether those visits were necessary, whether the AI information was correct, or whether skipping care caused harm.
Do users find chatbot health information trustworthy?
Many respondents said chatbot information was useful, but few expressed strong trust in its accuracy. Among Pew respondents who had used chatbots for health information, 47% said the information was extremely or very helpful, 48% said somewhat helpful, and 5% said it was not too or not at all helpful. Those are perceptions, not a clinical assessment.
In Gallup’s survey, just 4% of recent AI health-information users said they strongly trusted its accuracy. Helpfulness and trust are different judgments: an answer can be easy to understand or useful for preparing questions without being accurate enough to guide a diagnosis or treatment decision.
Rank #4
What does this mean for ChatGPT Health?
OpenAI describes ChatGPT Health as a feature intended to support, not replace, medical care; it is not intended for diagnosis or treatment. The company says the feature is meant for everyday health support and preparation. Its Help Center also advises: “For urgent symptoms or emergencies, seek immediate professional help.”
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OpenAI’s product-specific privacy statement says connected medical records and Apple Health information, as well as conversations that use that connected data, are not used to train foundation models or target ads. This is a statement about data connected in ChatGPT Health, not a general promise covering every ChatGPT conversation or other chatbot. Ordinary ChatGPT conversations that do not use Health-connected data follow standard account training-setting choices.
OpenAI says users can disconnect data sources. Synced source data is deleted within 30 days, according to the company, but information already in conversation history remains until those conversations are deleted. Pew’s findings also suggest people have mixed comfort with sharing health details: 29% of chatbot health users were very or extremely comfortable, 42% somewhat comfortable, and 26% not too or not at all comfortable.
As described in OpenAI’s Help Center in September 2026, ChatGPT Health was available to eligible logged-in U.S. users aged 18 or older on Free, Go, Plus, and Pro plans, on web and iOS, with gradual rollout. Connecting Apple Health requires an iPhone. Availability and integrations can change, so consult OpenAI’s current Health in ChatGPT help page for current details.
Quick Recap
How to use AI health information more safely
- Use it to prepare, not to decide whether urgent care can wait. For urgent symptoms or emergencies, seek immediate professional help.
- Ask for clarification, not a diagnosis. Use a chatbot to explain unfamiliar terms or help organize questions for a clinician.
- Verify consequential information. Check medication, treatment, and test-result questions with a qualified health professional or an authoritative health source.
- Protect sensitive details. Review the privacy terms for the specific product and feature you use, especially before connecting records or sharing identifying information.
- Do not read survey popularity as proof of safety. These surveys report what people do and how they feel about the answers; they do not test clinical accuracy or outcomes.
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