Most conversations about AI in veterinary medicine focus on internal practice efficiency—record-keeping, scribing, streamlined client communication, and automating admin tasks. Useful? Absolutely. But these areas aren’t where the most important change is happening. In fact, the same shift is already unfolding in human healthcare: a recent New York Times article described how patients are using AI chatbots for medical advice before they even see a doctor. Long before a pet owner steps through your door, AI is influencing which clinics they consider, how they evaluate them, and what they do next—and our team is seeing that change playing out in real time.
Because Digital Empathy manages websites, analytics, and call tracking for hundreds of independent veterinary practices, we can see something most of the industry has missed: AI is quietly influencing which clinics pet owners look at, how they evaluate them, and what they do next.
We took a look at visitor data across all of our Digital Empathy practice websites from January to September of 2025. We found that AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity sent more than 4,600 visits to DE-built veterinary websites. ChatGPT alone accounted for over 3,800 of those sessions. But what was very interesting was that these visitors stayed longer, explored more pages, and showed an average engagement rate of 71%—significantly higher than typical website behavior.
Of course, AI-referred traffic is still a drop in the bucket compared to overall website visits. But the signal is in the growth. From January to September, AI-referred visits increased more than tenfold. When a new behavior steadily climbs for nine consecutive months, it’s no longer an experiment, but the beginning of a shift.
What AI-referred Pet Owners Sound Like When They Call
Call IQ data lets us connect AI-driven website behavior to what happens on the phone. Across roughly 67,000 calls we analyzed this year, only 65 were clearly tagged as coming from ChatGPT or SearchGPT. That’s a very small number (too small for broad statistically significant claims) but the behavior inside those calls is remarkably consistent. Here’s what we found:
AI-referred callers talk differently. They stay on the phone longer. They describe symptoms more often. They sound unsure, emotional, and already halfway into a decision. Many open the call by referencing a symptom they looked up or asking whether the situation is an emergency.
Real examples from these calls include:
“I’m trying to figure out whether I should bring him in.”
“He’s been vomiting with mucus.”
“My cat is peeing blood.”
“Should I bring her now or wait?”
Anecdotally, several veterinarians we work with have also noticed the same trend in their exam rooms. They’ve said clients who reference ChatGPT tend to be more informed, more engaged, and more receptive to diagnostics, not because they spend more, but because they’re easier to help. ChatGPT has already convinced them that their pet’s situation is worth evaluating, so the veterinarian becomes the confirmation step rather than the first push.
Even with a small sample size, this pattern repeats month after month. And when behavior is consistent across dozens of calls, it deserves strategic consideration.
Key data point: AI callers mention symptoms or urgent concerns at twice the rate of non-AI callers.
Key takeaway: These callers aren’t shopping — they’re seeking direction. They arrive activated, informed, and ready to act.
Why This Stands Out Against Normal Call Patterns
When we step back and look at call behavior across the entire year, we see consistent themes. Across 38,000+ calls with usable caller speech, about 44–48% of all calls involve symptoms or urgent concerns. About 41–43% involve scheduling and availability. The rest cluster around price questions, wellness care, records, refills, and surgery planning.
In other words, even without AI, veterinary phone demand is already highly emotional. Half of all callers are unsure, worried, or trying to understand whether what they’re seeing is serious.
But AI callers still stand out. They spend more time on the phone. They are twice as likely to mention symptoms compared to non-AI callers. They push harder for same-day care. They ask more “Should I come now?” questions. And they sound more prepared for the idea of diagnostics because an AI tool has already suggested it.
This difference matters. As AI continues to become the primary way consumers get information online, the clinics that adapt early will have a meaningful advantage. They’ll show up more often in AI suggestions. Their websites will answer the kinds of questions AI tools prioritize. Their teams will be ready for the emotional tone of these calls. And they’ll convert these high-intent callers before competitors even realize this behavior exists.
Key data point: 44–48% of all vet calls involve symptoms, yet AI callers still show a noticeably stronger sense of urgency.
Key takeaway: Even within an already emotional environment, AI callers cluster at the high-intent end of the spectrum. They are, in many ways, the “ideal clients” most practices wish they had more of: informed, motivated, and open to recommendations.
What Practices Can Do Now
Preparing for this shift doesn’t require an overhaul of your workflows, but rather a few intentional adjustments that make your practice easier to find, easier to understand, and easier to trust in a moment of uncertainty.
1. Make it easy for anxious pet owners to understand what your clinic offers.
Clear hours, clear rules around walk-ins versus appointments, and simple “what to do if you’re worried” language help both humans and AI tools. We can help rewrite or refine this as a one-time project, or through our monthly blogging service, which keeps your site stocked with practice-specific, high-quality content that aligns with how AI tools evaluate pages.
2. Strengthen content that helps pet owners decide if something is serious.
Pages about vomiting, coughing, limping, eye injuries, toxin ingestion, breathing changes, and other common concerns support two audiences at once: nervous pet owners and the AI models recommending your clinic. Explain what diagnostics you offer and why they’re important (while also clarifying that diagnostics aren’t treatment!) If you’re missing this content, we can write it for you.
3. Understand what’s happening on your phones.
Our Call IQ product gives you visibility into call patterns, team performance, and caller behavior, including the early signs of AI-influenced calls. If you use another phone system, we can help you identify which reports or trends to look for.
4. Know your customer data and make it part of regular decision-making.
Whether it’s website traffic, AI-referred visits, page views, or call trends, your practice should have real visibility into what’s happening online and on the phones. At DE, we give customers dashboards they can access anytime and review data with them regularly. If you work with another provider, ask for these metrics directly; you deserve to understand what’s driving your demand.
5. Ask clients whether they’ve used ChatGPT.
This doesn’t need to be formal. A simple, “Have you looked anything up about this?” can reveal how many of your clients are using AI tools. It’s also a positive signal because it means they’re invested in understanding what’s going on and open to your medical reasoning. Knowing how common this is in your community helps you prepare for the conversations ahead.
Small steps now will give your clinic a meaningful advantage as AI becomes the default way people ask questions online. This shift is still quiet, but it won’t stay quiet for long. We strongly believe that the practices who adjust early will own the space as it grows, resulting in stronger client relationships, more revenue, and a healthier business.
If you want help interpreting the data, improving your website, or understanding how AI fits into your client journey, we’d love to talk with you.
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