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RESEARCH

The Podcast Citation Effect: Healthcare

STAT: 56/288 returned four-engine answers (19.4%; 95% interval 15.3–24.4%). Three or more leading intervals overlap; no sole leader is established.

288

AI answers analyzed across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity

19.4%

of answers named STAT, the most-named (56 of 288)

10

tracked sources named at least once (of 18)

100%

of Google searches showed an AI Overview (70 of 70)

Version 2. This version replaces the first version of this study, first published July 2, 2026. It uses measured counts, so the two versions are not comparable. Version 2 asks 24 questions three times each on ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity (288 answers) and adds Google AI Overviews. Every rate comes with its count and a 95% interval.

What the data shows

01

STAT

STAT: 56/288 returned four-engine answers (19.4%; 95% interval 15.3–24.4%). Three or more leading intervals overlap; no sole leader is established.
02

33/288 (11.5%)

NEJM This Week was the first source named in 33 of 288 answers, more than any other tracked source. Its average first position was 1.4. STAT was named first in 19 of 288.
03

20/288 (6.9%)

BioPharma Dive's own domains were cited in 20 of 288 grounded answers, more than any other tracked source. FiercePharma followed at 10 of 288. 11 of 18 tracked sources had 0 of 288.
04

70/70 (100%)

Google AI Overviews appeared on 70 of 70 searches (CI 94.8–100%).
05

12/70 (17.1%)

FiercePharma was the source named most often in AI Overviews, at 12 of 70, followed by STAT at 11 of 70 (15.7%). In the four-engine set, FiercePharma was named in 42 of 288 answers (14.6%).
06

49/288 (17%)

podcasts.apple.com received the most citation links, 144 of 2,436 (5.9%), across 49 of 288 grounded answers (17.0%). millionpodcasts.com appeared in the most answers, 57 of 288 (19.8%).
07

0/12 (0.0%)

For 'What are the leading biotech companies to watch?', none of the tracked sources was named in any of 12 four-engine answers.

Appearance rate across 288 four-engine answers. The bar is the 95% confidence interval; overlapping bars cannot be told apart at this sample size.

Which sources AI engines name

STAT
19.4%
FiercePharma
14.6%
NEJM This Week
12.8%
The Long Run
10.8%
Endpoints News
9.7%
The Readout Loud
9.4%
BioPharma Dive
8.3%
JAMA Network Podcast
8.3%
Bio Eats World
4.5%
The Peter Attia Drive
2.4%
#NameNamed inAppearance rate95% interval
1STAT56/28819.4%15.3–24.4%
2FiercePharma42/28814.6%11.0–19.1%
3NEJM This Week37/28812.8%9.5–17.2%
4The Long Run31/28810.8%7.7–14.9%
5Endpoints News28/2889.7%6.8–13.7%
6The Readout Loud27/2889.4%6.5–13.3%
7BioPharma Dive24/2888.3%5.7–12.1%
8JAMA Network Podcast24/2888.3%5.7–12.1%
9Bio Eats World13/2884.5%2.7–7.6%
10The Peter Attia Drive7/2882.4%1.2–4.9%

The full list

Own-domain citation is the share of 288 grounded answers that cited the tracked name's own domains (subdomains included). Citation share is of all 2,436 citations.

#BrandNamed inAppearance rate95% intervalFirst mentionOwn-domain citationCitation share
1STAT56/28819.4%15.3–24.4%23.1% (9/288)0.4%
2FiercePharma42/28814.6%11–19.1%2.83.5% (10/288)0.4%
3NEJM This Week37/28812.8%9.5–17.2%1.41.7% (5/288)0.2%
4The Long Run31/28810.8%7.7–14.9%2.30.7% (2/288)0.1%
5Endpoints News28/2889.7%6.8–13.7%1.92.4% (7/288)0.3%
6The Readout Loud27/2889.4%6.5–13.3%1.30% (0/288)0%
7BioPharma Dive24/2888.3%5.7–12.1%3.26.9% (20/288)0.9%
8JAMA Network Podcast24/2888.3%5.7–12.1%1.80% (0/288)0%
9Bio Eats World13/2884.5%2.7–7.6%2.50.3% (1/288)0%
10The Peter Attia Drive7/2882.4%1.2–4.9%4.60% (0/288)0%
11Decoder0/2880%0–1.3%–0% (0/288)0%
12First Opinion Podcast0/2880%0–1.3%–0% (0/288)0%
13HBR IdeaCast0/2880%0–1.3%–0% (0/288)0%
14Lex Fridman Podcast0/2880%0–1.3%–0% (0/288)0%
15MedCity News0/2880%0–1.3%–0% (0/288)0%
16Mendelspod0/2880%0–1.3%–0% (0/288)0%
17Raise the Line0/2880%0–1.3%–0% (0/288)0%
18The Tim Ferriss Show0/2880%0–1.3%–0% (0/288)0%

Question group: Podcasts and news

144 returned four-engine answers to this group's 12 questions. No pooled group leader is asserted.

#NameNamed answersRate95% intervalNamed first
1STAT56/14438.9%31.3–47.0%19
2FiercePharma39/14427.1%20.5–34.9%3
3NEJM This Week37/14425.7%19.3–33.4%33
4The Long Run31/14421.5%15.6–28.9%13
5Endpoints News28/14419.4%13.8–26.7%7
6The Readout Loud27/14418.8%13.2–25.9%20
7BioPharma Dive24/14416.7%11.5–23.6%4
8JAMA Network Podcast24/14416.7%11.5–23.6%4
9Bio Eats World13/1449.0%5.4–14.8%6
10The Peter Attia Drive7/1444.9%2.4–9.7%0
11Decoder0/1440.0%0.0–2.6%0
12First Opinion Podcast0/1440.0%0.0–2.6%0
13HBR IdeaCast0/1440.0%0.0–2.6%0
14Lex Fridman Podcast0/1440.0%0.0–2.6%0
15MedCity News0/1440.0%0.0–2.6%0
16Mendelspod0/1440.0%0.0–2.6%0
17Raise the Line0/1440.0%0.0–2.6%0
18The Tim Ferriss Show0/1440.0%0.0–2.6%0

Question group: Industry questions

144 returned four-engine answers to this group's 12 questions. No pooled group leader is asserted.

#NameNamed answersRate95% intervalNamed first
1FiercePharma3/1442.1%0.7–5.9%3
2Bio Eats World0/1440.0%0.0–2.6%0
3BioPharma Dive0/1440.0%0.0–2.6%0
4Decoder0/1440.0%0.0–2.6%0
5Endpoints News0/1440.0%0.0–2.6%0
6First Opinion Podcast0/1440.0%0.0–2.6%0
7HBR IdeaCast0/1440.0%0.0–2.6%0
8JAMA Network Podcast0/1440.0%0.0–2.6%0
9Lex Fridman Podcast0/1440.0%0.0–2.6%0
10MedCity News0/1440.0%0.0–2.6%0
11Mendelspod0/1440.0%0.0–2.6%0
12NEJM This Week0/1440.0%0.0–2.6%0
13Raise the Line0/1440.0%0.0–2.6%0
14STAT0/1440.0%0.0–2.6%0
15The Long Run0/1440.0%0.0–2.6%0
16The Peter Attia Drive0/1440.0%0.0–2.6%0
17The Readout Loud0/1440.0%0.0–2.6%0
18The Tim Ferriss Show0/1440.0%0.0–2.6%0

The top eight, side by side

#NameAppearance rateAnswers and intervalOther measures
1STAT19.4%56/288 answers · 95% CI 15.3–24.4%first-mention position: 2; owned-domain citation (9/288): 3.1%; citation share: 0.4%
2FiercePharma14.6%42/288 answers · 95% CI 11–19.1%first-mention position: 2.8; owned-domain citation (10/288): 3.5%; citation share: 0.4%
3NEJM This Week12.8%37/288 answers · 95% CI 9.5–17.2%first-mention position: 1.4; owned-domain citation (5/288): 1.7%; citation share: 0.2%
4The Long Run10.8%31/288 answers · 95% CI 7.7–14.9%first-mention position: 2.3; owned-domain citation (2/288): 0.7%; citation share: 0.1%
5Endpoints News9.7%28/288 answers · 95% CI 6.8–13.7%first-mention position: 1.9; owned-domain citation (7/288): 2.4%; citation share: 0.3%
6The Readout Loud9.4%27/288 answers · 95% CI 6.5–13.3%first-mention position: 1.3; owned-domain citation (0/288): 0%; citation share: 0%
7BioPharma Dive8.3%24/288 answers · 95% CI 5.7–12.1%first-mention position: 3.2; owned-domain citation (20/288): 6.9%; citation share: 0.9%
8JAMA Network Podcast8.3%24/288 answers · 95% CI 5.7–12.1%first-mention position: 1.8; owned-domain citation (0/288): 0%; citation share: 0%

The four engines named the leading names at similar rates.

ChatGPT

72 asked · 72 returned · 72 grounded

Same questions, different answers

STAT
16.7%
FiercePharma
16.7%
NEJM This Week
13.9%
Endpoints News
13.9%
BioPharma Dive
8.3%
The Long Run
6.9%

Claude

72 asked · 72 returned · 72 grounded

STAT
18.1%
NEJM This Week
16.7%
The Long Run
12.5%
The Readout Loud
9.7%
FiercePharma
8.3%
Endpoints News
8.3%

Gemini

72 asked · 72 returned · 72 grounded

STAT
26.4%
FiercePharma
20.8%
The Long Run
15.3%
The Readout Loud
13.9%
JAMA Network Podcast
11.1%
NEJM This Week
8.3%

Perplexity

72 asked · 72 returned · 72 grounded

STAT
16.7%
FiercePharma
12.5%
NEJM This Week
12.5%
The Long Run
8.3%
Endpoints News
8.3%
The Readout Loud
8.3%

Google AI Overviews were captured through 70 U.S. desktop searches and scored only where an overview appeared, so five-engine figures use 288 + 70 = 358 answers.

The fifth engine

100%

Trigger rate: 70 of 70 searches

Google AI Overviews appeared on 70 of 70 searches (100%, CI 94.8–100%). The other 0 searches showed no overview. Within the 70 overviews, FiercePharma was named in 12 (17.1%), STAT was named in 11 (15.7%), NEJM This Week was named in 6 (8.6%), Endpoints News was named in 6 (8.6%). reddit.com was the most-cited source, with 17 citations and an appearance in 15 of 70 overviews.

Five-engine rankNameFive-engine rateFour-engine rank
1STAT18.7%1
2FiercePharma15.1%2
3NEJM This Week12.0%3
4The Long Run10.1%4
5Endpoints News9.5%5
6The Readout Loud8.9%6
7BioPharma Dive8.4%7
8JAMA Network Podcast8.1%8
9Bio Eats World3.6%9
10The Peter Attia Drive2.2%10

Who each question surfaces first

Six questions from the set. Each tile uses that question's own four-engine answers as the denominator.

QuestionLeaderNextAI Overview
Q01 · 12 answersThe Long Run 83.3%The Readout Loud 75.0%; STAT 75.0%AI Overview shown on 3 of 3 searches
Q02 · 12 answersSTAT 83.3%The Long Run 66.7%; The Readout Loud 58.3%AI Overview shown on 2 of 2 searches
Q03 · 12 answersSTAT 100.0%Endpoints News 100.0%; BioPharma Dive 100.0%AI Overview shown on 3 of 3 searches
Q04 · 12 answersNEJM This Week 75.0%JAMA Network Podcast 75.0%; The Peter Attia Drive 16.7%AI Overview shown on 3 of 3 searches
Q09 · 12 answersThe Long Run 91.7%The Readout Loud 25.0%; STAT 25.0%AI Overview shown on 3 of 3 searches
Q10 · 12 answersSTAT 58.3%FiercePharma 58.3%; The Readout Loud 41.7%AI Overview shown on 3 of 3 searches

The four engines produced 2,436 citations in total. podcasts.apple.com was cited most often, with 144 citations (5.9%) across 49 answers. Next came millionpodcasts.com (112), podcast.feedspot.com (102), en.wikipedia.org (56), grandviewresearch.com (34), wewillcure.com (30).

Four AI engines · share of 288 grounded answers

Most-cited domains

millionpodcasts.com
19.8%
podcasts.apple.com
17.0%
podcast.feedspot.com
15.3%
en.wikipedia.org
14.6%
wewillcure.com
10.4%
grandviewresearch.com
10.1%
labiotech.eu
10.1%
marketsandmarkets.com
9.0%
apple.com
9.0%
reddit.com
8.0%

Google AI Overviews · share of 70 overviews

reddit.com
21.4%
youtube.com
17.1%
podcasts.apple.com
10.0%
open.spotify.com
7.1%
guides.himmelfarb.gwu.edu
5.7%
wewillcure.com
5.7%
linkedin.com
4.3%
drugdiscoverytrends.com
4.3%
fda.gov
4.3%
healthie-backup.webflow.io
4.3%

Citation share by source type

Share of all citations by the type of site cited.

Source typeFour AI engines (of 2,436 citations)Google AI Overviews (of 165 citations)
Other / unclassified981 (40.3%)58 (35.2%)
Company / brand sites411 (16.9%)30 (18.2%)
Directories / rankings300 (12.3%)2 (1.2%)
Research / data providers230 (9.4%)5 (3%)
Trade / specialist press129 (5.3%)7 (4.2%)
General news / business press84 (3.4%)4 (2.4%)
Community / social82 (3.4%)42 (25.5%)
Reference58 (2.4%)1 (0.6%)
Review / comparison publishers52 (2.1%)0 (0%)
Institutions / trade bodies50 (2.1%)10 (6.1%)
Official / government46 (1.9%)6 (3.6%)
Health publishers13 (0.5%)0 (0%)

How can podcasts and outlets improve their AI visibility?

These steps follow from the measured results above. They describe what the engines cited in this study and are not a guarantee of results.

StepWhat this study measured
Put your facts on your own domain.BioPharma Dive's own domains were cited in 6.9% of grounded answers, FiercePharma's in 3.5% and STAT's in 3.1%.
Keep your facts accurate on the sites engines cite.The most-cited sites other than the tracked names' own were millionpodcasts.com (in 19.8% of grounded answers), podcasts.apple.com (17.0%), podcast.feedspot.com (15.3%), en.wikipedia.org (14.6%) and wewillcure.com (10.4%). Directories and rankings supplied 12.3% of citations and research and data providers 9.4%.
Check each engine separately.Gemini named FiercePharma in 20.8% of answers against 8.3% on Claude. Gemini named STAT in 26.4% of answers against 16.7% on ChatGPT.
Watch names outside the tracked list.BioSpace (20 answers), Business of Biotech (19 answers), The Lancet (15 answers) and The Bio Report (14 answers) were named often but were not tracked.
Re-run the same questions every month.Compare counts and intervals, not ranks. The 24 questions are in the appendix.

What AI answers

Which health podcasts and outlets appear in these AI answers?

STAT: 56/288 returned four-engine answers (19.4%; 95% interval 15.3–24.4%). Three or more leading intervals overlap; no sole leader is established.

Which tracked name is named first most often?

NEJM This Week was the first source named in 33 of 288 answers, with an average first position of 1.4.

How often do Google AI Overviews appear for these questions?

An overview appeared on 70 of 70 searches (100%, CI 94.8–100%). Within those 70 overviews, FiercePharma was named most often, in 12 (17.1%).

Which sources do the engines cite?

Across 2,436 four-engine citations, podcasts.apple.com was cited most (144 citations, in 49 of 288 grounded answers), followed by millionpodcasts.com (112 citations).

Do the four engines agree?

Largely. No tracked name differed by more than 12 points between engines.

How this study was measured

24 questions × 3 runs each × 4 AI engines = 288 answers + 70 Google searches · 70 AI Overviews

24 questions asked three times on each of ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity, measured November 6 to 7, 2026. United States, English; Google retrieval uses desktop results. Models: gpt-5-mini, claude-sonnet-5-5, gemini-3.6-flash only, sonar-pro. Google AI Overviews come from DataForSEO, not inferred chat answers. Appearance counts returned text, including ungrounded answers; citation rates use grounded answers. Longer overlapping names suppress shorter ones; First mention is the earliest eligible name order. Own-domain rates include declared domains and subdomains; shared parent scopes may count for multiple names and cannot be summed as unique citations.

EngineModel IDs calledAskedReturnedGrounded
ChatGPTgpt-5-mini727272
Claudeclaude-sonnet-5-5727272
Geminigemini-3.6-flash727272
Perplexitysonar-pro727272
Google AI OverviewsDataForSEO Google SERP (live, advanced)7070 shown70

Own-domain citations count a domain plus all its subdomains, with the same rule in every table.

Definitions

  • Appearance rate: answers naming the tracked name ÷ answers returned, with Wilson 95% intervals.
  • First mention: average order in which the tracked name first appears (1 = first).
  • Own-domain citation: grounded answers citing the tracked name's domains ÷ grounded answers.
  • Citation share: citations to the tracked name's domains ÷ all citations.

Limits

  • Only 18 tracked sources are ranked; results are not an exhaustive market ranking.
  • Only the tracked sources were scored. The untracked sources named most often were BioSpace (20 answers), Business of Biotech (19 answers), The Lancet (15 answers) and The Bio Report (14 answers); drug and device companies were not counted.
  • 358 of 360 planned results were returned: 2 of 72 AI Overview lookups were excluded after three attempts because Google search retrieval failed or returned incomplete results. They are not counted as no-overview results.
  • 70 successful Google searches: 70 overviews shown; 0 without an overview. Failures are excluded, not scored as zero.
  • All returned chat answers had search sources.
  • No Core question names a tracked name.
  • Source types use Company / brand sites only for verified official sites; other unresolved sites are Other / unclassified.
  • Wilson 95% intervals are descriptive; overlapping leading intervals do not establish a sole leader. Measurements do not endorse medical, legal, financial or product claims.
  • STAT shows (First Opinion Podcast, The Readout Loud) are path-scoped on statnews.com; STAT keeps its other pages. Decoder, The Tim Ferriss Show and Lex Fridman Podcast also appear in other segments and are counted separately in each report. The index counts how often names appear and makes no medical or safety claim.
  • Google Shopping and unresolved google.com/goto links are excluded from cited sources; original URLs remain in the evidence.
  • Appearance rates use all returned four-engine answers; own-site citation rates use grounded answers, so the two are separate measures.
  • Answers were collected through each engine's API using the model IDs listed in the methodology. The consumer ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity apps can answer differently.

Appendix: The 24 questions

Questions marked "Core question" are the original study questions, asked word for word. The others are added neutral questions.

#QuestionGroupSource
01What are the best healthcare and biotech podcasts?Podcasts and newsCore question
02Which podcasts cover biotech drug development in depth?Podcasts and newsCore question
03What are the best sources for biotech and pharma news?Podcasts and newsCore question
04What are the best podcasts for physicians?Podcasts and newsCore question
05What are the leading biotech companies to watch?Industry questionsCore question
06Which digital health companies are leading in virtual care?Industry questionsCore question
07What are the leading companies in cancer diagnostics and liquid biopsy?Industry questionsCore question
08Which medical device companies lead in surgical robotics?Industry questionsCore question
09Which podcasts interview biotech CEOs?Podcasts and newsAdded question
10Which podcasts cover FDA approvals and drug pricing?Podcasts and newsAdded question
11Which newsletters cover the biotech industry?Podcasts and newsAdded question
12Which podcasts cover healthcare policy?Podcasts and newsAdded question
13Which podcasts cover digital health and health tech?Podcasts and newsAdded question
14Which medical journals publish podcasts?Podcasts and newsAdded question
15Which podcasts cover hospital and health system management?Podcasts and newsAdded question
16Which podcasts discuss new medical research?Podcasts and newsAdded question
17Which pharmaceutical companies have the largest drug pipelines?Industry questionsAdded question
18Which biotech companies are leading in gene editing?Industry questionsAdded question
19Which companies lead in GLP-1 obesity drugs?Industry questionsAdded question
20Which companies are leading in AI drug discovery?Industry questionsAdded question
21Which health insurers are the largest in the US?Industry questionsAdded question
22Which companies make continuous glucose monitors?Industry questionsAdded question
23What are the most important biotech industry conferences?Industry questionsAdded question
24Which companies lead in cell and gene therapy?Industry questionsAdded question

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