AI has changed the game. How can you make the most of it?
My insights on using AI to support your holistic healthcare practice, while staying true to your unique human touch
Hello! I’m Nicky, the founder of Circe Health and Circe Studio. We bring modern business tools to holistic healthcare practitioners who are looking for sustainable success.
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We’re well and truly living in the age of AI. It’s brand new and moving faster than any human being can imagine, so if you’re feeling like you’re falling behind - we’re all in this together! AI will bring incredible innovation, and for you as a self-employed holistic practitioner or small business owner it offers such a great opportunity to get support with admin tasks, communications and operational help too.
When it comes to AI chatbots there’s ChatGPT, Claude, PiAI, Jasper. Personally I prefer Claude for writing and ChatGPT for brainstorming on business ideas. But these chatbots are just the tip of the iceberg, and I believe that understanding how AI works and embracing technology in general, will help you as practitioners to future-proof your practices and careers. But how do you make sense of it all, and make the most if it - with the little time you have?
Below you’ll find my recommendations to make the most of AI in its current form today, notes of warning when using AI as a healthcare professional, and my prediction on what the role of complementary healthcare will be in a healthcare system that is digitised and transformed by AI.
Don’t let AI take over your marketing content, but use it as a support tool.
While it can feel like an incredible time saver, be really mindful of how you’re using AI to create content. Absolutely use the chatbots as a writing coach, to improve your SEO for website copy, to write content that includes your client’s point of view, or as a brainstorm partner (as I wrote in this article last year when AI was just coming out). But don’t copy-paste AI generated content and expect an increase in your response rates. Use the chatbots to improve your content, but make sure you always write in your own tone of voice and style.
It’s not a big surprise that people don’t want their interactions to feel automated or manipulative. So if you’re looking to offer your clients human connection, fully automated marketing content won’t help you connect with them. We can now all spot AI-generated content from a mile away. Below you’ll see an example, as created for me by Claude, including the tell tale signs of AI-generated content: lots of emojis, the long em dash, and sales-y copy that created lots of urgency and scarcity:
Discover the life-changing benefits of acupuncture — a time-tested healing practice with modern scientific backing! Say goodbye to persistent health issues and hello to a revitalized you!
🌿 Significant pain reduction — feel relief from chronic discomfort without medication side effects
🧠 Enhanced mental clarity — experience reduced anxiety and improved focus
💤 Better sleep quality — finally enjoy the restorative rest your body craves
🔄 Improved circulation — support your body's healing mechanisms
🌱 Strengthened immune system — build resilience against seasonal illnessesDon't wait to start your healing journey — book your transformative session today and experience the profound difference that acupuncture can make in your life! #WellnessJourney #HolisticHealing
It’s everywhere, in the newsletters I receive, Linkedin posts, Instagram content. Have you noticed it too? Personally, it made me use those platforms less because every time I spot AI-generated content I feel tricked. There’s little trust between me and the brand/person behind the text. And the same is happening to your clients on the receiving end of any AI-generated content.
Avoid entering patient-related information into chatbots or other AI tools
I know that some practitioners and clinics are testing out AI tools to summarise patient notes or transcribe in-person conversations automatically into text, which could be fantastic time saver. Similarly for other automation tools that help answer clients FAQs or automate scheduling. But be wary of how your and your patients data is being used, and check the small print to make sure the data is not being sold to third parties, before you start using any of these AI tools.
Ensure any AI tool you use complies with GDPR, HIPAA, or other relevant regulations. And only use tool that aligns with your professional ethics and legal guidelines.
In general the rule of thumb is that if a product is free, you’re probably the product: i.e. you’re paying with your data and the AI company is using the information you input into the tool to further develop it. Any sensitive information should be left out.
AI tools aren’t that smart; don’t rely on AI for any research-related queries or healthcare facts
AI can help outline and structure courses, saving time in content development and helping you create informative content for clients in a short time. But AI tools may have biases based on the data they’re trained on so be mindful of this. It’s common for people to think that AI is incredible clever, after al it’s a new type of intelligence. But instead of Artificial Intelligence we might as well call it Aggregated Intelligence, because the models behind AI are all fed by the information that already exist (for now). And it’s important to note that many AI models have a knowledge cutoff - for ChatGPT that is 2023, meaning it doesn’t have any information on news, research or date that came out after 2023. When it comes to scientific research or factual information, it also doesn’t get things right that often. And the chatbots love to agree with their audience, so they’re likely not that honest with you. So even when AI chatbots confidently answer your prompts with references to academic studies or scientific facts, it often gets it wrong.
SEO has already changed drastically, meaning you’ll need to change the way clients find you online
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) has transformed in record time. You might have noticed this already when you search for something on Google. Instead of giving you a list of websites that could have the answers to your search, Google now gives you an AI-generated answer based on the sources it uses to collate info.
For you as an individual practitioner, this means that if you want to rank high for any online searches related to your treatment type, location, or health topic, the competition just got a lot harder. Your audience now needs to scroll past Google-generated answers, YouTube videos and online shops. The solution? Invest in your website with a small selection of keywords to rank high for in online search, make sure your Google Business Profile is an top shape (I wrote about this in a previous edition below) and I would pause spending lots of time writing many blog posts to improve your SEO for now.
What will the AI future hold for complementary healthcare?
I’m not a fan of listening to the tech bros, who are clearly personally invested in the importance of AI in society, fantasising about a future where ‘all doctors will be replaced by AI’. Sure, change is afoot with AI impacting the healthcare industry, as well as all our lives. But I prefer to follow futurists who are more careful in their predictions, who are great at putting into perspective how early in AI’s development we still are and how much human intervention will still be needed.
It’s true that there is lots of potential for many more services, including those in healthcare, to be delegated to and transformed by AI - think costumer service, operational tasks, health screenings, and also research. The UK government clearly has set the goal to shift our healthcare system from analogue to digital.
My view is that in this type of future, complementary healthcare will need to step up its game and match the digitisation of the wider healthcare ecosystem, to make sure it doesn’t fall behind. This is also because in this future, I believe that in-person health treatments will be valued even more. With more time on our hands and a growing lack of personal interaction, I see complementary treatments as part of a new value class that will rise. Many things we do by hand will increase in value, from crafts to creative work and healthcare. You see the same happening now with brands highlighting that their work is made by hand vs generated by AI. Plus, as we live in a time of drastic change with so much going on - it’s holistic, human healthcare that can support people, both physically and emotionally, as they navigate these profound changes.
In the meantime, I’ll be here to guide you through this age of AI and how you can make the most of it as holistic healthcare practitioners.
1:1 support with your digital presence
At Circe Studio we help holistic practitioners design an online presence that performs best for their clients, and for themselves. If you would like 1:1 support to improve your SEO, Google Business Profile or overall online presence, you can book an Online Presence Review with me. Or if you need a helping hand with your website feel free to schedule in a 30-min Circe Studio intro call to find out how I can support you.