Asheville, NC—Clark Mackey, a digital strategist and owner of the full-service medical marketing agency Cake Websites & More, was recently featured on the popular plastic surgery marketing podcast Beauty and the Biz hosted by Catherine Maley, MBA. The conversation is a must-listen for plastic surgeons, med spa directors, and other healthcare professionals navigating the evolving medical marketing landscape.
The episode, titled “Can AI Help or Hurt Your Cosmetic Practice? — with Clark Mackey,” the marketer shared his professional insights on the growing influence of artificial intelligence (AI) on the aesthetics and medical industries.
“If someone doesn’t adopt AI, you’re not noticing the ways that you are less efficient,” explained Mackey. “Other people are going to use these tools and gain those advantages, which would reduce your practice’s influence.”
He recounted a case where a client’s competitor used AI-generated content on their website to rapidly increase its blog output and saw an immediate jump in search traffic using an early AI model back in 2021. While the tactic had poor long-term SEO results, it illustrated how quickly competitors could gain ground simply by using the technology.
Aside from using AI to help prevent being out-ranked by competitors, Mackey also explained how AI tools can help medical practices identify gaps in their content, rewrite outdated online profiles, and structure web pages in ways that better align with the expectation of both human readers and non-human visitors (i.e. search engine crawlers).
“Even content that isn’t totally unique still plays an important role,” Mackey noted. “Google’s AI wants to see if your site fits the known structure of the topic. If it doesn’t, you’re not considered an authority.”
Beyond visibility, AI is reshaping how practices engage with prospective patients. From smart chatbots to advanced email segmentation, tools powered by AI can assess user behavior and help pinpoint high-interest leads.
Mackey emphasized that AI isn’t a magic wand, especially when it comes to generating online reviews, which are both important for SEO and one of the most important trust signals for patients—often offering the first impression of a practice. “You still need to offer excellent service,” he explained. “But what AI can do is help remove friction and automate when and how patients are asked for reviews, so it becomes a natural part of their experience.”
AI’s ability to automate time-consuming tasks is one its most significant advantages for medical practices. Mackey added that AI tools can take over tasks like meeting transcription, content brainstorming, and patient education content development. This frees up time and resources to go toward aspects of the practice that can’t be automated.
While the benefits are significant, Mackey issued a clear warning on how using AI wrong can erode patient trust: “AI is designed to replace labor. But in medicine, that comes with ethical obligations. You can’t lose the human element.”
He noted that AI is already changing how patients find and interact with websites, so adopting it responsibly is essential for maintaining patient trust. Poorly executed AI, especially in patient-facing tools like chatbots, can backfire. When chat responses sound cold, evasive, or repetitive, patients may disengage and never book a consultation. He also highlighted privacy and ownership concerns, especially when it comes to HIPAA compliance: “Don’t assume a tool is compliant just because it says so. Certain platforms may store and reuse your patient data to train tools for their own self-serving purposes."
For practices ready to experiment with AI but unsure where to begin, Mackey created a free AI resource guide exclusively for podcast listeners at cakewebsites.com/ai.
The guide is designed to help medical professionals make smart, informed decisions about how to integrate AI into their practice marketing, and includes: top tools for content, meeting notes, and review building; leaderboards to help you choose the best models; examples of real-world prompts; and trusted educators and YouTubers to follow.
While AI is advancing rapidly, Mackey cautioned that it’s essential to remain selective and strategic. “Use AI to enhance your team, not replace them,” he said. “And always keep the patient experience at the heart of what you do.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7QYla-dWGY
Cake Websites & More specializes in marketing for plastic and cosmetic surgeons, med spas, and other healthcare providers. With over 20 years of experience, Mackey and his team understand the unique challenges of medical marketing, and they’re ready to help implement AI or optimize one's digital marketing strategy to get more traffic, more leads, and more trust from patients. Visit cakewebsites.com to learn more and get in touch with Mackey and his team.
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For more information about Cake Websites & More, contact the company here:
Cake Websites & More
Clark Mackey
828-350-8563
clark@cakewebsites.com
