Jack of all trades, grasp of none: new findings present that philosophy is strictly what’s hurting health and wellness apps within the age of AI
Within the good outdated days, discovering a health app meant a Google search and plenty of your personal judgment. Now you may simply ask your most popular chatbot, skipping the scrolling solely, with AI handing you a solution.
Besides it isn’t supplying you with one reply. It’s supplying you with a number of, and a brand new AI Visibility Index report from communications agency 5W exhibits precisely which health and wellness manufacturers have already claimed every spot.
The communications agency tracked greater than 60 real-world prompts, together with “greatest working app,” “greatest app for sleep” and “Whoop vs. Oura,” run 5 occasions every throughout ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews through the second quarter of the 12 months. It then scored 25 health and wellness apps by how typically AI engines cited them in response.
Strava, the social fitness app reportedly close to an IPO, led the sphere with an estimated 13% share of total citations, adopted by nutrition app MyFitnessPal at 10% and Peloton at 8%. Whoop and Oura, two leading wearable companies, sit fifth and sixth at 5.5% and 5%.
“There isn’t a ‘greatest health app’ reply anymore,” 5W founder Ronn Torossian mentioned. “There’s a greatest app for working, a greatest app for restoration, a greatest app for sleep. AI engines route by the issue, not the model.”
In the meantime, the “generalist” apps are dropping – though they don’t comprehend it but, he added.
“You win by proudly owning one conduct so fully that the machine can not reply the query with out naming you,” Torossian added.
Peloton, nevertheless, is a particular case. The linked health big holds the third total quotation share within the index, and the report credit that to not its bike {hardware} however to a successful reframing of its app as a standalone platform.
5W is express that income rank doesn’t predict quotation rank. A platform can carry out effectively financially but stay functionally invisible within the chatbot advice house.

When put to the take a look at, the free model of ChatGPT mentioned that prompts like “What’s the most effective health app? or “Which exercise app ought to I exploit?” are among the many extra widespread requests for suggestions it receives.
“Individuals normally ask about one of some situations,” ChatGPT mentioned, itemizing issues like discovering an app for weight reduction or muscle achieve, selecting between widespread apps like Strava, MyFitnessPal, Nike Coaching Membership and Apple Health+, searching for free options, discovering an app that works effectively with a smartwatch and wanting an app that retains them motivated or supplies a structured plan.
ChatGPT mentioned it doesn’t have entry to actual utilization statistics, however described health app suggestions as a quite common matter throughout conversations, a real-time, if casual, affirmation of what the 5W information exhibits at scale.
In relation to suggestions, 5W’s recommendation boils down to 1 foremost instruction: begin proudly owning a class and construct content material that matches how customers phrase their drawback. Reap the benefits of Reddit’s consumer communities, and if doable, place round restoration and sleep.
“It’s the fastest-growing question floor and nonetheless loosely held under the 2 leaders,” the report notes.
