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Can You Trust What You Google About Your Health?

Most older adults aren't sure — here's a simple filter for finding health info you can actually believe.

At a glance
✓More than 8 in 10 adults over 50 look for health information online.
✓Only about 1 in 3 say it's very easy to find something accurate.
✓1 in 5 aren't confident they can spot health misinformation.
✓Random .com pages are trusted far less than hospital, university, and government sites.
✓A lot of online health content is now AI-generated — confident, and sometimes wrong.
✓A simple source check goes a long way; when in doubt, ask a person.

You typed a symptom into your phone at 11 p.m. and came away more worried than before. You're not alone — and a new national poll shows most older adults feel exactly the same way. Here's why it's so hard now, and a simple way to find answers you can actually believe.

What the poll found

In the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging, done with AARP, more than 8 in 10 adults over 50 said they look for health information online. But only about 1 in 3 said it's 'very easy' to find something accurate, and 1 in 5 weren't confident they could spot health misinformation at all. Trust drops fast on random .com pages — about a third found those trustworthy — compared with roughly 6 in 10 for hospital, university, government, and established nonprofit sites.

8 in 10
adults 50+ search health info online
1 in 3
find accurate info easily
1 in 5
unsure they can spot misinformation

Why it's getting harder

There's more health content than ever, and a lot of it is now written by AI — confident, polished, and sometimes flat wrong. The poll found real worry about exactly that. The problem isn't a lack of information; it's telling the trustworthy from the rest.

A simple filter for health info you can trust

  • Check the source, not the headline. Lean on .gov sites (CDC, NIH, Medicare), major hospitals and universities, and known nonprofits like the American Heart Association or the Alzheimer's Association.
  • Be suspicious of miracle language. 'Doctors don't want you to know,' 'cure,' 'one weird trick' — real medicine rarely talks like that.
  • Look for a date and an author. Trustworthy health info says who wrote it and when.
  • Cross-check before you act. If it would change what you do, confirm it on a second trustworthy site — or with your doctor.
  • When in doubt, ask a person. A pharmacist, a nurse line, your doctor's office.
The goal isn't to become a research expert. It's to have one calm place to start — instead of ten browser tabs at midnight.

Helping an aging parent who searches online

If your parent researches their own health online, you don't have to take it over — just help them build the habit of checking the source and bringing questions to their doctor. A shared 'let's look at this together' beats 'stop reading things online,' which rarely works anyway.

This is the whole idea behind Call Mabel: a patient, steady voice on the phone — not another website to second-guess. She won't give medical advice or replace a doctor, but she can help an older parent make sense of what they're seeing, remember the question they meant to ask, and feel less alone with it.
Key takeaways
  • ✓Trust the source type first: .gov, hospitals, universities, major nonprofits.
  • ✓Treat miracle claims and undated, anonymous pages as red flags.
  • ✓Cross-check anything that would change what you do.
  • ✓When it matters, ask a real person — pharmacist, nurse line, or doctor.

Sources: University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging and AARP, health-literacy report, 2026; Michigan Medicine Health Lab. This article is educational only and not medical advice — always confirm health decisions with a licensed professional.

Common questions

Are .com health websites always unreliable?
Not always — some are excellent. But the poll found people trust them far less than hospital, university, or government sites, and .com pages vary widely in quality. Check who runs the site, whether it cites sources, and whether a qualified author and date are listed.
How can I tell if health content was written by AI?
You often can't for certain, which is the problem. Focus on the source instead: a trustworthy organization stands behind its content, cites evidence, and lists authors and dates. Vague, source-free, or anonymous pages deserve extra skepticism.
What's the safest way to research a health question?
Start with a trusted source (a .gov site, a major hospital, or a well-known nonprofit), note anything that would change what you do, and confirm it with your doctor or pharmacist before acting. One reliable starting point beats a dozen conflicting tabs.

Worried about a parent who's often alone? Mabel calls them every day — just to talk, and to keep your family in the loop.

See how Call Mabel works →