Thorough Analysis of CTR in the Clinic Industry! SEO Strategies to Be Chosen in the AI Search Era (April 2026: Research by SEO Company Rank-Quest)
SEO company Rank-Quest released the results of a survey on click-through rates (CTR) by search ranking for the clinic industry in April 2026. Based on the analysis of 13,016 keywords, while the 1st place CTR is high at 24.4%, there is a dispersion of clicks to lower rankings compared to the SEO industry average, revealing users' comparison-shopping behavior.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: May 19, 2026 at 04:32
- 🔍 Collected: May 18, 2026 at 20:01
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: May 18, 2026 at 20:10 (8 min after Collected)
Rank-Quest (https://rank-quest.jp/column/column/how-to-seo/), boasting an impressive track record of supporting 4,300 companies with their SEO strategies, measured the click-through rate (CTR) for each search ranking for its clinic client sites in April 2026.
In this survey, the trends in CTR by ranking were analyzed for 13,016 clinic-related keywords that ranked in the top 10 of search results. Furthermore, by comparing this with CTR data from the overall SEO industry, the search behavior patterns unique to the clinic industry were brought to light.
In attracting patients to clinics, where a site appears in search results is a crucial factor directly linked to creating opportunities for clinic visits. Especially in healthcare-related searches, users tend to act while carefully discerning 'whether the information is trustworthy', 'whether the medical treatment suits them', and 'whether the location is convenient to visit'. Therefore, the significance of search rankings is even greater than for general products.
On the other hand, a variety of display surfaces, including AI, are expanding in search results, in addition to map information, reviews, and various comparison elements. Consequently, there are increasing situations where the traditional thinking of 'if it ranks high, it will naturally be clicked' cannot fully capture the reality.
Under these circumstances, it is important for the clinic industry to understand exactly which rankings are being clicked and to what extent, specifically within the industry.
Therefore, the SEO company Rank-Quest analyzed the CTR (CTR = number of clicks / number of impressions) for search rankings 1st through 10th in the clinic industry, based on retained data for April 2026. At the same time, CTR data from the SEO industry is referenced for comparison to organize the clicking trends in the clinic industry.
(Note) Media operated by Rank-Quest: https://rank-quest.jp/
◆ April 2026: Click-Through Rate (CTR) by Ranking in the Clinic Industry
Looking at the CTR by search ranking in the clinic industry, the 1st place is the highest at 24.4%, showing that the very top of search results plays a major role in acquiring traffic. The 2nd place is 7.3%, and the 3rd place is 2.8%, with a difference of 17.1 points between the 1st and 2nd place, and a 4.5 point difference between the 2nd and 3rd place.
A clear structure can be seen where the CTR shows definite differences depending on whether a site is displayed at the top of the search results.
Conversely, the CTR gradually declines as the ranking goes down, with the 4th place at 2.0%, the 5th place at 1.2%, and the 6th place at 0.8%. Particularly below the 5th place, the level is around 1%, suggesting that the difficulty of user contact increases as it gets lower in the search results.
However, the 8th and 9th places maintain a CTR of 0.8%, and even the 10th place has 0.7%, indicating that a certain amount of traffic occurs even at lower rankings. From these trends, while high rankings are important in the clinic sector, it is also suggested that users might be searching for information while comparing multiple candidates.
◆ April 2026: Comparison of CTR by Search Display Ranking Between the Clinic Industry and Other Industries (SEO Industry)
* CTR information for the SEO industry is based on data from the Rank-Quest site (https://rank-quest.jp/).
Comparing the CTR of the clinic industry and the SEO industry, the 1st place in the clinic industry was 24.4%, while the SEO industry was 32.1%, resulting in the clinic industry being 7.7 points lower.
The 2nd place was also lower at 7.3% compared to 13.9%, a difference of 6.6 points, showing that clicks are not as concentrated on the top 1st and 2nd places as they are in the SEO industry.
At the 3rd place, the difference was minimal at -0.1 points (2.8% vs. 2.9%), with almost no difference observed between the two industries.
On the other hand, the clinic industry showed a higher CTR in some lower rankings: +0.7 points at the 4th place (clinic 2.0%, SEO 1.3%), +0.4 points at the 6th and 8th places, +0.5 points at the 9th place, and +0.2 points even at the 10th place.
This potentially indicates that in the clinic industry, there is a certain degree of user behavior where they examine and compare multiple search results, rather than relying solely on the top rankings.
However, it is not consistently higher across all lower rankings, with the 5th place at -0.4 points and the 7th place at -0.4 points. Therefore, it is appropriate to view the clinic industry as 'having a weaker concentration on the 1st place compared to the SEO industry, with a tendency for a certain amount of clicks to be dispersed to lower rankings as well'.
While the importance of acquiring top rankings remains unchanged, adding necessary information for search users to the title and description to create a state where the site is easily chosen as a comparison candidate can be said to be an important practical point.
1. The 1st place CTR is 24.4%, but 7.7 points lower than the SEO industry
The 1st place CTR for the clinic industry was 24.4%. Compared to the 7.3% of the 2nd place, it is 17
In this survey, the trends in CTR by ranking were analyzed for 13,016 clinic-related keywords that ranked in the top 10 of search results. Furthermore, by comparing this with CTR data from the overall SEO industry, the search behavior patterns unique to the clinic industry were brought to light.
In attracting patients to clinics, where a site appears in search results is a crucial factor directly linked to creating opportunities for clinic visits. Especially in healthcare-related searches, users tend to act while carefully discerning 'whether the information is trustworthy', 'whether the medical treatment suits them', and 'whether the location is convenient to visit'. Therefore, the significance of search rankings is even greater than for general products.
On the other hand, a variety of display surfaces, including AI, are expanding in search results, in addition to map information, reviews, and various comparison elements. Consequently, there are increasing situations where the traditional thinking of 'if it ranks high, it will naturally be clicked' cannot fully capture the reality.
Under these circumstances, it is important for the clinic industry to understand exactly which rankings are being clicked and to what extent, specifically within the industry.
Therefore, the SEO company Rank-Quest analyzed the CTR (CTR = number of clicks / number of impressions) for search rankings 1st through 10th in the clinic industry, based on retained data for April 2026. At the same time, CTR data from the SEO industry is referenced for comparison to organize the clicking trends in the clinic industry.
(Note) Media operated by Rank-Quest: https://rank-quest.jp/
◆ April 2026: Click-Through Rate (CTR) by Ranking in the Clinic Industry
Looking at the CTR by search ranking in the clinic industry, the 1st place is the highest at 24.4%, showing that the very top of search results plays a major role in acquiring traffic. The 2nd place is 7.3%, and the 3rd place is 2.8%, with a difference of 17.1 points between the 1st and 2nd place, and a 4.5 point difference between the 2nd and 3rd place.
A clear structure can be seen where the CTR shows definite differences depending on whether a site is displayed at the top of the search results.
Conversely, the CTR gradually declines as the ranking goes down, with the 4th place at 2.0%, the 5th place at 1.2%, and the 6th place at 0.8%. Particularly below the 5th place, the level is around 1%, suggesting that the difficulty of user contact increases as it gets lower in the search results.
However, the 8th and 9th places maintain a CTR of 0.8%, and even the 10th place has 0.7%, indicating that a certain amount of traffic occurs even at lower rankings. From these trends, while high rankings are important in the clinic sector, it is also suggested that users might be searching for information while comparing multiple candidates.
◆ April 2026: Comparison of CTR by Search Display Ranking Between the Clinic Industry and Other Industries (SEO Industry)
* CTR information for the SEO industry is based on data from the Rank-Quest site (https://rank-quest.jp/).
Comparing the CTR of the clinic industry and the SEO industry, the 1st place in the clinic industry was 24.4%, while the SEO industry was 32.1%, resulting in the clinic industry being 7.7 points lower.
The 2nd place was also lower at 7.3% compared to 13.9%, a difference of 6.6 points, showing that clicks are not as concentrated on the top 1st and 2nd places as they are in the SEO industry.
At the 3rd place, the difference was minimal at -0.1 points (2.8% vs. 2.9%), with almost no difference observed between the two industries.
On the other hand, the clinic industry showed a higher CTR in some lower rankings: +0.7 points at the 4th place (clinic 2.0%, SEO 1.3%), +0.4 points at the 6th and 8th places, +0.5 points at the 9th place, and +0.2 points even at the 10th place.
This potentially indicates that in the clinic industry, there is a certain degree of user behavior where they examine and compare multiple search results, rather than relying solely on the top rankings.
However, it is not consistently higher across all lower rankings, with the 5th place at -0.4 points and the 7th place at -0.4 points. Therefore, it is appropriate to view the clinic industry as 'having a weaker concentration on the 1st place compared to the SEO industry, with a tendency for a certain amount of clicks to be dispersed to lower rankings as well'.
While the importance of acquiring top rankings remains unchanged, adding necessary information for search users to the title and description to create a state where the site is easily chosen as a comparison candidate can be said to be an important practical point.
1. The 1st place CTR is 24.4%, but 7.7 points lower than the SEO industry
The 1st place CTR for the clinic industry was 24.4%. Compared to the 7.3% of the 2nd place, it is 17
FAQ
What ranking should a clinic target in SEO?
While targeting the 1st place is important as it has the highest CTR (24.4%), optimizing titles and descriptions is equally crucial since users often compare lower-ranked sites as well.
What kind of survey data did Rank-Quest provide?
It is data measuring the CTR by search ranking for top 10 clinic-related keywords (13,016 cases) in April 2026.
What are the characteristics of user behavior in clinic searches?
To carefully assess reliability and location, users tend to compare multiple search results rather than just relying on the top-ranked site.