Laypeople’s Use of and Attitudes Toward Large Language Models and Search Engines for Health Queries: Survey Study

Search engines are the primary source of health information; yet, positive perceptions of LLMs suggest growing use. Future work could explore whether LLM trust and usefulness are enhanced by supplementing answers with external references and limiting persuasive language to curb overreliance. Collaboration with health organizations can help improve the quality of LLMs' health output.