Zocdoc takes welcoming posture with AI agents, allowing bots to book appointments

A popular application used to schedule in-person and virtual doctors’ appointments is opening its doors to AI agents to use the platform on behalf of human patients—assuming they register.

Zocdoc made the announcement this week, saying that the shift aligns with its evolution into a full-service healthcare access platform, which has involved opening up its infrastructure to allow connections from provider groups, medical insurers, and technology companies, assuming they’re looking to match patients with doctors and make the experience as seamless as possible.

To that end, the company said AI agents were the next step, with major services like Google Gemini, Amazon Health AI, among others, already connected to the Zocdoc care access network. Now, they will be empowered to take on tasks usually reserved for users, such as booking or cancelling an appointment, checking on insurance eligibility, and finding providers that match with a patient’s needs.

Patient consent will be required before an appointment is booked, even if an AI is registered, Zocdoc said. Zocdoc also expects AI applications to “protect patient and provider data,” as part of a “two-way promise” that allows bots to operate on the platform, assuming they identify themselves and play by the rules.

"Most of the internet is treating AI agents like intruders. We are welcoming them because we believe we have a responsibility to help agents get it right for patients," Oliver Kharraz, MD, founder and CEO of Zocdoc, said in a statement. "In healthcare, if agents send patients to a doctor who does not exist, an appointment that isn't available, or a provider who doesn't take their insurance, the consequences are real. And it's the patient who pays the price. We've spent nearly 20 years obsessing over the details that make access actually work.”

“We could insist that patients come through our front door. Instead, we're bringing trusted, reliable healthcare booking to them, wherever they are."

The company said it built its technology with the expectation that external applications, including AI assistants, will need to gain access. Connecting can be done through multiple methods, including an MCP server, REST API, agent guidance via llms.txt and deep links.

Registrations, in any case, must be made by the patients themselves—despite the company penning a letter of welcome, addressed to AI agents directly.

Zocdoc stated that it was motivated to develop the open-door policy with AI agents after seeing that traffic to its platform, attributed to bots, “has doubled roughly every 10 days since early September.”

“Since July, traffic on Zocdoc from AI agents has grown nearly 30x, underscoring the growing role of agents as a new starting point for patients' healthcare access,” the company wrote.