Should RDs Still Blog in 2026? The Honest Pros and Cons
Is blogging still worth it, now that Google just answers half the internet's questions all by itself? It's a fair question. Here's the honest answer, backed by research data.
The con: AI is eating the easy clicks
A randomized field experiment out of Carnegie Mellon and the Indian School of Business, published this April, tested what actually happens when Google shows an AI Overview at the top of a search. Removing the AI Overview nearly doubled the number of people who clicked through to an actual website. With it in place, clicks to real pages dropped by 38% on the searches where it appeared, and zero-click searches, meaning no click at all, rose from 54% to 72%. AI Overviews now show up on about 42% of queries.
In other words, if you're writing a post to rank for a simple, generic question, "what is fiber," "how much protein do I need," Google is increasingly answering that question itself, right there on the results page, and a meaningful share of people never click through to see who wrote it.
The pro: not all content is struggling
Here's the part that gets left out of most "blogging is dead" advice: the researchers also found that AI Overviews didn't make anyone happier or more satisfied with their search. The overviews are winning clicks, not winning trust. Content built on real, specific experience, something an AI summary can't actually replicate because it requires having done the thing, is increasingly what gets cited inside the AI answer itself. Being the cited source is worth more now than the old #1 ranking spot ever was.
So the honest read isn't "blogging is dead." It's "generic blogging is dead." The blog post that explains a concept everyone already explains is fighting a losing battle. The blog post built around your expertise as a dietitian, a specific client pattern you've noticed (kept anonymous, of course), or a clinical opinion you feel strongly about, is fighting a different battle.
What this means for your blog
Post less often, but put more of your point of view in each article. Lead with the specific thing you noticed in your own practice, not the generic advice everyone already has. Treat your blog less like a traffic machine and more like a trust-building asset, the thing a potential client reads right before they decide to book, not the reason they found you in the first place.
Pair it with audiences you don't have to build
Your own blog isn't the only place worth publishing. Medium and Substack already have active readers browsing for exactly what you write about, and both platforms carry much more built-in domain authority than your own website probably has. Publishing on Medium or Substack doesn't replace your own blog, it gets you in front of people faster while your own site builds up its own authority over time.
To maximize your blog's SEO (search engine optimization): write specific, keyword-led headlines instead of clever ones, front-load your opening lines since they often get pulled into previews, and always end with one clear, next step inviting people back to your email list.
About Medium.com:
Medium also has its own payment system, the Partner Program, which pays based on how much time paying members spend reading your stories, plus a signup bonus if a new reader joins within 30 days. You need 100 followers and one published story to join the Medium Partner Program. Getting into a well-known Medium publication isn't required to earn money, but it helps with visibility, which helps with reading time.
The takeaway
Blogging isn't over, but the old version of blogging that chased generic search traffic is losing ground fast. Keep writing, but write fewer, more specific things that only you could say, treat the blog as one piece of a bigger strategy alongside referrals and your own email list, and use platforms like Medium and Substack to reach audiences you don't have to build from scratch.
