Google Business Profile for medical and therapy practices: a setup checklist
For many new patients, your Google Business Profile is the first thing they see, before your website. It shows on Google Maps and in local results, and it's where people call, get directions and read reviews.
Healthcare profiles come with a few extra rules. This checklist covers the setup we use for independent practices.
1. Use your real practice name
Your profile name should match your real-world name: your signage, letterhead and website. Adding keywords or locations to the name ("Smith Family Practice | Best Primary Care Brooklyn") breaks Google's guidelines and can get a profile suspended.
2. Solo practitioner? Use one profile
When one clinician is the only public-facing practitioner at a location, Google recommends a single shared profile for the practice and practitioner, named in the format "Practice Name: Practitioner Name." In group practices, individual providers who see patients directly can have their own profiles, which should not compete with the main practice profile.
3. Choose categories carefully
Your primary category has more influence on which searches you appear for than anything else on the profile. Pick the most specific one that describes the practice, such as "Nurse practitioner," "Family practice physician," "Occupational therapist" or "Speech pathologist," then add a few secondary categories for other core services.
4. Mobile or in-home practice? Set a service area
Home health and mobile therapy practices that don't see patients at their address can set up as a service-area business: hide the street address and list the cities or ZIP codes you serve instead. Don't use a virtual office or a P.O. box as your address.
5. Complete every section
- Hours, including holiday hours, that match your website.
- Phone number that reaches a person or a clear voicemail.
- Website link to your homepage, or to the matching location page.
- Booking link to your online scheduling or patient portal.
- Services, with short descriptions in plain language.
- Accessibility details and the other attributes Google offers for your category.
- Real photos: exterior, entrance, waiting area and team. No stock images.
6. Keep your details consistent everywhere
Your practice name, address and phone number should be identical on Google, your website, Apple Maps, Bing, Healthgrades and insurance directories. Mismatches confuse both patients and search engines.
7. Build a steady, privacy-safe review habit
Ask satisfied patients for reviews with a direct link, reply to every review briefly, and never confirm in a reply that someone is a patient. Our guide on responding to patient reviews without violating HIPAA has templates.