Local SEO for a medical practice.

How does Google choose which practices appear on the map?

Google says local results depend mainly on three things: relevance, meaning how well a profile matches the search; distance from the searcher; and how well known the business is, which draws on links to its website, its reviews and its ratings. A practice cannot change where patients are standing, so the work goes into the other two.

Relevance comes from a complete profile: the right primary category, such as dermatologist or pediatrician, additional categories for real services, a description in plain words, accurate hours and a link to the right page of the website. Prominence comes from a steady flow of genuine reviews, replies to them, and being listed consistently across the web.

How should a practice and its physicians set up their profiles?

Google's guidelines treat doctors and dentists as individual practitioners who may have their own profiles, separate from the practice's profile for the same location, as long as they see patients there during stated hours. A group practice usually has one profile for each location and one for each public-facing physician; nurses and front desk staff should not have their own.

Use the practice's real name, exactly as it appears on the sign and the website. Google says unnecessary information in a business name is not permitted and could get the profile suspended, so leave out words such as best or the town name. Put services, conditions and insurance notes in the fields made for them instead, and keep holiday hours current, since a patient who arrives at a closed office writes the review that follows.

Which directory listings should match?

Search engines and patients both check that a practice's name, address and phone number agree across the web. A physician who moved offices years ago may still appear at the old address on several directories, sending patients and search engines to the wrong place. Claim the free profiles, correct them, and recheck them when anything changes.

The listing site directory records what each of these sites charges and what it offers; the table below says what to check on each.

How should a practice ask for and answer reviews?

Ask every patient, the same way, after the visit: a text or email with a direct link works best. Do not ask only the patients you expect to be happy, do not offer anything in return, and do not write reviews for the practice or have staff do it.

Answer reviews, good and bad, briefly and without confirming that the reviewer is a patient. A reply that mentions a diagnosis, a visit date or a treatment discloses health information. Thank the reviewer, invite them to call the office manager, and leave the details for a private conversation.

What changes for a group with several locations?

Each location needs its own profile and its own page on the website, and each profile should link to its location page rather than the home page. Keep the practice name identical across locations, so patients recognize the group, and add the location detail through the address and the page it links to.

Assign one person to own the listings. Profiles drift when several staff members edit them, and a forgotten location profile with an old phone number can quietly lose patients for years.

Questions to ask

• Who owns the practice's Business Profiles, and can two people log in?
• Does every public-facing physician have one profile, and no more?
• When did someone last check the address and phone on every directory listing?
• Is there a standard reply for negative reviews that discloses nothing?

How do you know local SEO is working?

Business Profile insights show calls, requests for directions and website clicks from each profile. Track those month by month alongside the new patients who say they found the practice on a map or in reviews. A rise in calls with no rise in new patients usually points to the phones, not the listing.

Local work costs mostly staff time, so it compares well with paid channels. The patient acquisition cost calculator can put the two side by side once you know what each brings in.