Why does the profile matter more than the homepage?
A patient who searches "chiropractor near me" or the name of your practice sees the profile before any page you built. Hours, phone number, address, star rating, photos and the first few reviews all sit there, and a patient can call or get directions from it without ever opening the website. The profile is also one of the most repeated sources of practice facts on the web, which is why wrong hours on it tend to show up again in maps apps and AI answers. The pillar guide on AI recommendations covers that knock-on effect in detail.
How does Google decide which practices show up?
Google's own help documentation names three factors: relevance, distance and prominence.1 It defines them plainly:
- Relevance: how well a Business Profile matches what someone is searching for.
- Distance: how far each business is from the person searching.
- Prominence: how well known a business is, based in part on how many websites link to it and how many reviews it has.
The same page states that businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to show up, that verification makes a profile more likely to appear, and that "there's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google."1 Anyone selling a guaranteed map-pack position is selling something Google says does not exist.
| Factor | Can you change it? | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Relevance | Yes | Categories, services, complete fields |
| Distance | No | Where the patient stands |
| Prominence | Slowly | Reviews, links, being known locally |
Which category should a practice choose?
Google tells businesses to pick a primary category that best describes the business, using a specific category from its list, and states that "the categories you select affect your local ranking on Google."3 Additional categories are for distinct departments or services, and Google says not to add a category for every product or service.3 Its representation guidelines add a useful test: choose categories for what the business is, not what it has.2
In practice that means a naturopathic clinic chooses the naturopath category as primary, not a vague wellness category because it sounds broader. A chiropractor who sells supplements at the front desk should not add a supplement store category. Broad categories feel safer and usually make the profile less relevant.
What gets a health practice profile suspended?
Google's guidelines for representing a business reserve the right to suspend profiles that break them.2 The rules health practices trip over most often:
- Keywords in the name. The name must match the real-world name used on signage and the website. "Smith Chiropractic" is fine. "Smith Chiropractic Back Pain Sciatica Relief" is a violation.2
- Virtual offices. A rented mailing address the business does not operate from is not eligible for a profile.2
- Co-working rooms without the basics. An office in a shared space needs clear signage, customers received there during business hours, and your own staff present during those hours.2
- One profile per staff member. Support staff should not have their own profiles. Public-facing practitioners who can be reached at the location during stated hours can.2
Solo practitioner or group: which profile setup is right?
This is the question most multi-practitioner clinics get wrong. Google's guidelines say that when one practitioner is the only public-facing practitioner at a location and represents a branded organisation, the two should share one profile, named in the format "[brand]: [practitioner name]".2 When several public-facing practitioners work at one location, the organisation keeps its own profile, and each practitioner profile carries only the practitioner's name, not the organisation's.2
| Practice type | Profiles | Naming |
|---|---|---|
| One practitioner, branded | One shared | Brand: Practitioner name |
| Several practitioners | Practice plus each practitioner | Practitioner name only |
| Front desk and support staff | None | Not applicable |
What should be filled in, and kept current?
Google ties complete and accurate information to showing up more often.1 For a health practice the fields that matter most are the ones a patient acts on:
- Hours, including special hours for holidays. Google lets you set these per day, so a closed Monday after a long weekend does not have to become a one-star review.2
- Phone number that reaches a person or a working voicemail, not a fax line.
- Services, written in the words patients use, and limited to what you actually provide.
- Website link to the page that answers the obvious first question, often a services or new-patient page rather than the homepage.
- Photos of the real entrance, the real rooms and the real team, so a first visit feels familiar.
Services text is also where claim language leaks in. A service called "thyroid cure protocol" in a profile is the same claim as it would be on your website, with the same regulatory exposure. The article on health claims on practice websites explains the wording that holds up.
How should a practice ask for reviews?
Reviews feed prominence directly. Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help local ranking.1 It also says that offering incentives, such as free or discounted services, in exchange for posting, changing or removing reviews is fake and misleading content and is strictly prohibited.4
Federal law now points the same way. The FTC's rule on consumer reviews bans incentives conditioned on a review expressing a particular sentiment, bans review suppression through threats or intimidation, and bans undisclosed reviews from officers and managers.5 The safe pattern is simple: ask every patient, the same way, at the same point in the visit, with a direct link. The FTC Consumer Review Rule article goes through what that looks like day to day.
Replies matter as much as the stars. Google advises keeping replies clear and helpful, avoiding promotions, and never sharing a reviewer's private information.4 For a health practice that last point carries extra weight, because confirming that someone is a patient can itself be a disclosure. That is covered in responding to reviews without breaking HIPAA.