For most independent practices, the Google Business Profile is the first thing a new patient sees. It is the listing with your hours, phone number, map pin and reviews that appears when someone searches for a dentist, a chiropractor or a med spa nearby. Many patients call straight from it without opening your website.
Healthcare adds rules that a restaurant or a plumber does not face. Google has specific guidance for doctors and other practitioners. Reviews come with both Google policy and federal rules. And a careless reply to a review can expose patient information. This guide covers the decisions a practice owner or manager should get right, with links to the primary sources at the end. Google updates its guidelines, so check the current version before you make changes. To match your profile with the rest of your listings, see directory listings and local citations for practices. For the same listing on iPhones, see Apple Maps listings for medical practices. For updates, offers and events on the profile, see our guide to Google Business Profile posts for practices.
One profile for the practice, or one for each provider?
This is the question practices get wrong most often, and Google answers it directly in its guidelines for representing your business. Google calls doctors and dentists “individual practitioners”: public-facing professionals, typically with their own patients. A practitioner can have their own Business Profile when two things are true: they work in a public-facing role, and they can be reached directly at the verified location during the stated hours. Support staff should not have their own profiles.
How that plays out depends on the shape of your practice:
- Several providers at one location: the practice keeps its own profile, and each public-facing provider may have a separate one. Google says the provider’s profile name should include only the provider’s name, not the name of the practice.
- One provider under a practice brand: Google recommends a single shared profile named in the format “[brand]: [practitioner name]”. Two competing profiles for the same office and the same person split your reviews and confuse patients.
- One provider per specialty: Google says a practitioner should not have multiple profiles to cover different specializations. A dentist who also offers implants and clear aligners gets one profile, not three.
- Departments: departments within hospitals and other institutions may have their own profiles, but Google expects each to have a separate customer entrance and distinct categories. A treatment room inside your clinic is not a department in this sense.
Google’s guidelines also allow titles and degrees in a practitioner profile name, such as Dr. or MD, so “Dr. Jane Lee, DDS” is fine for a provider profile. Use the real name and credentials as the provider uses them in practice.
Plan for providers who leave
Provider profiles belong to the provider in the public’s mind, even when the practice set them up. Before you create one, agree internally who manages it and what happens to it if the provider moves on. Keep ownership of every profile under a practice-controlled Google account, with named managers added, rather than under someone’s personal login. That way you can update or close a profile without hunting for a password, and the provider can be added or removed as a manager as roles change.
Names, categories, address and hours
These fields look simple, and they are where most suspensions start.
- Name: use the name on your sign, letterhead and website. Google’s guidelines do not allow marketing taglines, phone numbers, URLs or service keywords in the name. “Harbor Family Dental” is fine. “Harbor Family Dental Best Implants San Diego” is not, and it can get the profile suspended.
- Categories: pick the primary category that describes your core business, such as Dentist, Chiropractor or Medical spa, and add secondary categories only where they describe the business. Google says not to use categories as keywords or to describe attributes. Services belong in the services section and on your website.
- Address: use the place where you see patients. Google says a virtual office is not eligible, and an office in a co-working space only counts if it has clear signage, receives customers during business hours and is staffed by your own team during those hours.
- Hours: list your regular patient-facing hours and set special hours for holidays and closures. Wrong hours lead to patients arriving at a locked door, which is the kind of experience that turns into a one-star review.
Asking for reviews the right way
Reviews influence which practice a new patient calls. Two separate sets of rules apply to how you collect them, and Google’s is the stricter one.
Google’s policy. Google’s contributed content policy for Maps does not allow reviews that were paid for, directly or in kind, and it does not allow content based on a conflict of interest, which includes current or former employment. It also says businesses should not discourage or prohibit negative reviews, or selectively solicit positive reviews. That last point rules out “review gating”: sending a short survey first and only asking the happy patients to post on Google. Google also says businesses should not pressure people to leave reviews while on the premises, or ask them to include specific content.
The FTC rule. The Federal Trade Commission’s Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials (16 CFR Part 465) took effect on October 21, 2024. It prohibits fake reviews, incentives that are conditioned on a positive (or negative) review, undisclosed reviews by company insiders such as employees, and suppressing reviews through threats, intimidation or false accusations. The FTC’s own guidance says it is fine to ask all customers for reviews. Note the difference: the FTC rule allows incentives that are not tied to sentiment, but Google’s policy does not allow paid reviews at all. For a Google profile, offer nothing in return.
A process that fits both:
- Ask everyoneSend the same review request to every patient after a visit, not only the ones you expect to be pleased.
- Keep the message plainUse the review link from your profile and a short, neutral request. Do not suggest what to write or what rating to give.
- Keep health details out of the requestA text or email that names the treatment (“How was your root canal?”) puts health information in a message that can be seen by others. “Thank you for visiting us today” is enough.
- Keep staff out of itEmployees and their families should not review the practice.
Replying to reviews without exposing patients
This is where healthcare differs most from other businesses. If your practice is a HIPAA covered entity, the Privacy Rule limits what you can disclose about patients, and a public reply to a review is a disclosure. The patient chose to post about their visit. That does not mean the practice may add details.
The HHS Office for Civil Rights has acted on exactly this. In 2019 it announced that Elite Dental Associates in Dallas agreed to pay $10,000 and adopt a corrective action plan after disclosing patient information in replies to reviews on Yelp. OCR has since resolved other cases against dental practices over replies to online reviews, including New Vision Dental in California and Dr. U. Phillip Igbinadolor, D.M.D. & Associates in North Carolina. The details are on the HHS enforcement pages linked below.
A safe habit is a reply that would read the same whether or not the reviewer was ever your patient:
- Do not confirm that the person is a patient, and do not mention visits, treatments, dates, billing or anything from their record.
- Thank people for feedback in general terms and invite them to call the office manager directly.
- Never argue the facts in public, even when a review is unfair. If a review appears to break Google’s policies, report it through Google instead.
- Decide who is allowed to reply, and give them a few approved templates. We share ours in patient review reply templates.
Illustration. A reviewer writes that they waited too long and that the bill was wrong. A reply like “Thank you for taking the time to share this. We take wait times and billing questions seriously. Please call our office manager at the number on this page so we can look into it.” responds without revealing anything. A reply that explains the reviewer arrived late, or what their insurance covered, discloses information about a patient.
This is general information, not legal advice. If you are unsure whether a reply is safe, ask your privacy officer or a healthcare attorney before posting it.
Connect the profile to your website and phone
The profile sends people somewhere, so the destination matters. Link it to a page that matches the location: the right address, phone number, providers and services. For multi-location practices, that usually means a page per location rather than the home page. Your name, address and phone number should match across the profile, the website and the main directories.
A profile also creates phone calls, often at times the front desk is busy or closed. If calls from Google go unanswered, the work you put into the profile ends in voicemail. Look at when calls come in and whether someone, or something, picks up.
Notes by specialty
- Dental: group practices with several dentists and hygienists should decide which dentists get provider profiles. Hygienists and assistants are usually support staff in Google’s terms. More in dental marketing.
- Med spa: services change often. Keep the services list and the website in step, and avoid before and after promises in posts and replies. More in med spa marketing.
- Chiropractic: many patients search for a specific complaint. Describe services and conditions on your website in plain words instead of stuffing them into the profile name. More in chiropractic marketing.
- Integrative and functional medicine: choose the category that matches how the practice is licensed and what it actually provides, and keep claims on the profile and website modest and accurate. More in integrative medicine marketing.
How we help
Google Business Profile setup and upkeep is part of our local SEO for practices: profile structure for the practice and providers, categories, a review process every patient gets the same way, and reply templates that keep patient details out. We pair it with practice websites that have proper location pages, and an AI front desk that picks up calls when your team cannot. If you also advertise, read our healthcare ad policy basics.
Frequently asked questions
Should each doctor or dentist have their own Google Business Profile?
They can, if they work in a public-facing role and can be reached at the verified location during stated hours. In a practice with several providers, the practice keeps its own profile and each provider’s profile uses only the provider’s name. A solo provider under a practice brand should share one profile named “[brand]: [practitioner name]”.
Can we offer patients a discount for leaving a Google review?
No. Google’s Maps content policy does not allow reviews that were paid for, directly or in kind. The FTC rule also prohibits incentives that depend on the review being positive. Ask every patient the same way and offer nothing in return.
Can we only ask happy patients for reviews?
No. Google’s policy says businesses should not selectively solicit positive reviews or discourage negative ones. Send the same request to every patient.
Is it a HIPAA problem to reply to a patient’s review?
Replying is not the problem; what you say can be. HHS has settled with dental practices that disclosed patient information in review replies. Keep replies general, do not confirm the person is a patient, and move the conversation to a phone call.
Can we add keywords like “implants” or “Botox” to our business name?
Not unless they are part of your real-world name. Google’s guidelines do not allow service keywords in the business name, and a keyword-stuffed name can get the profile suspended. Put services in the services section and on your website.
Can we list a virtual office or a co-working space?
A virtual office is not eligible. A co-working space only qualifies if your office there has clear signage, receives patients during business hours and is staffed by your team during those hours.
Sources
- Google: Guidelines for representing your business on Google (practitioners, names, categories, addresses, hours)
- Google Maps: Prohibited and restricted content (fake engagement, conflicts of interest, review solicitation)
- FTC: Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule, questions and answers (16 CFR Part 465)
- HHS: Dental practice pays $10,000 to settle social media disclosures of patients’ protected health information (2019)
- HHS: Settlement with New Vision Dental over disclosures in response to online reviews
- HHS: Dr. U. Phillip Igbinadolor, D.M.D. & Associates enforcement action