Google Business Profile posts for practices

Google Business Profile lets a practice publish short posts that appear on its profile in Google Search and Maps: news about the practice, an offer, or an event. Posts are easy to write and easy to get wrong. Google reviews each post against its content policies before it shows, and its policies treat health and medical products differently from other businesses. A post is also advertising, so the FTC Act, the FTC endorsement guides and, for a covered entity, the HIPAA Privacy Rule apply to it the same way they apply to your website.

This guide covers the three post types, what Google says about posts from regulated industries, what gets a post rejected, and how to handle offers, patient stories and photos. For the profile itself, see our guides to Google Business Profile for doctors and dentists and what to do when a profile is suspended. For the offer wording, see free consultation and free first visit offers, and for patient images, patient photo consent for marketing. For how voice assistants read your profile aloud, see our guide to voice search for medical practices. Neighborhood platforms have their own rules; see Nextdoor for medical practices.

This is general information, not legal advice. Sources cited were checked on October 31, 2026: the Google Business Profile Help pages Create and manage posts on your Business Profile and Business Profile photos, videos and posts content policy, and the Maps User Generated Content Policy pages Prohibited and restricted content and Tips for posting media to Maps (none of these pages shows a date; Google says it modifies its policies from time to time); 45 CFR 164.501, 164.502(a) and 164.508(a)(3); 16 CFR 255.1, 255.2 and 255.5; 16 CFR 233.1; 45 CFR 102.3, all read in eCFR as in effect on October 1, 2026; 42 USC 1320a-7a(a)(5); and 15 USC 45(a)(1) and 52. HHS adjusts these amounts for inflation each year in the table at 45 CFR 102.3, so read the current table rather than the figure in the statute. We found no federal rule or agency guidance written for Google Business Profile posts by health care providers as such, and Google does not say in these pages that posts affect where a profile ranks. State rules differ, so have a health care attorney review offers, patient stories and any post about a regulated product before you publish it.

The short version

There are three post types: updates, offers and events. Offers need a title and dates, and Google adds a “View Offer” button.
Google reviews each post after you publish it. A post can be Live, Pending or Not approved, and a rejected post shows which policy it broke.
Google’s posts help page says businesses in regulated industries, a list that includes pharmaceutical products and health and medical devices, may use posts but should not include content about those products.
Google’s restricted content policy says posts should not show deals, coupons, pricing or other promotions for restricted products or services.
A phone number typed into the post text can get the post rejected if Google cannot verify it. Use the Call now button instead.
A patient’s story, photo or name in a post needs that patient’s written authorization if it comes from your records, and the FTC endorsement guides apply to what the story implies.
An offer must be truthful: a former price has to be one you really charged, and offers that could reach Medicare or Medicaid patients need a legal review.

The three post types

Google’s help page Create and manage posts on your Business Profile describes three types. An update shares information about your business and can carry a description, a photo, a video and an action button with a link. An offer promotes a sale or deal; it requires a title, dates and times, automatically includes a “View Offer” button, and can also include a description, photo, video, coupon code, link and terms and conditions. An event promotes an event at your business and needs a title and start and end dates; if you leave out the start or end time, the event shows as lasting 24 hours on its dates.

Posts show in the Updates or Overview tabs of the profile on mobile, and in the “From the owner” section on a computer, on both Search and Maps. The page says posts older than 6 months are archived unless a date range is set, that you can schedule a post for later or set it to repeat, and that you can edit or delete a post after it is published. Google’s page presents posts as a way to share current information that helps customers decide to visit. It makes no claim that posting changes where a profile ranks, and neither do we.

What Google says about health and medical content in posts

The posts help page has a short passage on regulated goods and services. It says a business that offers products or services in a regulated industry can use posts, but should not include content about the products, and its list of those industries includes pharmaceutical products and health and medical devices. Google does not define on that page where a practice’s own clinical services fall, so we recommend reading the passage cautiously: post about the practice, its hours, its team, its events and its services in plain terms, and leave prescription drugs, injectables sold by brand and medical devices out of posts.

The Maps User Generated Content Policy, which the Business Profile content policy points to, has a restricted content section. It says content may not feature calls to action or offers for the sale of products or services that are subject to local legal regulations, and its list includes health and medical devices and regulated pharmaceuticals. It says such content should not display links to a landing page where the restricted item can be bought, contact details for buying it, or promotional offers for it, including deals, coupons and pricing information. So a post that offers a discount on a prescription product is the kind of post the policy describes, even where the product itself is lawful for your practice to provide.

The same policy prohibits misinformation, including harmful content that contains deceptive or misleading health or medical information. Keep clinical statements in posts to what you can support, and link to a page on your own site that explains the service, its risks and who it is for.

What gets a post rejected

After you publish, Google reviews the post against its posts content policy. The help page lists three statuses: Live, where the post is public on Search and Maps; Pending, where it is uploading, processing or the profile is unverified; and Not approved, where a question mark next to the status shows which content policy the post violates. These are the points from the policy pages that matter for a practice:

Phone numbers and contact details. The posts content policy says Google may remove posts with unverified contact information, including phone numbers, email addresses and social media handles, and suggests a Call now button, which uses the verified profile number. The help page says a phone number in the post description might be rejected if it cannot be verified as connected to the business.
Unrelated links. The Maps policy prohibits email addresses, phone numbers, social media links or links to other websites in posts that are not related to your business. It says offers and updates that may be seen as promotional are otherwise permitted in posts.
Restricted products. Calls to action, offers and pricing for regulated pharmaceuticals and health and medical devices, as described above.
Quality. The help page asks for professional posts without misspelled words, extra characters, text that adds no value, or auto-generated or distracting content, and says links to malware, phishing or pornographic material are not allowed.
Repetition. The Maps policy does not allow posting the same content multiple times from the same account or from more than one account.
Personal information. The Maps policy prohibits posting another person’s personal information without consent, including a face in a photo or video and medical information. It allows a business to post its own contact details, and allows the names of professionals such as doctors who do business under their names.

If your profile itself is suspended rather than a single post rejected, our guide to suspended Google Business Profiles covers the appeal.

Offers: price, free and discount claims

An offer post is an advertisement. Under 15 USC 45(a)(1), unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce are unlawful, and 15 USC 52 prohibits any false advertisement likely to induce the purchase of food, drugs, devices, services or cosmetics. The offer title, the description and the terms field all count.

If the offer compares a sale price with a former price, the FTC Guides Against Deceptive Pricing apply. 16 CFR 233.1 says a former price is a legitimate basis for a comparison if it is the actual, bona fide price at which the article was offered to the public on a regular basis for a reasonably substantial period of time, and that a price inflated so a large reduction can be advertised makes the bargain a false one. Keep a record of your regular price before you post a discount from it. If the offer is a free consultation or a free first visit, our guide to free consultation offers covers the FTC guide on the word “free” and the conditions you must state.

Use the terms and conditions field. Google’s help page lists it as an optional part of an offer, and it is the place to state who qualifies, what the offer covers, what it does not, and the dates. An offer post also has dates by design, so the end date shown on the post should match the real end of the offer. If you are tempted to add a countdown or a “last chance” line, read our guide to countdown timers and limited-time offers first.

Offers that could reach patients in Medicare or a State health care program need a separate check. Under 42 USC 1320a-7a(a)(5), a person who offers or transfers remuneration to an individual eligible for Medicare or a State health care program, knowing or having reason to know it is likely to influence the individual to order or receive from a particular provider any item or service payable by Medicare or a State health care program, is subject to a civil money penalty of not more than 20,000 dollars for each item or service. HHS adjusts these amounts for inflation each year in the table at 45 CFR 102.3, so read the current table rather than the figure in the statute. A post on a public profile can be seen by anyone, so we recommend keeping discount offers to services that no federal or state health care program pays for, and asking counsel before you post any offer that touches a covered service.

Google’s Maps policy also prohibits offering incentives, such as payment, discounts or free goods or services, in exchange for posting a review. A post that offers a discount for a review breaks that rule. Our guide to asking for patient reviews covers what you can do instead.

Patient stories, photos and names in posts

A post that features a patient needs the closest review. If you are a HIPAA covered entity, a patient’s identity, photo and the fact that they were treated at your practice, when you know them through your records, are protected health information. Under 45 CFR 164.502(a), a covered entity may not use or disclose protected health information except as the Privacy Rule permits. Under 45 CFR 164.501, marketing means a communication about a product or service that encourages the recipient to purchase or use it, with exclusions for certain treatment communications and for describing the covered entity’s own health-related services unless it is paid to make the communication. 45 CFR 164.508(a)(3) requires written authorization for any use or disclosure of protected health information for marketing, with narrow exceptions for face-to-face communications and promotional gifts of nominal value. We recommend getting a written HIPAA authorization from the patient before any story, photo, video or name appears in a post, and keeping it with the post date and text. Our guide to patient photo consent for marketing covers the form.

The Maps policy reaches the same point from Google’s side: it prohibits posting another person’s face in a photo or video, or their medical information, without consent.

A patient story is also an endorsement. Under 16 CFR 255.1(a), endorsements must reflect the honest opinions, findings, beliefs or experience of the endorser, and an endorsement may not convey any express or implied representation that would be deceptive if made directly by the advertiser. 16 CFR 255.2(b) says an advertisement that relates a consumer’s experience on a central attribute will likely be interpreted as representing that the experience is what consumers will generally achieve, so the advertiser should have substantiation for that, or clearly and conspicuously disclose the generally expected performance. Under 16 CFR 255.5(a), a connection between the endorser and the seller that might materially affect the weight or credibility of the endorsement, and that the audience would not reasonably expect, must be disclosed clearly and conspicuously; it names free or discounted products as one such connection. If the patient received a discount, a gift or anything else for sharing their story, say so in the post. Our guide to patient testimonials and before-and-after photos goes further.

Photos and videos

The Business Profile content policy says posted photos and videos must follow the prohibited and restricted content policies and meet additional criteria, which link to Google’s Tips for posting media to Maps. That page asks for media you captured yourself at the location, and says to avoid screenshots, stock photos, GIFs, collages, heavily edited or manipulated photos, and imagery created by other parties. It asks you to avoid adding borders, text or collages, and says superimposed promotional content should be relevant to the place. It also says low quality media may be removed and that quality removals cannot be appealed. A photo of your waiting room, your team with their permission or your building fits that guidance better than a stock image with text laid over it.

Check the background of each photo before you post it. A schedule on a screen, a chart on a desk or a patient in a hallway can turn a team photo into a disclosure.

Questions to ask before a post goes live

Is this an update, an offer or an event, and have we filled in the title, dates and terms the type needs?
Does the post mention a prescription drug, a branded injectable or a medical device, or offer a price or discount on one?
Is any phone number, email or social handle in the text, rather than in the Call now button?
Does any link go to a page on our own site, and does that page explain the service and its risks?
If there is a former or regular price, can we show we charged it for a reasonably substantial period?
Could the offer reach a Medicare or Medicaid patient for a service a program pays for?
Does the post show or name a patient, and do we have their written authorization on file?
If a patient shares their experience, did they receive anything for it, and does the post disclose it?
Is the photo ours, taken at the practice, with no patient information in the background?

Use and avoid

Use: updates about hours, new team members, new services described in plain terms and community events.
Use: the terms and conditions field on each offer, with real start and end dates.
Use: the Call now button for phone contact.
Use: links to pages on your own site that explain the service in full.
Use: photos taken at your practice, with consent from anyone in them.
Avoid: prices, coupons or calls to action for prescription drugs or medical devices.
Avoid: discounts for reviews.
Avoid: patient stories, names or photos without written authorization.
Avoid: “was” prices you never charged and offer dates that keep rolling forward.
Avoid: stock images with text overlays and the same post published again and again.

An illustration

This example is invented. [Practice name], a med spa in [city], drafts an offer post: “[Brand name] injections, [amount] dollars off, this week only, call [number]”, with a stock photo and a patient’s first name and quote. The owner checks it against Google’s pages before publishing.

The brand-name injectable and its discount are the kind of regulated product promotion Google’s posts page and restricted content policy describe, so the owner drops it. The phone number moves to the Call now button. The stock photo is replaced with a photo of the treatment room. The patient quote is held until the practice has a signed HIPAA authorization, and the owner asks whether the patient received anything for it. The final post is an event: an evening information session at the practice with its date, times and a link to the service page on the practice’s own site, which describes risks and who the treatment is for.

Checklist

Pick the post type and complete its fields: title, dates, times and terms for offers and events.
Keep prescription drugs, branded injectables and medical devices out of posts, along with any price or discount for them.
Put phone contact in the Call now button, not in the text.
Link only to pages on your own site.
Document any regular price before you post a discount from it.
Have counsel review any offer that could reach Medicare or Medicaid patients for a covered service.
Never offer a discount or gift for a review.
Get written HIPAA authorization before any patient story, name, photo or video appears.
Disclose anything a patient received for sharing their experience.
Use your own photos, checked for patient information in the background.
After publishing, check the post status and read the reason if it is Not approved.

How we help

We build websites, local and organic search, Google Ads and lead generation and an AI front desk for independent practices. For a practice using Business Profile posts, that means service and offer pages on your own site for posts to link to, with clear terms, documented prices and patient information kept out. Our tools are built with HIPAA in mind. We confirm in writing what a BAA covers before any patient information flows through a tool, and if it is not covered, we do not route patient information through it. We are not a healthcare provider and we do not give legal or medical advice. Read our guide to healthcare marketing rules for the wider picture.

Can a medical practice use Google Business Profile posts?

Yes. Google’s posts help page says businesses in regulated industries can use posts, but should not include content about the regulated products, a list that includes pharmaceutical products and health and medical devices. Updates about the practice, its team and its events fit that guidance.

Why was my post not approved?

Google reviews each post after publishing and marks it Live, Pending or Not approved. A question mark next to Not approved shows which content policy the post broke. Unverified phone numbers in the text, unrelated links, promotions for restricted products and repeated content are among the reasons the policies list.

Can we post a discount on a treatment?

An offer post is allowed, but Google’s restricted content policy says not to show deals, coupons or pricing for regulated pharmaceuticals and health and medical devices. Any former price must be one you really charged, and an offer that could reach Medicare or Medicaid patients for a covered service needs a legal review. HHS adjusts these amounts for inflation each year in the table at 45 CFR 102.3, so read the current table rather than the figure in the statute.

Can we share a patient’s story or photo in a post?

Only with care. For a HIPAA covered entity, 45 CFR 164.508(a)(3) requires written authorization to use protected health information for marketing, and Google’s Maps policy prohibits posting someone’s face or medical information without consent. The FTC endorsement guides also apply to what the story implies and to anything the patient received.

Do posts help a practice rank higher?

Google’s help pages present posts as a way to share current information with customers and do not say that posts change ranking. We make no ranking claim for posts.

Sources

More in Local SEO and reviews for practices

Google Business Profile posts and offers for medical practices: what Google allows