Where patients find you on Google
A search like "dentist near me" or "physio in Byron" shows three things: a few paid ads, the map results, and the regular results below them. Google's AI answers increasingly sit on top, built from the same listings, reviews and pages.
Google says local results depend mainly on relevance, distance and prominence. You can't move your clinic, but everything else on this list improves relevance or prominence, or turns more searchers into bookings.
1. Fix your Google Business Profile
Your profile is often the first thing a patient sees, so start here.
- Make sure your practice, not a former employee or vendor, owns the profile.
- Use your real-world name. Google's guidelines don't allow extra keywords or locations in the business name.
- Pick a primary category that matches your main service, and list every service you offer.
- Keep hours, holiday hours and your phone number identical to your website.
- Add a booking link and real photos of your team, rooms and entrance.
Google retired profile Q&A in November 2025 and now answers questions with AI built from your profile, reviews and website. So put clear answers to common questions, like parking, insurance and first-visit details, on your own site. For dentists, our profile guide covers the details.
2. Earn reviews the right way
A steady flow of recent reviews helps patients choose you and adds to your prominence. How you ask matters, though, because Ontario's rules differ by profession:
- Dentists and optometrists can't use testimonials in their own advertising, so reviews stay on Google, not on your website.
- Physiotherapists can publish testimonials with consent, but can't offer discounts or gifts for reviews.
- Ontario's privacy commissioner says express consent is generally required to use personal health information for marketing. Ask in person, use a sign or card, or message only patients who agreed to hear from you.
Reply to every review, and never confirm in a reply that someone is your patient. Our guide to the advertising rules covers each college.
3. Give each service its own page
One page listing twelve services tells Google very little. A page for each service you want more of does much better. Each one should say who it's for, what happens at the first visit, who provides it, and how insurance or fees work, with a Book button near the top.
Write your own words. Template copy shared with other clinics gives Google no reason to rank your page. And don't create pages for towns where you have no clinic.
4. Make booking easy on a phone
- Aim for the main content to load in under 2.5 seconds on a phone. PageSpeed Insights will tell you where you stand.
- Put a tap-to-call button and a Book button on every page.
- Offer online booking from your Google listing if your system supports it.
- Catch missed calls. A caller who gets voicemail during a busy hour often tries the next clinic, so a quick text back makes a real difference.
5. Use ads to fill gaps, not to hide problems
Google Ads can bring calls within days, which is useful when you have open slots or a new practitioner. But ads send people to the same profile and pages, so fix steps 1 to 4 first or you'll pay for clicks that don't book. SEO or ads first? walks through the choice.
6. Count new patients by source
Every month, count new patients by where they came from: Google Maps, organic search, ads, referrals. Without that, you can't tell which of these steps is paying off. Our tracking guide shows how to do it while keeping patient information out of your reports.
What to avoid
- Fake reviews, paid reviews, or asking only happy patients
- Keywords stuffed into your business name
- Bought links and pages made only for search engines
- Anyone who promises a top-three ranking