Between October and November 2026 we scanned 300,000 websites of private practices: physio, chiropractic, dental, optometry, counseling, massage and naturopathic clinics. For the 81,024 homepages in Canada and the US that loaded fully, we checked what a new patient sees in the first few seconds. We wanted a plain answer to one question: when a new patient lands on a clinic’s website, how easy is it to book, trust and call?
The short version
| Clinic type | Homepages read | No online booking found | No stars, reviews or testimonials | No tap-to-call link | Mentioned an offer for new patients |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Physiotherapy | 10,253 | 49% | 68% | 2% | 56% |
| Chiropractic | 11,225 | 45% | 57% | 14% | 49% |
| Dental | 29,984 | 37% | 65% | 8% | 39% |
| Optometry | 8,151 | 36% | 72% | 1% | 45% |
| Counseling | 7,243 | 74% | 78% | 5% | 63% |
| Massage | 8,522 | 39% | 80% | 1% | 67% |
| Naturopathic | 5,646 | 56% | 73% | 4% | 72% |
(Share of homepages with each gap; the last column is the share that did mention an offer. Canada and US only.)
No way to book, other than calling
Between 36% and 74% of homepages, depending on the clinic type, had no booking link and no booking software we could detect. The way in was a phone number, sometimes a contact form. That matters most outside office hours: people look for a clinic in the evening, after the front desk has gone home. If the only option is to call tomorrow, some of them book with the clinic that let them pick a time tonight.
The booking software is often already paid for
Where we could identify a booking system, the most common were Jane and Prompt for physio, Jane and ChiroTouch for chiropractic, Dentrix, Modento and NexHealth for dental, and SimplePractice for counseling. Most of these tools include a public booking page and a button for your site. A clinic can pay for online booking and still not offer it where patients look.
Reviews stay in the treatment room
Across clinic types, 57% to 80% of homepages showed no star rating or review count. Plenty of these clinics have good Google reviews. They just don’t show them where a nervous new patient is deciding.
Almost nobody gives a reason to book now
Only 8% of dental homepages and 2% of physio homepages mentioned any offer or first-visit incentive. Where a regulator allows an offer, a clear and honest one stands out simply because it is rare.
How we counted
- Clinics came from public business listings. We requested 300,000 websites; 137,000+ loaded, and the figures above use the 81,024 that loaded in Canada and the US.
- We checked each homepage for links and code from known booking systems, booking words on buttons and links, tap-to-call links, review widgets and ratings, patient testimonials and new-patient offers.
- We only looked at the homepage. A clinic with a booking link on another page, or a booking system we don’t recognise, is counted as having none. Treat the figures as what a patient sees first, not a full audit of every site. Figures change when we rescan.
What to do with this
Open your own homepage on your phone and try to book a first appointment without calling. Count the taps. If you can’t do it, or it takes more than three or four, that is the first thing to fix, and it often does not need a new website.
Want to know where your own clinic sits? Our website grader runs the same kind of homepage checks on one site, and the FAQ library answers the questions owners ask about each one.
If you’d like a second pair of eyes, claim your marketing audit and we’ll run these checks on your clinic, along with your Google profile.