Should each practitioner have their own Google listing?

In summary, Google lets individual professionals, such as doctors, have their own profile if they are public-facing and customers can contact them directly at a verified location during stated hours. When several practitioners work at one location, the organisation gets a location profile, and each practitioner’s profile is named after that practitioner. Support staff can’t have profiles, and a practitioner shouldn’t create several profiles for different specialties.

Whether a particular role, such as a physiotherapist, chiropractor, dentist, optometrist or massage therapist, qualifies can depend on how Google applies the rules in your area. Check the current guidelines before you start.

• A practitioner with their own following. Patients search for that person by name, and they take bookings directly.
• A solo practitioner who works under a brand name, where Google’s guidelines allow it.
• A clinic where each practitioner has a distinct service. For example, a registered massage therapist with a separate schedule.

• A shared team with shared bookings. One clinic profile is easier to keep accurate and gathers reviews in one place.
• No one to maintain it. Each profile needs photos, hours, replies to reviews and updates.
• High staff turnover. A profile in a former employee’s name is hard to manage when they leave. Make sure the clinic, not the individual, holds ownership.
• Risk of duplicates. Extra profiles at one address are a common reason for merges and suspensions. See one profile per location.

1. Start with the clinic’s location profile and get it right first.
2. Decide which practitioners truly qualify and want one.
3. Name each profile after the practitioner as they practise, with no keywords or credentials stuffed in, apart from what you use publicly.
4. Link each profile to that person’s page on your site and to your booking link. In Jane or Cliniko, you can often link to a specific practitioner’s booking page.
5. Make the clinic an owner of every profile, so you are not locked out when someone leaves.
6. Ask patients to review the practitioner or the clinic, and treat both fairly.

Check that regulator rules on advertising, such as how you present titles and qualifications, are followed. These vary by province and state, and this is not legal advice.

Give each practitioner a page on your website with an honest bio, areas of interest and a clear Book button. That page is what a practitioner’s profile should point to. It also helps patients who search by name. Keep it factual and avoid claims about outcomes.