Managing Healthcare Practices and Practitioners on Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business)

Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) is an essential marketing tool for medical practices and healthcare practitioners, but the way these professionals use the platform is different from other businesses. Doctors, dentists, therapists, and other healthcare providers need to follow a distinct set of guidelines when setting up and managing their Google Business Profiles. Any verified Business Profile account owner or administrator can engage with potential new patients using Google’s marketing tools. In addition to managing basic information like business hours and telephone numbers, account owners or administrators can add links to book online appointments and virtual care, add health services offered, and post photos to show patients what to expect before and after their in-person appointments. Managing a Business Profile for an individual medical practitioner is somewhat different from a larger medical practice with multiple providers. Listings for medical practitioners must include the title or degree, for example Dr., MD, or DO. Medical practices and other large healthcare organizations should create dedicated listings for individual practitioners if the following apply:

The practitioners operate in public-facing roles. (Support staff do not qualify for their own listings.)
The practitioners can be contacted directly to verify their listings.

Google does not recommend that individual practitioners create multiple listings to cover each of their specialties. However, solo practitioners who represent branded organizations may share their listings with the organization by creating a single listing that is named using the following format: [brand/company]: [practitioner name]. To learn more about what is involved in managing a medical practice on Google Business Profile, including how to add virtual care information and appointment links, review this guide from Google.