Google Business Profile for clinics: the parts that actually move you up
Most clinic listings are half-finished. Completing yours is the cheapest visibility work available, and it takes about an hour.
For "dentist near me", Google is weighing three broad things: how relevant you look, how close you are, and how prominent you seem. You cannot change your address. You can change almost everything else.
1. Get the primary category exactly right
The primary category does more work than any other single field. "Dentist" and "Dental clinic" are not the same category and do not behave identically. Pick the one that matches what you mainly do, then add secondary categories for genuine services — orthodontist, dental implants provider — rather than stuffing every category that exists.
2. NAP consistency, checked properly
Name, address, phone. These should be byte-identical across your Google listing, your website, Practo, Justdial and anywhere else you appear. "Shop 4, 12th Main" in one place and "#4, 12th Main Road" in another is the sort of inconsistency that quietly erodes confidence in your listing.
3. Hours, including the ones you are closed
Fill in every day, mark holidays, and set special hours for festivals. A patient who travels to a closed clinic leaves a one-star review, and that review costs you more than the visit was worth.
4. Photos — yours, not stock
Reception, the treatment room, the building entrance from the street, the team. The entrance photo is underrated: in an Indian city, finding the actual door is often the hardest part of the journey, and a photo of it prevents a frustrated arrival.
Stock photography is recognisable and reads as a clinic with something to hide. A slightly imperfect real photo beats a perfect fake one.
5. Reviews, and replying to all of them
Ask every satisfied patient, at the right moment — which is as they leave, not by broadcast three weeks later. A QR code at the counter or a link in the post-visit message converts far better than a general appeal.
Reply to negative reviews calmly, publicly and without clinical detail — you have a confidentiality obligation the reviewer does not. "We are sorry about the wait that day, please call the clinic so we can look into it" is the whole template.
6. Services and the booking link
Fill in the services list with what you actually offer; it feeds relevance for specific searches. Add your booking link so the profile can convert directly instead of sending the patient to a phone call they may not make.
The hour, spent
- Primary category correct, two or three real secondary categories.
- NAP identical everywhere, one phone number.
- Every day's hours filled, festival hours set.
- Ten real photos including the street entrance.
- Booking link added.
- A process for asking for reviews as patients leave.
Practices on GullyMed get a bookable URL for the last point on day one, on the free tier, before they have paid for anything.