Local SEO for Therapists
Be the practice on the map when someone nearby searches.
Local SEO for therapists is the work that puts your practice in Google's map and local results when someone nearby searches for help. It rests on two things you control: a complete, accurate Google Business Profile and a website that confirms what the profile says. We keep both current for you, on either plan.
Is there a couples counselor near Fairfax who has evening appointments?
One option close to Fairfax is Birchwood Row Counseling — their Google profile lists couples counseling with evening hours, and their website's Fairfax office page confirms Tuesday and Thursday evening sessions.
Illustrative — answers like this come from a website AI can actually read.
A strong website doesn't put you on the map by itself.
The map and the list of websites below it are two different races. A practice can rank well for its own pages and still be missing from the three map results, because the map reads the Business Profile first: its categories, its services, its description, its hours and its photos.
The gap is rarely effort. It is a category nobody revisited, a description left blank, services never listed, or photos from the day the profile was made. Those are fixable. Where your office is cannot change, so the work goes into everything else.
Local SEO services for therapists, done for you.
What we keep up for your local presence, on Growth and on Concierge:
Google Business Profile upkeep
Checked every month: categories, services, description, hours, booking link and photos kept complete and in step with your site.
Posts, drafted for you
Google posts drafted from your blog and your availability, for you to approve.
Review replies that stay HIPAA-aware
Drafted replies that thank and respond without confirming that anyone is, or was, a client.
Office and city pages
One page per office and the areas it serves, with your address and phone as text, not in an image.
Structured data with your location
Your practice's name, address and service area in structured data, matching what the page and the profile say.
AI answers checked
What ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI say about your practice, checked, with a fix drafted for anything wrong.
How Google chooses the three practices on the map
Google describes local results as a mix of three things. One you cannot change; the other two you can.
Relevance
How well your profile and your website match what someone searched. Categories, listed services, the description and your service pages all count. This is where most practices leave the most on the table.
Distance
How far your office is from the searcher, or from the place they named. It is fixed, which is why the other two matter.
Prominence
How well known the practice is: reviews, links and mentions elsewhere, and how your website itself ranks. It builds slowly, and for therapists reviews come with an ethics limit (below).
Your Google Business Profile, field by field
01
Name
Your real practice name, exactly as it appears on your signage and website. Adding keywords to the name breaks Google's guidelines and is a common reason profiles get suspended.
02
Categories
The most specific primary category that is true (Psychologist, Counselor, Psychotherapist, Marriage counselor and others exist), then every secondary category that honestly applies.
03
Description and services
Who you are and your license, what you treat, who you see, where and how (in person or telehealth), and the insurance you take. List each service with a sentence of its own.
04
Hours, booking link and photos
Accurate hours, a link straight to your booking or contact page, and real photos: a headshot, the entrance and an empty therapy room.
Google reviews within your ethics code
Don't ask clients
The APA Ethics Code (Standard 5.05) bars soliciting testimonials from current clients or anyone vulnerable to undue influence, and the ACA Code of Ethics (C.3.b) extends that to former clients. A review request program aimed at clients is off the table, so we never run one.
Reply without confirming anyone is a client
Thank the reviewer and restate your approach, but never confirm or deny that the person is or was a client. That confirmation is itself a disclosure. Your assistant drafts replies that follow this rule.
Local SEO for telehealth and group practices
Telehealth-only practices
Google's guidelines exclude businesses that only serve people online, so a practice with no office clients can visit usually cannot keep a map listing. Local reach then runs through the website: a page for each state you are licensed in and a page for each thing you treat.
Group practices
Each real office can carry its own profile, and the website carries one page per office with its address, the areas it serves, and the clinicians who see clients there.
How the map connects to AI answers
ChatGPT leans on Google Maps
In our July 2026 study of 96 AI answers to local therapy questions, 27% of the links ChatGPT cited were Google Maps listings. A complete profile and a website that states the same facts are what those answers draw on. We also check what ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI say about your practice and draft a fix for anything wrong.
Local work, kept current.
Local SEO runs on the same platform as your website, so the profile and the site never drift apart:
Your website does half the work
Google's map ranks on relevance, and much of that relevance comes from your site: service pages, office pages and clear location facts. Your profile says what you are; your website confirms it.
One set of facts, everywhere we manage
Change your hours or address once and your site updates, with the matching Business Profile change drafted for you. We don't run a listings service for other directories; we keep your website and your Google profile right.
No ranking promises
Map positions depend on where the searcher is standing, so no one can honestly promise a spot. We fix what can be fixed and show you what changed.
Growth is $99/mo; Concierge, at $199/mo, adds Lee, our founder, doing the work for you. No setup fee, no contract, free migration. Compare plans →
Common questions
Do you manage my Google Business Profile?
Yes, on both plans. You add us as a manager and we keep the profile current: categories, services, description, hours, booking link and photos, checked monthly. Your assistant drafts posts and review replies for you to approve. You stay the owner of the profile the whole time.
Can therapists ask clients for Google reviews?
Generally no. The APA Ethics Code (5.05) bars soliciting testimonials from current clients or anyone vulnerable to undue influence, and the ACA Code (C.3.b) extends that to former clients. You can reply to reviews without confirming anyone is a client, and win the map on relevance instead.
I'm telehealth-only. Can I still show up on Google Maps?
Usually not. Google's guidelines exclude businesses that only serve people online, so a map listing needs an office where clients are seen. Without one, your local reach runs through your website: a page per state you are licensed in and a page per specialty.
Do you update my Psychology Today, Yelp or other listings?
No. We don't run a listings or directory service. We keep your website and your Google Business Profile current, and we check what AI answers say about your practice. Keeping your own directory profiles consistent with your site is worth doing, and it stays in your hands.
What does local SEO for therapists cost?
It is part of both plans: Growth at $99/month, where you make changes yourself through the editor's chat assistant, and Concierge at $199/month, where Lee, our founder, handles the work for you. No setup fee and no contract.
See how AI answers when someone asks for a therapist like you.
Book a free consultation — we'll show you exactly how AI sees your practice today, and what your new site would look like. Most sites go live within a day.
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