Local SEO for Therapists

The profile sheet

Field	What you type	What still has to be true
Primary category	Words you confirmed in the editor today, the most specific option that completes “this business IS a”	Fewest categories, from the provided list, not a keyword pile
Services list	Adult individual therapy; couples therapy; video sessions	Upfront and relevant, no sale price, no “best”
Photos	Street door, empty desk, a headshot you would hang on a license wall	Location is the subject; no client face, chart, or session
Hours and telehealth	Office Tue-Thu 10:00-6:00; video sentence matches the website	Customer-facing hours you will keep; no unstaffed virtual office
Reviews response rule	Thank you for writing. I am not able to discuss care in a public reply. The office phone is on the profile	No medical information, and no request for personal details
Posts never include	A client story, a diagnosis used as a hook, a phone number typed into the post	Unverified contact info may be removed; honor a marketing promise you make
Monthly upkeep	First Monday: hours, telehealth sentence, one photo, reviews answered or left on purpose	Edit anything that no longer matches the practice

It’s Thursday at 9:10. A prospective client searched for a counselor near the office you left in June, and the listing still shows Wednesday hours you no longer keep. That stale card is the local SEO problem. A new blog post will not fix it.

Local SEO for therapists, counselors, and psychotherapists is the same job: one Google Business Profile that matches the practice a stranger can actually reach. If you are a counselor, a psychologist, or a psychotherapist, use that one profile. Fill the sheet yourself instead of hiring someone.

Jordan Hale is fictional. Jordan sees adults on Tuesday through Thursday in a rented office and offers video sessions on other days. Copy the shape, not Jordan’s category words. Confirm every category in the live editor before you save.

Download the Therapist Marketing Kit if you want a blank profile sheet you can print. Plan your other channels from the marketing for therapists guide.

Educational resource for licensed US mental-health clinicians. This is a profile worksheet, not legal, advertising, licensure, or clinical advice. Google’s help pages can change. The quotes below were checked on the public help pages on September 24, 2026.

Primary category: confirm it, don’t invent it

Open the category list in the editor and write down the words it still offers. Local SEO for therapists fails when the category is a phrase you liked on a blog and the editor no longer has it.

Google’s guidelines for representing your business say to “choose the fewest number of categories it takes to describe your overall core business.” The categories section on that same page says to “use as few categories as possible to describe your overall core business from the provided list,” and to “choose categories that are as specific as possible, but representative of your main business.” It also says: “Do not use categories solely as keywords or to describe attributes of your business.”

The selection test on that page is concrete. Pick categories that complete “This business IS a” rather than “this business HAS a.” Anxiety treatment, couples work, and video sessions are services you offer. They are not a reason to stack extra categories. If the editor has no category that names your exact license, choose the more general option the list still shows. Do not type a category the list does not offer.

There should be one profile for the business. The same guidelines say: “There should only be one profile per business, as this can cause problems with how your information displays on Google Maps and Search.”

Services list, and the keywords a profile should use

The services list is plain language for the work you do. Jordan’s line is a fictional example, not a category to copy: adult individual therapy, couples therapy, and video sessions. No sale price. No “best” or “top.” Do not add where a video client may sit. Check your own licensing board and any compact you hold before you add a location to that list.

Google’s business-description guidance, on the same guidelines page, says to use that field for “useful information on services and products offered” and to be “upfront and honest.” Content “that’s irrelevant to your business or has no clear association with it isn’t allowed.” The description must not “focus on special promotions, prices, and offer sales.” Google’s own examples of content that is not allowed include “Everything on sale, -50%” and “Best bagels in town for $5!” No links of any type are allowed in the description.

If the editor shows a services section, put the list there and keep the description consistent with it. If it does not, the description is the place those words belong. The guidelines linked here do not publish a therapy-specific services menu. Do not copy a services checklist from a blog and treat it as Google’s.

Keywords a therapy practice profile should use are the words a prospective client would type for work you actually do. Put them in the description and the services list. “Anxiety,” “couples,” and “video sessions” are fair if those are Jordan’s real offerings. “Best therapist in the city” is a ranking you cannot show, and it fights the description rule against sale-style superlatives.

Do not move those keywords into the business name. The name guidelines say the name should reflect the real-world name used on the storefront, website, and stationery, and that “including unnecessary information in your business name isn’t permitted.” Marketing taglines in the name are in the “not acceptable” column on that page.

Photos: the place, not the session

Photos are part of local SEO for therapists because the listing is a place card, not a case study. Photograph the location a person could visit, or the desk you actually use if that is the public face of the practice. Jordan’s set is a street door, an empty desk with no client belongings in the frame, and a headshot Jordan would hang on a license wall. No client. No session. No whiteboard with names. No before-and-after.

The photos, videos, and posts policy says prohibited and restricted content rules apply to submitted photos, and that photos must also meet additional criteria. Those criteria, on Google’s tips for posting media, say to use media you captured and to create it at the location you are posting to. They also say: “Focus on the location. The location should be the primary subject of the content.” Media “where something other than the place is the main focus, such as selfies that emphasize a person or group, is less helpful.” Avoid stock photos and screenshots. If you add text, keep it relevant to the place and skip distracting or inappropriate overlays.

A headshot is a practice choice, not a Google requirement. Google’s prohibited and restricted content page says not to post personal information of another person without consent, including “their face in a photograph” and “medical information.” That is the reason a client never appears in a profile photo. Your own name can appear when you are “a public-facing professional conducting business under their name.” The examples on that page are doctors, lawyers, realtors, financial planners, contractors, and similar professionals. Read the section before you assume a headshot policy was written with a therapy office in mind.

Hours and telehealth

Hours are the part of local SEO for therapists a stranger can check with one phone call. Write the hours you will actually keep this week. Jordan’s office hours are Tuesday through Thursday, 10:00 to 6:00. Check your own licensing board and any compact you hold before you name where video sessions are offered. Paste only a sentence your website already uses, and keep the two identical. If the website has no location line, leave it blank here.

The hours section of the representation guidelines says: “Provide your regular customer-facing hours of operation.” It also says certain businesses shouldn’t provide hours, “including those with varied hours” and “those that operate only by appointment.” The examples on that page include indoor lodging, schools and universities, movie theaters, transportation services and airports, and event venues and natural features. Therapy is not in that list. If you only see people by appointment, read that sentence before you publish a weekly grid that looks like a walk-in shop. If you do publish hours, they have to be hours you will answer.

The hours and service-area sections on that page do not name telehealth or therapy. Two sentences still apply to a video practice that wants a map pin.

Service-area businesses can’t list a “virtual” office unless that office is staffed during business hours.

The boundaries of your profile’s overall service area shouldn’t extend farther than about 2 hours of driving time from where your business is based. For some businesses, larger service areas may be appropriate.

Read both sentences before you set a service area. The page does not name therapy as one of those businesses.

If the editor offers More hours, the same page says you can set them “to highlight times for specific services,” and that “in general, you should set More hours as a subset of your primary hours.” Video hours that fall outside the office grid do not fit that subset instruction. Do not invent a second grid the editor will not save. Put the video sentence in the description, and keep it identical to the sentence on your site. The opening guidelines say to represent the business “as it’s consistently represented and recognized in the real world across signage, stationery, and other branding.”

The website is a different job. When you write your practice website, use therapist website examples.

Reviews: a reply that does not discuss care

A review reply is local SEO for therapists only when it does not become a chart note. Google’s read and reply to reviews page says: “Before you can reply to reviews, you must verify your business.” It also says: “When you reply to their reviews, you show them that you value their feedback.”

The content limit is stricter than the how-to. The representation guidelines say Google does not allow content, or solicitation of content, that contains private or confidential information, including “sensitive records” and “personal information.” Merchants may post their own contact information “in response to reviews.” They may not solicit personal or confidential information. The prohibited content page adds medical information to the personal-information list, and it bars posting another person’s personal information without consent.

Jordan’s default, which you can reuse when the review is general and does not identify care:

Thank you for writing. I am not able to discuss care in a public reply. The office phone is on the profile if you need to reach the practice.

Practice defaults, not extra Google sentences: do not confirm or deny that the writer is a client. Do not mention diagnosis, session content, or attendance. If the review names a clinical detail, do not answer the detail. If you cannot reply without confirming care, leave it unanswered and note the date.

Posts never include

A post can share an announcement, an offer, or an event. Google’s create and manage posts page says you can share those “directly with your customers on Search and Maps.” The posts content policy says Google may remove posts with unverified contact information, including phone numbers, email addresses, and social media handles. It also says to attach a Call now button, which “uses your verified Business Profile phone number.”

What a therapy post should never carry. This is a practice list, not a Google script:

• A client story, even with the name removed, if the detail could identify them. That is another person’s personal information, and it can be medical information.
• A diagnosis used as a hook. That is medical information on a public post.
• Another clinician’s client, or a ranking you cannot show from a named source.
• Crisis instructions that replace a number a person can call now. If you print a number, confirm it before you publish.

A marketing promise is not on that never list. The representation guidelines say: “Any promotion, marketing, contests, or other giveaways should clearly link to the terms of the activity and provide clear guidelines and qualifications. All such promises, given or implied, should be adhered to.” If a therapy post makes a promotion or marketing promise, state its terms clearly and honor every express or implied promise. If you cannot state the terms and honor it, leave clinical outcome and time-to-better language out of the post.

When you edit organic social posts, use social media for therapists.

One sheet for counselors, psychologists, and psychotherapists

A counselor, a psychologist, and a psychotherapist should use one profile. Each of those roles can be a public-facing professional with one customer base. Google’s individual-practitioner section, on the representation guidelines, names doctors, dentists, lawyers, financial planners, and insurance or real estate agents. It does not name therapists. Read it anyway before you open a second profile.

Two sentences on that page are the ones that matter here. An individual practitioner should have a dedicated profile only if they operate in a public-facing role and can be contacted directly at the verified location during stated hours. And “a practitioner shouldn’t have multiple Business Profiles to cover all of their specializations.” Anxiety, trauma, and couples are specializations. They are not three businesses.

If several public-facing clinicians share one location, the organization gets a profile and each practitioner’s profile uses only the practitioner’s name, not the organization name. A solo clinician who is the only public-facing person at a branded location is told it is best to share one profile with the organization, in the form [brand]: [practitioner name]. A solo practice that is just you uses one profile. Use the guide for solo therapists when you plan the rest of a solo practice.

Local SEO for therapists is that listing. Use the same seven fields for the counselor down the hall and for the psychologist who only sees people on video. Open one profile, and save only categories you confirmed in the editor.

Monthly upkeep

The hours and posts guidance does not set a monthly quota. The reason to reopen the profile is the accuracy rule you already used: hours, address or service area, and posts have to match the practice you are running now. The posts page says that if details change, you can edit a post to keep the info up to date.

Jordan’s first-Monday pass is short:

1. Hours still match the week Jordan will answer. The telehealth sentence still matches the website.
2. One photo still shows the practice, not a client.
3. Reviews were replied to, or left unanswered on purpose, with the date noted.
4. A post was drafted against the never-include list, or there is no post.

That is the monthly upkeep row. If a line on the sheet no longer matches the editor, the editor wins. Write the new words down and date the check.

Local SEO for therapists is finished for the month when those four checks are done. It is not finished when a vendor sends a ranking screenshot. If you want the blank sheet in a file you can print, use the Therapist Marketing Kit.