I’m a Navy veteran with a bad back, and chiropractors have done more for me than anything else. Now I spend a lot of time looking at practices’ Google listings. The same handful of mistakes shows up over and over, at new practices and 20-year practices alike. Here are the seven worth checking first.
1. Get your primary category right
Your primary category should be “Chiropractor.” Add secondary categories only for things you actually offer as a service line. Google uses categories to decide which searches you can show up for, so a wrong or missing primary category quietly limits you before anything else matters.
2. One practice, one listing (unless you have several doctors)
If you’re the only doctor, you should have one listing. A second listing under your personal name splits your reviews between two profiles and confuses Google about which one to show. If you have several doctors, individual practitioner listings are allowed, but each one should be set up on purpose, with the practice listing as the main one. If you find a duplicate you don’t want, you can mark it as a duplicate from Google Maps (“Suggest an edit,” then “Close or remove”) or remove it from inside your Business Profile account.
3. List every service you actually offer
Prenatal care and Webster technique, spinal decompression, auto injury, sports injuries, pediatric care, extremity adjustments. If you offer it, add it as a service with a one or two sentence description. When a patient searches “prenatal chiropractor” or “decompression near me,” Google can only show you if it knows you do it. Many listings have no services filled in at all.
4. Make your hours match everywhere, lunch included
Chiropractic offices often close midday or have split hours on certain days. Put those exact hours on Google, and make sure Yelp, Healthgrades and your website say the same thing. A patient who checks the wrong site and shows up to a locked door at 1:00 doesn’t usually try again. Set holiday hours ahead of time too.
5. Moved? Update the address in every place
If you’ve moved, update the address on Google, your booking software, your website, your voicemail greeting, and the big directories. When these disagree, Google trusts your listing less, and new patients can end up driving to your old office.
6. Use your real name, spelled right
Your business name on Google should match your sign exactly. Don’t add keywords or slogans to the name (Google can suspend listings for it), and double check the spelling. A typo in “Chiropractic” gets copied by other directories that pull from Google.
7. Add a booking link and real photos
Link your online scheduling right from the listing, and add real photos of your office, your team and you. Real photos help people feel comfortable walking in for the first time.
What about reviews?
Reviews matter a lot for the map pack, and how you reply to them matters for patient privacy. I wrote a separate guide on that: How to Reply to Google Reviews Without Breaking Patient Privacy.
Want a second set of eyes?
Send me a message and I’ll look at your Google Business Profile and tell you what I’d fix first. Call or text 910-299-2558, or use the contact page.