Google Business Profile for a therapy practice
A considered setup guide for UK therapists and counsellors. Everything that needs attention, nothing that does not, and the parts that need handling differently for a therapy practice.
01 / Why GBP matters for a therapy practice
The local map quietly does more work than most therapists realise
For a therapy practice, the Google Business Profile is an unusual beast. It drives the local map pack, which is what appears when someone searches 'therapist [your town]' or 'counsellor near me'. In most towns, the map pack sits above every other result, including paid ads. A properly set-up profile will bring steady, local enquiries for years with effectively no ongoing work.
But GBP was built for retail and restaurants. The default playbook, chase reviews, post weekly updates, pack the profile with keywords, is not just unhelpful for therapy, it actively conflicts with BACP and UKCP guidance on advertising and confidentiality. A considered therapy-practice profile looks quieter than a restaurant's, and ranks better for it.
This page walks through the setup that works for UK therapists. Category choice, photography, hours, the careful handling of reviews and messaging, and the small quarterly touch that keeps the listing trusted by Google without asking anything of the practice that sits uncomfortably with the field.
02 / Six GBP considerations
Where a therapy profile needs handling differently
Every one of these departs from the generic GBP advice. Each matters more for a therapy practice.
Category chosen with care
'Psychotherapist', 'Counselor' or 'Mental health service' each behave slightly differently in Google's local index. Psychotherapist is the best fit for most UKCP-registered practitioners. Counselor suits many BACP-registered counsellors. Secondary categories can be added but the primary one does most of the work.
Photography of rooms and buildings, not faces
A photograph of the outside of the building, the hallway, the room set up for a session (empty, neutral), and one well-lit headshot of you. No stock photography, no photographs of clients, no candles. The aim is quiet reassurance that the practice is real and the space is calm.
Hours that match your booking reality
Only list hours when you are actually contactable or accepting enquiries. 'Special hours' for supervision days, training days and breaks. A profile that shows you open when you are not is worse than one with conservative hours, because a prospective client who rings and gets voicemail rarely tries again.
Reviews, handled with unusual care
Therapy clients rarely review publicly and should never be asked. Any review that does arrive must be responded to without confirming the reviewer was a client. BACP and UKCP guidance both address this. A simple reply like 'thank you for taking the time to leave feedback' is almost always the right move.
Messaging and booking turned off, or handled thoughtfully
Google's Messages feature is usually best disabled for therapy practices. Enquiries should come via your own secure form where the privacy notice is visible. If you use a practice management system for booking, link it from the site rather than Google.
Services listed with care
List the specialisms and modalities you actually work with, with short, considered descriptions. Avoid listing 'treatment' for specific diagnoses; describe the area of work instead. 'Bereavement counselling' rather than 'depression treatment'. Closer to ethical guidance, and closer to how clients actually search.
03 / Setup in four steps
From creation to quiet, steady performance
Claim or create the profile
Sign in with the Google account you want tied to the practice (not a personal Gmail if you can avoid it). Verify by postcard or phone. For home-based practices, hide the address and set a service area by town rather than listing your home publicly.
Fill in the basics, slowly
Name as listed on your registration body. Category. Hours. A short, considered description of how you practise. Website linked to your main site, not a directory profile. Photographs uploaded one at a time, properly named, no faces other than yours.
Cross-link with the site
Link the GBP URL from your contact page. Ensure the name, address and phone are identical across the site, GBP, BACP register entry and any directories. Consistency is the single biggest factor in whether Google trusts the listing enough to show it.
Leave it mostly alone
A considered profile needs updating maybe three or four times a year. Fee changes, holiday hours, new specialisms. Posting weekly updates has no demonstrable benefit for therapy practices and risks diluting the tone of the listing. Restraint is a feature, not a gap.
FAQ
Common questions
My practice is in my home. Should I still have a Google Business Profile?
Yes, but set it up as a service-area business rather than a storefront. Google allows you to hide the street address while still appearing for local searches within a radius you define. This is the standard pattern for home-based therapy practices and does not affect ranking adversely.
Can I ask clients for reviews?
BACP and UKCP guidance strongly discourage soliciting reviews from current or former clients. The therapeutic relationship makes informed consent around a public review difficult, and any review confirms the reviewer was a client, a confidentiality concern in itself. Do not ask. Respond carefully if unsolicited reviews arrive.
How do I respond to a critical review?
Carefully, without confirming the reviewer was a client, and usually briefly. Something along the lines of 'I am sorry this was your experience. If you would like to discuss it directly, please contact me via my website's contact form'. Never argue publicly, never reveal details, and never imply you know who the reviewer is even if you do.
What category should I choose?
For psychotherapists and psychologists, 'Psychotherapist' or 'Psychologist' respectively. For counsellors, 'Counselor' (Google uses the American spelling) is usually the right fit. 'Mental health service' is broader and useful as a secondary category. HCPC-registered clinical psychologists might prefer 'Psychologist' as primary with 'Mental health service' secondary.
Is it worth doing GBP posts?
For retail and restaurants, often yes. For therapy practices, rarely. Posts appear in the profile and then disappear after a week. They do not meaningfully help ranking for therapy searches, and the tone required for weekly posting sits awkwardly with the field. One post a quarter announcing genuine practice changes is more than enough.
What about the Q&A section?
Monitor it. Anyone can ask a question and anyone can answer, so it is worth pre-seeding the most common questions (fees, online sessions, specialisms, first session) with careful answers from the business account. Check once a month in case someone has answered a question about your practice incorrectly.
Want the GBP set up alongside your site?
We handle GBP setup, schema, cross-linking and ongoing tweaks for every therapy practice we build for. Plans from £39/mo.