01Patients search for a specialty and a place, not for your name
Someone looking for a cardiologist near home, or a paediatrician open on a Saturday morning, types a specialty and a place, not a doctor's name. Google calls the match between that search and your profile relevance, and you set it through the category and the services you list. Google's rule is as few categories as possible, each as specific as possible while staying representative of the main business, and never a stand-in for keywords. A cardiology practice picks the category that names cardiology, then lists the consultations and tests it really does. The name on the profile is the one on your door and your invoices. Google does not allow unnecessary information in it, such as service descriptors or hours, and can suspend a profile for it.
- Pick the category that names your specialty, and as few categories as possible
- List the consultations and investigations you really perform as services
- Name: the one on your door, with no specialty tagline, city or opening hours
- Hours: the hours the practice is really open, so a patient does not find a closed door
02One practice, several doctors, more than one address
A doctor's practice adds a question of its own: the doctor who consults at more than one clinic. The basic rules for a practice profile and a practitioner's own profile are explained once, in our post on local SEO for dentists, and they apply to doctors too. Here is what matters on top of them. Google gives a practitioner a dedicated profile only if they work in a public-facing role and can be contacted directly at the verified location during stated hours. The profile may carry a title or degree such as Dr. or MD, and individual practitioners are the exception to the one-profile-per-location rule: a doctor may have a page separate from the practice at the same address. The hard case is the doctor who consults two afternoons a week in one clinic and works elsewhere the rest of the time. Test that clinic against the direct-contact condition before you create a profile there, and let the clinic's own profile carry the visits.
- Several doctors at one address: a practice profile plus a separate profile for each doctor who qualifies (the rules are in our post on local SEO for dentists)
- A doctor's profile title is the doctor's name, with a title such as Dr. or MD if you want one, and not the practice's name
- A doctor who is at a location a few hours a week may not meet the condition of being contactable there during stated hours
- One profile per location, except that individual practitioners may have their own; never one per specialty
03What a patient needs to see before booking
Treat each doctor's page as the answer to a patient's practical questions. Who is this, which specialty, what do they treat and what happens at a first consultation? Use only titles the doctor holds. The Colegiul Medicilor din România links a public register of doctors from its website (Registrul medicilor), so a patient can check, and the page should match it. Some practices also work under a contract with the health insurance house, so the profile and the site should say clearly which it is: private only, or private plus a contract. Say how to book and when someone answers, and tell patients with an emergency to call 112 rather than wait for you. Describe treatments, do not promise outcomes, and read your college's advertising rules before you publish; we have not summarised them here.
- Full name, specialty and titles exactly as the college register shows them
- A line on what each doctor treats and how a first consultation runs
- Whether you work privately only or also under a contract with the health insurance house
- How to book, the hours someone answers, and 112 for emergencies
04Reviews, replies and structured data
The review routine and the schema basics are the same as in our post on local SEO for dentists, with the Physician type in place of Dentist. Two things belong to doctors. First, privacy. GDPR Article 9(1) prohibits processing data concerning health unless an exception applies, so even a friendly public reply can break it: a thank-you for Tuesday's visit confirms someone was a patient, and a word about the treatment says why. Thank the reviewer without either and move any detail to a private conversation. Second, accuracy. Check each doctor's name, specialty and titles in the public register of doctors (regmed.cmr.ro) and make the page and the Physician markup say the same, with medicalSpecialty set to the real specialty. We have not measured whether that markup moves anyone up the map.
- Review routine and schema basics: see our post on local SEO for dentists, and use Physician where it says Dentist
- Never confirm a visit or name a treatment in a public reply: it can be data concerning health (GDPR Article 9(1))
- Match each doctor's name, specialty and titles to the public register of doctors
- Mark up the doctors as Physician with medicalSpecialty; we have not measured its effect on ranking
05Where PROOF48 is the wrong choice for a medical practice
We have not built a medical practice's site or run its search, so we claim no specialism. Our FOUND plan, at 297 EUR a month, covers Google Business Profile management, local SEO for 5 target keywords, 2 AI blog posts a month, schema, a monthly ranking report and review monitoring. Five keywords suit one doctor or one small practice in one place, not a clinic with twelve specialties. It is the wrong choice if you need patients this month, because search builds over months, and if most bookings arrive by phone, because our plans do not answer calls. The posts are AI-written: if no doctor can read each one before it goes live, do not publish them. Health content needs a doctor's approval, and we give no medical advice.
- No medical case study at /work yet, and we say so
- FOUND covers 5 target keywords: one doctor or one small practice in one place
- Need patients this month: search is the slow route
- Bookings arrive by phone: our plans do not answer calls
- AI-written posts need a doctor's approval before they go live
Not a clinic: phone lines and structured data on a real site
None of our eight written-up builds is a medical practice. The closest parallel is Santorini Hotel in Eforie Nord. The site publishes the reception, restaurant and complaints phone lines on the page and in structured data, and carries structured data so search engines read the hotel as a hotel, not as a generic page. A practice needs the same thing with other types: the right number for the right need, and a type that says what it is. Schema.org has Physician for that. We do not publish the hotel's occupancy or booking figures, and we have no medical results to quote.
See the build: Santorini HotelQuestions, answered
My doctor consults at two clinics. Does each clinic get a profile for them?
Only where Google's two conditions hold: a public-facing role, and direct contact at the verified location during stated hours. A few hours a week in one clinic may not meet the second, so test each location against it. Each clinic keeps its own profile either way.
Can I reply to a patient's review with details of the visit?
No. Thank them and move any detail to a private conversation. Confirming that someone was your patient, or mentioning the treatment, can reveal data concerning health, and GDPR Article 9(1) prohibits processing it unless an exception applies. Ask your data protection adviser about your wording.
Who checks the health articles in the FOUND plan?
You do. The posts are AI-written, and you review and approve them before they go live. A doctor should read each one, because we give no medical advice and your college's advertising rules apply to what you publish.
Can PROOF48 promise a position on the map?
No. Google says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. We build the profile, pages and schema, report each month what moved, and promise neither a position nor a number of patients.
Where PROOF48 fits
Local SEO for a doctor's private practice is a specific profile category, correct profiles for the practice and each doctor who qualifies, pages that state who treats what and how the visit is paid for, and review replies that protect patient privacy. PROOF48's FOUND plan, at 297 EUR a month, covers the profile, schema and keyword work for a small practice in one place, and a doctor still approves every health sentence.
Cosmin Tiu · Founder, PROOF48
Cosmin has worked in online marketing and software development since 2018, and has built with AI every day since January 2023. He still writes code from scratch daily, in Python, React, Rust and C#. PROOF48 ships business websites in 48 hours and invoices afterwards, so every opinion on this blog was paid for in real builds, not in theory.