A Google Business Profile is a clinic's free listing on Google Search and Maps, showing its address, hours, phone number, photos and patient reviews.
What it means
Your Google Business Profile, earlier called Google My Business, is the panel that appears when someone searches your clinic's name or a phrase such as "dermatologist near me". It shows your location on Maps, your timings, phone number, photos, services and reviews.
For many patients, this profile is their first impression of your practice, long before they see your website. A complete, active profile with honest reviews earns calls and direction requests. A thin one with old photos and wrong timings quietly sends patients to the clinic next door.
How to calculate it
Profile actions = calls + direction requests + website clicks from your profile
Google shows these in the profile's performance section. Track them each month, and also record how many new patients say they found you on Google.
For example, in one month a profile gets 120 calls, 80 direction requests and 50 website clicks. Profile actions = 120 + 80 + 50 = 250.
What good looks like
HBA does not publish a benchmark for profile actions, because it depends on your city and speciality. More actions month on month is better, and HBA tracks them weekly. Remember that every call from your profile still depends on an answer rate of at least 95%.
How to improve it
- Fill in every field: correct categories, services, timings, holiday hours and a clear description of what you treat.
- Add real photos of the clinic, the team and the doctor, and refresh them every few months.
- Ask satisfied patients for an honest Google review, never offer anything in return, and reply to every review politely. Follow current NMC guidance on what you may display.
- Post short updates regularly so the profile looks active. Our Google Business Profile service covers this end to end.
- Make sure the phone number on the profile is answered live during clinic hours.
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
Is a Google Business Profile free for clinics?
Yes. Creating and managing a Google Business Profile is free. You need to verify that you run the clinic at that address, then keep the details, photos and timings up to date. Paid Google ads are separate and optional. A well kept profile is one of the best free sources of patients.
How can my clinic get more Google reviews?
Ask satisfied patients for an honest review at the right moment, such as after a good follow-up visit, and send a direct link on WhatsApp. Never offer gifts or discounts in return, and never write reviews yourself. Reply politely to every review, and follow current NMC guidance.
On a free growth call, my team traces your last month from enquiry to treatment and shows you your biggest leak in rupees.