I have audited more than forty practice groups. The pattern almost never changes: the strategy deck is fine and the operational layer underneath it is a mess. Duplicate listings, one phone number across six clinics, categories chosen by whoever set the profile up in 2019.
Nothing works until the listings are clean
Before a single page gets written, the Google Business Profile estate needs to be accurate. That means one profile per physical location, correct primary category per specialty focus, and a unique local phone number per clinic.
Duplicates are the silent killer. Two profiles for the same address split the signals and often mean the wrong one ranks — usually the one with the old phone number.
Location pages that are not templates
A location page with the city name swapped in is not a location page. What actually ranks includes the providers who work there, the procedures available at that site, insurance accepted, parking and transit detail, and photographs of that building.
- Unique copy: at least 60% of the page should be site-specific.
- Providers linked to their own bio pages.
- Procedures linked to the procedure page, and back again.
- LocalBusiness schema with the location’s own NAP.
Reviews are an operations problem
Review velocity moves local rankings more reliably than almost anything else you can control, and it is the one thing agencies cannot do for you. The winning version is a two-tap SMS at discharge, owned by the front desk, reviewed weekly in the same meeting as everything else.
Give staff a one-page SOP and a number to hit. Do not build a portal.
Measure calls, not rankings
Local pack position is a proxy. Calls and booked appointments are the outcome. Per-location tracking numbers make the difference visible, and make the budget conversation short.
