Google's guidelines draw a line most clinics miss. A practitioner and the organisation they practise in are two different listings. Where several practitioners work at one address, Google says the organisation needs a profile separate from the practitioners' profiles, and that a practitioner's profile title "should include only the name of the practitioner, and shouldn't include the name of the organization". A three-doctor clinic in Indiranagar can legitimately have four profiles.
Most clinics run one, and then the doctors quietly compete over whose name goes in it. That is the first of about a dozen rules that decide whether a profile stands, stalls or gets suspended. What follows was checked against Google Business Profile Help in September 2026.
A setup checklist
Claim the clinic's profile first. Name it exactly as the board outside says. Google's name rules bar marketing taglines, store codes, trademark symbols, hours or operating status, phone numbers and URLs. "Sunrise Dental Care | Best Implants in Jaipur | Open Sunday" breaks three rules in one line.
Add practitioner profiles only for doctors who qualify. Google's test is a public-facing role plus the ability to be contacted directly at the verified location during the hours listed. Support staff must not create profiles. If one doctor runs a branded location alone, Google asks for a single profile in the format "[brand/company]: [practitioner name]".
Use a precise address. P.O. boxes are not accepted, virtual offices are ruled out unless staffed during business hours with customer access, and Google expects permanent fixed signage at the address you list. That last requirement catches consultants who list a residential flat. Set a service area only if you travel to patients; Google caps it at about two hours of driving time from the base.
Enter split hours as split hours. Google asks for regular customer-facing hours. If the doctor sits 10 to 1 and 5 to 8, enter two blocks. A single 10-to-8 block sends people to a locked door at 3 pm.
Point the booking link at your own page. You can add up to 10 links per category and mark one as business-preferred. Third-party links can appear automatically; if you want one gone, Google says providers must remove it within 5 days of a removal request.
Put your registration number in the description. Clause 1.4.1 of the 2002 ethics regulations requires it in the clinic and on prescriptions, certificates and money receipts. Carrying it into your listings costs nothing.
Verification, and what a video has to show
Google decides how you verify. Its help page says methods "are automatically determined by Google and can't be changed" and depend on business type, public information, region or business hours. Video, live or recorded, is one of the routes it offers, and the one clinics most often ask about.
On a live video call you have to show three things: that you are at the location (outside signs, neighbouring businesses, a street sign), that the business is yours (branded equipment, marketing materials, tools), and that you manage it (employee-only areas, the reception counter, a storage room). Live calls are only offered during your stated business hours. Standard reviews take up to five business days; verification through Search Console can be instant if you already manage the clinic's website.
Do the walk before patients arrive. Filming a full waiting room to satisfy a verification step is an avoidable risk to the confidentiality clause 7.14 requires of you.
What gets a clinic profile suspended
Google reserves the right to suspend or disable profiles that do not follow its guidelines. In clinic listings the causes are predictable:
a name stuffed with specialities, localities or superlatives
an address with no permanent signage, or a virtual office
a profile for a doctor who visits a hospital twice a month and cannot be reached there during the hours listed
separate profiles for the same doctor's different specialities, which Google's guidelines rule out
Appeals run through Google's appeals tool. Keep the evidence ready before you start: registration documents, your clinical establishment licence, a tax certificate, a recent electricity or internet bill in the clinic's name. Evidence has to be added within 60 minutes of opening the form. And Google is explicit about the tempting shortcut: do not create a new profile for the same business while the appeal is under review.
Reviews: what you may ask, and what you may not
Google permits asking, and gives you both a short link and a QR code to ask with.
Google then forbids most of what agencies suggest. Offering incentives "in exchange for customers to post reviews, change reviews, or remove negative reviews" is treated as fake and misleading content and is prohibited. So is review gating: merchants must not "discourage or prohibit negative reviews, or selectively solicit positive reviews from customers", and should not "require or pressure users to leave ratings or write reviews while on the premises". The tablet at the billing counter fails two of those at once.
Clause 6.1.1 of the 2002 regulations adds a second filter. Soliciting patients directly or indirectly is unethical, and the clause bars publicity that invites attention to a doctor's skill or achievements. A neutral message after the visit ("if this was useful, you can leave a review here") is a request for feedback. Asking patients to describe how skilled the doctor is, is publicity you commissioned.
Replying needs the same care. Never confirm in public that the person was your patient, even to correct them; clause 7.14 carves out no exception for an unfair review. "We take this seriously and would like to look into it, please call the clinic on this number" says everything you can safely say.
Automating the review request
ExaHealth sends the review request for you, on WhatsApp, automatically after a visit, and keeps the profile's hours and services in sync with the clinic record, so a timing change is made once instead of in three places. It also shows the review trend over time, so a run of poor ratings is visible before the average moves. What it does not do: verify the profile for you, or get a suspension reversed. The tool sends the message; the wording of your listing, your replies and the request itself stays yours.
Keeping it alive
Posts come in three types (Updates, Offers and Events), are reviewed by Google before going live, and are archived after six months unless you set a date range. Offers are the wrong instrument for a clinic, since a discount post is the clearest possible solicitation under 6.1.1. Updates carry the useful things: revised timings, a doctor away for a fortnight, a vaccine back in stock. Clause 6.1.1 expressly permits announcements on starting practice, changing address, temporary absence, resumption and a public declaration of charges, which covers most of what a clinic needs to say.
A profile tells a patient that you exist and that you are open. It does not answer the questions that decide whether they come, which is the job of your own site and booking flow: see does your clinic need a website if you're already on a directory and our guide to setting up online appointments.
If you want the review requests and the hours sync running from the same record your front desk uses, talk to the ExaHealth team.
Sources
An individual practitioner may hold a dedicated profile if public-facing and contactable at…
"Verification methods are automatically determined by Google and can't be changed",…
Suspension appeal process: review guidelines, gather evidence (business registration,…
Incentivised reviews prohibited: businesses may not "offer incentives - such as payment,…
Businesses may ask for reviews via a Google link or QR code; "Offering incentives, like…
Booking links: up to 10 links per category, one can be set as "Business preferred", and…
Post types (Updates, Offers, Events); "Posts older than 6 months are archived unless a date…
Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002,…
The 2002 regulations are still the operative professional-conduct code (the NMC's 2023…
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a doctor and the clinic both have a Google Business Profile?
Yes. Google's guidelines say that where multiple practitioners work at one location, the organisation should have its own profile, separate from each practitioner's. The practitioner's profile is titled with the practitioner's name only, not the clinic's.
Is it against the medical council rules to have a Google Business Profile?
The 2002 regulations restrict soliciting patients and publicity that draws attention to a doctor's skill or achievements. They do not bar a factual listing. Keep the profile to name, recognised qualifications, registration number, speciality, address, hours, services and contact details, and it reads as information.
Can I offer patients a discount for leaving a review?
No. Google prohibits incentives of any kind in exchange for reviews, including discounts and free services, and treats them as fake and misleading content. Selectively asking only satisfied patients is also prohibited.
How long does verification take?
Google's help page says standard reviews take up to five business days. Verification through Search Console, if you already manage the clinic's website in the same account, can be instant.