Local Search and Google Business Profile
A patient you have treated for three months finishes their last session, genuinely better, and says the thing every clinician likes to hear: I don’t know how to thank you. There is a simple answer, a Google review, but a lot of physios let the moment pass, unsure whether asking is allowed, awkward about seeming to fish for praise, or vaguely worried about AHPRA. So the review never gets asked for, and the single strongest lever in local search goes unpulled.
You can ask patients for reviews, and you should, because reviews are among the strongest signals in local search. What you cannot do is offer rewards for them, tell patients what to write, or quietly chase only the happy ones. Invite broadly, make it easy, and never lift those reviews into your own advertising.
Patient reviews matter because they feed prominence, the part of local ranking you can actually influence, as we explain in how the local pack decides who ranks. A practice with a steady stream of recent, genuine reviews looks more prominent to Google and more trustworthy to the human reading them. The skill is gathering them in a way that is both effective and inside the rules, which are narrower for a health service than for a cafe or a plumber.
What you’re allowed to do
Start with the reassuring part. A review a patient writes on Google is their own statement on a platform you do not control, not an advertisement you have published, so it does not breach the testimonial rules that bind your own marketing. Inviting patients to leave one is generally acceptable. You are allowed to ask, to make it easy, and to remind people the option exists.
In practice that means asking at the natural moment, often the end of a successful course of care, and removing the friction. A short, friendly mention from the clinician or front desk, backed by a direct link or a simple card with a QR code, converts far better than hoping people find their way to your profile. Asking everyone as a matter of routine works better than singling individuals out, and it keeps you clear of the gating problem below.
What you can’t do
- No rewards or inducements. Offering a discount, entry into a draw, or anything of value in exchange for a review is an inducement, and for a health service that is a problem. Keep the ask reward-free.
- No scripting. Do not tell patients what to say, and especially do not steer them toward praising clinical outcomes. The review has to be genuinely theirs.
- No gating. Asking only the patients you expect to be happy, or filtering people toward or away from reviewing based on how they feel, breaches Google’s own policies and the spirit of honest feedback. Ask broadly or not at all.
- No repurposing. The moment you copy a glowing review onto your website, socials, or ads, it stops being the patient’s comment on Google and becomes a testimonial in your advertising, which is prohibited. We cover that line in can physios use Google reviews.
Those four lines are easy to hold once you know them, and none of them stops you doing the one thing that works: routinely, genuinely inviting patients to share their experience.
The clean rule: ask everyone, make it easy, offer nothing in return, script nothing, and never paste the review into your own marketing.
Responding without tripping over privacy
Replying to reviews is good practice and a small prominence signal, but it carries its own trap: privacy. When you respond, you must not confirm that the person was a patient or reveal anything about their care, even if they have already done so themselves. A warm, generic thank-you that discloses nothing clinical is the safe pattern. The same caution applies, doubly, to negative reviews, where the urge to set the record straight can lead a practice straight into disclosing health information in public.
A simple house rule keeps the team safe: thank people, never discuss specifics, and take anything that needs detail to a private channel. It costs nothing and removes the main way practices come unstuck in the review section.
Patient reviews are the most powerful lever you have in local search, and gathering them is not against the rules, it just has rules. Ask every patient as a matter of routine, make leaving one effortless, offer nothing in return, and keep the reviews where the patient put them. Do that consistently and the prominence takes care of itself, honestly and durably, which is the only way worth building it.
Common questions about patient reviews
Can physiotherapists ask patients for Google reviews?
Generally yes. A review the patient writes on Google is their own statement on a platform you do not control, not your advertising, so inviting one is acceptable. You can ask, make it easy with a link or QR code, and remind people the option exists, as long as you do not reward or script the review.
Can I offer a discount or prize for reviews?
No. Offering anything of value in exchange for a review is an inducement, and for a regulated health service that is a problem. Keep the request entirely reward-free, and ask all patients as a matter of routine rather than only those you expect to be positive.
Can I share good reviews on my website or social media?
No. Once you repurpose a patient’s review into your own website, social media or advertising, it becomes a testimonial in your advertising, which is prohibited for physiotherapists. Leave reviews where the patient posted them, on the platform you do not control.
Getting found is half of marketing’s whole job.
The Build sets up the full system, your Google presence, condition pages, reviews and tracking, on tools you own. Then we hand you the keys.
See The Build →This article is general commentary for practice owners and is not legal, clinical or regulatory advice. The National Law, AHPRA guidance and platform policies change over time and apply to your circumstances. Check the current rules, and seek your own advice, before relying on anything here.