Local SEO for therapy and counselling practices

What local SEO means for a therapy practice

Local SEO is the work of being found for searches with a place attached: “counsellor in Harrogate”, “psychotherapist near me”, “couples therapy Leeds”. Google shows a map and a short list of businesses for many of these searches, alongside ordinary results and, increasingly, an AI Overview. AI tools such as ChatGPT and Gemini answer similar questions by drawing on the same kinds of information.

For a practice with several therapists, local SEO rests on four things: an accurate Google Business Profile, a website that is clear about where and how you work, consistent details across directories, and genuine reviews.

Google Business Profile: eligibility first

Google Business Profile is often the most important local listing for a practice with premises. Google’s guidelines say a business must make in person contact with customers during its stated hours to be eligible. For therapy practices that has clear consequences.

• If you see clients face to face at a location, a profile for that location is appropriate. Use your real practice name, address and hours.
• If your service is entirely online, it is generally not eligible for a profile. Your website, directories and independent mentions matter even more.
• Do not list virtual offices, mailboxes or rooms you never use to appear in more towns. This breaks the guidelines and can lead to suspension.
• If you have several real locations, each can have its own profile with its own hours.

Check Google’s current business eligibility guidelines, including the rules for individual practitioners, before you create or change profiles.

Filling in your profile properly

• Choose the primary category that best describes the practice, and add accurate secondary categories.
• Describe your services in plain words, matching the service names on your website.
• Add opening hours, including when online sessions are offered if you also see people in person.
• Link to the matching location or service page, not just your home page.
• Add photographs of your premises, not stock images and never clients.
• Use the questions and answers feature to answer common questions accurately.

Your website: say where and how you work

Your website should make your locations and formats unmistakable. For each location, a page with the address, how to get there, accessibility, parking and which services and therapists are available there. For online work, say which services are online and any limits, such as clients needing to be in the UK.

Resist the temptation to create pages for every town nearby. Pages that swap a place name into identical text are low value, can harm your visibility and can mislead people about where you see clients.

Directories: make every listing agree

Directories matter for therapy practices more than for most businesses, because many clients start their search on them. Psychology Today, Counselling Directory and the BACP, UKCP and NCPS registers are common starting points. Each holds your practice name, address, phone number, services and fees. Make them all match your website and Google Business Profile. Our directory profiles guide covers each one.

Reviews, carefully

Reviews influence both people and search results. In therapy they need particular care. You may invite clients to leave honest reviews on independent platforms. Never write reviews, never offer anything in return and never reply in a way that confirms someone is or was a client. Think about whether asking could feel like pressure for someone you are still working with. Advertising rules require reviews used in marketing to be genuine.

Track what matters

Use Google Search Console to see which searches lead to your pages, and Google Business Profile insights to see how people find and contact you. Count enquiries by source where you can. Check what AI tools say when asked about therapy in your area, using the same questions each month.

Where this fits

Local SEO is one part of mental health SEO, and it feeds directly into what AI tools say about you. If you run a counselling centre or group practice, our counselling and psychotherapy page explains how we help. Our plans are designed for practices with a team; you can see them on pricing.