Physician online presence checklist

The checklist

1. Google Business Profile. Google's guidelines treat doctors as individual practitioners, who may have their own profile when they can be contacted directly at the verified location during stated hours. Practitioner profiles may include titles such as Dr. or MD, and a practitioner should not create separate profiles for each specialization. If your practice manages its profile, ask who edits yours.
2. Doximity. Claim your profile, then update the fields you can edit and choose what the public profile shows. Name, medical school and specialty changes go through Doximity support. The Doximity comparison explains when that profile is enough.
3. Hospital and group directory pages. Your employer controls these pages. Send corrections to the office that maintains them and check the result.
4. NPI record. The NPI Registry is public, updated daily and free to search, as CMS describes. Covered providers must report changes to their NPPES data within 30 days under 45 CFR 162.410, so update practice location and specialty when they change.
5. Board certification listing. Patients can check ABMS board certification on Certification Matters. DOs certified by an AOA board are verified through the AOA instead. Confirm your listing matches the certification you name in your bio.
6. LinkedIn. Your headline is the text below your name and also appears in search results. Use your specialty and focus, not a slogan.
7. A personal website, if you want one. It gives you one address you control and can link to every profile above. The website guide compares ways to build one.

Keep these identical everywhere

Name and credentials

One format, such as Maya Ellison, MD, with only earned degrees and current certifications.

Specialty wording

The same specialty and focus phrase in every profile and bio.

Headshot

One recent photo you have permission to use, replaced everywhere at once.

Practice details

Practice name, address, phone number and hours, matching what the practice publishes.

Bio

One master bio in short, medium and long versions. See the bio examples.

Next step

The same booking, referral or inquiry route on every profile.

How doctors improve online visibility

Google says local results are based mainly on relevance, distance and popularity, and that there is no way to pay for a better local ranking. What you control is accuracy, completeness and useful content.

• Complete every profile you claim. Specialty, practice location, hours, photo and booking route.
• Fix conflicting information. Patients and referrers who find an old number or address will call or go there.
• Publish pages written for people. Google's guidance asks for helpful, reliable, people-first content: what you treat, how referrals work, what you research.
• Link your profiles. Link your website from each profile that allows a link, and link each profile from your website.
• Distrust ranking promises. Google states that no one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.

Ratings and reviews

In a survey published as a JAMA research letter in 2014, 59% of 2,137 surveyed US adults rated physician rating sites somewhat or very important when choosing a physician, and 65% were aware of them. Whether a physician accepted their insurance was rated very important most often, at 89%.

Claim your listings on rating sites where you can and correct factual errors. When replying to a review, do not confirm that the writer is a patient or discuss care; HHS settled with a dental practice in 2022 over patient information disclosed in review replies.

Common questions

Should a physician have their own Google Business Profile?

Google's guidelines allow an individual practitioner, including a doctor, to have a profile when they can be contacted directly at the verified location during stated hours. One profile per practitioner, not one per specialization.

How can a doctor rank higher on Google?

No one can promise a ranking. Google bases local results mainly on relevance, distance and popularity and does not sell better local rankings; accurate, complete profiles and helpful pages are what you control.

Do patients look at online physician ratings?

In a JAMA research letter published in 2014, 59% of 2,137 surveyed US adults rated physician rating sites somewhat or very important when choosing a physician; insurance acceptance was rated very important most often.

How should I reply to a negative review?

Do not confirm the writer is a patient or discuss their care. Invite them to contact the practice directly, and follow your practice's policy.

Sources

1. Google, Guidelines for representing your business on Google
2. Google, Tips to improve your local ranking on Google
3. Google Search Central, Do you need an SEO?
4. Google Search Central, Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content
5. Doximity, How to update or edit your Doximity profile
6. Doximity, How to enable or disable your Doximity public profile
7. CMS, NPPES data dissemination and the NPI Registry
8. 45 CFR 162.410, implementation specifications for health care providers
9. American Board of Medical Specialties, Certification Matters
10. LinkedIn Help, Edit your headline
11. Hanauer DA et al. Public awareness, perception, and use of online physician rating sites. JAMA. 2014;311(7):734-735
12. HHS Office for Civil Rights, New Vision Dental settlement (2022)

Sources checked October 11, 2026. Policies and prices change; confirm current terms with each source.