Welcome everyone to Episode #71 of the Chiropractic Marketing Podcast.
I’m your host, Dr. Patrick MacNamara, and today we’re talking about something that I think is going to hit close to home for a lot of you — the mistakes chiropractors are making with Google Maps that are costing them new patients every single day. And here’s the thing, most of these mistakes aren’t obvious. They’re not things you’d notice just by looking at your profile. But Google notices them, and your competitors who aren’t making them are reaping the rewards. So today we’re going to walk through how Google actually decides who shows up in those top spots, where most chiropractors go wrong, and exactly what you need to do to fix it. Let’s get into it.
So let’s start with why Google Maps rankings matter more than most chiropractors realize. Here’s a stat that really puts things into perspective — about 46% of all Google searches have local intent. That means nearly half of everyone searching on Google is looking for something near them. And for healthcare services like chiropractic care, that number is even higher. Think about what your own patients do when they’re in pain. They grab their phone, they type in “chiropractor near me” or “back pain relief” followed by their city name, and they click on whoever shows up first.
Here’s the thing that makes this so critical. Google Maps listings appear above the traditional organic search results. So before anyone ever reaches your website in a standard search, they’re already looking at the map pack — those three businesses that show up at the top. And studies show that businesses in those top three positions receive 93% of all clicks from local searches. Ninety-three percent. If you’re not in that top three, you’re essentially invisible to the vast majority of people searching for you right now.
So how does Google decide who gets those coveted spots? They use three primary factors — relevance, distance, and prominence. Relevance is about how well your listing matches what the person searched for. Distance is how close your practice is to the person who’s searching. And prominence is about how well-known and authoritative your practice appears to be, both online and offline. Those three factors work together, and then Google layers in hundreds of additional signals on top of them — things like review quality, how consistent your information is across the web, how well your website is optimized, how users interact with your listing, and increasingly, AI visibility signals. That AI piece is something I’ve talked about in previous episodes, and it’s becoming more important every single month.
Now, the foundation of everything when it comes to Google Maps is your Google Business Profile. I’ve done entire episodes on this before, so if you want to go really deep on the subject, go back and check out those earlier episodes. But let me walk you through what full optimization actually looks like from a ranking perspective.
The very first thing — and I mean the absolute first thing — is to make sure you’ve claimed and verified your profile. If you haven’t done this yet, stop what you’re doing after this episode and go take care of it. Head over to google.com/business and follow the verification steps. Google usually mails a postcard with a verification code to your practice address, though in some cases phone or email verification is available. Once you’re verified, you’re in control.
From there, you need to fill out every single section of your profile completely. I mean every section — your business name, address, phone number, website URL, business hours, service areas, and business categories. Your primary category should be “Chiropractor,” but you can add secondary categories like Sports Medicine Clinic or Wellness Center if those apply to your practice. And don’t skip your business description. This is your opportunity to tell both Google and potential patients what makes your practice the right choice. Use it to mention specific services — spinal adjustments, sports injury treatment, pediatric care, prenatal chiropractic — and include your city and surrounding areas naturally within that description.
Here’s something a lot of chiropractors overlook when it comes to their profile — photos. Google Business Profiles with photos receive 42% more requests for directions and 35% more click-throughs to websites than those without them. So upload professional photos of your office exterior and interior, your treatment rooms, your staff, and your team in action. If you can add a virtual tour, even better. And don’t just upload photos once and forget about it. Add new ones regularly, because consistent activity on your profile sends positive signals to Google.
Speaking of consistent activity, let’s talk about Google Posts. This is one of the most underutilized features in the entire Google Business Profile. You can share updates, health tips, offers, announcements, and patient success stories — with permission, of course — directly on your profile. And regular posting tells Google that your business is active and engaged with the community. That matters.
Now let’s talk about reviews, because this is arguably the single most influential ranking factor in Google Maps. Practices with more positive reviews consistently outrank competitors with fewer reviews, even when everything else is pretty equal. So you need a systematic process for generating reviews from satisfied patients. Train your front desk to ask happy patients at checkout. Send a follow-up text or email within 24 to 48 hours of their appointment while the experience is still fresh. And make the process as simple as possible — create a shortened link or a QR code that takes them directly to your Google review page. The easier you make it, the more reviews you’ll get. If you want a deeper dive into this, I covered review management strategies in a previous episode that’s well worth your time.
Just as important as getting reviews is responding to them — all of them, positive and negative. When you respond to reviews, you’re telling Google that you’re an engaged, active business. For positive reviews, thank the patient by name and reference something specific from their review. For negative ones, respond professionally and quickly, address the concern, and offer to resolve it offline. And please don’t use the same template response for every review. Google notices that, and so do potential patients. Thoughtful, personalized responses say a lot about how you run your practice. You can learn more about SEO review management tips over at DCRank.com.
Now, let’s shift to something that a lot of chiropractors don’t connect to their Google Maps rankings — citations. A citation is any online mention of your practice’s name, address, and phone number. And consistency across those citations is critical. If your address shows “Street” on your website but “St.” on Yelp and you’re missing a suite number on Healthgrades, those inconsistencies confuse Google’s algorithm and dilute your local SEO power. Develop one standard format and use it everywhere. A solid citation management strategy keeps everything accurate across the board and opens up new opportunities as well.
When it comes to building quality citations, focus on the directories that carry the most authority. For chiropractors, that means healthcare-specific directories like Healthgrades, WebMD, Vitals, and Zocdoc, plus the major general platforms like Yelp, Bing Places, Apple Maps, and Facebook.
Let’s talk about your website, because it plays a bigger role in your Google Maps rankings than most people think. Google looks at your website to verify what’s on your Google Business Profile and to assess your overall authority and relevance for local searches. So your homepage needs to include your city and surrounding areas naturally in the content, your title tags, your meta descriptions, and your headings. If you serve multiple neighborhoods or cities, create unique pages for each one — and I mean truly unique content, not just the same page with a city name swapped out. If your chiropractic website needs improvement for local search, start there first.
One thing that directly impacts both your Google Maps rankings and your AI visibility is schema markup. This is structured data that helps search engines and AI systems understand what your website is about. When you implement LocalBusiness schema, you’re giving Google all the details about your practice — your name, address, phone number, hours, services — in a format that’s easy for both traditional search and generative AI to interpret. As AI-powered search continues to grow, this kind of technical foundation becomes more and more important.
And on that note, let me take a moment to talk about voice search and AI-powered queries, because this is where things are heading fast. More and more patients are using voice assistants to find nearby chiropractors, and those searches tend to be longer and more conversational. If you want to show up for those searches, create FAQ pages that answer common patient questions in natural language — about insurance, techniques, appointment availability, and the conditions you treat. I covered voice search SEO strategies in a previous episode if you want to go deeper on this topic. You can also find some great resources on voice search optimization for chiropractors over at DCRank.com.
And then there’s what I call GEO — Generative Engine Optimization. AI systems like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s own AI Overviews are beginning to influence how people discover local businesses. They pull from your Google Business Profile, your reviews, your structured data, and your website content. If you want to be recommended by these AI systems, you need to optimize your entire online presence for AI readability. That means using clear, structured, authoritative information throughout all of your digital properties. I’ve done a full episode on Generative Engine Optimization for chiropractors if you want the complete picture.
Now I want to touch on a few advanced strategies that most chiropractors haven’t tapped into yet. First, encourage patient check-ins and user-generated content. When patients tag your location on Google Maps or post about their experience, those engagement signals matter. Second, make sure your service area in your Google Business Profile is accurate and complete. If you serve patients beyond your immediate area, set that up correctly so you show up for “near me” searches from a wider geographic range. And third, invest in local link building. Build relationships with nearby businesses, community organizations, and other healthcare providers. Earn backlinks from local chambers of commerce, community events, local news coverage, and partnerships with gyms or sports teams. These local links strengthen your geographic relevance in Google’s eyes.
Here’s something I want to make sure you understand — your local SEO and your broader website optimization need to work together, not in separate silos. Create valuable blog content that addresses your patients’ questions and concerns. Write about the conditions you treat, preventive care, and wellness topics that are relevant to your community. That content builds authority, naturally incorporates local keywords, and attracts backlinks. It also feeds your Google Posts and social media, creating one cohesive marketing ecosystem. If you need help developing a chiropractic content strategy, I’ve covered that in detail in a previous episode.
Let me also mention a few mistakes I see chiropractors making that are actively hurting their rankings. Don’t stuff keywords into your business name — Google penalizes this. Don’t create multiple listings for the same location. Never buy fake reviews or participate in review exchanges. Make sure your business hours are always accurate, especially around holidays. And if you ever change your address or phone number, update it everywhere at the same time to maintain that NAP consistency we talked about earlier.
Google’s local algorithm is constantly evolving, and recent updates have placed greater emphasis on user engagement, review quality, and genuine demonstrated expertise. The integration of AI into search means you need to be optimizing for both traditional and AI-powered search simultaneously. The practices that are doing that right now are the ones that are going to dominate their local markets going forward.
If all of this sounds like a lot to manage on your own, you’re not wrong. Doing this comprehensively takes real expertise and consistent effort. That’s exactly why we built DCRank around these strategies. We specialize in helping chiropractors achieve top Google Maps rankings through traditional SEO, Generative Engine Optimization, and local and AI SEO strategies. We handle the Google Business Profile optimization, review generation and management, citation building, and ongoing performance tracking — all of it. You focus on your patients. We focus on making sure they can find you. Visit DCRank dot com — that’s D-C-R-A-N-K dot com.
Ranking higher in Google Maps isn’t about luck. It’s about implementing proven strategies consistently and building on a solid foundation. The chiropractors who understand that are the ones filling their schedules with new patients every single week.
Alright, that wraps things up for today’s episode.
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