By Alan A. Ayers, MBA, MAcc — President, Urgent Care Consultants
When patients search for care, they rarely start by asking friends or driving until they see a street-facing sign for urgent care. Today, they open Google.
“Near me” searches have over the past two years according to Google’s Consumer Insights. Capturing attention in those search results is now more important than ever.
Enter Google Business Profile (GBP). For urgent care operators, GBP is one of the highest-ROI tools you can leverage to . Whether you’re in the planning stages of opening a new urgent care business, have already opened, or are scaling an existing clinic, your GBP helps you show up when and where patients are making decisions.
This article is the first in a series on . We’ll explore some of the most important marketing topics relevant to running a successful clinic over the next few months. For now, we’ll focus on the GBP and how it directly influences your business growth from day one forward.
What is a Google Business Profile?
Your Google Business Profile is the foundation of your urgent care’s online presence—or at least it should be. When patients search for “urgent care near me,” Google uses GBP data to decide which clinics to display and in what order. Without an optimized profile, you may be invisible on the search results page when patients are choosing a clinic.
Most patients make their decision within minutes, often while sitting in their car searching on their smartphone. A carefully maintained GBP puts your clinic front and center.
The patient can see your hours, location, phone number, reviews, and photos right as they are deciding where to go. It’s hard to overstate the importance of reaching your target audience at this crucial moment of decision.
For every search query, Google presents users with a curated list of three results known as the “local pack.” Showing up in this selection, unsurprisingly, is far better than being buried below the fold. Studies show that businesses in the local pack and 93% more user actions than those who don’t. Appearing in the local pack gives you an advantage when competing against other clinics in your area, and it can be the difference between sluggish revenues and a full waiting room.
According to Google data, more than 60% of patients choose a healthcare provider directly from Google Maps, often without visiting your website first. Your GBP is your first impression and sometimes your only chance to make one.
Why Your Urgent Care Business Needs a Google Business Profile
Urgent care is a hyperlocal business. When patients need care, they aren’t usually willing to drive across town. They want the closest, most convenient option they can trust. That makes your GBP one of the most valuable tools for capturing nearby patient demand.
Reviews, photos, and accurate hours all influence patient decisions. Patients want to know if your clinic is open, nearby, and trusted by others. Inconsistent or incomplete information can cause them to choose another location without a second thought.
For urgent care startups, your Google Business Profile is an especially important way to build momentum without spending copious amounts of money on a marketing budget. An optimized profile can level the playing field against larger, established competitors. Even if your clinic is brand new, showing up in the top local search results helps patients see you as a credible option.
Your GBP is also one of the most cost-effective marketing tools you have access to. Unlike paid ads, claiming and managing your GBP is free.
How to Optimize Your Urgent Care Google Business Profile
By now, you know your Google Business Profile is essential. But for urgent care, simply filling in the basics isn’t enough. Your profile needs to do more than list your hours and address. It needs to act as a one-stop digital hub that gives patients everything they need to make a decision on the spot.
Optimize for Patient Intent
Most urgent care searches are transactional. Patients just want fast, convenient care. Your mission and values are important, but when patients are searching for care, they aren’t a priority. Design your profile with those expectations in mind for the best results. Focus on:
- Surfacing what matters most: Make your hours, phone number, and location immediately visible, especially on mobile devices.
- Emphasizing accessibility: If you offer extended hours, walk-ins, or online check-in, highlight it prominently in your profile description.
- Using structured service listings: Add visibility to specific offerings like on-site x-ray, flu tests, or occupational medicine screenings. Patients often choose based on a single need, and Google rewards detailed service data with higher visibility.
Show, Don’t Just Tell
Most of today’s internet users don’t trust stock photos. They want to get a real taste for what visiting your urgent care will be like. Use your GBP to make your clinic more approachable by:
- Uploading professional, high-resolution photos of your front entrance, waiting area, exam rooms, and staff.
- Adding a short virtual walk-through video.
- Refreshing images regularly to tell Google and visitors that your profile (and your clinic) is active and up to date.
Turn Reviews into Growth
For urgent care startups, reviews are your fastest path to credibility. Whether they come by word of mouth or are listed on your GBP, positive reviews are a powerful way to bring more people through your doors. Even negative reviews can turn into visits if you handle them appropriately. Consider these tips for turning your GBP reviews into a growth engine:
- Ask early: Encourage satisfied patients to leave reviews immediately after their visit to build social proof while a positive impression is fresh.
- Respond thoughtfully: Acknowledge positive feedback on your profile and respond to negative reviews professionally. Most potential patients care less about perfection and more about how issues are resolved.
- Spotlight standout reviews: Use the Google Posts feature to highlight glowing feedback that reinforces your strengths.
- Use GBP Insights to Drive Better Decisions
- Your Google Business Profile comes with a suite of tools on the back end that can help you further optimize your online presence. It’s a source of real-time data that shows you:
- How patients are finding you (search vs. maps, etc.)
- Where they are requesting directions from geographically
- When calls and clicks spike during the week
For urgent care startups, this data can help guide your staffing decisions and marketing plan, allowing you to allocate resources where demand is highest.
Common Mistakes Urgent Care Startups Make With GBP
Setting up your Google Business Profile might feel like a one-time chore at the end of a long pre-launch to -do list. But treating your GBP as an afterthought is a sure way to fall behind local competitors.
One of the most common mistakes urgent care operators make is publishing a profile with incomplete or inconsistent information. When your hours, phone number, or address don’t match across platforms, Google penalizes your listing and patients lose confidence in your business. Startups often fail here because information changes quickly as hours are adjusted or a relocation happens during build-out, leaving outdated content floating around the web.
Another misstep is ignoring patient reviews. If you’re not proactively managing your reputation from day one, negative feedback can shape perceptions and steer patients to your competitors. A thoughtful, timely response can turn a dissatisfied patient into an advocate and shows prospective patients that you value their experience.
A less obvious but equally damaging mistake is claiming your GBP too late. Many startups wait until a few weeks before opening to set up their profile. By doing so, you miss out on the chance to build early visibility. By claiming and optimizing your listing months before your clinic opens, you can start appearing in local searches and even secure early reviews from soft openings or staff. When your clinic opens, you’ll already have a digital footprint established instead of starting from zero.
Need Help Optimizing Your Google Business Profile?
A strong Google Business Profile can be a powerful source of urgent care growth and one of your most potent marketing tools. Optimizing your listing builds trust and improves visibility at the exact moment potential patients are searching for care, giving your clinic an advantage that’s hard to beat.
At Urgent Care Consultants, we help new operators navigate every stage of the startup process, including building a digital presence that from day one. If you’re planning to open an urgent care business, schedule a free consultation to discuss how we can help you create a marketing strategy that puts you on the map.
FAQ
- How do urgent cares get into the Google “Local Pack”?
You need a complete, accurate Google Business Profile (GBP), relevant primary category (e.g., “Urgent care center”), consistent NAP across the web, strong review velocity, proximity to the searcher, and on‑page relevance. Optimization increases your odds, but rankings are dynamic and vary by location and query. - What’s the best Google Business Profile category for urgent care?
Use “Urgent care center” as your primary category. Add secondary categories only if they represent real services (e.g., “Occupational health service”). Avoid keyword stuffing in the business name; it violates guidelines and can trigger suspensions. - How many reviews do I need to be competitive?
There’s no fixed number. Aim for steady review velocity and a rating ≥4.5. Many top urgent cares reach 100+ reviews with recent activity. Respond to every review and make it easy for patients to leave feedback post‑visit. - Do appointment links and online check‑in help rankings?
They primarily improve conversions, but they can indirectly support rankings by boosting engagement signals and satisfaction. Use a clearly labeled Appointment URL (your online check‑in page) with UTM tracking to measure impact.