How the right clients find your practice

Why the right clients aren't finding you

Right now, someone in your city is typing "anxiety therapist near me" into Google. They are ready to book. They have the insurance or the budget. They need exactly what you specialize in. But they will never call you because they do not know you exist.

The issue is not your clinical skills. It is visibility. Graduate school taught you assessment, diagnosis, and treatment planning. Nobody taught you where clients search or how to show up in those searches.

The good news: this is not about becoming a salesperson or posting on Instagram every day. It is about understanding how clients actually look for a therapist and being present in those places. That is it.

Where clients look first (and what they need to see)

When a client hears your name from a friend, their next step is Googling you. When they find you on Psychology Today, they click through to your website. When ChatGPT recommends you, they check your site to verify. Every path leads back to your website.

At minimum, clients expect: a professional website, a Google Business Profile, and at least one directory listing. These three assets cover the main ways clients search for therapy.

Your website does not need to be complex. It needs to answer three questions clearly: Who do you help? What do you specialize in? How does a client get started? A clean site with those answers will outperform a flashy one that buries the information.

How clients use directories to find a therapist

Clients use directories the way you might use Yelp for a restaurant: they filter by location and specialty, then scan profiles quickly. Most clients spend under 30 seconds on a profile before deciding to click through or scroll past.

Psychology Today is still the most-used therapy directory, but competition has increased dramatically. Referrals from PT have dropped significantly for many therapists, with some reporting 77 to 94 percent fewer inquiries compared to two years ago. You should still list there, but relying on it as your only source is a risk.

Beyond Psychology Today, list on GoodTherapy, TherapyDen, OpenCounseling, and your state association directory. Each listing increases the chances a client finds you and provides backlinks that help your website rank on Google.

What clients type into Google (and why your site does not show up)

A single new client is worth $3,000 to $10,000 in annual revenue. If your website brings in 2 to 3 new clients per month through organic search, the return far exceeds any marketing investment.

Unlike directories where you compete directly with 50 nearby therapists, SEO lets you rank for the specific issues and populations you serve. A client searching "couples therapist specializing in infidelity recovery in [your city]" is looking for exactly one type of therapist. That could be you.

Start with the basics: unique titles and descriptions on each page, heading tags used correctly, fast loading on mobile. Then create content that answers the questions your ideal clients are already asking. For a complete walkthrough, read our SEO for Therapists guide.

How "therapist near me" searches actually work

76% of people who search for something local contact a business within 24 hours. When a client types "therapist near me," Google shows a map with three businesses before any website results. That map section is called the Local Pack, and it pulls from Google Business Profile, not from your website.

An optimized Google Business Profile with reviews, photos, and complete information can generate more client inquiries than a Psychology Today listing. And it is free.

If you do not show up on Google Maps when a client searches for therapy in your area, your Google Business Profile is either missing, incomplete, or unoptimized. Our Local SEO for Therapists guide walks through exactly how to fix this.

Why clients trust referrals (and how to earn more of them)

When a physician tells a patient "I know a therapist who specializes in exactly what you are dealing with," that client arrives with built-in trust. Referral relationships are the highest-trust way a client can find you.

Start with 5 to 10 professionals in your area. Send a brief introduction. Offer to meet for coffee. Make it clear what types of clients you serve best and what you do not treat (so they know when to send someone your way). Referral networks take time to build, but they compound over years.

Clients are asking AI for therapist recommendations

More clients are asking ChatGPT "find me a therapist who specializes in anxiety" or "who is the best EMDR therapist near me?" Unlike Google where you compete for ranking, AI either recommends you or it does not. There is no page 2.

ChatGPT has grown from 300 million to 800 million weekly users in the past 10 months. Some therapists are already seeing more referrals from AI than from Psychology Today. One therapy practice reported that AI search engines now send more clients than Google to their website.

For a deeper look at this shift, read our guide on how the referral landscape is changing in 2026.

Clients search for specialists, not generalists

When a parent is searching for help with their teenager's eating disorder, they do not type "therapist." They type "adolescent eating disorder therapist near me." They want someone who focuses on exactly that issue.

This is counterintuitive: therapists who narrow their focus attract more clients than generalists. Why? Because every channel rewards specificity. Google ranks specific pages over generic ones. AI recommends specialists over generalists. Clients choose the therapist whose profile speaks directly to their problem.

You do not need to turn away clients outside your niche. Just lead with your specialty in every place clients find you: website headline, directory profiles, Google Business Profile, and content. Specificity is how clients find the right therapist.

Write what your future clients are already searching for

Your future clients are Googling their symptoms before they Google you. "What is CBT and how does it work?" "How do I know if I need therapy for anxiety?" "What to expect in your first therapy session." These are questions people ask before they are ready to book.

When your website answers these questions, two things happen: Google starts showing your site to people searching for help, and those people see you as a credible expert before they ever reach out. Each article becomes a doorway for a future client.

Where to start (priority order)

You do not need to do everything at once. Start with the channels that reach clients who are already searching, then build from there.

Frequently asked questions

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