How do I audit my therapy practice's SEO?
Quick Answer
Check four layers in order: whether your Google Business Profile exists and is complete, whether your website pages match the searches clients make, whether your directory profiles are consistent and filled out, and whether AI assistants can find you when asked for a therapist in your city. Most practices have one leaking layer, not four. The audit exists to find it.
How to use this checklist
Work through the four layers in order. For each check, run the 2-minute test and mark it pass or fail. Do not fix anything mid-audit. The point is to see the whole picture first, because the fix order at the end depends on which layers failed.
Two setup notes before you start. First, use an incognito or private browser window for every search, otherwise Google shows you results personalized to you, and you will look more visible than you are. Second, search the way a client would: they do not search your name, they search their problem and their city.
Why this order: over the last 90 days, 145 private practices ran our free visibility checkup. 57 percent had no Google Business Profile, 37 percent ranked for zero search terms, and 86 percent were invisible to AI assistants. Those three numbers map to layers 1, 2, and 4 of this audit, and they are why the checklist starts where it does.
Layer 1: Google Business Profile
About 10 minutes. This layer moves inquiries fastest when it fails.
Your practice appears in the map results at all
The 2-minute test: In an incognito window, search "[your specialty] therapist [your city]" and "therapist near me" from your office area. Look at the map pack above the regular results.
What good looks like: Your practice appears in or near the top three map results for at least one specialty search. If you have no profile at all, stop the audit here: creating one is your first fix regardless of what else you find.
The profile is actually complete
The 2-minute test: Open your profile and count the empty sections: categories, services, description, hours, photos, appointment link.
What good looks like: Primary category matches your license type, every specialty is listed as a service, the description names who you help and where, and there are real photos. Google fills gaps with guesses, and guesses rank poorly.
Name, address, and phone match your website
The 2-minute test: Compare the practice name, address, and phone on the profile against your website footer and contact page, character by character.
What good looks like: Exact match. "Jane Smith Therapy" on one and "Jane Smith Counseling Services" on the other splits your identity in Google's eyes. Pick one version and use it everywhere. Note: a Psychology Today listing showing a different phone number is normal, because directories use tracking numbers.
You have reviews, and a way to get more
The 2-minute test: Count your Google reviews, then count the reviews of the three practices above you in the map results.
What good looks like: You do not need dozens. You need more than zero and a path to a few more, within the ethics rules of your license. Reviews are one of the strongest map-ranking signals. If you are unsure what is permissible, our Google reviews guide covers the ethical approaches.
Layer 2: Your website
About 15 minutes. This layer decides your ceiling: everything else can only send people to what exists here.
Google has your site indexed
The 2-minute test: Search "site:yourdomain.com" in Google. Count the results.
What good looks like: Every page you care about appears. If the count is zero, Google cannot see your site at all, which is a technical emergency with a usually-simple cause: a stray "noindex" setting or a site so new it has never been submitted. Google Search Console tells you which.
The homepage says who, what, and where in the first screen
The 2-minute test: Open your homepage on your phone. Without scrolling, can a stranger tell what kind of therapy you offer, who it is for, and what city or state you serve?
What good looks like: All three, visible immediately. "Welcome to my practice" headlines fail this check. "Anxiety therapy for adults in Denver" passes it. This single check predicts more ranking problems than any other on the list.
One page per specialty exists
The 2-minute test: Count your pages: is there a separate page for each specialty you want clients to find you for, or one combined services page?
What good looks like: Separate pages. Google ranks pages, not practices. A practice offering anxiety therapy, couples therapy, and EMDR needs three pages, each titled the way clients search. One generic services page ranks for none of them.
Page titles match real searches
The 2-minute test: Look at each browser tab title (or right-click, View Page Source, and find the title tag). Does it contain a phrase a client would type?
What good looks like: Titles like "Anxiety Therapy in Denver | Practice Name" rather than "Services" or "Home". The page title is the strongest on-page signal you control, and it is also what shows in the search results as your headline.
The site works on a phone and loads fast
The 2-minute test: Open your site on your phone over cellular data. Time it. Then try to find your phone number and booking link with your thumb.
What good looks like: Loads in under about 3 seconds, text readable without zooming, contact action reachable in one or two taps. Most therapy-site traffic is mobile, and slow sites lose both visitors and ranking.
If layer 2 is where your audit fails, the fix is content and structure work. Our Therapist Website SEO guide covers exactly this layer: the pages a therapy site needs, titles, and structure.
Layer 3: Directories
About 10 minutes. Rented visibility, but it works while your own compounds.
Your Psychology Today profile reads like a landing page
The 2-minute test: Open your profile in an incognito window and read only the first two sentences and the headline. Do they speak to the client's problem, or do they list your credentials?
What good looks like: The opening addresses the person reading it: what they are struggling with and what working with you is like. Credentials belong on the profile, not in the first sentence. Profiles that open with the client's experience get more calls from the same traffic.
Every field is actually filled in
The 2-minute test: Scroll your own profile top to bottom and count the empty or default sections: specialties, therapy types, fees, insurance, video, office photos.
What good looks like: Nothing important blank. Directory search filters on these fields, so an empty "fees" or missing specialty removes you from filtered searches you should appear in.
You exist beyond one directory
The 2-minute test: Search your practice name plus your city in an incognito window. Count the trustworthy places you appear: directories, association listings, your licensing board.
What good looks like: Two to four solid listings beyond Psychology Today, ideally including one niche directory for your specialty. Consistent listings corroborate your practice information for both Google and AI tools. Beyond that point, more listings add little.
Layer 4: AI visibility
About 5 minutes. The newest layer, and the one most practices have never checked.
AI assistants can recommend you
The 2-minute test: Ask ChatGPT and Perplexity, phrased the way a client would: "Can you recommend a therapist for [your specialty] in [your city]?" Run it two or three ways.
What good looks like: Your practice appears at least sometimes, alongside competitors. If competitors appear and you never do, your public pages are too thin for the tools to cite you. Of the 145 practices in our checkup data, 86 percent failed this check.
What the AI says about you is accurate
The 2-minute test: Ask directly: "What can you tell me about [your practice name] in [city]?"
What good looks like: The answer reflects your actual specialties, location, and approach. Wrong or outdated answers usually trace back to stale directory listings or an old website version. The fix is updating the sources, not arguing with the tool.
Your pages give AI something to cite
The 2-minute test: Open your homepage and your main specialty page. Would a careful reader who knows nothing about you be able to state who you help, what you treat, where you practice, and what happens in a first session?
What good looks like: Yes to all four, in plain text on the page. AI assistants recommend practices whose pages answer these questions explicitly. Vague, poetic copy that avoids naming problems reads as beautiful to humans and as empty to the machines deciding whether to cite you.
The fix order: what to do with your results
What should I fix first after the audit?
Quick Answer
Fix the fastest-moving layer first. A missing Google Business Profile outranks every other fix in speed. A homepage that fails the who-what-where test comes second. Directory gaps third. Specialty pages fourth, because they take the most work and pay back over months. AI visibility usually fixes itself once layers 2 and 3 are solid.
Priority 1: Failed layer 1
Create or complete your Google Business Profile this week. This is the highest-speed fix on the list: profile-layer changes can affect inquiries within 2 to 6 weeks.
Priority 2: Failed layer 2, homepage check
Rewrite the homepage first screen to name who you help, what you treat, and where. One afternoon of work that every other channel depends on.
Priority 3: Failed layer 2, specialty pages
Build one page per specialty, starting with the specialty that fills your best-fit caseload. One strong page per month is a fine pace.
Priority 4: Failed layer 3
Rewrite your Psychology Today opening to address the client, fill every empty field, and add one or two directories that match your niche.
Priority 5: Failed layer 4 only
Rare, but it happens: decent rankings, invisible to AI. The fix is specificity. Add the plain-text answers (who, what, where, first session) to your existing pages.
For the strategy behind the fixes, our SEO for Therapists guide is the full playbook, and Local SEO for Therapists covers the map and citation layer in depth.
What fixing the leak looks like
Martin Merceret (LCSW) runs Thought Goblin Counseling in Champaign, Illinois. In February 2026 his audit would have failed layers 1, 2, and 3: no Google Business Profile, no website, and an unoptimized Psychology Today profile. The work was exactly the fix order above: profile rewrite, Google Business Profile setup, directory strategy, keyword research, and a website content brief.
Results (5 weeks)
2 → 7
Weekly clients
3.5x
Caseload growth
5 weeks
Time to result
“Implementing your strategies is having a significant impact on a very short timeline.”
Martin Merceret, LCSW, Thought Goblin Counseling
His market conditions were favorable: a real niche, low local competition. Not everyone moves that fast. But the sequence is the repeatable part. The audit found which layers were broken, and the fixes went to those layers in impact order instead of starting with a blog or an ad budget.
Therapist SEO audit checklist
This full 15-point audit as a printable checklist: the four layers, every 2-minute test, what good looks like for each, and the fix-order table for your results.
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Related Guides
Fix the layer your audit found
The full playbook
SEO for Therapists
The complete strategy guide: keywords, service pages, and the first 30 days of work.
Layer 1 fix
Google Business Profile for Therapists
Setup and optimization for the layer that moves inquiries fastest.
Layer 2 fix
Therapist Website SEO
The pages a therapy site needs, titles that match searches, and structure that ranks.
Companion audit
Therapist Website Audit
The conversion-side audit: whether visitors who find your site actually reach out.
Want the audit done for you, free, in a few minutes?
The free Practice Checkup runs these same checks automatically: your search visibility, Google presence, directory footprint, and what AI tools say about your practice, in one report. If the fixes turn out to be more than you want to take on, we offer visibility services built for therapy practices.
By Jesse, Registered Psychotherapist
Frequently asked questions
What is a therapist SEO audit?
A structured review of everything that controls whether clients can find your practice online: Google Business Profile, website pages, directory listings, and AI search visibility. The goal is to find the specific leaking layer so you fix the right thing first.
How do I audit my therapy practice website for SEO?
Start with three incognito searches: your practice name, your specialty plus city, and "therapist near me". Then check for one page per specialty, page titles that match real searches, and a homepage that says who you help and where within the first screen.
How long does an SEO audit take?
About 40 minutes by hand with this checklist: 10 for Google Business Profile, 15 for the website, 10 for directories, 5 for AI visibility. The free Practice Checkup produces the same picture automatically in a few minutes.
What should a therapist fix first after an SEO audit?
The fastest-moving layer: a missing or incomplete Google Business Profile first, then the homepage who-what-where problem, then directories, then specialty pages. Profile fixes can move inquiries in weeks; content work compounds over months.
Do I need a paid SEO tool for this?
No. Every check here uses Google itself, an incognito window, or a direct question to an AI assistant. Paid tools add depth for competitive keyword research, but they are not needed to find the leak.
How often should I run this audit?
Twice a year, plus after any big change: new website, rebrand, office move, or a noticeable drop in inquiries.
Why does my therapy practice not show up on Google?
Most often: no Google Business Profile, page titles that match no real search, a homepage too vague for Google to understand, or inconsistent practice information across the web. In our checkup data, 37 percent of practices ranked for zero search terms.
How do I check whether ChatGPT recommends my practice?
Ask it the way a client would: "Can you recommend a therapist for anxiety in [city]?" Also try Perplexity. If competitors appear and you never do, your public pages are too thin to cite. AI tools read the same pages Google reads.
Can I do this audit myself or should I hire someone?
The audit is designed to do yourself. Where practices hire help is the fixing, which takes real hours. Run the audit first either way, so you never pay someone to fix the wrong layer.
References & Further Reading
Government health agencies, professional associations, and peer-reviewed sources supporting the guidance on this page.
- APA Practice Central — professional association practice management resources.
- NASW practice management — professional association practice management standards.
- NIMH on psychotherapies — government clinical guidance.