State of India Healthcare Marketing 2026: Google review study
How do India’s leading hospitals and clinics look on Google, and what do their reviews say? We collected the newest Google reviews of 245 leading healthcare brands, five in each of seven specialties in seven cities, and classified 9,342 reviews with text by theme. This report compares specialties and cities, and sets out what it means for the people who run marketing for them.
Key findings
- 245 leading healthcare brands, 12,190 Google reviews: average rating 4.78★, median 1,910 reviews per profile, about 22.9 new reviews a month (n = 244 profiles with review data).
- 7.8% of 9,342 text reviews were negative. By specialty (n = 35 each) this runs from 3.3% for dental clinics to 12.1% for multispeciality hospitals; by city (n = 35 each) from 3.5% in Mumbai to 10.9% in Delhi.
- Staff & bedside manner is both the most-mentioned theme (49.0% of reviews with text) and the most common complaint (23.0% of 730 negative reviews), followed by wait time & scheduling (18.8%).
- Owners replied to 60.5% of reviews on average, from 40.9% for dermatology clinics to 77.3% for hair transplant clinics.
- Eye hospitals: 44.0% of negative reviews are about wait time & scheduling (n = 75), against 18.8% nationally, the widest gap from the national pattern in the study.
Seven specialties compared
Leading multispeciality hospitals gather reviews fastest, about 165.7 a month at the median, while orthopaedic hospitals add about 11.9. That spread reflects patient volumes more than marketing effort, which is why review targets should be set against your own specialty. Negative reviews are rarest for dental clinics (3.3%) and most common for multispeciality hospitals (12.1%). Staff and bedside manner is the top complaint for four of the seven specialties; the exceptions are dental clinics (price & value, 24.4% of 45 negatives), hair transplant clinics (results, 32.3% of 96 negatives) and eye hospitals (wait time & scheduling, 44.0% of 75 negatives).
| Specialty | Brands (n) | Avg rating | Median reviews | New reviews / month (median) | Owner reply rate | Brands replying to ≥ half | Lists a website | Reviews with text (n) | Negative share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dental | 35 | 4.89 | 1,518 | 17.5 | 62.3% | 68.6% | 97.1% | 1,354 | 3.3% |
| IVF | 35 | 4.83 | 1,866 | 16.8 | 70.7% | 74.3% | 100% | 1,471 | 7.1% |
| Dermatology | 35 | 4.71 | 1,150 | 19.1 | 40.9% | 40.0% | 97.1% | 1,249 | 9.2% |
| Hair transplant | 35 | 4.81 | 1,093 | 13.7 | 77.3% | 85.7% | 100% | 1,424 | 6.7% |
| Eye hospitals | 35 | 4.80 | 6,424 | 135.6 | 60.3% | 62.9% | 97.1% | 1,195 | 6.3% |
| Orthopaedics | 35* | 4.75 | 1,049 | 11.9 | 47.0% | 52.9% | 82.9% | 1,278 | 10.0% |
| Multispeciality hospitals | 35 | 4.67 | 10,874 | 165.7 | 65.0% | 65.7% | 100% | 1,371 | 12.1% |
| All 245 brands | 245* | 4.78 | 1,910 | 22.9 | 60.5% | 64.3% | 96.3% | 9,342 | 7.8% |
Each specialty covers five leading brands in each of seven cities (n = 35). Ratings, review counts and website from the Google profile; review pace, reply rate and sentiment from each profile’s 50 newest reviews. * One orthopaedic profile in Pune returned no reviews, so review pace and reply figures for orthopaedics, Pune and the national total use 34, 34 and 244 profiles.
Share of negative reviews by specialty
Owner reply rate by specialty
Seven cities compared
City differences are smaller than specialty differences, and each city sample has the same specialty mix (five brands in each of seven specialties), so they are not explained by which specialties a city has. Negative reviews range from 3.5% in Mumbai to 10.9% in Delhi, and owner reply rates from 53.6% in Delhi to 70.7% in Pune.
| City | Brands (n) | Avg rating | Median reviews | New reviews / month (median) | Owner reply rate | Brands replying to ≥ half | Lists a website | Reviews with text (n) | Negative share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delhi | 35 | 4.78 | 1,685 | 21.0 | 53.6% | 57.1% | 94.3% | 1,370 | 10.9% |
| Mumbai | 35 | 4.86 | 1,359 | 22.3 | 62.5% | 62.9% | 91.4% | 1,317 | 3.5% |
| Bengaluru | 35 | 4.75 | 2,082 | 29.2 | 56.7% | 60.0% | 100% | 1,365 | 7.2% |
| Hyderabad | 35 | 4.78 | 2,649 | 36.4 | 66.5% | 68.6% | 100% | 1,305 | 9.3% |
| Chennai | 35 | 4.75 | 1,880 | 17.5 | 56.5% | 60.0% | 94.3% | 1,299 | 7.6% |
| Pune | 35* | 4.79 | 1,866 | 19.5 | 70.7% | 79.4% | 97.1% | 1,392 | 7.5% |
| Kolkata | 35 | 4.73 | 1,465 | 23.7 | 57.7% | 62.9% | 97.1% | 1,294 | 8.6% |
| All 245 brands | 245* | 4.78 | 1,910 | 22.9 | 60.5% | 64.3% | 96.3% | 9,342 | 7.8% |
Each city covers five leading brands in each of seven specialties (n = 35). Ratings, review counts and website from the Google profile; review pace, reply rate and sentiment from each profile’s 50 newest reviews. * One orthopaedic profile in Pune returned no reviews, so review pace and reply figures for orthopaedics, Pune and the national total use 34, 34 and 244 profiles.
Share of negative reviews by city
What reviews talk about
Each review with text was given one main theme. Across 9,342 reviews, staff & bedside manner leads with 49.0%; 91.1% of reviews were positive.
What negative reviews are about
Most common complaint theme, by specialty and city
| Group (n = 35 brands) | Negative reviews (n) | Most common complaint theme | Share of negatives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dental | 45 | Price & value | 24.4% |
| IVF | 105 | Staff & bedside manner | 26.7% |
| Dermatology | 115 | Staff & bedside manner | 27.0% |
| Hair transplant | 96 | Results | 32.3% |
| Eye hospitals | 75 | Wait time & scheduling | 44.0% |
| Orthopaedics | 128 | Staff & bedside manner | 22.7% |
| Multispeciality hospitals | 166 | Staff & bedside manner | 30.1% |
| Delhi | 150 | Staff & bedside manner | 33.3% |
| Mumbai | 46 | Results | 19.6% |
| Bengaluru | 98 | Staff & bedside manner | 22.4% |
| Hyderabad | 122 | Staff & bedside manner | 22.1% |
| Chennai | 99 | Wait time & scheduling | 18.2% |
| Pune | 104 | Staff & bedside manner | 20.2% |
| Kolkata | 111 | Staff & bedside manner | 24.3% |
Specialty rows first, then cities. Full theme breakdowns are in each specialty and city report.
What this means for marketing
For owners and marketing heads of hospitals and clinics in India, five practical points:
- Benchmark within your specialty, not across healthcareReview pace among leading profiles ranges from about 11.9 a month (orthopaedic hospitals) to 165.7 (multispeciality hospitals). A single healthcare-wide target is meaningless; use the specialty and city reports below.
- Fix staff & bedside manner firstStaff & bedside manner drives 23.0% of negative reviews (n = 730). Treat the front desk and patient coordinators as part of marketing: script the first call and the reception handover, and train the people who reply to reviews to acknowledge the person before the problem.
- Then fix wait time & schedulingWait time & scheduling is the second most common complaint (18.8% of 730 negative reviews). Publish realistic OPD hours and appointment-slot information on the Google profile and website, and say in the confirmation message how long a visit usually takes. Many wait-time complaints are about expectations as much as minutes.
- Reply to every reviewLeading brands reply to 60.5% of reviews on average and 35.7% reply to fewer than half (n = 244). Replies are visible to every prospective patient comparing profiles; keep them personal, take complaints offline and keep treatment details out of public replies.
- Ratings no longer differentiate leading profilesThe seven specialties average between 4.67★ and 4.89★. What separates profiles is review volume, recency, replies and how complaints are handled.
How does your Google profile compare?
We will benchmark your Google profile, review pace, reply rate and complaint themes against the figures in this report, and show you what to fix first.
Ichelon Consulting Group (2026). State of India Healthcare Marketing 2026: Google review study. https://ichelonconsulting.com/reports/india-healthcare-google-review-study-2026
Free to quote and reuse with credit and a link (CC BY 4.0).
Frequently asked questions
What is the average Google rating of leading healthcare brands in India?
How many Google reviews do leading Indian healthcare brands have?
What do patients complain about in Google reviews of Indian healthcare brands?
Do Indian hospitals and clinics reply to Google reviews?
Which specialty has the most negative Google reviews?
How was the study done?
More from this study
Related research: Healthcare review sentiment report · GBP review velocity by specialty · All reports
