Healthcare Google Reviews Statistics 2026
Healthcare Google review statistics for 2026: across 9,452 US practices in 9 specialties, the average Google rating is 4.77 stars, and median review counts range from 33 (hair restoration clinics) to 319.5 (dental practices). Google removed over 292 million policy-violating reviews in 2025, and the FTC's fake-review rule has applied since October 2024.
- 40 statistics: 23 from our September 2026 Google study of 9,452 US practices in 9 specialties and 20 metros, and 17 from JAMA, Google and the FTC.
- Every figure shows its sample or source and links to where it came from.
- Aggregates only: no practice is named and no city group under 10 practices is reported.
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The 10 numbers to know first
What these numbers mean for your practice
- Set your review goal by specialty and city. The median runs from 33 reviews for hair restoration clinics to 319.5 for dental practices, and city gaps are just as wide. Find your row on the 9-specialty benchmark tables and aim to beat your local median first.
- Volume and recency do more than chasing 5.0. Specialty averages sit within 0.27 stars of each other. Patients see a high rating everywhere; a deep, recent set of reviews is what looks different.
- Fill in the profile. Website, phone and hours are listed by most practices, but every missing field is a reason to pick the next result. Google itself says complete profiles are seen as more reputable.
- Ask every patient the same way. The FTC rule bans incentives tied to positive (or negative) reviews and any attempt to suppress bad ones. A neutral request sent after every visit is both compliant and effective.
- Reply with care. Many patients worry about being identified when they post. Thank reviewers, take problems offline, and never confirm that someone is a patient or mention their care in a public reply.
Google reviews by specialty: the full comparison
National figures for 9,452 US practices across 20 metros, September 2026, sorted by median review count. Each specialty links to its city-by-city benchmarks.
| Specialty | Practices | Avg rating | Median reviews | Under 50 | 500+ | Website | Hours listed | Weekends |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dental | 2,318 | 4.79 | 319.5 | 9.1% | 30.9% | 97.2% | 98.4% | 25.5% |
| Med Spa | 555 | 4.87 | 148 | 15.9% | 13% | 98.4% | 98.9% | 74.2% |
| Dermatology | 1,330 | 4.62 | 125 | 31.1% | 19.7% | 95.4% | 93% | 27.5% |
| Chiropractic | 1,035 | 4.77 | 125 | 27% | 11.1% | 95% | 98.6% | 30.8% |
| Physical Therapy | 854 | 4.89 | 122 | 22% | 2.9% | 98.4% | 99.5% | 20.6% |
| Cosmetic & Plastic Surgery | 874 | 4.74 | 107 | 29.9% | 7.7% | 97.6% | 94.4% | 14.5% |
| IV Therapy & Wellness | 1,535 | 4.81 | 52 | 48.4% | 4.6% | 94.1% | 94.8% | 65% |
| Medical Weight Loss | 632 | 4.79 | 42 | 53.8% | 4.1% | 96.8% | 96.5% | 48.4% |
| Hair Restoration | 319 | 4.74 | 33 | 58.3% | 1.6% | 95% | 96.9% | 39.5% |
Google star ratings across 9 specialties
Average Google ratings for 9,452 US practices. Ratings are high everywhere, so small differences matter.
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#1
4.77 — Across 9,452 US practices in 9 specialties, the average Google rating is 4.77 stars.
Sample/method: Practice-weighted average of national figures for 9,452 US practices in 9 specialties across 20 metros; public Google Business Profile data, September 2026. Source: Google benchmarks for 9 specialties (Ichelon Consulting US) → -
#2
4.89 — Physical therapy clinics have the highest average Google rating of the 9 specialties, at 4.89 stars.
Sample/method: National figure: 854 physical therapy clinics in 20 metros; public Google Business Profile data, September 2026. Source: Google benchmarks for 9 specialties (Ichelon Consulting US) → -
#3
4.62 — Dermatology practices have the lowest average Google rating of the 9 specialties, at 4.62 stars.
Sample/method: National figure: 1,330 dermatology practices in 20 metros; public Google Business Profile data, September 2026. Source: Google benchmarks for 9 specialties (Ichelon Consulting US) → -
#4
0.27 — Only 0.27 stars separate the highest- and lowest-rated specialties, so the star average alone rarely sets a practice apart.
Sample/method: Derived from the two national averages above. Source: Google benchmarks for 9 specialties (Ichelon Consulting US) → -
#5
6 of 9 — 6 of the 9 specialties average 4.75 stars or higher on Google.
Sample/method: Practice-weighted average of national figures for 9,452 US practices in 9 specialties across 20 metros; public Google Business Profile data, September 2026. Source: Google benchmarks for 9 specialties (Ichelon Consulting US) → -
#6
5th — Rating and review volume do not move together: physical therapy clinics have the highest average rating but rank 5th of 9 for median review count (122).
Sample/method: Practice-weighted average of national figures for 9,452 US practices in 9 specialties across 20 metros; public Google Business Profile data, September 2026. Source: Google benchmarks for 9 specialties (Ichelon Consulting US) →
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How many Google reviews healthcare practices have
Review counts vary far more than ratings. Medians are shown, because a few very large practices pull averages up.
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#7
319.5 — Dental practices have the deepest review profiles of the 9 specialties, with a median of 319.5 Google reviews.
Sample/method: National figure: 2,318 dental practices in 20 metros; public Google Business Profile data, September 2026. Source: Google benchmarks for 9 specialties (Ichelon Consulting US) → -
#8
33 — Hair restoration clinics have the thinnest review profiles, with a median of 33 Google reviews.
Sample/method: National figure: 319 hair restoration clinics in 20 metros; public Google Business Profile data, September 2026. Source: Google benchmarks for 9 specialties (Ichelon Consulting US) → -
#9
9.7× — The median dental practice has 9.7 times as many Google reviews as the median hair restoration clinic, so a "good" review count depends on your specialty.
Sample/method: Derived from the two national medians above. Source: Google benchmarks for 9 specialties (Ichelon Consulting US) → -
#10
3 of 9 — In 3 of the 9 specialties (IV therapy and wellness clinics, medical weight loss clinics and hair restoration clinics), the median practice has fewer than 100 Google reviews.
Sample/method: Practice-weighted average of national figures for 9,452 US practices in 9 specialties across 20 metros; public Google Business Profile data, September 2026. Source: Google benchmarks for 9 specialties (Ichelon Consulting US) → -
#11
28.7% — About 28.7% of the 9,452 practices studied have fewer than 50 Google reviews.
Sample/method: Practice-weighted average of national figures for 9,452 US practices in 9 specialties across 20 metros; public Google Business Profile data, September 2026. Source: Google benchmarks for 9 specialties (Ichelon Consulting US) → -
#12
14.4% — About 14.4% of the practices studied have 500 or more Google reviews.
Sample/method: Practice-weighted average of national figures for 9,452 US practices in 9 specialties across 20 metros; public Google Business Profile data, September 2026. Source: Google benchmarks for 9 specialties (Ichelon Consulting US) → -
#13
58.3% — 58.3% of hair restoration clinics have fewer than 50 Google reviews, the highest share of any specialty; dental practices are lowest at 9.1%.
Sample/method: National figure: 319 hair restoration clinics in 20 metros; public Google Business Profile data, September 2026. Compared with 2,318 dental practices. Source: Google benchmarks for 9 specialties (Ichelon Consulting US) → -
#14
30.9% — 30.9% of dental practices have 500 or more Google reviews, against 1.6% of hair restoration clinics.
Sample/method: National figure: 2,318 dental practices in 20 metros; public Google Business Profile data, September 2026. Compared with 319 hair restoration clinics. Source: Google benchmarks for 9 specialties (Ichelon Consulting US) →
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How complete healthcare Google profiles are
The basic fields a patient checks before calling: website, phone and hours.
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#15
96.3% — About 96.3% of practices link a website from their Google Business Profile; IV therapy and wellness clinics are least likely to, at 94.1%.
Sample/method: Practice-weighted average of national figures for 9,452 US practices in 9 specialties across 20 metros; public Google Business Profile data, September 2026. Source: Google benchmarks for 9 specialties (Ichelon Consulting US) → -
#16
98.8% — About 98.8% of practices list a phone number on their Google profile.
Sample/method: Practice-weighted average of national figures for 9,452 US practices in 9 specialties across 20 metros; public Google Business Profile data, September 2026. Source: Google benchmarks for 9 specialties (Ichelon Consulting US) → -
#17
96.7% — About 96.7% of practices publish opening hours; dermatology practices are least likely to, at 93%.
Sample/method: Practice-weighted average of national figures for 9,452 US practices in 9 specialties across 20 metros; public Google Business Profile data, September 2026. Source: Google benchmarks for 9 specialties (Ichelon Consulting US) → -
#18
74.2% — Med spas are the most likely to list weekend hours (74.2%); plastic surgery practices are the least likely (14.5%).
Sample/method: National figure: 555 med spas in 20 metros; public Google Business Profile data, September 2026. Compared with 874 plastic surgery practices. Based on hours listed on the profile. Source: Google benchmarks for 9 specialties (Ichelon Consulting US) →
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Review patterns by city
Each specialty in each metro, where the sample has at least 10 practices: 178 groups in all.
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#19
513.5 — Dermatology practices in New York have the deepest review profiles of any specialty-and-city group we measured, with a median of 513.5 Google reviews.
Sample/method: New York: 74 dermatology practices. 178 specialty-by-city groups with 10 or more practices each (9,452 practices, 9 specialties, 20 metros); public Google Business Profile data, September 2026. Source: Dermatology Google benchmarks 2026 (Ichelon Consulting US) → -
#20
4 — Hair restoration clinics in Seattle have the thinnest, with a median of 4 Google reviews.
Sample/method: Seattle: 15 hair restoration clinics. 178 specialty-by-city groups with 10 or more practices each (9,452 practices, 9 specialties, 20 metros); public Google Business Profile data, September 2026. Source: Hair Restoration Google benchmarks 2026 (Ichelon Consulting US) → -
#21
3 of 9 — New York has the highest median review count of any metro in 3 of the 9 specialties (dental practices, dermatology practices and physical therapy clinics).
Sample/method: 178 specialty-by-city groups with 10 or more practices each (9,452 practices, 9 specialties, 20 metros); public Google Business Profile data, September 2026. Ties count for each city. Source: Google benchmarks for 9 specialties (Ichelon Consulting US) → -
#22
2 of 9 — Seattle has the lowest median review count of any metro in 2 of the 9 specialties (dental practices and hair restoration clinics).
Sample/method: 178 specialty-by-city groups with 10 or more practices each (9,452 practices, 9 specialties, 20 metros); public Google Business Profile data, September 2026. Ties count for each city. Source: Google benchmarks for 9 specialties (Ichelon Consulting US) → -
#23
22 of 178 — 22 of the 178 specialty-and-city groups average 4.9 stars or higher on Google.
Sample/method: 178 specialty-by-city groups with 10 or more practices each (9,452 practices, 9 specialties, 20 metros); public Google Business Profile data, September 2026. Source: Google benchmarks for 9 specialties (Ichelon Consulting US) →
How patients use online reviews to choose a doctor
From a peer-reviewed national survey of US adults published in JAMA. The survey is from 2012; patient use of online reviews has grown since, so treat these as a floor.
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#24
59% — 59% of US adults said physician rating sites were important when choosing a doctor: 19% "very important" and 40% "somewhat important".
Source detail: Nationally representative online survey of 2,137 US adults, September 2012 (60% response rate). Hanauer et al., JAMA, 2014. Source: Hanauer DA, et al. Public Awareness, Perception, and Use of Online Physician Rating Sites. JAMA, 2014 → -
#25
89% — Whether a physician accepts the patient's health insurance was rated "very important" most often (89%), ahead of a convenient office location (59%) and word of mouth from family and friends (38%).
Source detail: Nationally representative online survey of 2,137 US adults, September 2012 (60% response rate). Hanauer et al., JAMA, 2014. Source: Hanauer DA, et al. Public Awareness, Perception, and Use of Online Physician Rating Sites. JAMA, 2014 → -
#26
65% — 65% of US adults were aware of online physician rating sites, fewer than for cars (87%) or non-healthcare services (71%).
Source detail: Nationally representative online survey of 2,137 US adults, September 2012 (60% response rate). Hanauer et al., JAMA, 2014. Source: Hanauer DA, et al. Public Awareness, Perception, and Use of Online Physician Rating Sites. JAMA, 2014 → -
#27
35% / 37% — Among people who had looked up physician ratings in the past year, 35% chose a physician because of good ratings and 37% avoided one because of bad ratings.
Source detail: Nationally representative online survey of 2,137 US adults, September 2012 (60% response rate). Hanauer et al., JAMA, 2014. Source: Hanauer DA, et al. Public Awareness, Perception, and Use of Online Physician Rating Sites. JAMA, 2014 → -
#28
43% — Of those who had not looked up physician ratings, 43% said they did not trust the information on the sites.
Source detail: Nationally representative online survey of 2,137 US adults, September 2012 (60% response rate). Hanauer et al., JAMA, 2014. Source: Hanauer DA, et al. Public Awareness, Perception, and Use of Online Physician Rating Sites. JAMA, 2014 → -
#29
34% — 34% of adults worried their identity would be disclosed if they left a negative review about a physician, and 26% worried the physician would take action against them.
Source detail: Nationally representative online survey of 2,137 US adults, September 2012 (60% response rate). Hanauer et al., JAMA, 2014. Source: Hanauer DA, et al. Public Awareness, Perception, and Use of Online Physician Rating Sites. JAMA, 2014 →
Fake reviews and fake profiles on Google
Google's own enforcement figures for Maps and Business Profiles. These are all-business figures, not healthcare-only.
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#30
292 million — Google blocked or removed over 292 million policy-violating reviews on Maps in 2025, while publishing more than 1 billion helpful reviews.
Source detail: Google, 2025 Trust & Safety figures for Maps, published April 16, 2026. Source: Google, New ways we're protecting businesses on Maps (April 16, 2026; 2025 data) → -
#31
240 million — The year before, Google blocked or removed more than 240 million policy-violating reviews (2024).
Source detail: Google Maps blog, April 7, 2025. Source: Google, Google Maps uses AI to fight fake Business Profiles (April 7, 2025; 2024 data) → -
#32
13 million — Google removed over 13 million fake Business Profiles in 2025, up from more than 12 million removed or blocked in 2024.
Source detail: Google Maps blog posts of April 16, 2026 and April 7, 2025. Source: Google, New ways we're protecting businesses on Maps (April 16, 2026; 2025 data) → -
#33
782,000 — Google placed posting restrictions on more than 782,000 policy-violating accounts in 2025.
Source detail: Google, 2025 Trust & Safety figures for Maps. Source: Google, New ways we're protecting businesses on Maps (April 16, 2026; 2025 data) → -
#34
79 million — Google blocked 79 million inaccurate or unverified edits to Business Profiles in 2025.
Source detail: Google, 2025 Trust & Safety figures for Maps. Source: Google, New ways we're protecting businesses on Maps (April 16, 2026; 2025 data) → -
#35
2.7× — Google says customers are 2.7 times more likely to consider a business reputable if they find a complete Business Profile on Google Search and Maps.
Source detail: Google Business Profile Help. Google states the figure without publishing the underlying study on the page. Source: Google Business Profile Help, Tips to improve your local ranking on Google → -
#36
70% / 50% — Google also says customers are 70% more likely to visit, and 50% more likely to consider purchasing from, businesses with a complete Business Profile.
Source detail: Google Business Profile Help. Study details not published on the page. Source: Google Business Profile Help, Tips to improve your local ranking on Google →
Federal rules on reviews and testimonials
The FTC rule applies to every US business, including medical practices. Healthcare practices also have patient-privacy duties when they reply to reviews.
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#37
Oct 21, 2024 — The FTC's Trade Regulation Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials (16 CFR Part 465) took effect on October 21, 2024.
Source detail: Federal Register, published August 22, 2024. Source: Federal Register, Trade Regulation Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials (16 CFR Part 465) → -
#38
Banned — The rule bans compensation or other incentives conditioned on a review expressing a particular sentiment, positive or negative.
Source detail: FTC announcement of the final rule, August 14, 2024. Source: FTC, Federal Trade Commission Announces Final Rule Banning Fake Reviews and Testimonials (August 14, 2024) → -
#39
Banned — It also bans unfounded legal threats, intimidation and certain false public accusations used to prevent or remove a negative review.
Source detail: FTC announcement of the final rule, August 14, 2024. Source: FTC, Federal Trade Commission Announces Final Rule Banning Fake Reviews and Testimonials (August 14, 2024) → -
#40
$53,088 — Civil penalties for violations covered by FTC Act Section 5(m)(1)(A), which include knowing violations of trade regulation rules such as this one, reach up to $53,088 per violation.
Source detail: FTC 2025 inflation adjustment (latest published as of October 2026). Source: FTC, FTC Publishes Inflation-Adjusted Civil Penalty Amounts for 2025 →
See how your reviews compare
Our US team checks your Google rating, review count, review recency and profile against your specialty and city, and sends back a short, plain-English list of fixes. No cost and no obligation.
Get the full Healthcare Google Reviews dataset + PDF summary
The numbers behind this page, ready for your own spreadsheet or slide deck.
- CSV, 187 rows: national figures for 9 specialties plus every metro with at least 10 practices.
- Fields: average Google rating, median review count, review-count bands, website, phone and hours listed, weekend opening, days open per week.
- PDF summary with the tables, methodology and a citation line.
Public Google Business Profile data for 9,452 US healthcare practices, September 2026. Aggregates only. Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.
Where the numbers come from
- Our Google study (23 statistics). Public Google Business Profile data for 9,452 US practices in 9 specialties (med spa, dental, dermatology, plastic surgery, IV therapy and wellness, medical weight loss, hair restoration, chiropractic, physical therapy) across 20 metros, collected in September 2026. Cross-specialty figures marked "practice-weighted" weight each specialty's national figure by its number of practices. We do not pool medians across specialties.
- Publishing rules. Aggregates only. No practice is named, no review text is quoted, and no specialty-and-city group with fewer than 10 practices is reported.
- External statistics (17). Quoted from the primary source linked under each figure: a peer-reviewed JAMA survey, Google's own published enforcement figures, the Federal Register and the FTC. Each keeps its own year. Google's enforcement figures cover all businesses, not only healthcare.
- What we do not publish here. Review reply rates, review pace and review themes by specialty. For those, see the dental and med spa studies and the US healthcare marketing statistics page.
How to cite this page:
Embed our charts: every chart on this page has a “Use this chart” box with copy-ready HTML. The code shows the image and links back to this page as the source. PNG and SVG files are free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with that credit link.
To cite one figure, link its anchor (for example https://ichelonconsulting.com/us/healthcare-google-reviews-statistics-2026#stat-1). For external figures, please cite the original source listed below. Our own aggregates may be reused under CC BY 4.0 with attribution.
Sources
- Google benchmarks for 9 specialties (Ichelon Consulting US) — https://ichelonconsulting.com/us/healthcare-google-benchmarks-2026
- Dermatology Google benchmarks 2026 (Ichelon Consulting US) — https://ichelonconsulting.com/us/dermatology-google-benchmarks-2026
- Hair Restoration Google benchmarks 2026 (Ichelon Consulting US) — https://ichelonconsulting.com/us/hair-restoration-google-benchmarks-2026
- Hanauer DA, et al. Public Awareness, Perception, and Use of Online Physician Rating Sites. JAMA, 2014 — https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24549555/
- Google, New ways we're protecting businesses on Maps (April 16, 2026; 2025 data) — https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/maps/new-ways-were-protecting-businesses-on-maps/
- Google, Google Maps uses AI to fight fake Business Profiles (April 7, 2025; 2024 data) — https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/maps/google-business-profiles-ai-fake-reviews/
- Google Business Profile Help, Tips to improve your local ranking on Google — https://support.google.com/business/answer/10515606?hl=en
- Federal Register, Trade Regulation Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials (16 CFR Part 465) — https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/08/22/2024-18519/trade-regulation-rule-on-the-use-of-consumer-reviews-and-testimonials
- FTC, Federal Trade Commission Announces Final Rule Banning Fake Reviews and Testimonials (August 14, 2024) — https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/08/federal-trade-commission-announces-final-rule-banning-fake-reviews-testimonials
- FTC, FTC Publishes Inflation-Adjusted Civil Penalty Amounts for 2025 — https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/02/ftc-publishes-inflation-adjusted-civil-penalty-amounts-2025
Related pages from the US team
Google benchmarks for 9 specialties
Ratings, reviews and hours by specialty and city.
The med spa review gap
What med spa patients expect versus what reviews say.
Pediatric practice reviews and FTC rules
Asking for reviews the compliant way.
US healthcare marketing statistics 2026
Med spa, dental and 9-specialty statistics in one place.
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Common questions
How many Google reviews should a medical practice have?
It depends on your specialty and city. In our September 2026 study of 9,452 US practices, median review counts ranged from 33 for hair restoration clinics to 319.5 for dental practices. About 28.7% of practices had fewer than 50 reviews. A practical goal is to beat the median for your specialty in your own metro.
What is a good Google rating for a healthcare practice?
The average across 9 US specialties is 4.77 stars, and specialty averages run from 4.62 (dermatology practices) to 4.89 (physical therapy clinics). Anything below your specialty average will stand out to patients comparing options.
Which healthcare specialty has the most Google reviews?
Dental practices, with a median of 319.5 Google reviews; 30.9% of dental practices have 500 or more. Hair restoration clinics have the fewest, with a median of 33.
Do patients use online reviews to choose a doctor?
Yes. In a nationally representative survey published in JAMA, 59% of US adults said physician rating sites were important when choosing a doctor. Among people who had looked up ratings in the past year, 35% chose a physician because of good ratings and 37% avoided one because of bad ratings.
Can a medical practice offer an incentive for Google reviews?
Not one tied to the review being positive. The FTC's rule on consumer reviews, in effect since October 21, 2024, bans incentives conditioned on a review expressing a particular sentiment, and civil penalties can reach $53,088 per violation. Check Google's own review policies as well before running any review program.
How many fake reviews does Google remove?
Google says it blocked or removed over 292 million policy-violating reviews on Maps in 2025, up from more than 240 million in 2024, and removed over 13 million fake Business Profiles in 2025. These figures cover all businesses, not only healthcare.
A note on this guide: it explains marketing practice, not legal advice. Rules on privacy, advertising and insurance change and vary by state, so confirm anything compliance-related with your own counsel.
Want to know where your reviews stand?
A free 30-minute call with the US team. We compare your Google rating, review count and profile with your specialty and city, and tell you what we would fix first.