Plastic surgery reviews and reputation: benchmarks, earning reviews the right way and replying without breaking HIPAA
A plastic surgery practice's reputation is mostly written by its patients, on Google and on specialty review sites, and read by every prospective patient before they book. In our study of 874 US plastic surgery practices the average Google rating was 4.74 and the median practice had 107 reviews, so a high rating alone no longer stands out; volume, recency and how you reply do. This guide covers the benchmarks, how to ask for reviews within Google's and the FTC's rules, and how to reply to reviews without disclosing patient information.
- Benchmark (874 practices, 20 metros, September 2026): 4.74 average rating, 107 median reviews; 29.9% have fewer than 50 and 7.7% have 500+.
- Review depth varies by metro, from a median of 295 in Miami to under 50 in several cities. Set targets against your own market.
- Ask every patient at the right moment. No incentives, no review gating: Google prohibits both and the FTC's 2024 rule bans buying reviews.
- Reply to every review without confirming the person is a patient. HHS has settled cases over review replies that disclosed patient details.
- Contracts that stop patients from posting honest reviews are void under the Consumer Review Fairness Act.
- Every practice welcome — retainers from $499/mo, Goals-Driven engagements, Performance-Linked Payout Models available.
- Dallas, Texas LLC
- 10-person US client team · Central Time (CST)
- 25+ US healthcare clients
- BAA signed with every client
- HIPAA compliance training across client and delivery teams
- Contracts and invoices in USD
-
Primary Care · North Dallas, TXCase study →
-
MedSpa · North Dallas, TX
-
Skin Care · Beverly Hills, CA
-
Dental · Christiansburg, VACase study →
-
Pediatrics · Blacksburg, VACase study →
-
Pediatric Dentistry · Blacksburg, VACase study →
-
Dental · Roanoke, VACase study →
-
Functional Medicine · Telehealth · USACase study →
“They were able to get all my ideas and work with me over a period of three to four months and create this amazing website. It's super customized, very modern, and it incorporates all the elements that I had wanted — the patient portal, nice pictures, a very interactive website, patient reviews. I would highly recommend their company to anyone who wants to make an excellent website.”
What plastic surgery reviews look like on Google
Short answer: almost everyone has a high rating, so patients separate practices on review count, recency and the content of reviews.
These figures come from our study of 874 US plastic surgery practices in 20 metros, using Google Business Profile data collected in September 2026. We report aggregates only, never individual practices, and no metro with fewer than 10 practices.
4.74
Average Google rating across all 874 practices.
107
Median number of Google reviews per practice.
29.9%
Practices with fewer than 50 reviews. 7.7% have 500 or more.
By metro
Ranked by median review count. "n" is the number of practices in each metro's sample.
| Metro | n | Median reviews | Average rating | 500+ reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miami | 59 | 295 | 4.71 | 35.6% |
| Houston | 47 | 151 | 4.79 | 12.8% |
| Scottsdale | 43 | 129 | 4.83 | 9.3% |
| New York | 65 | 122 | 4.82 | 4.6% |
| Denver | 43 | 117 | 4.69 | 9.3% |
| Philadelphia | 44 | 115.5 | 4.63 | 2.3% |
| Las Vegas | 38 | 112.5 | 4.73 | 13.2% |
| Atlanta | 40 | 111 | 4.72 | 0% |
| Austin | 47 | 110 | 4.75 | 8.5% |
| Chicago | 36 | 109.5 | 4.76 | 5.6% |
| Washington DC | 48 | 109 | 4.78 | 6.3% |
| Seattle | 43 | 99 | 4.66 | 7% |
| Dallas | 45 | 96 | 4.77 | 4.4% |
| Los Angeles | 57 | 93 | 4.79 | 3.5% |
| Orlando | 49 | 90 | 4.77 | 8.2% |
| Nashville | 37 | 63 | 4.7 | 0% |
| Boston | 42 | 47 | 4.81 | 0% |
| San Francisco | 38 | 45.5 | 4.7 | 0% |
| Phoenix | 17 | 36 | 4.82 | 17.6% |
| San Diego | 36 | 20 | 4.4 | 0% |
Two things stand out. First, plastic surgery ratings sit a little below med spas: our separate study of 555 US med spas found an average of 4.87 and a median of 148 reviews. Our data doesn't show why, but surgery involves more risk and a longer, harder recovery, which may explain part of the gap. Second, review depth swings widely by metro, so a practice with 120 reviews may lead in one city and trail in another. Use the Google review benchmark checker to compare your own profile.
Our plastic surgery data covers profile metrics only. We don't yet publish review velocity or owner reply rates for this specialty, so for those we point to our healthcare Google review statistics.
How to earn more reviews within the rules
Short answer: ask every patient, at a good moment, with one tap, and never pay or filter.
Timing for surgical patients
- Not on surgery day. Patients are anxious or sedated.
- At a post-op visit where progress is visible, often when swelling has settled enough for the patient to see change. The surgeon or nurse can mention it; the coordinator sends the link that afternoon.
- After milestones: drain removal, return to work, final results visit. Different patients are happiest at different points.
- Consultation-only visitors can review too. A thoughtful consult with honest advice often earns praise from people who never had surgery.
The rules
- No incentives: Google's policy prohibits offering anything in exchange for reviews. The FTC's rule on consumer reviews and testimonials, in force since October 21, 2024, bans buying reviews and offering incentives conditioned on a review's sentiment.
- No gating: don't ask only happy patients or screen with a "how did we do?" survey first. Google's policy prohibits selectively soliciting positive reviews.
- No staff or family reviews: the FTC rule restricts undisclosed reviews by officers, managers and employees, and Google prohibits conflict-of-interest reviews.
- No fake or AI-written reviews: the FTC rule bans reviews from people who don't exist or have no real experience.
- Text requests: review request texts need appropriate consent under the TCPA; see our TCPA guide.
The full playbook is in our guide to getting more Google reviews.
Replying to reviews without disclosing patient information
Short answer: reply to every review, but never confirm that the reviewer is a patient, and never mention a procedure, date, result or complication, even if the reviewer did.
A patient can disclose their own information; you can't confirm it. HHS's Office for Civil Rights has acted on exactly this. In 2023 a New Jersey provider agreed to pay $30,000 and adopt a corrective action plan after replies to negative online reviews disclosed patients' diagnosis and treatment details. In 2019 a dental practice paid $10,000 over social media replies that disclosed patient information. Our HIPAA review response guide lists more cases.
Positive review
"Thank you for taking the time to share this. Our whole team appreciates it, and we're so glad you had a good experience with us."
Not: "So glad your tummy tuck healed well, see you at your 6-month check!"
Negative review
"We're sorry to read this. We take every concern seriously and would value the chance to talk with you directly. Please call our practice manager at [number]."
Not: "Our records show you missed two post-op appointments."
Suspected fake review
"We take feedback seriously but can't find a record that matches this experience. Please contact us at [number] so we can look into it." Then flag it to the platform.
Careful: even "you were never our patient" reveals something about who is.
A reply process that holds up
- Approved templates for positive, neutral, negative and suspected fake reviews.
- One trained person posts replies; negative reviews go to the practice manager the same day.
- The offline conversation happens by phone, not in public threads.
- Reply within a few business days. Patients reading reviews notice silence.
- Keep a log of negative reviews and what changed as a result.
Unhappy patients, removal requests and what not to do
Short answer: solve the problem offline, flag genuine policy violations, and never pressure or threaten the reviewer.
- Early recovery reviews: some negative reviews come in the first weeks after surgery, when swelling and discomfort peak. A proactive call from the nurse during that period, setting expectations again, prevents some of them.
- Removal: you can flag reviews that break the platform's policy (fake, conflict of interest, off-topic, harassment). A review that is negative but genuine stays.
- No suppression: the FTC's 2024 rule bans using unfounded legal threats, intimidation or false accusations to stop or remove reviews, and bans hiding negative reviews on your own site when you claim to display all reviews.
- No gag clauses: the Consumer Review Fairness Act voids form-contract terms that bar or penalize honest reviews. Take them out of intake paperwork.
- Legal disputes: if a review contains false statements of fact, talk to counsel before replying at all.
The rest of your reputation: what patients find when they search your surgeon
Short answer: search each surgeon's name every month and make sure the first page shows accurate, current information you control or can influence.
- Surgeon bio page with board certification described accurately; see our board certification advertising guide.
- Individual practitioner profiles on Google where appropriate, with the same details as your website.
- Society and hospital directory listings kept current.
- Specialty review sites: claim your profiles, keep photos and procedures current and reply using the same HIPAA-safe templates.
- Before-and-after galleries with written authorization for every image; see our photo compliance guide.
- Video: surgeon-led YouTube videos often rank for the surgeon's name and give searchers a real sense of the person. See our social media guide.
The monthly reputation routine
| Metric | How to measure | Target |
|---|---|---|
| New reviews | Count per month, per location and per surgeon | Steady every month, ahead of your metro's leaders |
| Rating | Google average | At or above your metro's average |
| Reply rate | Replies ÷ reviews this month | Every review answered |
| Request rate | Requests sent ÷ eligible patients | Every eligible patient asked |
| Negative review log | Theme of each complaint | One operational fix a month |
Ichelon Consulting US manages reviews and reputation as part of plastic surgery marketing, with city pages for markets such as Miami, New York and Dallas. More numbers are in plastic surgery marketing statistics 2026 and the cross-specialty healthcare Google benchmarks. More guides are in the US guides library and research in the US research library. Book a call for a review benchmark of your practice.
Sources
- Ichelon Consulting US: Cosmetic and plastic surgery Google benchmarks 2026 (874 practices, 20 metros, September 2026; aggregates only)
- Ichelon Consulting US: State of Med Spa Google Presence 2026 (555 med spas)
- HHS OCR: Resolution agreement with a New Jersey provider over disclosures in online review replies (2023)
- HHS: Dental practice pays $10,000 to settle social media disclosures of patients' PHI (2019)
- FTC: Trade Regulation Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials (16 CFR Part 465), Federal Register, August 22, 2024
- FTC: Consumer Review Fairness Act, what businesses need to know
- Google Maps user-contributed content policy (incentives, selective solicitation, conflicts of interest)
Note: general marketing information, not legal advice. Confirm review and privacy practices with your counsel.
Related pages from the US team
Plastic surgery Google benchmarks 2026
All 20 metros: ratings, reviews and weekend hours.
Plastic surgery social media guide
Consent and comment rules for social channels.
Plastic surgery SEO guide
How reviews fit into local search.
Responding to negative reviews under HIPAA
Reply templates and enforcement cases in detail.
Plastic surgery marketing agency USA
How Ichelon Consulting US runs plastic surgery marketing.
Plastic surgery marketing agencies in the US
How to compare agencies before you hire one.
Every practice welcome — Goals-Driven engagements from $499/mo
We benchmark your last 90 days, agree monthly goals with you, and track them live on Ichelon Agency OS with a report every Monday. Performance-Linked Payout Models are available. Our US leadership is based in Dallas, and strategy calls run in US business hours.
Common questions
What is the average Google rating for a plastic surgery practice?
In our study of 874 US plastic surgery practices across 20 metros, with Google Business Profile data collected in September 2026, the average rating was 4.74. City averages ranged from 4.4 in San Diego to 4.83 in Scottsdale.
How many Google reviews does a plastic surgeon need?
The median practice in our study had 107 Google reviews. 29.9% had fewer than 50 and 7.7% had 500 or more. The number that matters is how you compare with the practices patients see next to you in your own city, so check your metro's median before setting a target.
When should a plastic surgery practice ask for a review?
After a moment where the patient is happy with their care, such as a post-operative visit where they can see progress, rather than on the day of surgery when they are uncomfortable. Ask every patient in the same way, make it a single tap with a direct link, and never offer anything in return.
Can a plastic surgeon respond to a negative review?
Yes, but without confirming that the reviewer is a patient or mentioning any detail of their care, even if they shared it themselves. Thank them, say you take feedback seriously, and invite them to contact the practice directly. HHS has reached settlements with providers whose replies disclosed patient information.
Can we remove a fake or unfair review of our practice?
You can flag reviews that break the platform's policy, such as fake reviews, conflicts of interest or off-topic content, and request removal. Reviews that are simply negative are not removable on that basis. Never threaten or pressure reviewers; the FTC's 2024 rule bans unfounded legal threats and intimidation aimed at suppressing reviews.
Can patients be asked to sign a no-review agreement?
No. The Consumer Review Fairness Act makes form-contract provisions that restrict honest reviews, or impose penalties for them, void, and the FTC can act against businesses that use them.
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 how your reviews compare?
Book a 30-minute benchmarking call. A member of our Sr. Leadership team will compare your profile with the practices in your metro and tell you what we would fix first.