What patients value most in a med spa: the top 5, from 3,000 Google reviews
When patients review a med spa, what do they actually write about? We classified about 3,000 Google reviews from US med spas by theme. Five themes account for most of what patients say, and the top two are not what most med spa marketing leads with.
- Staff and how patients were treated is the most-mentioned theme: 48% of theme mentions, 98.6% positive.
- Results come second at 34% of mentions, 97.8% positive.
- Together, people and outcomes make up about 82% of everything patients write about.
- Pain and comfort, price and value, and cleanliness complete the top 5, each a small share.
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The top 5 things med spa patients write about
Short answer: the people who treated them, and the results. Everything else is a small slice.
Share of 2,990 theme mentions in Google reviews from a random 115-spa subsample of our 555-spa study. A review can mention more than one theme. Bars are scaled for readability.
Staff and bedside manner: the experience is the product
Short answer: 48% of what patients write is about the people. Names, warmth, explanations, feeling listened to.
Med spa reviews read less like product reviews and more like reviews of a relationship. Patients often name their provider and describe how knowledgeable they were and how they were made to feel. This theme is 98.6% positive, so it's also where most med spas are already strong.
What it means for marketing: the team belongs on the homepage, the Google profile and in ads. Provider bios with credentials, short videos of providers explaining a treatment and photos of the real team do more than stock imagery of a treatment room.
Results: the reason they came
Short answer: 34% of mentions are about results, and 97.8% of those are positive.
Patients describe how they looked and felt afterwards, and whether they plan to come back. Results are the second pillar of what patients value, and they're where marketing rules are strictest: before-and-after images need consent and honest context, and outcome claims need to be typical, not exceptional.
There is a related, much smaller theme worth watching: before-and-after outcomes, where about 1 in 5 mentions are negative. When results disappoint, it's usually because expectations weren't set.
Pain and comfort, price and value, cleanliness
Short answer: each is a small share of mentions, and only price and value carries a visible share of complaints.
- Pain and comfort (4%). Almost always positive (99.2%). Worth addressing plainly on treatment pages, because it's a common worry before booking.
- Price and value (4%). 84.1% positive, but about 16% negative, the highest share of complaints in the top 5. Unclear pricing and surprise add-ons are the usual cause. See price, upselling and wait times.
- Cleanliness (3%). 98% positive. Rarely a differentiator, but patients notice it.
Putting what patients value at the front
- Lead with your team. Real photos, credentials and a line on each provider's approach, on the website and the Google profile.
- Show results honestly. Consented before-and-afters with context (number of sessions, typical outcome), never your single best case presented as normal.
- Answer the comfort question. One plain paragraph per treatment on what it feels like and how pain is managed.
- Make prices findable. Starting prices or ranges, and what's included. It's the top-5 theme where patients complain most.
- Ask for reviews after a great visit. Your happiest patients write about staff and results, which is exactly what new patients read. See how many new reviews a month is normal.
Method: about 3,000 Google reviews (up to 50 recent reviews per spa) from a random 115-spa subsample of our 555-spa study, classified by theme and sentiment with Google Gemini. Theme counts are directional. See the methodology & data.
What US med spa patients expect, and where they don't get it
Findings from our study of 555 US med spas across 20 metros and about 3,000 patient reviews. Read the findings below, or download the complete report.
Related pages from the US team
The booking mismatch
The one theme where complaints outnumber praise.
The before-and-after expectation gap
Why 1 in 5 outcome mentions are negative.
State of Med Spa Google Presence 2026
The full public study.
Med spa marketing, USA
How we help US med spas grow.
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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 do patients value most in a med spa?
In about 3,000 Google reviews of US med spas, the most-mentioned theme was the staff and how patients were treated (48% of theme mentions), followed by results (34%). Pain and comfort, price and value, and cleanliness complete the top five.
Do med spa patients care more about price or results?
Results. Results were mentioned in 34% of theme mentions, compared with 4% for price and value. Price is also the one top-five theme with a visible share of complaints, at about 16% negative.
How was this measured?
Up to 50 recent Google reviews were collected for each med spa in a random 115-spa subsample of our 555-spa study, and each review was classified by theme and sentiment with a language model. Counts are directional; the method is published on our methodology page.
Is this a survey of how patients choose a med spa?
No. It measures what patients write about after a visit, which shows what they notice and value. It is not a survey of how they chose.
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.
Does your marketing lead with what patients value?
A free 30-minute call with the US team. We'll look at your website and Google profile through the lens of this study.
Key findings
- Staff and how patients were treated is the most-mentioned theme in med spa reviews: 48% of theme mentions, 98.6% positive.
- Results come second at 34% of mentions, 97.8% positive.
- People and outcomes together make up about 82% of everything patients write about.
- Pain and comfort, price and value, and cleanliness complete the top five, each a small share.
How to cite this report
Top 5 Things Patients Value in a Med Spa, Ichelon Consulting Group, 2026. https://ichelonconsulting.com/us/what-med-spa-patients-value-most
Free to quote and reuse with attribution and a link to this page.
Related research
Questions this report answers
What do patients value most in a med spa?
The staff. In about 3,000 Google reviews classified by Ichelon Consulting US, staff and how patients were treated made up 48% of theme mentions, 98.6% positive. Results came second at 34%, 97.8% positive.
What should a med spa feature in its marketing?
Its people and its results. Together they account for about 82% of what patients write about in reviews, yet the report notes they are not what most med spa marketing leads with.
What are the top 5 things med spa reviews mention?
Staff and treatment, results, pain and comfort, price and value, and cleanliness. The first two dominate; the last three are each a small share of the roughly 3,000 reviews classified from the 555-med-spa study.
How were the med spa review themes measured?
Ichelon Consulting US classified about 3,000 Google reviews from a random subsample of 115 US med spas in its 555-spa, 20-metro study, assigning each a primary theme and sentiment. Theme counts are treated as directional.