Picture someone on their lunch break, phone in one hand, looking for a counsellor “near me.” They are not browsing essays. They are looking at the map pin, the hours, and whether the place feels real.
That pin is your Google Business Profile. For UK therapists it is less like a billboard and more like the doorbell on the street. Useful when it matches how you actually practise. Awkward when it shouts a home address you never meant people to knock on.
We help therapists with websites for a living, so we see the same sticky bits again and again: home versus clinic, online-only versus hybrid, and the video check that feels like a school play. Here is the calm version. Google’s help pages are the last word on their rules. Your insurer or supervisor is the last word on privacy.
Do you need a Google Business Profile?
You can have one if people can visit you at a real place, or if you go to them. Google wants the listing to reflect the business accurately, with one profile per business.
That usually fits:
- a clinic or consulting room clients can attend
- a rented room in a shared building, if you really see people there in your hours
- a hybrid practice (some sessions in the room, some online)
- work where you travel to the client
If you are fully online, with no in-person sessions at all, Google says you are not eligible. Do not invent a shop front for the algorithm. Point people to your website instead. Our websites for therapists are built for that kind of clear, private first contact.
Think of it this way: if there is nowhere for a human to arrive, the map does not owe you a pin.
Use the name people already know (and a category that is true)
Put the name on your door, your invoices, and your website. Not “Jane Smith Anxiety Counsellor Leeds CBT EMDR Open Late.” That is not a name. That is a suitcase that burst open on the platform.
Google does not want extra keywords, taglines, or town names stuffed into the business name. Those belong in the description, hours, and category fields.
Pick the fewest categories that describe the work. “Counsellor” or “Psychotherapist” is usually closer than a shopping list of issues. Categories answer “this practice is a…”, not “please rank me for every midnight worry.”
If you are the only practitioner at a branded room, Google has a format for that. If several of you share a clinic, the clinic can have a listing and you can have your own, named as you. Keep it consistent with how clients already find you.
Home, a rented hour, hybrid, or online
A room in your home, and clients come to you. That is a physical location. You will likely show the address. Think about signage, neighbours, and whether you want people arriving from the map at 8pm with a satnav voice announcing your street. If that makes your stomach drop, you may be closer to a service-area setup.
A rented consulting room. You can list it if clients are actually received there in your stated hours. A virtual office or a mailbox you never sit in is not eligible. Co-working only counts if there is clear signage, you receive clients there, and someone from the practice is present in those hours. Google’s words, not ours. We just translate them into therapist.
You travel to clients, or you do not want the base address public. That is a service-area business. You keep one profile for the real base, set the area you actually cover, and you should hide the address. Google’s note for this is here.
Hybrid. You can show the room if people can attend it, and still describe online sessions on the website. Do not pretend the house is a walk-in clinic if the dog is the receptionist.
Online only. No profile. Spend the energy on a clear site and a kind contact path.
Hide the address when clients should not see it
Hiding the address is not a trick. It is how Google expects service-area businesses to behave, so people are not sent to a private home or an empty mailbox.
In the profile, switch the listing so the address is not shown, and set a service area that is honest (the towns you really work in, not “anywhere with Wi-Fi”). If you later take a public clinic room, you can show that address instead.
Your website can still say “in person in Dorking, or online across the UK” without dropping a door number on the map.
Keep name, address, phone, and website in agreement
Search engines like a boring kind of consistency. The name, phone number, and website on the profile should match the site, the footer, and your letterhead. Same story in three places. Think matching socks, not a disguise.
Use a number you actually answer. Use the real site URL, not a Facebook page. If you move rooms, update the profile and the site in the same week, before your old address becomes a small urban legend.
If you already have a managed site with us, this is one of the quiet jobs a how it works setup is for: one URL, one phone, one story. We do not promise map rankings. We do try to keep the public details from arguing with each other.
The video check, without making it a production
Google may ask you to verify with a live video from your phone, recorded inside the Business Profile app. Pre-recorded clips are not allowed. Aim for at least 30 seconds, unedited, no other people’s faces, and no ID or bank details. Yes, it feels a bit like filming a house tour for a very picky relative. It is also how they stop fake shops.
Google’s steps are here. In plain terms:
- If clients visit a signed room, show the street, the door or window with your name, and something only you would access (keys to the room, your locked cupboard).
- If you hid the address and work from home or a private base, do not film your children or the laundry pile. Neighbourhood street signs and landmarks are enough to place you. Then show work things: your chair and lamp, a branded card, a utility bill or invoice that matches the profile name. Not a distressed client, not a session.
Review can take up to a few working days. If they ask again, they usually tell you what was missing. Plan the route before you tap record.
Photos and reviews, kept ordinary
Room photos: your space, your plants, your mug. Not identifiable clients. (We have a separate post coming on consent, because “just crop the face” is not a consent form.)
Reviews: reply as yourself, briefly, without repeating clinical detail. Never offer a discount for a star rating. Never write your own reviews. Google can smell that from space, and so can other therapists.
Hours: session days are fine. If you only work by appointment, say so, rather than listing shop hours you do not keep. Nobody needs to believe you sell croissants at 7am.
If you would rather not run the listing yourself
Plenty of therapists are happy to claim the profile, hide the address, and leave it. That is a good outcome. You are not failing if the doorbell works and then you get on with the clinical day.
If you see clients in person and you would like the monthly posts and review replies taken off your plate, we offer a Local Visibility add-on with our SEO plans. It is optional, for local and hybrid work, not a requirement, and not a substitute for an honest profile you already control. Online-only practices do not need it.
If you just want the website and the listing to point at the same place, talk to us.
Short answers
Do therapists in the UK need a Google Business Profile?
Only if people can visit you, or you go to them. Fully online practices are not eligible.
What category should a counsellor use?
The fewest true ones. Counsellor or psychotherapist beats a string of issue names.
Can I hide my home address?
Yes, if you are a service-area business and clients are not meant to walk in. Hide it and set a real service area.
Can I use photos of my therapy room?
Yes, if they are your room and nobody identifiable is in them without consent.
What is video verification?
A live phone video, inside Google’s flow, showing the place and that you run it. No other faces. Details on Google’s help page above.
Should the profile match my website?
Yes. Same name, phone, and URL. Update both when you move.
Thanks for reading. If this saved you from filming your hallway at midnight, we are glad.