Google Business Profile for doctors, Practo and your website How a clinic gets found online within the NMC advertising rules.

Short answer: a Google Business Profile for doctors is allowed, and so is a Practo listing and a clinic website, as long as every line on them is factual and verifiable and none of them solicits patients. Fill in the clinic name, your name with recognised qualifications and registration number, the address, timings, services and consultation fee. Leave out testimonials, superlatives, offers, patient photos and anything AI-generated without a label. Do not ask patients for reviews. That last line removes most of what agencies sell as a Google strategy, and it is the line the NMC text is clearest on.

The rules come from two documents. The Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002, regulation 6.1, have barred advertising by doctors for two decades. The NMC's Guidelines on Ethical Advertising and Public Communication, Notice No. R-13014/01/2024-Ethics dated 6 Oct 2026, in force the same day, extend that to search engines, platforms, websites, WhatsApp and AI content. The full clause-by-clause reading is in our post on the NMC advertising guidelines 2026. Here we take only what you need to build the three listings.

What may go on a listing, and what may not

Section 9.1 of the 2026 guidelines lets a clinical establishment publish "factual information" limited to "objective and verifiable particulars": the establishment's name, contact details, departments functioning, diagnostic facilities, emergency services, accreditation status, other facilities offered and applicable fees. It adds that a website directory of doctors with their names, recognised qualifications, specialties, registration details and availability "serves a patient-information function" and is "materially distinct from a paid or promotional advertisement". Explanation II to section 3.2 says the same about equipment and services: factual is fine, superiority or guaranteed outcomes are not.

For the doctor personally, regulation 7.13 of the 2002 regulations fixes what a signboard and prescription may carry: name, qualifications from a university or statutory body, titles and speciality, and the registration number with the name of the state medical council. Regulation 1.4.1 requires the registration number in the clinic and on every prescription, certificate and receipt; regulation 1.4.2 allows only recognised degrees as a suffix to your name. Explanations III and IV to section 3.2 of the 2026 guidelines carry the same four items on to every electronic post: name, qualifications, registration status and the SMR or NMR registration number. Treat that as the mandatory header of every listing.

Fees are allowed and, on a listing, useful. Section 8.1(x) says any lawful disclosure of charges "shall be factual, transparent and not misleading", and "public declaration of charge" is a permitted formal announcement under section 8.2(ii), as it was under regulation 6.1.1. Discounts, limited-period offers, coupons, cashbacks and referral benefits that encourage consultations are not (section 8.1(x)).

What may not appear, on any of the three:

• Patient testimonials, endorsements or recommendations, and reviews you asked for, paid for or arranged (section 3.2 Explanation V; section 8.1(xii)). Written consent from the patient does not make a testimonial allowed (section 6.2).
• "Best doctors", "No. 1", "leading", "most trusted", "top", "100% success", "painless", "guaranteed" (sections 8.1(iii) and 8.1(ix)).
• Before-and-after photographs, surgical results, success stories and celebrity patients (section 8.1(v)).
• Any identifiable patient data, including a face in a waiting-room photo (sections 6.1, 7.4; regulation 7.14 on confidentiality).
• AI-generated promotional campaigns. AI content that is otherwise allowed must carry a source mark saying it is AI; AI may not fake a patient, a voice or an outcome (section 7.2).
• Your own photograph where it works as self-advertisement; on letterhead or signboard it is unethical under regulation 6.1.2 (section 9.2).
• Payment to an agency or platform tied to patients procured, and any lead-generation fee (sections 8.1(vii), 8.1(viii)). Section 4.4 adds that publishing through a platform or agency does not shift the responsibility off you.

Section 10.1 gives the state medical council a graded scale, from a warning with ethics training for a first violation to removal from the register for one to three years for repeated ones, with "digital mass solicitation" listed among serious violations.

Google Business Profile for doctors: create, verify, fill

A Business Profile is the box with the map, hours and phone number that Google shows when someone searches the clinic or "skin doctor near me". It is free from Google. Google's guidelines treat doctors and dentists as "individual practitioners": a public-facing professional "typically with their own customer base" who can be contacted "directly at the verified location during stated hours". A practitioner profile "may include title or degree certification (for example Dr., MD)". One doctor gets one profile; Google says a practitioner "shouldn't have multiple Business Profiles to cover all of their specializations". Where several doctors sit in one clinic, the clinic gets a profile for the location and each doctor's profile title carries "only the name of the practitioner". A single-doctor clinic therefore usually needs one profile for the clinic, with the doctor named inside it.

Creating and verifying the listing

1. Search the clinic name and city in Google Maps first. If a listing already exists, select "Claim this business" and then "Manage now" rather than creating a second one.
2. Otherwise go to business.google.com/add, choose "Add your business to Google" and follow the on-screen steps. Google's guidelines want the name as it appears "on your storefront, website, stationery", a precise address, your "regular customer-facing hours" and "as few categories as possible" from Google's list. Pick the one medical category that describes the clinic.
3. Select a verification option. Google's help page lists phone or text, email, a live video call (only during your listed business hours), a postcard to the address ("Most codes arrive within 14 days"), a video recording, and Search Console. Google recommends video verification where the business is eligible. For a video call, have the signboard, the street and the inside of the clinic ready; Google says the call shows your location, your business or equipment and proof that you manage it.
4. Then wait. Google says verification reviews take up to 5 business days. Do not pay anyone who offers to "verify instantly".

What to fill in

The profile fields map cleanly on to section 9.1. Fill the clinic name, address, phone, the week's timings with the lunch break, holidays, and a description that lists the doctor's name with qualifications, speciality, council and registration number, the services offered in plain words ("general OPD", "ECG", "dressing", "child vaccination") and the consultation and follow-up fee. Keep every word verifiable. "Saturday evening OPD" is a fact; "advanced care" is a claim. Set the same name, address and phone on the signboard, the website and Practo, so a patient who checks two of them gets the same answer and Google sees one business.

Reviews under the NMC rule

This is where Google's advice and the NMC's text part ways, and you should know both. Google's help page "Tips to get more reviews" says a business may ask customers "to visit a Google link or scan a QR code" and may remind them. Google's Maps content policy then draws its own lines: reviews "paid for, directly or in kind" are not allowed, nor is offering "payment, discounts, free goods and/or services", nor discouraging negative reviews or "selectively solicit[ing] positive reviews", nor "Merchants requesting that staff solicit a certain number of reviews". Google's help also says: "Never share a reviewer's private information" and avoid using a reply "to offer deals or promotions".

The NMC goes further. Explanation V to section 3.2 says no doctor or institution shall "solicit, purchase, procure, manipulate or cause to be published fake, paid or misleading" reviews or ratings, and that a doctor "shall not request or share patient testimonials, recommendations, endorsements or reviews for professional promotion on social media". Section 8.1(xii) bans procuring or manipulating reviews, ratings or "search rankings, visibility or algorithms". The guidelines do not say whether a Google listing is "social media" under section 3.6; the NMC can clarify under section 12 and has not yet. Until it does, the reading that keeps your registration safe is the strict one.

• Do not ask for reviews, by link, QR at the counter, WhatsApp message or a word from the receptionist. Google permits it; your council may not.
• No gift, discount or free follow-up for a review. Both Google and the NMC ban this outright.
• Patients may still write reviews on their own. That is their speech, and nothing in the guidelines asks you to stop it.
• Reply to reviews, including bad ones, in a way that discloses nothing. Do not confirm the person was a patient, name a diagnosis, a date or a bill. "Thank you for the feedback. Please call the clinic on the number listed so we can look into this" is enough. Google says you must be verified to reply, checks replies against its content policies, and publishes them without your personal name.
• Do not copy reviews into posts, the website or a WhatsApp status (Explanation V, "share").
• Do not hire anyone who promises reviews, stars or rank. Section 8.1(xii) covers the agency's work as yours, and section 4.4 keeps the responsibility with you.

Photos, posts and the booking link

Photos: the signboard, the entrance, the waiting area without people, the consultation room, the parking. No patients, no staff who have not agreed in writing, no before-and-after (sections 6.1, 7.4, 8.1(v)). Google's policy says you are responsible for your imagery complying "with all applicable laws and regulations"; for a doctor that means the NMC text. Posts: Google offers three kinds, "Update", "Offer" and "Event". Use "Update" for the announcements section 8.2(ii) allows: new timings, a doctor away for a week, a changed fee, a new address. Never use "Offer"; a promotional deal from a clinic is section 8.1(x) territory. Google also warns that a post with a phone number in the description may be rejected unless it can verify the number as yours. If a question appears on the listing's question section, answer it with the same facts you would give on the phone.

The booking link is the one field that turns a listing into fewer phone calls. In the Business Profile, select "Booking", then "Add link", paste the URL of your own booking page and save; Google allows up to ten links and lets you mark one as preferred. Point it at a page you control. If your clinic software gives patients a QR code and booking link that drops them into the day's queue, that link belongs here. How bookings fit a walk-in OPD is covered in our post on appointment booking for walk-in clinics.

Practo listing for doctors: what is free, what is paid, how feedback works

Everything in this section is from Practo's public pages as fetched on 26 Oct 2026. Where Practo does not publish a figure, we say so rather than guess. A Practo Profile is a doctor and clinic page on practo.com where patients can find the clinic and, per Practo's clinics page, "find you and book appointments; capture their feedback". Practo's help centre says: "The listing on Practo comes absolutely free and is independent of other paid Practo products." Practo's FAQ also states it "does not charge for patients or appointments that come through your online Practo.com profile".

Getting listed

1. Register at practo.com/for-doctors/profile with your name, email, mobile number and establishment name, and enter the OTP.
2. Choose the "Medical Practitioner Claim". Registration details are mandatory. Practo's profile guidelines ask for a scan or clear photo of the medical registration certificate and say every registration detail "is verified against different medical councils across states" before the profile goes live. At least one educational qualification is required.
3. Add the clinic under "My Clinics" or "Visiting Clinics". Practo says the profile will not go live without a clinic. For a clinic claim, Practo lists ownership proof such as clinic registration proof, a municipal waste-disposal document, a sales tax receipt or the clinic signboard, plus government ID, degree proof and registration proof, and says it needs 48 hours to verify before the clinic profile goes live.
4. Fill timings, fees and services. Practo's own guidelines already match the NMC on several points: the profile photo must be "passport type" with only the area above the chest visible, group or award photos are not allowed, "any content which promotes a doctor to lure patients is not allowed such as discounts", clinic marketing and contact details may not go in the About section, and awards need a year and must be the doctor's own.

Paid products, in Practo's words

Practo lists several paid products. Practo Reach, per its help centre FAQ, is a subscription that shows "contextual information cards" about a practice to patients searching on practo.com in chosen localities, marked "sponsored"; Practo says Reach "does not guarantee appointments" and does not affect the order of search results, and its terms say it "does not guarantee any minimum number of patient transactions". Ray by Practo is described on practo.com as "the most powerful practice management software for clinics, with premium access to the Practo.com platform". Practo Prime is "a technology product for clinics and hospitals". The Practo Pro app is free, per its FAQ. The price of Reach, Ray and Prime is not published on any practo.com or help.practo.com page we could fetch on 26 Oct 2026; the product pages for Reach and Ray at practo.com/providers/doctors returned 404 that day. Ask Practo for a written quote and read the subscription agreement before paying.

Two NMC clauses sit next to any paid visibility product on any platform. Section 9.4 tells platforms hosting doctors to follow NMC norms, with a "prohibition of paid ranking of doctors" and transparency in listing practices. Section 8.1(ii) says a doctor shall not "engage any third party for marketing medical services", and 8.1(viii) says an arrangement with an online platform must not link payment to individual patients procured. Practo's own Reach FAQ says the product does not change ranking and carries a sponsored label; whether a sponsored card on a doctor search is "marketing medical services" by a third party is a question the guidelines do not answer in terms. Before you subscribe to any paid placement, on Practo or elsewhere, put the question to your state medical council in writing. Our state medical councils list has the contact for each.

How Practo feedback works, and the NMC angle

Practo's feedback guidelines for providers describe the mechanism. After an appointment, Practo contacts the patient "by SMS, WhatsApp, or email within 4 days" asking for feedback; each appointment allows one feedback; feedback collected in the clinic is not published; feedback by SMS or email is published after Practo's verification. Patients may write feedback for a visit "even if you didn't book an appointment with them using Practo". Practo asks whether the patient would recommend the doctor to friends and family and shows a recommendation figure only once there are 10 or more. Providers may reply, and Practo asks them to respond to every published feedback, but a reply containing personal or medical details not already in the feedback "will not be published". Providers cannot moderate feedback; they can report it to Practo, which "reserves the right to remove feedback at any time, for any reason".

Practo's rules for providers ban "asking friends or relatives or practice staff to write feedback", "offering incentives such as discounts, upgrades or any special treatment in exchange for feedback", hiring anyone to submit feedback, and pressuring Practo or a patient to remove it, with penalties up to removing all feedback for that provider. These line up with sections 3.2 Explanation V and 8.1(xii). The gap is the "Get more feedback" tool, where a provider uploads patient names and phone numbers and Practo schedules an SMS with a feedback link. Practo offers it; the NMC says a doctor shall not request reviews for professional promotion on social media, and section 7.6 adds that advertising which processes personal data has to comply with the DPDP Act. Handing a list of patient mobile numbers to a platform for a feedback campaign is a request for reviews and a transfer of personal data for a purpose the patient did not come in for. Leave the tool alone.

Justdial-type directories: the same rules, the same fields. Claim the listing so nobody else edits it, fill the facts, decline the paid packages until your council has answered the question above, and buy no ratings.

Your own doctor website: what it must show, what it must not

A website is the one place whose wording you fully control, and section 9.1 names it as the natural home of the doctor directory. It is also, under section 3.5, a "medium of advertisement", so every rule above applies to it. Five pages cover a 1 to 3 doctor clinic:

1. Home: clinic name, address with a map link, phone, timings and holidays, and the consultation fee stated as a fixed amount (section 8.1(x); regulation 6.1.1(7)).
2. Doctors: for each doctor, the name with recognised degrees only (regulation 1.4.2), speciality, the registration number and the council that issued it (regulation 7.13; Explanations III and IV), and the days and hours they sit. No photograph that reads as publicity (section 9.2).
3. Services: the OPD, procedures and tests actually done on the premises, in plain words (Explanation II). No "advanced", "world-class" or "painless".
4. Book or contact: the booking link or a form, plus the phone number. If the page collects a name, mobile number or reason for visit, it collects digital personal data.
5. Privacy notice: see the next paragraph.

Section 5(1) of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 requires that a request for consent be accompanied or preceded by a notice stating the personal data and the purpose, how the person may exercise their rights, and how to complain to the Data Protection Board. Rule 3 of the DPDP Rules, 2025 wants that notice in "clear and plain language" with "an itemised description of such personal data" and the specific purpose. Rule 9 requires every data fiduciary to "prominently publish on its website or app" the contact details of the person who answers questions about personal data. Those rules have commencement dates set by the November 2025 Gazette; the dates, the exact wording and a clinic-sized notice are in our post on the DPDP Act for clinics. The practical step is a short privacy page that lists what the booking form collects, why, who to write to, and how to withdraw, written before the form goes live.

What the website must not carry is the list from the first section: testimonials or a "what our patients say" block, star widgets pulled in from Google or Practo (Explanation V bars sharing reviews for promotion), success rates, before-and-after galleries, offers, superlatives, and any AI-written page without an AI source mark (section 7.2). Health education articles in your own name are allowed under section 5.1 as long as they do not promote your practice or solicit patients.

Google, Practo or your own website: what each gives you

Order of work for a clinic starting from nothing: Google first, because it is where the address and timings are checked; the website second, because it is where the doctor directory and privacy notice live and where the booking link should point; Practo third, if your patients use it, with the free profile and the feedback tool left untouched.

Checklist before anything goes live

1. The same clinic name, address, phone and timings on the signboard, Google, Practo and the website.
2. Every doctor shown with name, recognised degrees only, speciality, registration number and council name (regulations 1.4.2, 7.13; Explanations III, IV).
3. Consultation and follow-up fees as fixed amounts; no offers, packages that mislead, or discounts (section 8.1(x)).
4. Services and facilities described in plain words with no superiority or outcome claims (Explanation II; sections 8.1(iii), 8.1(ix)).
5. No testimonials, no review widgets, no shared reviews, no requests for reviews, no rewards (Explanation V; section 8.1(xii)).
6. No patient in any photo, no before-and-after, no success stories (sections 6.1, 7.4, 8.1(v)).
7. Any AI-written or AI-made content labelled as AI, or removed (section 7.2).
8. Google: one profile per practitioner, one for the clinic if there are several; "Update" posts only; booking link set to your own page.
9. Practo: free profile only until your council has answered on paid placement; "Get more feedback" not used.
10. Website: privacy notice and contact person published before the booking form goes live (DPDP section 5, rules 3 and 9).
11. No agency contract that pays per patient, per lead, per review or per rank (sections 8.1(vii), 8.1(viii), 8.1(xii)).