Healthcare Local SEO Statistics: 2026
We reviewed 2,374 Google Maps listings for 10 healthcare specialties across 12 large US metros and pulled near-me search data for 97 local healthcare searches from Ahrefs. The results give a Q4 2026 snapshot of how healthcare practices appear in local search.
Key Findings
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Someone with a toothache or a child's fever often starts with a search and ends with a phone call, and the Google listing is often the only thing in between. BrightLocal's 2026 survey of 1,227 US consumers found that 52% run their first local business search on Google Search, and 75% use more than one channel in the same search journey. Whitespark's 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors report still names a business's primary Google Business Profile category as the top factor for appearing in the map results. For a medical practice, that listing is where a star rating and a booking link get seen first.
Our analysts ran 120 Google Maps searches, one for each specialty in each metro, and recorded the rating on every organic listing shown. For the top five listings in each search we opened the full profile to check for a website, phone number, listed hours, and an online booking or appointment link, and we left out sponsored results.
In the following sections, we compare Google ratings by specialty and metro, the details shown on top-ranking profiles, and how much near-me search demand each specialty draws.
Physical Therapists and Chiropractors Hold the Highest Google Ratings
People scanning a list of practices see the stars before they see much else. Some specialties cluster near the top of the scale, while others are spread across it.
Google Maps Ratings for Healthcare Listings by Specialty (November 2026)
Specialty | Rated Listings | Median Rating | At 4.8 Stars or Higher | Below 4.0 Stars |
Physical therapists | 239 | 4.9 | 95.0% | 0.0% |
Chiropractors | 234 | 4.9 | 89.7% | 0.0% |
Dentists | 237 | 4.9 | 80.6% | 0.0% |
Optometrists | 240 | 4.8 | 67.1% | 0.4% |
Psychiatrists | 235 | 4.8 | 61.7% | 5.5% |
Dermatologists | 239 | 4.8 | 55.6% | 5.0% |
OB-GYNs | 236 | 4.7 | 49.6% | 14.8% |
Primary care | 230 | 4.7 | 41.7% | 9.6% |
Pediatricians | 234 | 4.6 | 35.5% | 17.9% |
Urgent care | 231 | 4.5 | 18.2% | 16.5% |
All specialties | 2,355 | 4.8 | 59.7% | 6.9% |
Key Findings
Physical therapists, chiropractors, and dentists each had a median of 4.9 stars. None of their rated listings fell below 4.0.
Urgent care centers had the lowest median rating, 4.5. Pediatricians had the largest share of listings below 4.0 stars, 17.9%.
A 4.8-star rating sits below the median for physical therapists and well above most urgent care centers. Practices are better off comparing themselves with their own specialty, and new reviews will keep moving these shares.
Boston and Philadelphia Have the Most Low-Rated Healthcare Listings
The city a practice sits in changes less than its specialty does. Even so, the low end of the rating scale looks different from one metro to the next.
Google Maps Ratings for Healthcare Listings by Metro (November 2026)
Metro | Rated Listings | Median Rating | At 4.8 Stars or Higher | Below 4.0 Stars |
Boston | 192 | 4.8 | 52.1% | 17.7% |
Philadelphia | 198 | 4.8 | 58.1% | 12.1% |
Seattle | 177 | 4.8 | 57.1% | 10.7% |
Washington, DC | 200 | 4.8 | 56.5% | 8.5% |
Phoenix | 199 | 4.8 | 58.8% | 6.0% |
Los Angeles | 197 | 4.8 | 61.4% | 5.6% |
Dallas | 200 | 4.8 | 60.5% | 5.5% |
Chicago | 198 | 4.8 | 61.6% | 5.1% |
Miami | 196 | 4.9 | 65.8% | 3.6% |
New York | 199 | 4.8 | 63.8% | 3.5% |
Houston | 200 | 4.8 | 63.5% | 3.5% |
Atlanta | 199 | 4.8 | 56.3% | 2.0% |
Key Findings
Boston had the largest share of listings below 4.0 stars, at 17.7%, nearly nine times Atlanta's 2.0%. Philadelphia and Seattle also passed 10%.
Median ratings barely moved between cities. Eleven of the 12 metros had a median of 4.8 stars, and Miami reached 4.9.
A practice in Boston has more low-rated competitors around it than one in Atlanta does. These shares are a one-month snapshot and can shift as new reviews come in.
Online Booking Links Lag on Pediatric and Primary Care Google Listings
A rating gets a practice noticed, and the details on the profile decide what a person can do next. Top-ranking listings handle the basics, but they differ on how easy they make booking.
Details Shown on Top-Five Google Maps Healthcare Listings (November 2026)
Specialty | Profiles Checked | Website | Phone | Hours Listed | Booking Link |
Dermatologists | 57 | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 86.0% |
Optometrists | 52 | 100.0% | 100.0% | 98.1% | 84.6% |
Dentists | 45 | 100.0% | 97.8% | 100.0% | 84.4% |
Urgent care | 56 | 100.0% | 98.2% | 96.4% | 78.6% |
Chiropractors | 52 | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 73.1% |
Physical therapists | 56 | 100.0% | 100.0% | 98.2% | 69.6% |
Primary care | 54 | 96.3% | 100.0% | 94.4% | 59.3% |
OB-GYNs | 55 | 96.4% | 100.0% | 94.5% | 58.2% |
Psychiatrists | 51 | 100.0% | 98.0% | 98.0% | 54.9% |
Pediatricians | 57 | 100.0% | 100.0% | 94.7% | 29.8% |
All specialties | 535 | 99.3% | 99.4% | 97.4% | 67.5% |
Key Findings
Websites, phone numbers, and listed hours were close to universal, each above 97% across the 535 profiles checked.
Online booking links were the clear gap. Dermatologists reached 86.0%, and fewer than a third of pediatric profiles had one.
Families looking for a pediatrician are the group least likely to book directly from the listing. As more appointment tools connect to Google profiles, pediatric and primary care practices have the most room to add this option.
Urgent Care Draws the Largest Share of Healthcare Near-Me Searches
Ratings and profile details only help if a practice appears when someone searches. Near-me volume shows how often each specialty gets that chance.
Monthly US Near-Me Search Volume by Healthcare Specialty (November 2026)
Specialty | Searches Sampled | Monthly US Searches | With Local Pack | With AI Overview |
Urgent care | 9 | 1,715,300 | 100.0% | 77.8% |
Dentists | 10 | 1,255,000 | 100.0% | 30.0% |
Optometrists | 10 | 447,900 | 100.0% | 50.0% |
Chiropractors | 10 | 344,500 | 90.0% | 70.0% |
Dermatologists | 10 | 287,800 | 90.0% | 70.0% |
Physical therapists | 8 | 249,000 | 87.5% | 12.5% |
Pediatricians | 10 | 148,300 | 90.0% | 70.0% |
Psychiatrists | 10 | 140,400 | 100.0% | 50.0% |
OB-GYNs | 10 | 125,600 | 100.0% | 20.0% |
Primary care | 10 | 44,850 | 90.0% | 50.0% |
All specialties | 97 | 4,758,650 | 94.8% | 50.5% |
Key Findings
Urgent care and dentists together made up 62.4% of the estimated search volume in the sample.
Google showed a local pack on 94.8% of the 97 searches, and AI Overviews appeared on 50.5%. The top near-me search in each specialty showed a local pack with no AI Overview.
Someone typing dentist near me still sees a map of practices, while a longer search such as best dentist near me is more likely to bring up an AI Overview. That split may widen as Google expands AI Overviews, so practices will want to watch both.
Most patients looking for local care see a page of practices that all look strong on paper. A rating below 4.0 stands out, because it is uncommon across the specialties we reviewed.
For practice owners, the clearest gaps sit on the listing itself. Website links and phone numbers are nearly universal, and online booking links are not, especially in pediatrics and primary care.
Search demand for local care still concentrates on a small set of plain searches, and those return a map of nearby practices. So if you run a practice, check your rating against your specialty's numbers above and make sure your profile lets people book.
Sources
Methodology
We ran 120 Google Maps searches on November 9, 2026, one for each of 10 healthcare specialties in each of 12 large US metros, in the form specialty in city. We recorded the star rating on each organic listing, removed sponsored results, and counted each business once per specialty, leaving 2,374 listings, of which 2,355 showed a rating.
For the top five listings per search, we opened the profile and recorded whether it showed a website, phone number, listed hours, and an online booking or appointment link, for 535 profiles after removing duplicates. A booking link counts any Book online button or appointment link displayed on the profile.
Near-me search figures come from Ahrefs Keywords Explorer for the United States, using the highest-volume near-me searches per specialty, with job searches, brand names, and veterinary searches removed. Volumes are Ahrefs estimates. SERP features reflect Ahrefs' most recent crawl of each term.
BrightLocal's survey covered 1,227 US consumers who had searched for a local business in the prior three months, published July 2026. Derived figures, including medians and shares, were calculated from these data.
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