For a med spa, the Google Business Profile settings that matter most are the ones that describe what you actually offer and make it easy to act. Google bases local results on three things: relevance, distance, and prominence. You cannot change distance by editing your profile, but you shape relevance (your categories and services) and prominence (your reviews). In our scan of about 200 med spa profiles, the basics were mostly fine, most already had the right primary category, and the real opportunities were secondary categories, booking links, and review recency.
Does my primary category matter for ranking?
Yes. Google says the categories you pick affect your local ranking, and your primary category tells Google what your business is at the most basic level. Get it wrong and you can become less relevant for the searches you want to appear in.
For most med spas, "Medical spa" is the most direct primary category when it describes the business accurately. It is different from "Day spa," "Facial spa," or "Beauty salon," which tie you to a different set of searches. Google's guidance is simply to pick the category that best describes your business and the most specific one available.
The good news: this is already in good shape. In our sample, 90% of med spas used "Medical spa" as their primary category (about 200 profiles, August 2026), and of those that listed it anywhere, 97% had set it as primary. If your primary is right, you are in the majority. The bigger opportunity is in secondary categories.
Which secondary categories should I add?
Secondary categories let you show up for treatment-specific searches. Adding "Skin care clinic" or "Laser hair removal service" tells Google those services are part of what you do, which Google says affects local ranking for those queries.
The balance: Google says to use a few relevant categories that describe your core business, not to list every treatment. In our scan of 196 med spa profiles (August 2026), 33% (64/196) listed only one category, and a smaller share went the other way with six or more. For some focused clinics one category may be enough, so treat it as something to check, not an automatic error.
A practical starting point is "Medical spa" as primary plus about two secondary categories for your highest-volume treatments. Google gives no magic number, so treat a small handful as a sensible norm, not a rule. Keep one distinction straight: categories describe what the business is; your Services editor describes what it does. Something like microneedling belongs in Services, not as a business category.
| Most common secondary category | Profiles in our sample |
|---|---|
| Skin care clinic | 44% |
| Facial spa | 37% |
| Laser hair removal service | 27% |
| Wellness center | 15% |
| Weight loss service | 15% |
Should I fill in service areas?
Only if you actually travel to patients. Service areas show where you go to deliver a service, which Google defines as the locations you travel to.
A standard med spa where patients come to you is a storefront business, so leave service areas empty and rely on your verified address. The exception is a hybrid practice that genuinely offers mobile services too. In that case, list only the areas you really go to, and keep the list short and accurate.
Where do prices fit in my profile?
Google's Services block lets you add a price and description for each service you list. It is one of the few places in your profile where you can give patients treatment-specific information before they reach your website.
Our price transparency research looked at med spa websites, a separate study from the profile scan here: most showed no procedure price as plain text (180+ clinics, about 55 to 59% hide price, roughly three in five, August 2026). The Services block is a second chance to give a patient a number early. Fill in your top services, add a price, and write a short description of what each includes. Keep it consistent with your website.
How do reviews strengthen my profile?
Reviews feed prominence, one of Google's three local ranking factors. Google says more reviews and positive ratings can improve your local ranking.
There is a separate effect worth knowing. When a review names a treatment, Google can show that phrase as a bolded "justification" under your listing, like "customers mention laser hair removal." BrightLocal documents these snippets. But that is a display effect, not a proven ranking signal: when Sterling Sky tested whether adding treatment keywords to reviews changed map-pack position, they reported it did not.
So encourage honest, detailed reviews from every patient. Do not ask patients to name a procedure (Google prohibits requesting specific content), and send the same request to everyone, not just the happy ones, because selectively asking only for positive reviews is also prohibited. Owner replies show patients you are responsive, which Google frames as valuing their feedback; treat that as a trust signal, not a ranking tactic.
What else should I keep current?
A few profile details help patients act once they find you.
- Photos. Keep a current gallery of representative photos of your clinic, team, and work. Before-and-after images are allowed, but they must meet Google's photo content policy, and cosmetic before-and-after content can be flagged if it looks graphic or altered. Use documented patient consent, keep it clinical, and consider keeping your strongest before-and-after galleries on your own treatment pages.
- Hours. Outdated hours create a bad first impression. Update them for holidays and any schedule changes as soon as they happen.
- Appointment link. Add a booking link so a patient can go from finding you to booking without visiting your website first. No booking link was the single most common condition we found. Use whatever booking system you already have (this is separate from Reserve with Google, which needs a partner integration).
- Recent reviews. In our deeper scan, 12% (24/196) of profiles had no new review in the last 90 days (August 2026). Nearly every profile linked a website (only 2%, 3/196, had none), so for most clinics the work is booking links, categories, and review recency, not a missing site.
- Google Posts. Short updates or offers. Google does not call Posts a ranking signal, so use them to communicate with patients, not as an SEO lever.
- NAP consistency. Keep your name, address, and phone number consistent with your website. What matters is the correct business entity, not identical punctuation.
Does a complete profile help with ChatGPT and AI Overviews?
In part, and it helps to be precise. Your Google Business Profile is part of Google's local business data, so it feeds what Google shows in Search and Maps. For third-party AI search tools, an accurate profile adds to the public information about your clinic that a web-connected model may encounter. That does not mean a complete profile earns an AI recommendation, and we have not tested that an AI model reads your profile fields as a distinct source.
A well-kept profile is one piece of your public footprint, alongside your website, reviews, and directories, not a guarantee of appearing in AI answers. We go deeper in how to appear in ChatGPT results and how to get recommended by ChatGPT.
A 10-minute GBP checklist for med spas
Run through these on your own profile.
Primary category is "Medical spa" not "Day spa," "Beauty salon," or "Spa."
A few secondary categories that match your treatments the median in our scan was three categories total.
No service areas set unless you genuinely travel to patients.
Services listed with prices and short descriptions for your top treatments.
Recent, representative photos of your clinic, team, and work.
Hours accurate and up to date including holidays and closures.
Appointment link to your booking system no booking link was the most common issue we found (100/196, August 2026).
Google Posts for current offers if you have something relevant to share.
Name, address, and phone match your website correct entity over identical punctuation.
Owner replies on recent reviews for trust and for the next reader.
Method and limits
What we scanned
In August 2026 we scanned about 200 med spa Google Business Profiles across ten US metros using public Google Maps data (Apify), starting with category selections. A deeper pass covered 196 of these profiles for booking links, review recency, and review counts. This is a convenience sample, not a random national survey.
What the numbers mean
Figures are dated observations of how clinics fill in their profiles, not a test of what changes rankings. Primary and secondary category figures come from the wider scan of about 200 profiles; booking-link, review-recency, and review-count figures come from the deeper 196-profile scan. Each figure keeps its own denominator, and we do not blend the two scans.
What we could not measure
Public Maps data does not expose a profile's Services block, so this scan did not measure treatment information or Services prices. Our separate price study looked at med spa websites, not profiles.
Sources and usage
Google's local-ranking, categories, service-areas, Services, and review-policy documentation is cited inline. Review-justification behavior is from BrightLocal; the map-pack keyword test is from Sterling Sky. These are dated observations, association not causation. Aggregate findings may be quoted with attribution and a link to this article.