How to get patients for a new clinic in Melbourne — from Google

You've signed the lease, fitted out the rooms and hired a receptionist. The phone doesn't ring, because nobody in the suburb knows you exist yet.

Every month in Melbourne, "gp near me" and "dentist near me" each get about 27,100 searches. "Chiropractor near me" and "psychologist near me" get about 8,100 each. This is how to get patients for a new clinic from that demand, step by step.

Why Google is how you get patients for a new clinic

A flyer reaches people who might need a physio one day. A search reaches someone whose back went this morning.

A new patient can choose a provider in one sitting on their phone: search, check the map, read a few reviews, tap call or book. If you're not in that short list, you're not in the decision.

The good news for a new clinic: Google says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and how well-known a business is. The first two don't depend on how long you've been open.

Step 1: Get your Google Business Profile right before opening day

Your Google Business Profile is the listing that shows on Maps and in the local pack — the three clinics that appear under the map. For a new practice, it's the first thing to get right.

Set it up and verify it as soon as you have the keys. Then fill in every field:

Step 2: Build one page per service, not one page for everything

A patient doesn't search "allied health". They search "sports physio Brighton" or "emergency dentist Moorabbin".

If your site has one Services page with a bullet list, Google has little to match those searches to. Give each main service its own short page: what it treats, who it's for, how long an appointment runs, the cost or gap range, and whether you bulk bill or take health fund rebates on the spot.

Step 3: Make booking possible at 10pm

If a patient only gets time to book once the kids are asleep, calling during business hours isn't an option. The clinic down the road with an online booking button is.

Put a book button at the top of every page and on your Google profile. If your practice software (Cliniko, HotDoc, Nookal and the like) has a booking widget, use it rather than a contact form.

Step 4: Reviews — carefully, because health has extra rules

Reviews sit right next to your name on the map, so a new patient will see how many you have.

If your profession is registered with Ahpra — GPs, dentists, physios, psychologists, chiropractors, podiatrists and the other National Board professions — you can't use testimonials in your advertising. Ahpra counts positive statements about the clinical side of your care as testimonials, so don't copy reviews that mention symptoms, treatment or results onto your website or social posts. Dietitians and speech pathologists, for example, aren't on Ahpra's list.

Reviews patients post on Google themselves aren't affected, and you're not responsible for reviews on sites you don't control. Take care replying to them: Ahpra says engaging with reviews on third-party sites may count as using a testimonial. Its guidance doesn't cover asking patients for reviews, so check with your professional association before you set up a review request.

Step 5: Say you're taking new patients

If clinics near you have closed their books, that's your opening.

Put "Taking new patients" on your Google profile description, your home page and your Google posts. Add same-week availability if you have it — a new clinic's quiet diary is a selling point for a patient who's been told "six weeks" elsewhere.

How long until the phone rings?

Google's own guide to local ranking gives no timeline, so be wary of anyone who promises one. How fast the calls come depends on how close searchers are and how many clinics nearby offer the same thing.

A new GP in a street with three others will take longer than the only podiatrist in a growing estate.

A 10-minute check you can do today

Stand outside your clinic and search your main service plus "near me" on your phone. Note who appears in the top three map spots and how many reviews each has.

Then open their Google profiles and count the photos, services and posts. That gap is your to-do list for the next month.

Questions we get asked

Want to know where your clinic stands?

We'll check your Google profile, your site and the three clinics beating you on the map, then tell you what to fix first — in plain English.