What's included
Every location gets its own listing, its own treatment pages, a review flow that stays inside FTC and HIPAA rules, and a monthly count of which AI engines name it. The work is built for med spas, where provider credentials, patient photos, price claims and prescription treatments carry rules that a generic local SEO checklist ignores.
- Location and provider listings. One Business Profile per location with "Medical spa" as the primary category, since Google's guidelines ask for categories that complete "This business IS a". Practitioner profiles go only to providers who are public-facing and reachable at the location during its hours. Each profile links to its own location page, not the homepage.
- Treatment pages per location. Neurotoxin, filler, laser hair removal and body contouring pages written for each market, with the injector's credentials, the medical director, candidacy notes and prices. California's Business and Professions Code §651 bans "as low as" pricing in medical advertising, so we write exact prices or none. Texas treats a missing medical director disclosure as misleading advertising (22 TAC §164.3, January 2025).
- Before and after handling. Photos go live only with written patient authorization. In September 2025 HHS settled with Cadia Healthcare for $182,000 over patient "success stories" posted without it. In California each pair must name the procedure, match in presentation, and say the same results may not occur for all patients.
- A review flow that respects FTC and HIPAA rules. Every patient gets the same request, because Google's review policy bans selective solicitation. No incentive depends on a positive review, which the FTC's consumer review rule bans with penalties up to $53,088 per violation. Replies never confirm that someone is a patient; HHS fined a New Jersey practice $30,000 in 2023 for doing that.
- Structured data and location pages. LocalBusiness markup with address, phone, hours and coordinates on every location page, and clean links from treatment pages to locations. Google says AI features need no special schema, so we use markup for accuracy, not as a shortcut.
- AI answer tracking per location. A fixed set of patient questions per city, run on ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Gemini on Essential, plus Claude and Copilot on Complete.
- Third-party sources AI engines read. Directory listings, Bing Places, review sites and, on Complete, local media placements. Search Engine Land reported in May 2025 that ChatGPT draws on Bing results for local queries.
How it works
We start with a free check, then a 10-day baseline, then fixes in the order that moves results fastest. Your team spends about 2 hours on onboarding and 2 to 3 hours a month after that; a developer needs 6 to 10 hours once, in the first six weeks.
- Free check 3 locations on one AI engine, reply in one business day
- Audit, 10 days every location on every engine, query set agreed in writing
- Weeks 3 to 6 listings, practitioner profiles, markup, location pages
- Weeks 5 to 12 treatment pages per market, reviews, media, monthly report
Pricing
Pricing is a published formula: a monthly network fee plus a per-location rate that drops as the network grows. Month to month, no lock-in, and deliverables stay with you.
| Locations | Essential, monthly | Complete, monthly | Audit, one-time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Network fee | $1,900 | $2,900 | $2,900 |
| Per location | $290 (1 to 10), $232 from 11 | $460 (1 to 10), $368 (11 to 25), $340 (26+) | $150 per location above 10 |
| 5 locations | $3,350 | $5,200 | $2,900 |
| 10 locations | $4,800 | $7,500 | $2,900 |
| 25 locations | $7,700 | $12,100 | $5,150 |
| 50 locations | $13,500 | $19,900 | $8,900 |
The audit fee is credited in full to your first month. Essential tracks ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Gemini and covers listings governance, structured data, location pages and reporting. Complete adds Claude and Copilot, neighborhood content, local media, the review pipeline and an experiment log.
Prices shown on each agency's page, 20 October 2026. Scale to $20,000. Most quotes cover one location or do not say.
Who this is for and who it isn't
This fits med spa and aesthetic clinic groups with 5 to 150 locations that can give us access to their Business Profiles and location pages. It does not fit single-location spas, which are most of the industry: AmSpa's 2024 report counted 81% of US med spas as single-location.
It fits:
- PE-backed platforms and founder-led groups adding locations every quarter.
- Franchisors who need one standard across franchisee listings; our franchise SEO service covers the governance side.
- Groups in the US first, and in the UK, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and Singapore, where we check local advertising rules first. In the UK, Botox is a prescription-only medicine that cannot be advertised to the public (CAP Code rule 12.12). Australia's Ahpra guidelines, in force since 2 September 2025, bar testimonials in cosmetic procedure ads.
- Marketing teams who already run paid search and want organic and AI answers measured per location.
It doesn't fit:
- Brands with fewer than 5 locations. A local specialist will serve you better for less.
- Groups whose website sits on a platform they cannot edit, or whose domain is held by a vendor.
- Anyone who wants a guaranteed ranking position, or review tactics that filter out unhappy patients.
- Teams that only want paid ads managed.
What we measure and when results land
We report per location, per engine and per query, and we expect listing fixes to show within 3 to 6 weeks and AI answer share to move over 3 to 4 months. Both are planning estimates, not promises. Our sample report shows the per-location format.
Each month, every location gets these numbers:
- Answer share. In how many of its fixed queries each engine names the location. Answers vary between runs, so we report counts, not single screenshots.
- 3-pack presence. Whether the location appears in Google's local pack for its core treatment queries.
- Review position. Total reviews, average rating, reviews from the last 90 days and the gap to the brand median. BrightLocal's 2026 survey found 74% of consumers look for reviews written in the last three months.
- Listing health. Whether the profile links to its own page, has the right category, shows current hours and passes structured data checks.
- Actions. Calls, website clicks, direction requests and booking clicks from each profile.
Set expectations with outside numbers too. SOCi's 2026 study of more than 350,000 locations of multi-location brands found ChatGPT recommended 1.2% of them, while the same brands appeared in Google's 3-pack 35.9% of the time. Agency pages ranking for "med spa SEO" quote 3 to 6 months before steady organic growth.
We do not promise full revenue attribution, because many patient journeys end in a phone call no tool records. One med spa CMO reported on Reddit in March 2026 that organic search brought 47% of site sessions while the CRM logged only 20 Google leads.
What our study of 45 med spa chains found
ChatGPT named the med spa chain in 4 of 9 local answers we tested, against 16 of 108 across all verticals, yet nearly half of med spa chains with location pages send at least one listing to the homepage. The data covers 45 med spa and aesthetic clinic chains with 5 to 150 locations, part of our study of 562 multi-location chains, collected from Google Places and each brand's website in September and October 2026.
Citemill dataset, September to October 2026. Med spa bases: 23 chains, 13 pages, 9 answers. Small samples, read as direction.
| Measure | Med spa chains | All 562 chains |
|---|---|---|
| At least one Business Profile sent to the homepage | 48% (11 of 23) | 34% |
| Location pages without LocalBusiness markup carrying the address | 31% (4 of 13) | 56% |
| ChatGPT named the chain for "best med spa in [city]", 12 Oct 2026 | 44% (4 of 9) | 15% (16 of 108) |
| Median gap between most and least reviewed location | 4.4x | 6x |
Ratings rarely separate one med spa from another, even though reviews matter: in an ASDS survey of over 3,500 consumers (July 2025), 94% said review sites affect which provider they choose. Across 214 med spa listings the median was 301 Google reviews and a 4.8 rating. What separates locations inside a brand is the weakest one.
Citemill dataset, 36 med spa chains with two or more reviewed listings, October 2026.
The homepage problem costs more than it looks. A patient who taps "Website" on the Scottsdale profile expects Scottsdale prices, injectors and hours. A homepage makes them search again, and it gives AI engines no page that ties that address to its treatments. It is also the cheapest fix on this list: a URL change per profile, which we make in week 3.
Outside studies point the same way. In Sandbox Media's April 2026 audit of 164 UK aesthetic clinics across 54 searches, only 43% of ChatGPT's picks were also in Google's top 3. BrightLocal's August 2026 study of 1,355 locations found Google Business Profile behind 28.63% of AI citations and Yelp behind 9.53%, and a June 2026 index by 5W scored RealSelf above every med spa chain it measured. Directory presence matters as much as your own site.
BrightLocal, August 2026, 1,355 locations, citations in Google AI features and ChatGPT.
BrightEdge, December snapshots; keyword set size not published.
Questions we get asked
How much should a med spa pay for SEO?
Published prices vary widely. MedSpa SEO Agency lists $950 and $1,499 plans, PatientGain $1,699 to $2,499 a month, The Search Sherpa puts multi-location groups at $2,500 to $6,500 or more, and NexioBit quotes $7,500 to $20,000 or more for enterprise programs. Ours is a formula: $1,900 a month plus $290 per location on Essential, so 10 locations cost $4,800.
How much should I pay for local SEO per location?
For a chain, price per location matters more than the retainer. On Essential, a location costs $290 a month up to 10 locations and $232 from 11, plus the $1,900 network fee. On Complete it is $460, then $368 from 11 and $340 from 26. One agency guide quotes Business Profile management alone at $150 to $700 per location a month.
What does medical SEO mean for a med spa?
Medical SEO is search work for providers whose pages make health claims, so it carries rules a salon never faces. For a med spa that means credentialed authors and reviewers, consented patient photos, exact prices in states like California, and review replies that never confirm who is a patient. Google Ads also requires certification to target prescription drug terms such as Botox.
Can ChatGPT do SEO for my med spa?
ChatGPT can draft a treatment page, but it cannot verify listings, fix a wrong category, keep practitioner profiles in sync or check how it answers in your city tomorrow. It is also a channel: BrightLocal's 2026 survey found 45% of US consumers used AI tools for local recommendations, up from 6% the year before. We measure how often it names each location.
Which med spa SEO company is best?
Check how a ranking was made before trusting it. Two listicles ranking for this search, First Page Sage and Focus Digital, place their own agency first. Ask any agency for prices in writing, contract length, who owns the site and content, per-location reporting, and how review requests avoid gating. Compare the answers, not the logos.
How do I get more clients for my med spa from search?
Start with the weakest location, not the strongest. BrightLocal's 2026 survey found 47% of consumers won't use a business with fewer than 20 reviews and 68% want at least 4 stars. Then make sure each profile links to its own location page with treatment prices, provider credentials, consented before and after photos and online booking.
What is the 80/20 rule in SEO for a med spa chain?
The 80/20 rule says a small share of pages or efforts brings most results. In a med spa chain it shows up in reviews: in our study the median brand's best-reviewed location had 4.4 times the reviews of its weakest, and 47% of chains had a gap of 5x or more. We start work where that gap is widest.
