A complete, accurate Google Business Profile is the single highest-leverage free asset a cardiology practice has, because it is what GPs and patients see first when they search a cardiologist's name or a nearby cardiac clinic. This checklist covers categories and services, how to list multiple consulting locations and hospital affiliations, referral wording, and how to handle reviews within AHPRA advertising rules.
Getting the category and services right
Choose the primary category that most precisely matches the practice, such as cardiologist, and add secondary categories only where they are genuinely accurate, for example medical clinic if the practice also runs allied services on-site. Avoid stacking unrelated categories to appear in more searches; Google and patients both penalise profiles that look inflated rather than specific.
List services using plain, accurate terms a patient or referring GP would recognise: cardiac consultation, echocardiogram, stress testing, Holter monitoring, and so on. Do not describe outcomes or use comparative language such as "the most thorough assessment in the area" — service descriptions should state what is offered, not make claims about results.
Handling multiple consulting locations correctly
Many cardiologists consult across several rooms and attend more than one hospital during the week. Each distinct consulting address that the public can attend should have its own Google Business Profile listing, with consistent name, address, and phone details across all of them. Do not create a listing for a hospital site unless the cardiologist genuinely consults patients there in a way the hospital's own listing does not already cover — duplicate or inaccurate listings tied to a hospital address can create confusion and are difficult to unwind later.
For each location, set correct opening hours for the days that cardiologist actually attends, since incorrect hours are one of the most common reasons a patient calls the wrong number or turns up on the wrong day.
Describing hospital affiliations factually
It is appropriate to state where a cardiologist holds admitting rights or performs procedures, provided the wording is factual and does not imply an endorsement by the hospital itself. "Consults at [Hospital Name]" or "performs procedures at [Hospital Name]" is a statement of fact. Avoid wording that suggests the hospital is recommending or preferring this cardiologist over others, since that strays into an implied endorsement the hospital has not given and may not be accurate.
Keep affiliation details current. A profile listing a hospital the cardiologist no longer attends is a factual error, not a minor omission, and should be corrected as soon as the arrangement changes.
Referral wording that stays compliant
Google Business Profile descriptions and posts should describe how referrals work without pressuring GPs or patients or implying that self-referral bypasses clinically appropriate pathways. "New patients require a referral from their GP or specialist" is a clear, useful statement. Avoid language that suggests a referral is a formality, or that discourages a patient from discussing options with their own GP first — this can read as encouraging indiscriminate use of a health service, which the advertising rules for regulated health services do not permit.
If the practice accepts direct bookings for certain services without a referral, state this plainly rather than implying it applies more broadly than it does.
Reviews under AHPRA advertising rules
Patient reviews on Google are not something a cardiology practice can fully control, but the practice controls how it requests and responds to them. Under the National Law, advertising for a regulated health service must not include testimonials, and a review that speaks to clinical outcomes functions the same way as a testimonial once it is amplified or responded to in a way that promotes the practice. The safest approach is to request reviews through a neutral, non-selective process — inviting all patients rather than only those known to be satisfied — and to avoid sharing or reposting reviews that describe clinical outcomes on other marketing channels.
When responding to reviews, keep replies short, professional, and free of any commentary that reinforces the clinical claim made in the review. A simple thank you is lower risk than a reply that restates or elaborates on a claimed outcome. For a fuller run-through of what is and is not allowed, see our guide to AHPRA-compliant marketing and run any planned review-request wording through the free AHPRA advertising compliance checker.
Photos, posts, and the maintenance routine
Add photos of the practice interior, waiting area, and consulting rooms so patients know what to expect, along with a straightforward headshot and credentials for each cardiologist. Avoid before-and-after style imagery, which is not appropriate for a specialty like cardiology and carries its own compliance risk under the broader advertising guidelines for regulated health services.
Set a simple maintenance routine: check and correct listing details quarterly, respond to reviews within a few business days, and update services or hospital affiliations the same week they change. A profile that is set up correctly once and then left untouched drifts out of date faster than most practices expect, and an out-of-date profile is a common source of missed calls and wrong-address visits.
Questions and answers, messaging, and duplicate listings
The Q&A feature on a Google Business Profile lets anyone post a question, which can then be answered by the practice or by another member of the public — including with inaccurate information if the practice does not respond. Seed the section with a small number of factual questions, such as whether a referral is required or which hospitals the cardiologist attends, and answer them directly. Monitor the section for new questions and respond promptly, since an unanswered or wrongly answered question sits publicly on the profile indefinitely.
If messaging is enabled, treat it as a channel that reaches reception staff, not the cardiologist directly, and set an auto-reply that gives a realistic response time. Do not use messaging to discuss individual clinical matters; direct those enquiries to a phone call or the referral pathway instead.
It is also common for a cardiologist who has moved rooms, changed practice name, or joined a new group to have an old, unclaimed listing still appearing in search results alongside the current one. Duplicate listings split reviews and confuse patients about which address is current. Search for the cardiologist's name and previous practice details periodically, and request that Google merge or remove any outdated listing once the correct one is claimed and verified. This is a slow process, so start it as soon as a duplicate is found rather than waiting until it causes a missed patient.
Where the profile fits in the wider marketing picture
The Google Business Profile is one part of a broader visibility strategy that also includes the practice website and, for many practices, paid search. See our guide to Google Ads for cardiologists for how paid campaigns should be structured around branded, condition, and investigation queries, and what cardiology marketing costs in Australia for how to budget across all of these channels together. This work sits within the broader approach a cardiologist marketing agency takes to a practice's full digital presence, and applies equally to the wider medical SEO agency work we do across specialties.
