For many clinics, the Google listing is seen more often than the website. It is the box with your hours, phone number, map pin and reviews that appears when someone searches your name or "clinic near me". Here is how to set it up properly, which profiles a clinic and its doctors should have, and where Malaysia's medical advertising rules come in.
Updated 13 October 2026. General information, not legal advice.
Claim and verify one profile for each clinic location, use the clinic's real name, and keep the details factual and current. That means the correct category, address, phone, opening hours, website and services. Google says local results depend on relevance, distance and prominence, and that there is no way to pay for a better local ranking.
Doctors who see patients directly can also have their own profile. On content, stick to the facts the Medicine Advertisements Board allows any clinic advertisement to carry: name, location, phone, hours, facilities and charges. Leave out superlatives, patient photos without consent, before and after images, and free offers. Promotional posts about treatments are advertising and should go through KKLIU approval first.
When a patient searches for a clinic, Google usually shows a map with three listings before any website. Many people call straight from that box, ask for directions or check the hours, and never visit your site at all. If the hours are wrong, the phone goes to a number nobody answers, or the pin sits on the wrong block, you lose that patient quietly.
Google is open about how it ranks these listings. Its Business Profile help pages name three factors:
You cannot change distance. Relevance is almost entirely in your hands, and it is where most clinic profiles fall short: a vague category, no services listed, hours that were last updated before the pandemic.
Google has specific rules for practitioners such as doctors and lawyers. They are worth reading before you create anything, because duplicate or mislabelled profiles are a common reason listings get suspended.
| Your set-up | What Google's guidelines say |
|---|---|
| Group practice or polyclinic with several doctors | One profile for the clinic location. Each doctor who sees patients there may have a separate profile under their own name only, without the clinic name. |
| Solo doctor practising under a clinic brand | Share one profile with the clinic, named in the format "Brand: Doctor Name". |
| Doctor at more than one clinic | Do not create a profile for each specialty. A practitioner should not have several profiles to cover different specialisations. |
| Department inside a hospital | A public-facing department that runs as a distinct unit can have its own profile, with a name different from the main hospital. |
| Clinic staff and admin | Support staff should not have their own profiles. Only practitioners in a public-facing role who can be reached at the verified location during stated hours qualify. |
A doctor's own profile is useful when patients search by name rather than by clinic, which is common for specialists. If you consult at a private hospital, check first whether the hospital already manages a profile for you, so you do not end up with two.
Start at business.google.com, search for the clinic, and claim the existing listing if there is one. Google may have created it automatically from map data. Verification methods vary, and Google decides which ones to offer you, so allow some time. Then work through the profile in this order:
Two sets of rules apply to what a clinic publishes. The Malaysian Medical Council's guideline on dissemination of information (V2/2025) governs what doctors may say. The Medicine Advertisements Board, under section 4A of the Medicines (Advertisement and Sale) Act 1956, requires approval before a private clinic publishes an advertisement that refers to a treatment, prevention or diagnosis service and invites people to use it.
We could not find any MMC or MAB document that deals with Google Business Profiles by name. The practical approach is to treat the factual parts of the profile like a directory entry and anything promotional like an advertisement. The MAB's own guidelines say a directory listing can carry the name, address, specialty, contact details and consultation hours.
Google Posts and offers are the grey area. A post that says "Book your child's flu jab this month" refers to a service and invites people to use it, which is the definition in section 4A. Treat promotional posts as advertisements: get KKLIU approval and show the number, or keep posts to factual notices such as holiday closures and new opening hours.
Our guide to KKLIU approval for medical advertisements walks through the application, and how doctors market themselves in Malaysia covers the MMC rules in more depth.
Reviews feed prominence, so they matter. Google's own policy sets the limits on how you collect them. Clinics may not offer incentives such as payment, discounts or free services in exchange for reviews, may not selectively ask only happy patients, and may not discourage negative reviews or pressure people to review while still on the premises. A gift for a review would also run into the MAB's rule against gifts.
A fair way to ask: a short card or message after the visit that invites every patient to share feedback on Google, with no reward and no filtering.
Replying is where doctors get into trouble. MMC V2/2025 section 6.2 says patient confidentiality is paramount and practitioners should not share patient-specific information on public platforms. In a reply, do not confirm that the reviewer is your patient, and never discuss their condition or treatment, even if they did so first. Thank them, say you take feedback seriously, and invite them to contact the clinic directly. Reviews about treatment results are a separate issue: the MAB allows testimonials about premises, such as cleanliness and friendly staff, but not about treatment or a doctor's skills, so do not quote treatment reviews in your own advertising.
A profile drifts out of date quietly. Anyone can suggest edits to your listing, and Google sometimes accepts them. Fifteen minutes a month prevents most problems:
Keep the details identical everywhere: Google profile, website, Facebook page, hospital directory and any health platforms you are listed on. Inconsistent names, numbers and addresses confuse patients and weaken how sure Google is about who you are.
Sources: Google Business Profile Help, Guidelines for representing your business on Google. Google Business Profile Help, Tips to improve your local ranking. Google Maps user contributed content policy, fake engagement. MMC Guideline V2/2025, Dissemination of Information by Medical Professionals, ss. 2.6, 4.1, 4.17, 6.2. Medicine Advertisements Board, Advertising Guidelines for Healthcare Facilities and Services (MAB 1/2026). MAB Policy and Decision (Services). Medicines (Advertisement and Sale) Act 1956, s. 4A. This page is general information, not legal advice.
Only doctors who see patients directly and can be reached at the clinic during stated hours. Google's guidelines allow a practitioner profile under the doctor's own name, separate from the clinic's profile. A solo doctor practising under a clinic brand should share one profile in the format "Brand: Doctor Name". Doctors should not create several profiles for different specialties, and support staff should not have profiles at all.
Not for factual details, as far as we can find. Name, address, phone, hours, facilities and specialties are the kind of information the MAB allows in a directory listing. Promotional content is different. A Google Post or offer that describes a treatment and invites people to book is an advertisement under section 4A of the Medicines (Advertisement and Sale) Act 1956 and should be approved first.
No. Google's guidelines say the name must match your real-world name, without taglines or extra keywords, and stuffed names are a common reason for suspension. Separately, MMC Guideline V2/2025 says it is unethical for a doctor to claim to be the best or the only one in a field. Use your registered clinic name and let the category and services do the matching.
Yes, as long as you ask everyone and offer nothing in return. Google's policy bars incentives such as discounts or free services for reviews, asking only satisfied patients, discouraging negative reviews, and pressuring people to review on the premises. The MAB guidelines also do not permit gifts. A simple, neutral invitation after every visit is the safe approach.
Briefly, politely and without any patient details. MMC Guideline V2/2025 says patient confidentiality is paramount and patient-specific information should not be shared on public platforms. Do not confirm the reviewer is a patient or discuss their care, even if they described it. Thank them, say the clinic takes feedback seriously, and invite them to contact the clinic privately to resolve it.
We set up and maintain Google Business Profiles, websites and search visibility for Malaysian doctors and clinics, within MMC and MAB rules.
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