The injury map
SEO for physiotherapists, mapped to where it hurts
Plenty of patients never type "physiotherapist". They type the shoulder that won't lift, the sciatica, the knee after surgery. We rank your clinic for the injuries you treat and the funding pathways you accept, within the advertising rules your registration depends on.
Updated
Each pin is a search a patient might type, and each can be a page on your site. Illustrative, not search volume data.
One big search, many small ones
"Physio near me" is one door. The injuries are dozens.
Every clinic in a city competes for the profession term plus "near me". It only catches people who've already decided on a physio. Injury searches start earlier, with the problem, and each has far fewer clinics with a good page for it. A clear page on rehab after knee surgery, for instance, faces a much shorter field of local clinics than the bare profession term does.
Tile sizes are a rough picture of competition, not measured data. The broad term is still worth winning in your suburb, which is the job of local SEO for physiotherapists: profile, reviews and consistent details.
A good condition page describes the problem in the words patients use, says which physio at the clinic treats it and what they have trained in, explains what an assessment involves, lists the funding pathways that apply, and says when someone should see a GP or go to emergency instead.
Five ways in
Each funding pathway arrives with its own search and its own paperwork
Clinic sites are often written for private patients only. A person on a care plan, a veteran, an injured worker or an NDIS participant searches with their pathway in the words, and wants to know if you take it before they ring.
Private
"physio near me bupa"
No GP referral needed, health fund rebates, on-the-spot claiming, fees stated plainly.
GP care plan
"physio on a care plan"
Referral under a GP chronic condition management plan, the Medicare plan that replaced GP Management Plans and Team Care Arrangements on 1 July 2025. What to bring, and the gap.
DVA
"DVA physio"
Whether you treat veterans with a referral, and how the first visit works.
Workers comp
"workers comp physio"
Claim numbers, the insurer, what the clinic handles and what the worker does.
NDIS
"NDIS physio"
How plan-managed and self-managed participants book, and whether you travel.
Medicare plan change: Department of Health and Aged Care and MBS Online, checked 4 October 2026. No referral needed for physiotherapy: healthdirect, read 5 October 2026. Search phrasings are illustrative.
The advertising rules
A condition page, annotated against section 133
Physiotherapy is a registered profession, so section 133 of the National Law governs how a clinic advertises. It bans advertising that misleads, offers a gift or discount without its terms, uses testimonials, creates an unreasonable expectation of benefit, or encourages unnecessary use of a service.
Shoulder pain and rotator cuff injuries
1 What the problem feels like, in plain words
2 Treated by: physio's name, qualifications, interests
3 Funding: private, care plan, DVA, workers comp
4 See a GP or emergency first if...
5 "Fixed my shoulder in three sessions!" (patient quote)
6 "Pain-free in a week"
7 Book an initial assessment
- 1. Plain wordsMatch how patients describe it; keep the clinical term as well.
- 2. Named practitionerReal expertise, checkable on the AHPRA register.
- 3. FundingAnswers the question patients ask before they call.
- 4. Safety lineHonest about when physio is not the first step.
- 5. RemovedA comment about an outcome is a testimonial under AHPRA's guidelines.
- 6. RemovedCreates an expectation no clinician can promise.
- 7. One clear next stepNo "book now, places limited" pressure.
AHPRA's guidelines say a review becomes a testimonial when it refers to a symptom, a diagnosis or treatment, or an outcome; comments about customer service don't count. The maximum penalty per advertising offence is $60,000 for an individual and $120,000 for a body corporate. We leave patient quotes off clinic pages and let information about the care carry the persuasion. This is general information, not legal advice.
Source: AHPRA, Guidelines for advertising a regulated health service, read 5 October 2026.
A course, not a visit
Count what a search starts, across the weeks that follow
An assessment often becomes a plan, and the plan becomes several weeks of treatment. A ranked injury page is worth the course it starts, not the single fee for the first visit.
That's what we report on. Your practice software already holds the numbers: new assessments by referral source, and how many booked a second visit. We ask for counts only, never patient details, and set them beside the rankings to show which condition pages start courses of care.
We don't quote a dollar value for a course of care. It depends on your fees, your case mix and how plans run at your clinic, and only your own data can say.
Treatment calendar: what we report
- Search
Which condition page or profile the booking came from
- Week 1
New-patient assessments booked online or by phone
- Week 2
How many of those booked a second visit (a count)
- Weeks 3 to 6
Pathway mix: private, care plan, DVA, workers comp, NDIS
- Later
Return bookings for a new problem, from the same patients
The work
Your clinic's home program
Written the way you'd write one for a patient: what to do, how much, how often, and the cue that keeps it right.
Google says its AI features rest on the same core ranking systems as ordinary results and need no special markup, so this program also covers AI answers about an injury.
How we work
Run like a SOAP note
Subjective
What you tell us: the injuries you want to treat more, the pathways you accept, your quiet hours.
Objective
What we find: where you rank for each injury and pathway, and which clinics show instead.
Assessment
What it means: the gaps, ordered by what will book assessments soonest.
Plan
What we'll do, priced, checked against AHPRA's rules, and approved by you first.
Then we review monthly. Injury searches usually move before the broad profession term does.
Example plans
No patient quotes allowed, so here is the work instead
Three plans we might write, each with the count we'd report against.
Six injury pages
The six conditions the clinic most wants to treat, one page each, in the patient's words, naming the physio who treats it and how to book.
Track: assessments booked from each condition page
Pathway pages
A page for each pathway the clinic accepts, such as workers compensation or a GP care plan, covering paperwork, gap fees and what to bring.
Track: enquiries by funding pathway
After the first visit
A page explaining how a plan of care is set and reviewed and how to rebook online, so a new patient knows the next step.
Check: second visits booked after a search-led assessment
Fees
What SEO for physios costs with us
Three monthly plans, no setup fee and no lock-in. The audit tells you which fits the clinic.
Starter
$500/month
One clinic, a handful of injury pages
- Business Profile kept accurate
- Core pages and booking fixed
- Listings cleaned up
- A monthly report
Growth
$900/month
More conditions and every pathway you accept
- Everything in Starter
- New condition and pathway pages
- Technical upkeep
- A review routine within the rules
Performance
$1,500/month
Several clinics or a crowded city market
- Everything in Growth
- Pages and profiles per clinic
- Deeper condition content
- A monthly strategy call
See the pricing page for the full plan details.
Questions from clinic owners
Physiotherapy SEO, questions answered
What is SEO for physiotherapists?
SEO for physiotherapists (or SEO for physiotherapy clinics) is the work that gets a clinic found on Google when people search for the injury or problem they want fixed. It builds pages around the conditions you treat and the funding pathways you accept, in patients' own words, and keeps every page within the advertising rules for a registered health profession.
Can physiotherapists use reviews and testimonials?
Not in advertising, where they mention clinical aspects. AHPRA's guidelines treat a comment about a symptom, diagnosis or treatment, or an outcome as a testimonial, which section 133 prohibits in advertising. Customer service comments are fine. Patients can still post reviews; the question is how the clinic uses them. General information, not legal advice.
Does local SEO for physiotherapists help with "physio near me"?
Yes, that search is mostly decided in local results. Google says those are mainly based on relevance, distance and popularity, so the right category, exact hours, consistent details and a steady flow of genuine reviews do most of the work.
Patients keep asking whether they need a referral. Where should that answer go?
At the top of every condition page and on the booking page, in one line. healthdirect says you don't have to see a doctor for a referral to see a physiotherapist, yet plenty of patients assume they must wait for a GP appointment first. Then say when a referral does matter: Medicare covers some visits only with a GP referral under a chronic condition management plan, and workers compensation, DVA and some other pathways have their own paperwork.
Should our site answer "physio or chiro?"
Yes, because patients search it. Describe what your physios assess and treat for that kind of problem, how an assessment works and when you refer on, including to a GP for tests. Leave the other profession alone: running down chiropractors reads badly and can drift into comparative claims the advertising rules treat with care.
Should each physio at the clinic have their own Google Business Profile?
Google's guidelines allow it for public-facing practitioners who can be contacted at the verified location during stated hours, and not for support staff. Where several practitioners work at one clinic, the clinic keeps its own profile and each practitioner's profile carries only their name, not the clinic's. A solo practitioner at a branded clinic should share one profile, named brand then practitioner. Think before creating them: a practitioner profile can compete with the clinic's in the map results, and it belongs with that person's career rather than the clinic. Many clinics are better served by strong practitioner pages on their own site.
How long does SEO take for a physio clinic?
Google's starter guide says changes can show within hours or take several months. Injury pages usually move before the broad profession term.
How much does SEO for a physiotherapy clinic cost?
Starter is $500 a month, Growth $900 and Performance $1,500, with no setup fee and no lock-in. A single clinic with a handful of injury pages fits Starter; covering every pathway or several sites needs more.
Questions drawn from what clinic owners ask and from Google's suggestions for "seo for physiotherapists", "physio near me" and "workers comp physio", checked 5 October 2026. General information only, not legal, compliance or clinical advice.
Put your clinic on the injury map
Send us the conditions you most want to treat and the pathways you accept. We'll search each one in your area and show you which clinic a patient finds first.