This article is part of our Therapy Practice Marketing Guide: how clients find a therapist, how to market ethically and privately, and how to choose the right help. Want to know where your practice's site stands? Get a free 20–30 page website audit within 24 hours.
Most people find a therapist in two steps. First they build a shortlist from a directory, Google Maps or an AI answer. Then they visit each therapist's own website to decide who feels like a fit, who takes their insurance and who has an opening.
Your marketing has to work at both steps. Being listed gets you onto the shortlist. Your website is where the choice happens. This guide walks through each place clients look and what they need to see there.
It is part of our Therapy Practice Marketing Guide, which moves from these basics to choosing tools and, later, hiring help.
Key Takeaways
- Clients usually shortlist therapists on a directory, Google Maps or an AI answer, then decide on the therapist's own website.
- Directory filters (insurance, specialty, location, telehealth) decide whether you appear at all, so keep every field accurate.
- Google says local results depend mainly on relevance, distance and prominence, and reviews feed prominence.
- Google states there are no special tricks for AI Overviews; the same clear, well-structured content helps you there.
- Fit signals win the call: who you help, how you work, fees and insurance, licensure, and how to book.
Where the search starts
A person looking for therapy is often stressed and short on time. They rarely read ten websites. They scan, filter and drop anyone who looks unclear.
The common starting points are:
- A therapy directory such as Psychology Today, where they filter by issue, insurance and location.
- Google Search and Maps, with searches like "anxiety therapist near me" or "couples counseling Sacramento".
- An AI answer in Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT or similar tools, asked something like "find a trauma therapist who takes Aetna in Denver".
- A referral from a doctor, friend or school, which they then check online before calling.
Each path ends the same way. The person lands on a profile or a website and decides in a minute or two whether to reach out.
Directories and filters
Directories are built around filters. Psychology Today's therapist finder lets people browse by state and city and by concerns such as anxiety, depression, trauma and PTSD, couples therapy, teens, EMDR and DBT. Its own membership page (checked 29 October 2026) promotes "comprehensive filters" so that clients suited to a therapist's strengths can find them.
That means your profile fields act like search terms. If you leave "insurance" blank or forget to tick telehealth, you drop out of filtered results.
Do this:
- Fill every field you honestly can: issues, populations, modalities, insurance, languages, fees.
- Keep openings current. A stale profile wastes the client's call and your time.
- Link the profile to your website so people can learn more before they reach out.
Not this:
- Ticking every specialty to appear in more searches. Clients notice, and ethics codes ask for accurate descriptions of your services.
We compare the profile and the website in more depth in Psychology Today Profile vs Your Own Website.
Google Maps and reviews
Many searches with "near me" or a city name show a map pack first. Google explains in its local ranking help page that local results are "mainly based on relevance, distance, and popularity." It describes prominence as how well-known a business is, which includes links to the business and its number of reviews. Google also says there is no way to pay for a better local ranking.
For therapists, the profile itself carries special questions: whether to show a home office address, whether a telehealth-only practice qualifies, and how group practices list individual clinicians. We cover those in Google Business Profile for Therapists.
Reviews matter to clients too, but they are tricky in mental health. Ethics codes restrict soliciting testimonials, and replying to a review can disclose that someone is your client. Read Therapist Reviews, Testimonials, and Compliance before you ask anyone for a review.
AI answers
More people now ask AI tools for recommendations. Google's guide to AI features and your website says the best practices for SEO remain relevant for AI Overviews and AI Mode, and "there are no additional requirements" or special optimizations needed to appear.
In practice, AI answers pull from pages that state facts clearly. A page that says "I am a licensed marriage and family therapist in California offering EMDR for adults, in person in Roseville and by telehealth statewide" is easy for a machine to summarize. A page that says "healing begins here" is not.
What helps:
- One clear page per specialty, with who it is for and how you work.
- Consistent name, credentials, location and phone across your site, directories and Google.
- A visible fees and insurance section.
- Plain FAQ answers to questions clients actually ask.
For a deeper look at AI search, see How a Therapist Gets Featured in ChatGPT Results.
Fit signals on your website
Once someone clicks through, they are deciding fit. The American Psychological Association's guide to choosing a psychologist lists the questions clients are told to ask: Are you licensed? How many years have you practiced? What experience do you have with my kind of problem? What treatments do you use? What are your fees, and do you have a sliding scale? What insurance do you accept?
Your website should answer those questions before the client has to ask. Here is how each one maps to a page or section:
| Client question | Where your site answers it |
|---|---|
| Are you licensed? | About page with license type, number where required, and state |
| Have you helped people like me? | Specialty pages for each main issue you treat |
| How do you work? | Approach section: modalities explained in plain words |
| What does it cost? | Fees and insurance page |
| Can I see you where I live? | Locations, telehealth states and office details |
| How do I start? | One clear contact or booking path on every page |
Two more signals carry weight with anxious visitors:
- A real photo and a human voice. People want to picture talking to you. Our guide to writing a therapist About page covers this.
- Low-pressure next steps. Explain what happens after they reach out: who replies, how fast, and what the first call covers.
What gets people to leave
Small problems lose clients at this stage:
- No fees or insurance information, so they assume you are out of reach.
- A contact form with no promise of when you will reply.
- A site that is slow or awkward on a phone.
- No mention of where you are licensed, so out-of-area visitors are unsure.
- Crisis visitors with nowhere to go. A short crisis notice with 988 belongs on every therapy site; see Crisis Resources on Therapy Websites.
Fixing these is usually cheaper than buying more traffic. A site that answers the APA's questions clearly turns more of your existing visitors into calls.
Next step
Once you know how clients search, the next question is where to spend: a directory, your own site, or both. Read Therapy Directories Compared to weigh your options. If you want to see how your current site performs on these fit signals, get a free 20–30 page website audit within 24 hours.
Frequently asked questions
Do clients still use Psychology Today to find therapists?
Yes. Psychology Today runs a large therapist directory with filters for issue, insurance and location, and many clinicians list there. Most clients still visit a therapist's own website before reaching out, so the two work together.
How important are Google reviews for a therapy practice?
Google says the number of reviews and ratings feeds local prominence. In mental health, though, ethics codes limit soliciting testimonials and replies can disclose a client relationship. Learn the rules for your license before you build a review plan.
Can AI tools like ChatGPT recommend my practice?
They can, if your information is clear and consistent across the web. Google says there are no special requirements for its AI features beyond normal SEO best practices. Clear specialty pages, credentials and location details make your practice easier to summarize.
What should a therapist website show first?
Who you help, where you can see clients, how much it costs or which insurance you take, and how to get started. Those answer the questions the APA tells clients to ask.
Is it worth having a website if I get referrals?
Yes. Referred clients usually look you up before calling. Your website confirms your credentials, approach and fees, which makes the referral more likely to turn into a first session.
