Posted By dwayne | October 14, 2026
Search for your practice on Google and look closely at the panel that appears on the right (or at the top, on a phone). If you see a small link that says "Own this business?", nobody at your practice controls that listing.
That sounds like a technicality. It isn't. For most new patients, that panel is the first thing they see about you: your hours, your phone number, your reviews, your photos and the button that takes them to your website. If it's unclaimed, all of that is running on autopilot.
Not sure what your listing looks like to patients? We check it in every free medical website audit →
What we found this fall
In audits over the last two months, we ran into this problem more than once:
- A surgery center with an unclaimed listing. It showed 2 reviews averaging 3.0 stars, in a building shared with other eye practices. Patients researching the center before surgery had no way to tell it apart from its neighbors, and nobody at the center could reply to a single review.
- A specialty practice that ranks #1 on Google for its specialty, after 15+ years in business, with just one review showing. Its listing was never claimed, and a duplicate listing was splitting its review history in two. To a new patient, it looked brand new.
- A community clinic with two listings for one location. Two different names, the same address and the same phone number, each collecting its own reviews and confusing patients about which one was real.
None of these practices knew. That's the pattern: the listing exists whether or not you've ever touched it.
Why an unclaimed listing costs you patients
- You can't fix what's wrong. Hours, phone numbers and categories on an unclaimed listing come from whatever Google pieced together, plus edits suggested by the public. If they're wrong, patients call a dead number or show up to a locked door.
- You can't respond to reviews. A thoughtful reply to a critical review is one of the strongest trust signals a practice can send. On an unclaimed listing, that option doesn't exist.
- You miss the features that win the click: photos you choose, a booking link, holiday hours, posts and the correct category for your specialty.
- Duplicates split your reputation. Two listings for one practice divide your reviews, so you look smaller and less established than you are, and Google has a harder time deciding which one to show.
Check yours in two minutes
- Search your practice name on Google, on both a computer and a phone.
- Look for "Own this business?" (sometimes "Claim this business") on your listing. If it's there, the listing is unclaimed.
- Search Google Maps for your address and your phone number, not just your name. Look for listings under an old practice name, a former doctor's name or a slightly different spelling. Those are duplicates.
- If you have more than one location, check each one separately.
How to fix it
- Claim the listing. Click "Own this business?" and follow the steps, or start at business.google.com. Google will ask you to verify that you're really the practice. Depending on the listing, that can be by phone, email, video or a postcard, so allow some time.
- Correct everything once it's yours: hours, phone, website link, address, and above all the primary category (more on why that one setting matters in our post on Google Business Profile categories).
- Deal with duplicates. From your verified listing, you can report the extra one as a duplicate through "Suggest an edit," or contact Google Business Profile support. It can take a few rounds, and reviews don't always carry over, so start sooner rather than later.
- Put someone in charge of it. A claimed listing still needs attention: holiday hours, new photos, review replies. Assign it, or hand it to someone who'll keep it current.
The bottom line
Your Google listing is your practice's real front door online, and it may be the one door nobody at your practice has a key to. Search your name today. If you see "Own this business?", claiming it is free, and it's one of the highest-value fifteen minutes you'll spend on your practice's marketing this year.
Request your free website audit →
We'll check whether your listing is claimed, look for duplicates, and review your category, hours and reviews alongside your website, then send you the 3–5 fixes that matter most. A real person reviews every audit. No cost, no obligation.
