SEO 101 for PTs

SEO isn't dead... it's evolving. In this episode, Neil Trickett sits down with Amy Gray, Head of SEO at Practice Promotions, to explain what every physical therapy clinic owner needs to know about getting found online in 2026.

In this episode:

•  What SEO actually is, and why every PT clinic still needs it 
•  How patient search behavior has changed with AI, ChatGPT, and Google AI Overviews 
•  The difference between using AI tools and having a real SEO strategy 
•  The biggest SEO mistakes physical therapy clinics are making today 
•  The most important SEO priorities for attracting more qualified patient leads 
•  Why local SEO is critical for growing your clinic 
•  How long SEO takes to produce results, and what clinic owners should realistically expect 
•  What separates Practice Promotions' SEO strategy from low-cost agencies and AI-only solutions 
•  How to future-proof your clinic's online visibility in the age of AI 
•  Amy's top advice for PT owners who want to dominate Google and AI search 

Ready to rank higher, get recommended by AI, and attract more patients? Practice Promotions specializes in SEO, websites, Google Ads, and digital marketing exclusively for physical therapy clinics. View our marketing plans and request pricing at PracticePromotions.net!

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:02

Hello and welcome to the Practice Marketing Podcast, highlighting successful strategies from North America's fastest growing clinics and experts so you can learn from their wins and power your practice growth. Hi, I'm your host, Neil Trickett, CEO of Practice Promotions. And today we're going to focus on how to rank your practice at the top of Google. And today we're joined by Amy Gray, who's our head of SEO here at Practice Promotions. And Amy leads our SEO team and works closely with physical therapy rehabilitation practice owners to help them improve their online visibility, attract more qualified website traffic, and generate more new patient inquiries through organic search. And in this episode, we're breaking down an SEO and AEO and AI search and all this new stuff here. And we'll discuss how it works, what's changed with the rise of AI and tools like ChatGPT and what clinic owners need to focus on to ensure they're still being found online, being competitive at the top of Google and getting in front of patients who need them most. So Amy, welcome to the podcast.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

Thank you. Glad to be here. Always happy to talk about what we do.

SPEAKER_02 1:06

So yeah, totally. So let's start with the basics, right? The fundamentals here. And so when we're talking SEO, what is that? And why is it so important for clinics to really think about this as part of what they're doing, attract new patients?

SPEAKER_00 1:20

Yeah, sure. So SEO search engine optimization, to put it simply, it's the practice of making a clinic's website and online presence show up. So when patients are searching for the services you offer, you're visible. So I like to kind of think of it as making sure your digital front door is visible and easy to find. And that is not just your website, that includes your Google Business profile, online reviews, et cetera. So what makes it really important for physical therapy clinics is the patient journey almost always starts online. So when someone wakes up and if they're either in pain or have stiffness following a surgery, their first move is gonna be to do a Google search. It's not gonna be to call an insurance agency or look in the phone book. So if your clinic is not appearing in those results, then they're gonna call your competitor. So that's why it's so important. Um, and we do know that almost the 90% of Americans will search online for health information before they'll see a provider.

SPEAKER_02 2:24

So yeah, totally. And I mean, that is there's many forms of the online search, right? And it's falling fast, it's a lot of changes there, but fundamentally that's still true, right? That that people go online first to look for a service, they're looking for health information, they're looking at like what do they need to do to handle this particular pain or problem. Like they start there. And so if your clinic's not commanding those different spots there, whether it's at the top of Google, whether it's on Chat GPT, whether it's on uh local map searches like on Google, or even uh map searches on Apple on iPhones, right? Um there's Apple Business Connect and those kind of things, right? So being in being visible at the top of all these different types of searches is key to the success of your practice. And so just kind of curious a lot has changed. You know, this year's been bananas uh in terms of what Google has done. And uh just kind of curious from your perspective, you know, um what's been what's been changing here over these last few years, and especially with you know, we've got these all these terminologies now. We've got SEO, we've got local search, we've got AEO, we've got EIA overviews. Like what's going on here?

SPEAKER_00 3:35

Yeah, so yeah, so you hit all of those. So I think that search behavior has shifted in three major ways. So it's how people are searching, where they're searching, and then what are they expecting now when they find you? So um, you know, honestly, all three of those have changed pretty dramatically in just the last two or three years. So if we kind of dig into each of those a little bit more, um, so when we talk about how people are searching now, um it's more conversational, it's more condition specific. Um, you know, patients used to type little generic queries, right? Like physical therapy near me or you know, PT Clinic Enrichment, but that's not how people are really searching anymore. They're asking full questions. So, what's the best PT for sciatica, or how long does physical therapy take for whatever, a rotator cuff repair? So voice search has accelerated this. And you know, when you're talking in your phone or in a device, you're not just saying keywords anymore, you're asking full questions. So the implication for clinics is huge here because if your website says something generic, like we treat musculoskeletal conditions, you're invisible to the people that are searching for their specific condition or problem, right? Back pain, pelvic floor dysfunction. Um, so that's what people are looking for, and we need pages dedicated to those. So that's the how. The where um people are searching, it's not just Google anymore, and it's everything that you kind of just mentioned. So for a long time, the patient journey started and ended on Google. And that's mostly true like for the booking phase. So when someone's ready to call, they'll still go to Google Maps, but it's the research that has changed. So more and more people, especially like adults under 40, are starting on Chat GPT or perplexity, and they want to understand their symptoms before they ever even open a search results page. Um, and so what that means is your content really needs to serve two audiences, right? So it needs to rank on Google, uh, but also be the kind of authoritative structured content that AI tools will pull from. Um the good news there is that those two goals are almost identical in terms of what we do. So as long as we continue to write helpful content, condition-specific content, we win in both of those areas. Um, and then the third thing that I think really has changed is what people expect. So before they even call, they want to know you and they want to trust you. And I think this is the one that surprises like in gym, not just clinic owners, but in general, people the most when they're talking about marketing their business online because it's the research piece that's coming first. So before they even land on your listing, your website or whatever, they're trying to decide if you're trustworthy enough to even call. So they're looking at things like reviews, photos, whether you're speaking to something specific to them, like your condition or problem. Um and so, you know, that changes things because now your Google ranking isn't just a reputation thing, right? Like it's part of your SEO. So if you've got quality reviews, um, you know, recent reviews, you can outrank other clinics. So I think the big thing there is what they're expecting is not, I hope I can find someone that's good. I've already found someone's good that proven it before I made the call. So um, yeah, it's things have shifted a lot. When you put those three things together, um more specific searches, more platforms, higher trust, the old approach isn't gonna work anymore. So it's more than just a website or a listing. You have to have the right answer and be in the right place and have enough credibility for them to actually want to make that call. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:49

So broad overview is the search behavior is evolving, right? It's changing. And so we have to change how we're approaching getting in front of patients because their their behavior is changing with that. And um, you know, uh things are changing out there. Google's gone through some of its biggest updates it's ever had in the last 20 years, this year, right? Especially like in March and April, and massive changes in the way Google does stuff in response to what the audience wants, right? And how people are searching is changing a lot. And um the the key thing is that we're we hear the the rise of Chat GPT and these these kind of um platforms that people are going deeper into asking questions and wanting the information. But I think the key thing to understand is it's still I think Google searches when it comes to like healthcare is still about 95% of searches, right? And only 5% in ChatGPT. It's slowly changing, but I still think you know Google's gonna be for a long, long time the 800-pound gorilla that you want to you know go after. Um, but within Google itself, just the way that the search results have come up has radically changed. And and I know this year was again another massive change through that. And I think about 46% of searches done now on Google pull up the AI overview first at the top. And so, you know, with those rise of AI tools like ChatGPT, with that Google AI overview, you know, is SEO still relevant for PT practices?

SPEAKER_00 9:21

Yeah. That's you know, that's a question that I think a lot of people are wondering. And my answer would be absolutely. So the most important thing that PT clinic owners need to understand about this new kind of rise in AI is Google has specifically excluded local healthcare provider searches from AI overviews. So as of right now, searches, those searches are still returning the traditional MAP-ac local results. So searches that drive actual new patients, physical therapy near me, PT clinic in Richmond, right? So those are still 100% traditional SEO territory. So where AI has changed things is it's earlier in the patient journey. So the like I mentioned before, it's the research phase. So if someone searches, how long does PT take after a surgery, ACL surgery, they're probably gonna get an AI overview. That's gonna answer their question without ever sending them to your website. So that's the real shift. And it's why we tell clinics focus less on broad informational content and more on the bottom of funnel, high-intent searches where patients are ready to book. Um, so you know, and then the other piece of this, and this is where it gets really interesting, is tools like Chat GPT, perplexity, things like that, they're becoming their own referral channel. So when a patient asks, like Chat GPT, who's the best PT for a pelvic floor, you know, you want your clinic to be what comes up. And so the way that you influence that is the same thing that drives traditional SEO. So authoritative content, strong reviews, consistent online presence. So I think while there has been a huge shift and different searches will kind of bring up different results, really good SEO today works on two tracks at once. So staying dominant in local search while building the credibility that AI systems are looking for and site at the same time. So I think the big thing is don't panic about AI, but don't ignore it.

SPEAKER_03 11:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:44

So if you're investing in SEO right now, you're actually positioning yourself really well for both. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:52

Yeah, that makes total sense. And um we have to realize like what is fueling the AI results, and it's it's a scraper tool. It scrapes the information that's out on the internet, it's scraping the um and trying to deliver an answer for your question, right? So it if you have um and it's looking for, just like with Google, you know, it's looking for the most um it has the most authority, it has the most relevance. And so that's where if you have really, really good content on your website and you have good indicators uh that you have a lot of connections online, you have a lot of great reviews, you have a lot of pictures, you have a lot of things happening within social media, all of that which is part of SEO anyway, um, that is what fuels the search results or the results in Chat GPT, for example. Yes. And so, like you said, don't panic, just it's all about good practices. And uh and so when it when it comes to SEO, I I think what you really need to look at is um is your website a good content machine? Uh is it and then from an online presence, do you have very good business profiles? So we're talking about Google Business Profiles, we're talking about uh Apple Business Connect, we're talking about Bing places like these different ones, and then there's lots and lots of thousands of different directories online from Yahoo and Waze and Uber and all these kind of different um businesses online, these directories. And so is your business information correct in all of these types of listings? Uh are you on those types of listings? That's another thing. A lot of clinics don't have enough of the information on those types of uh directories, and so that's an area for improving uh SEO. And then there's things like bike links, right? In bank links is basically your how your uh business is mentioned on other websites or linking from other websites to your website. So things that you should do, that's a good local practice. Are you uh part of your local business uh chamber of commerce? Business chamber of commerce. Um it's very simple, right? Pay maybe 50 bucks a year, 100 bucks a year, and you get uh uh your information, your directory on the local uh chamber of commerce, and that that then links back to your website. That's a backlink. Or are you part of a local soccer association that you could have your website uh linked to? Again, it builds credibility in Google's acts. So things that you can definitely be doing yourself from an SEO perspective. But all of that affects both Google rankings and also affects AI.

SPEAKER_00 14:27

Exactly. Yeah, great points, all of them. And and they do. It's you know, it's really when you're looking at it, you can almost look at it holistically, the way that it all works together, right? So your traditional core best practices for SEO are are going to help you. And there's there's some slight differences, there's a few things we can do slightly different, but for the the most part, the things that we do and um you know, the things that we're focusing on will help you in both directions.

SPEAKER_02 14:56

So excellent. And so we know that content, putting content on our website, so articles, blogs, the pages that we have that are specific to the services we provide. Um you know, many clinic owners are hearing that AI can create this content for them and do the SEO for them. And so just kind of curious, like what how why couldn't someone just go and use Claude or use Chat GPT and say, hey, give me uh what should I do for SEO on my website? And and what can you write me an article, a blog post about this and then go do it? So what's the difference between do it DIYing it yourself, right? Or or having a real SEO strategy?

SPEAKER_00 15:36

Yeah, this comes up a lot. We get this a lot, and I and I really do get it. You know, AI tools are impressive and right now they're flashy and they're new. And so the temptation is real, whether you're looking at a more cost-affordable agency who offers to use AI to help, or if you are like a clinic owner and you're like, you know what, I can use AI and I can do this. I don't need, you know, I can handle it myself. So it feels like to me, it feels like AI has kind of lowered the barrier a little bit so that you think you don't need real strategy that it can replace it. Um, and that's where a lot of people can get into trouble, that kind of thought process. So I will think about it like this. So this is a little analogy here. Um, so AI is like having a really fast carpenter, but a fast carpenter without a blueprint is just making sawdust, right? So AI can write content quickly, it can help with keyword research. We know that. It can draft meta descriptions. So it's genuinely useful for execution. But what it can't do is walk into your market. It can't understand your competition or figure out what conditions you should be building pages around for your clinic. It can't earn you backlinks. Um, so it's not going to truly build the kind of clinical authority that Google is rewarding, right? Um, you know, and that last part matters now more than ever. So we all know that Google has a quality framework, right? Eat. So we're looking for experience, expertise, authoritativeness, trust, trustworthiness. Um, that, and that's gonna come from content that demonstrates real clinical knowledge. So I think it's, you know, prompting chat GPT, you know, at 10 p.m. after a full day of treating patients, um, or even an agency doing that same process for you for every client is gonna produce content that is looking pretty thin, you know, under Google's lens. And they're getting better at telling the difference.

SPEAKER_02 17:47

Um I think that's uh I I saw that recently that um you know Google's policies are updating where uh they're they are penalizing more content that is just straight AI created versus content that's very dialed into the locality and the specifics about that practice that mentions like uh you know specific um outcomes of a result with a patient, for example, like the more they're looking for for real content, right? Because there's you know, like uh we see it happening, there's just gazillions of AI slop being generated out there and thrown up, and Google doesn't, you know, it doesn't help Google's customers uh called this AI slop, right? So they're they're being much more picky now, they're putting things in place, you know it's even coming, uh they're gonna get stricter with it. But how can you use it? Like what you our team uses a lot of AI, right? We use a lot of AI for for SEO analysis and all kinds of things there too, but you you need that human strategy and collaboration with with the clinic in order to really dial in what's what's most impactful and helpful for them.

SPEAKER_00 18:52

Exactly. Yeah, and I think the a good way to think about it is yeah, use AI to move faster, but pair it with PT specific strategy, you know, clinician-reviewed content, you know, things like that. So, and then back it up with other like technical and local SEO and the other things that you're not, you know, using AI tools for. Um, but content volume is not the same thing as an SEO strategy. So using AI um kind of to make you faster, I think it just needs to be paired with a good solid base.

unknown 19:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:30

Totally. And so for a clinic uh out there, obviously we we work with hundreds and hundreds of clinics. I'm just kind of curious, what are some of the biggest SEO mistakes that you see uh PT clinics making today?

SPEAKER_01 19:43

The top 10% of PT owners aren't just surviving, they're thriving. But what's their secret? Well, Neil Trigott's new Market to Grow book reveals how the top 10% of PT practices leverage marketing systems to simultaneously grow their new patients, attract top talent, and boost profit in their practice. You can learn from their secrets. Visit practicepromotions.net slash book to claim your free copy of Market to Grow. Yes, you heard that right. We are shipping a free copy of Market to Grow to all podcast listeners who want it. Just visit practicepromotions.net slash book to claim your free book. And now back to the show.

SPEAKER_00 20:24

Yeah, um, I think the biggest things, they're not technical really. They're more kind of strategic gaps um that are really common. So one of the biggest things would be um treating your business profile as a set it and forget it uh task. So um most clinic owners will claim a listing, put in your address, you put in your phone number, and you move on. Um, but a business profile as part of strategy, that's often the very first thing that a patient is going to see. So before your website, before your reviews, before anything else, they're coming across your business profile. So I think um making sure that it's fully built out, categories, service descriptions, conditions, regular photos uh being added, consistent reviews, all of those things um need to be done and really is a great strategy for outranking competitors, right? Even ones with bigger websites, larger budgets. It's that is probably the highest ROI move in local SEO is optimizing your Google business profile. So I think that's one mistake is kind of not paying attention to that and leaving it half finished. Um, the uh one other thing that I do see a lot would be generic content. So we talked about this a little bit earlier. So in you know, you really need to be specific because that's how people are searching now. So um, you know, if you don't have dedicated pages that speak to conditions that your patients are looking for. um then you're invisible. And so the you know the clinics that are winning have very specific pages written with clinical depth for specific content.

SPEAKER_02 22:10

That's gonna be like your your knee pain page or your GMJ page or your public health page, like those kind of things, right?

SPEAKER_00 22:16

Yes. And so you know great example would be our, you know, our websites for our clients are really fully built out. And we really try to address all of the things that a potential patient is coming and looking for. And you know one other thing that I'm thinking about while we're talking about this would be review generation. So that also is something that I think people are leaving on the table and maybe I don't know if you'd call it a mistake, but it's definitely something that not only Google is looking at, but patients are looking at. So growing review count consistently is another area where I think people maybe not necessarily making mistakes but just leaving a lot on the table.

SPEAKER_02 22:58

Yeah or overlooking it right and 100% agree with you on all those points. And I think I think the key thing to understand is that in order to build your practice, attract more patients to come to you, you you have to dominate these searches, right? You have to be high up on the rankings as people choose the top of of Google more than they choose the bottom of Google. And they certainly don't go to page two. Right. So we we got to be at the top of Google and it's like you said it's not a set it and forget it. You have to realize like it's dynamic. Google makes hundreds of changes a year and they make three to five major ones each year. So things change all the time with Google. So you're you're playing in Google sandbox and you have to be very dynamic and you have to be consistent with constantly updating your marketing your website your online presence in order to position yourself right it's a battle for the top just think of it that way. So yeah the key things that are going to help you get there is like are you do you have consistent processes in the clinic for getting reviews? Like do you have software systems are your therapists trained or your front desk trained on asking reviews do you have targets for everybody in terms of like how many reviews you want them to get in a month? Where's the machine right? So build the machine for getting reviews it people look for that trust factor. They look for what people are saying about your clinic those kind of things do show up also in search results. So it's critical and then the the business profile again that's not something you just do one time like you you have to keep updating the photos in there right add new videos. You need to add um new posts and articles in there. So blogs are a great thing to do from your website post them up in there. There's a lot it's dynamic right you can't just do it one time optimize it and then never think about it again. Right.

SPEAKER_00 24:49

Exactly yeah and the you know the review piece too it just the volume that you need it's just not going to happen organically. So it's great like that you're mentioning like processes and how are you going to do this and how are you going to request these reviews um to get the volume that you need to really make a difference and make you stand out versus your competitor.

SPEAKER_02 25:07

Got it. And so we we hear this terminology there's uh SEO which is search engine optimization there's local SEO and there's AEO which is answer engine optimization. Just kind of curious for our audience out there, like how important is local SEO for physical therapy practices and and what role does that play in attracting new patients? Kind of like what is it to begin with? Like what's what's the difference between that and just like organic SEO?

SPEAKER_00 25:34

Yeah so you know local SEO um this is like for physical therapy local SEO isn't just one part of the strategy. I would say it basically is the strategy right so PT is inherently a local service nobody's driving 45 minutes twice a week to go to treatment. So the question really isn't like whether it matters it's whether you're showing up when the right patients in your area are looking right so this is SEO that we are going to do and and implement on your site so that you can be found in your local market. You can compete in your local market. You know the centerpiece of local SEO is the MATPAC. So those the three business we know but so for people watching the three business listings that appear at the top of the results when someone searches like physical therapy near me, that's where the majority of new patient clicks happen. And so it's entirely separate from where you rank in regular search results. So there's the difference between you know kind of an organic result and a and a local result. So a clinic can have a really great website and still lose patients every day because they're not showing up there. So that is a strategy in itself. So when you want to make that map pack it kind of comes down to three things that Google is going to look at they're gonna look at relevance distance and prominence right so distance you can't control but relevance like how clearly your presence communicates the conditions that you treat um you know and then who you serve and then prominence your reviews your directory listings the consistency of your posting and information across the web those are entirely in your hands and built deliberately like over time so yeah so there is there's a definite difference there um and you know a big piece and we've talked about this a a a lot so reviews and ratings are a big piece of local ranking signals. And so you know a clinic that has 200 recent reviews at 4.8 stars is going to outrank a clinic with 40 reviews right almost every time. So um here again just kind of another um mention of the importance of review generation and looking good it's definitely a direct labor when it comes to local SEO.

SPEAKER_02 28:07

Absolutely yeah so that that's one of the one of the factors right that that Google takes into consideration uh but it's not the only one and I think that's a confusion sometimes for practice owners like oh if I just get a lot more reviews I'm gonna rank you know number one on the map pack. That's not how it works right it's it's like maybe five or 10% of what Google takes into consideration of its rankings. But what's what is super critical about it is it's what the actual person is looking at you know if they they see a clinic with a thousand reviews and they see another one with 10 reviews well they're in their mind they're gonna look at the one with the thousand reviews and they click on it. Well when they click on it more Google likes that they're gonna show you more because you're getting clicked on more than someone who's got 10 reviews. So it does factor into it that way but it also builds the emotional trust of the patient to to explore you before a competitor just because you have more reviews. So yeah that review generation is such a critical part uh of it um and and you know I just think back to like when when I was a when I was a PT uh I remember treating a patient and we were kind of talking about technology and geeking out stuff like that and I remember him talking like because back in those days it was like Netscape and AOL and that kind of stuff and he was saying oh have you heard of this thing called Google? Like what's Google? Right and that was I don't know 25 plus years ago but here we are today right and that's you know a major part of everybody's life in terms of how we find stuff um but it the search results back then were just top 10 right just top 10 right and then and then came along ads and they started to put a few ads at the top and then you know fast forward to today well we've got for 46% of searches that that are not local based right that are like service specific but uh AI chunk at the top underneath that we might have say three to four ads and then we've got the the map right and then we've got more sponsored ads and then we've got the top 10 at the bottom right so we have this really long search page now but most of it now is pay to play or AI um and but if it's someone like hey what's the best physical therapy clinic near me well it's going to show the map part at the top right and then the or or or sometimes usually like the ads you might get like two to three ads at the top an ad in the map section and then three organic ones in there too. So um everything plays together. So you need to be doing Google ads to be at the very top but you also need to be in the the local search strategy on that and then of course you've got your further down the page is SEO but one thing I really try to explain to practice owners too is that it's not just about being the the the number one spot and to me it's about it's we see it time and time again repetition on the page is what moves people to click into your website to to call you so ideally if you have your ads running you're gonna be at and someone turns uh searches for physical therapy near me you're gonna have your ads pop up at the top right so it'll be number one spot there too. You should then be able to get a second ad spot in the map section. So that's two spots you show up or uh organically in that local map section so now you got three spots and you show up in the top ten uh underneath and now you got four spots. So if I'm a patient and I'm looking through and I see your name four times on page one of my search I'm much more likely to click on you than someone who uh just has one like they don't do ads and they're just maybe on the map section. I'm gonna choose you because you're mentioned four times. So that's part of overall strategy too.

SPEAKER_00 31:47

Right. And that you know that's a great point. And this it and it a little bit of an aside going back to what we talked about earlier is local provider searches are specifically protected right from AI overviews. And so you know it's not going to be an AI generated summary um you're gonna get when you're looking for those doing those local searches you're gonna get the map the listings or reviews um and so the kind of what's really going to fill your schedule as a clinic owner um is investing in local SEO right in addition to the to everything else it's kind of like one big view but local SEO definitely um still does have an advantage that I'm not sure AI is going to erode that anytime soon.

SPEAKER_02 32:32

Yeah it's gonna be definitely still very important. Yeah and and Google they make a lot of money right so they they're they're fighting it just as hard as as everybody else right so they they're they're changing things up they're they they want to keep command of the market they're not gonna go anywhere anywhere different with that um so you know SEO uh we often view it as a long-term strategy so what kind of what what's the some of the expectations for clinic owners like hey I need a rank better in Google I'm gonna work with an agency on that and then next week everything will I'll be number one right like how is that realistic like what what what's typically the length of an SEO strategy?

SPEAKER_00 33:11

Yeah you know we get these kind of questions a lot our department does um and I think it's one of the most important expectation setting conversations right that we can have really in all of digital marketing. But it's also a definitely a frustration for um clinics. So I think there's a couple things to consider. So if we're starting from scratch or if we're working with you know an existing website that already has a little bit of history it might be a little bit different. But it really is kind of a long game. But so for an established clinic that already has a website maybe has some reviews some sort of online presence even if you haven't been actively working in it you're not starting from zero. So Google already has a little bit of sense of who you are and in that case some foundation work has been done. So I would say first three months you might be producing early signals faster than if you're starting out fresh. So Google business profile improvements keyword movement on less competitive terms growing review counts kind of within that first window by month six your content work happening consistently meaningful ranking gains could be realistic at that point and um you know if you're in a mid-sized market you might hit the Mat pack for core terms somewhere within that six month range for brand new websites it really is a different story right so you have to factor in domain authority for sites that have no history. So if we have a new client that's coming on first time hasn't had a web presence Google really needs time to trust that site before it's willing to rank it competitively so that doesn't mean that nothing happens early on like your business profile can still perform regardless of your website age um but organic rankings are going to take longer to build so truly um I would plan for more of the six to 12 month before you're really competing the the biggest caveat really for both situations is market competition. So if you're in a smaller market you might see movement within 90 days right but if you're going after like physical therapy Charlotte North Carolina it's much more of a competitive fight. Yeah so the strategy is the same um you know but what you're up against determines how long it's gonna take you to reach the top but I'll I will say this so you know SEO unlike paid ads they stop the moment that you stop paying SEO compounds. So every month of that consistent work is going to make the next month more effective. So if you if you if you stay patient and stay consistent um those are the clinics that we end up seeing do really well.

SPEAKER_02 36:10

Yeah it's like saving money right it's compounding interest it'll get better and better over time. It just takes time for it to like get to the point that you want right and and I think it's really important for for practice owners to understand too like it's such a critical part of the the growth of your business is something that really needs a lot of attention and professional help but it's it's not an instant fix. You're playing again in Google sandbox right you're you're under what Google is doing and you're trying to play by their rules and you're trying it's like dating right Google's your your dream um you know partner there and you want to like really wow them and have them pay attention to you and like you the most it takes some dating to get there right uh so that's that's the key thing with SEO but again you can you can sidestep some of that uh long-term strategy with pay right so that's where Google ads come into play like if you really like need to get things rocking quickly like Google ads you can get up there you can be performing pretty good within 30 to 60 days uh using Google ads right um and then SEO kind of comes up behind that and again and as you mentioned Amy it's very it's very different depending on the market. So if you're in a kind of a rural uh city or rural kind of town you're gonna probably gonna get you know much faster results but if you're in New York City or Boston or you know San Francisco like you're you're gonna be very competitive. It's gonna take some time uh for that um so just kind of curious you know working with a lot of our clients there what what do you say practice promotions does differently when it comes to SDO compared to other you know low-cost agency or even now like different AI solutions?

SPEAKER_00 37:47

Yeah so one of the things that I love is that practice promotions was built specifically for physical therapy and rehab right not general small businesses not for healthcare broadly but for the for PT clinics and by physical therapists. And so I think that vertical focus changes everything about how we approach SEO so the thing about AI generated content that most people who are just using the tool and and they don't realize it until they look really closely is AI can sound like it understands physical therapy without actually understanding it, right? Like it knows the words it can string together a sentence and you know it can talk about manual therapy and therapeutic exercise and it can look like pretty convincing on the surface but it doesn't understand how a patient describes their shoulder pain at 10 p.m when they're looking for help. It doesn't necessarily know what conditions are driving the most new patient volume can't make clinical judgments and things like that. So that's the difference between content that ranks and content that converts like it can help you write content to rank um but something that I'm really proud of at Practice Promotions is, you know, our content copywriting team is led by a physical therapist. And that's not what you're gonna find using AI. That's not what you're gonna find at a generic agency, right? AI platforms. And so that makes a real difference. It means the content that we're producing it's not just optimized for search. It's clinically accurate. It's written in language that patients actually use um when they're searching and so it really reflects the patient experience uh from someone who's lived it on the treatment side right who's actually writing for us. So I think for SEO specifically it matters you know enormously for Google's quality framework. And our demonstrated expertise is exactly what they're going to reward. So genuine clinical knowledge um and and you know it doesn't just read better it's gonna perform better.

SPEAKER_02 40:00

Yeah totally agree with that and we had we had a great um podcast with Mena our head of copywriting there who's PT and former practice owner and he's been in AI copywriting and all kinds of stuff for for years. And it's very interesting because you you you you got to have that blend of knowledge personalization you can leverage AI to some extent with that too but he said it was very fascinating because a lot of the a lot of kind of the the data and research stuff AI will what you call hallucinate. So it actually makes stuff up right and so you'll come up with this made up stuff that you think is stats or research but it's really just AI just made it up right and that that is a a concern uh that we see in in different websites different content that's going out there like is that really legit? Like is that something that's that's coming across so uh yeah it's it's definitely comes with a warning um with with just purely trying to solve everything with AI and we do have um clients that are using AI a lot within their practice that's fantastic I think it can really increase your capabilities in your practice but one of the challenges that we get on our side is that oh I I uh use ChatGPT and I did an SEO analysis and then you know it comes up with all these things and again this is coming off of what it's scraping off the internet which is not really relevant to the strategy in your practice. So it's going to give you a lot of times like just false answers or things that aren't really going to make the impact that you need for your physical therapy website or physical therapy SEO and so that's where you have to you have to be careful in using the um the outputs of AI make sure that it matches with what um humans are recommending in experience level right where can you have the best of both worlds but I'm sure you hear that too on your side Amy.

SPEAKER_00 41:54

Yeah I do and you know it's I I don't want to make it sound like uh AI isn't a useful tool for us because like you're saying it really does have a place and it can be very useful and helpful but it definitely shouldn't be just taken at base value. So the the human review um and and putting that experience into it I think is the is the thing to to use them kind of hand in hand if you if you if you're gonna use AI. But yeah it can definitely be helpful in creating content. I just think it's that that personal touch um you know to to know is this is this answering a question that my you know potential patient is gonna is gonna ask am I answering it the right way am I using the terminology that they would ask and um you know so not just for search I think AI does write really well for search it's gonna write content that ranks right but what we want is content that converts so we're trying to really put that piece together between the content and the patient.

SPEAKER_02 42:56

Yeah we're we're two different audiences we're speaking to Google and AI search and we're also speaking to our both people we got to uh structure our websites for both types of people our content online our our online presence and all those kind of things and um I you know I was just thinking about as we're talking about that I'm sure I'm sure now uh a lot of our um clients and our our uh audience out there that are you know in the trenches with treating patients I'm sure you're getting patients come in on their phone with a chat GPT pulled up of like hey chat GPT says we should treat my knee this way and I'm sure you're you're frustrated with that like no this is my experience you know this way that we should be treating your knee I'm sure you're getting that 100% now in your practice. But that's what what life is like um so you've got Dr. Google now you got Dr. ChatGPT and uh I think people are I mean what we're hearing is that people are using a lot more AI uh and and they're searching as we said at the beginning in a very different way like research type of of type of searches that are going on now much deeper type of searches that are going on now how is your clinic going to show up for that and there's a lot that can be done to keep you at that competitive advantage that that edge that you need for your practice to grow. So uh yeah any any final words of advice here for our audience to improve their SEO?

SPEAKER_00 44:22

Yeah you know I think just what I said before we don't need to panic about AI right it's a great useful tool but we we don't need to ignore it either and and we're not certainly so I think what is going to happen is the clinics that will thrive are the ones that are going to understand what parts of SEO have changed and what parts are it's durable as ever, right? So double down on local Google's made it clear that local provider searches belong in traditional search. So we're going to double down on that the clinic that owns MatPAP in their market has a total competitive advantage and AI is not going to change that. At the same time invest in being cited by AI, not just ranking on Google. So you know the next thing showing up will be when a patient asks Chat GPT who's the best PT for public floor issues, right? So invest in being cited by AI. Don't ignore it. But the biggest thing is continue making content that is actually helpful. Keyword stuff blog posts that's over AI systems and Google alike are rewarding content that has demonstrates expertise answers actual questions. And so those things haven't changed. Those are the things that we are still doing for all of our clients you know we're just paying a little bit closer attention so build your reputation infrastructure pay close attention to local but also just keep that content helpful keep it authoritative and you're going to do well in both places.

SPEAKER_02 45:57

Excellent advice there. Thank you Amy and I appreciate you coming on the podcast here today and helping our audience understand uh what they can do about SEO and AI searches out there, just the changes that are are happening in the world and how we can stay competitive with that. So thank you.

SPEAKER_00 46:12

Well thank you for having me appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02 46:14

Yeah so for all our listeners out there thank you so much for joining us. Hope you got a lot out of today's uh podcast don't forget to like and subscribe to the Practice Marketing Podcast and also check out our YouTube channel where we have these videos as well as a lot of other technical videos and of course on practicepromotions.net where you can get our free marketing kit as well as all these uh tips and advices for your practice so this is Neil from the Practice Marketing Podcast wishing you much success in your practice a free way for you to support our show is by leaving a five star rating and review on Apple Podcasts.

SPEAKER_01 46:49

It's a chance for you to tell us what you love about the show and it helps others discover it as well. Just scroll down to ratings and review on your phone and click write a review. Thanks for