Changed Everything for Local Businesses. Here’s What Spa and MedSpa Owners Need to Know.
If you own a spa or medspa, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of Google My Business. You might have even set up a profile years ago when you first opened. Maybe you uploaded a few photos, added your hours, and moved on. Here’s the thing: Google My Business doesn’t even exist anymore. And the tool that replaced it, your Google Business Profile, has quietly become the single most important factor in whether local clients find you or find your competitor instead. This isn’t just a name change. The entire way Google handles local businesses has shifted. And on top of that, a completely new category of search has emerged: AI-powered platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity are now recommending spas and medspas to millions of people. If your business isn’t set up to be found by both Google and these AI tools, you’re invisible to a growing number of potential clients.
Let me break this down in plain English.
What Actually Changed with Google?
For years, Google had a confusing collection of tools for local businesses. At various points you may have dealt with Google Places, Google+ Local, Google My Business, Google Analytics, Google AdWords, and Google Search Console. If you tried to keep up with all of it, you weren’t alone, it was genuinely overwhelming. Starting in 2022, Google simplified things. They retired the Google My Business app and renamed the whole system “Google Business Profile.” Instead of logging into a separate dashboard, you now manage your business listing directly from Google Search or Google Maps. They wanted to make it easier. And in many ways, they did. But here’s what most spa and medspa owners missed: while Google was simplifying the interface, they were also dramatically increasing how much your Google Business Profile influences whether you show up in search results.
Your Google Business Profile is no longer just a listing. It’s your primary local marketing tool — and Google is using it to decide whether to show you to potential clients or hide you behind your competitors.
Think about what happens when someone searches “Botox near me” or “best medspa in [your city].” Google doesn’t show them a list of websites. It shows them a map with three businesses — the “map pack.” Those three spots are determined almost entirely by the strength of each business’s Google Business Profile. Not their website. Not their Instagram. Their Google Business Profile. If your profile is inactive, incomplete, or inconsistent, you’re not in that map pack. And if you’re not in the map pack, most people will never know you exist.
Now Add AI Search to the Picture
As if Google wasn’t enough to think about, there’s now a second discovery system running at the same time. Forty-five percent of consumers now use AI tools like ChatGPT for local business recommendations. That’s up from just 6% one year ago. When someone asks ChatGPT “what’s the best medspa near me for Hydrafacials,” it doesn’t guess. It pulls from directory listings, review data, website content, and structured information to build its recommendation. Google itself has added AI directly into search results. Their “AI Overviews” now appear in nearly 70% of local searches, summarizing information and highlighting specific businesses before the person even scrolls down to the traditional results.
Here’s what’s important for spa and medspa owners to understand: the signals that help you rank on Google Maps are the same signals these AI platforms use to recommend you. Your Google Business Profile data, your review activity, your directory consistency, your website’s structured content — all of it feeds both systems. So when you optimize your Google Business Profile, you’re not just improving your Google Maps ranking. You’re also making yourself visible to ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google’s AI Overviews, and voice search all at the same time.
One effort. Multiple platforms. That’s why your Google Business Profile is the most efficient local marketing investment you can make right now.
Where Does YouTube Fit In?
This one surprises most spa owners. YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world, and it’s also the second most-cited source in Google’s AI search results. That means when Google’s AI is generating answers about local businesses, it’s pulling heavily from YouTube content. Most spas and medspas completely ignore YouTube. That’s actually an advantage for you. The bar is low, and even simple, consistent content — short videos about your treatments, your space, or your team — can build significant authority with both Google and AI platforms. You don’t need a production crew. You don’t need to be on camera if you don’t want to. Even AI-generated videos with optimized descriptions and keywords can feed the right signals to these platforms. The point isn’t to go viral — it’s to exist on a platform that Google and AI tools trust.
Why Most Spas and MedSpas Rank Poorly (and Don’t Know It)
If you’re reading this and thinking “I set up my Google profile years ago, I should be fine” — that’s actually the most common problem. Google rewards businesses that are consistently active. A profile that was set up three years ago and hasn’t been touched since is, in Google’s eyes, basically a dormant business. It doesn’t matter how busy you actually are. If your profile is quiet, Google assumes you’re not worth showing to people.
Here are the specific issues we see over and over again when we audit spa and medspa profiles:
The profile was created once and never updated — Google treats it as inactive
Reviews are piling up with no responses — Google sees that as disengagement
No posts have ever been published to the profile — Instagram is active, but the Google profile is silent
The business name, address, or phone number is slightly different across Google, Yelp, Healthgrades, and other directories — those inconsistencies confuse Google and hurt your ranking
Services aren’t properly listed with descriptions — Google can’t match the spa to what people are searching for
No structured data or FAQ schema on the website — AI tools literally can’t understand what the business offers
If any of that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. The vast majority of the spas and medspas we audit have three or more of these issues. The good news is that every single one of them is fixable.
5 Things You Can Do Today to Improve Your Google Business Profile
You don’t need to be an SEO expert to make meaningful improvements. Here are five things you can do right now, today, that will start moving your rankings in the right direction.
1. Respond to Every Single Google Review
This is the fastest, highest-impact thing you can do. Go to your Google Business Profile right now and respond to every review you’ve received — positive and negative, recent and old. Google uses review engagement as a direct ranking signal. When you respond to reviews, it tells Google that your business is active, attentive, and engaged with your clients. That translates directly into better visibility.
For positive reviews, a genuine thank-you is all you need. Something like: “Thank you so much for the kind words! We loved having you in and can’t wait to see you again.” Don’t overthink it — just be warm and real.
For negative reviews, stay professional and empathetic. Acknowledge the concern, apologize for their experience, and invite them to reach out directly. Never get defensive. Potential clients reading your reviews are watching how you handle criticism as much as they’re reading the praise.
Going forward, make it a habit to respond to every new review within 24–48 hours. If you can’t keep up, this is something that can be automated with AI (which is one of the things our SPA AI SEO service handles for you).
2. Publish a Post to Your Google Business Profile This Week
Most spa and medspa owners don’t even realize you can post to your Google Business Profile the same way you post to Instagram or Facebook. But you can — and Google pays close attention to it. These posts show up directly on your Google Business Profile when someone finds you in search or on Maps. They also signal to Google that your business is active, which is one of the key factors in local ranking.
Your post doesn’t need to be fancy. Here are some easy ideas:
Announce a seasonal treatment or special offer
Share a tip related to skincare or wellness
Highlight a team member
Promote an upcoming event
Feature a before-and-after result (with client permission)
The goal isn’t to go viral. The goal is consistency. Even one post per week makes a significant difference. Google wants to see that you’re regularly active, not that you posted once in 2023 and disappeared.
3. Audit Your Business Information Across the Web
This one takes a little time but can have a huge impact. Search for your spa or medspa on Google, Yelp, Healthgrades, Facebook, Apple Maps, and any other directory where you might be listed. Look at your name, address, and phone number on each one. Are they exactly the same everywhere? And I mean exactly — “123 Main Street” and “123 Main St.” count as different in Google’s eyes. When Google sees inconsistencies in your business information across the web, it loses confidence in your listing. It doesn’t know which version is correct, so it hedges by ranking you lower. AI platforms have the same problem — if ChatGPT sees three different phone numbers for your business, it’s less likely to confidently recommend you. Fix any discrepancies you find. Make sure your name, address, phone number, website URL, and hours are identical everywhere. This is one of those behind-the-scenes things that makes a bigger difference than most people realize.
4. Add or Update Your Services List
Go to your Google Business Profile and review your services section. Is every treatment you offer listed? Does each one have a clear, descriptive name and a short description? This matters more than you might think. When someone searches “HydraFacial near me” or “laser hair removal in [your city],” Google matches the search to businesses that list those services in their profiles. If your services section just says “facial treatments” instead of listing “HydraFacial,” “Microneedling,” and “Chemical Peel” individually, you’re missing out on highly targeted searches.
Be specific. Use the actual names of the treatments you offer, not generic categories. Add a one or two-sentence description for each one that naturally includes your city or neighborhood. For example: “Our HydraFacial treatment in [city] uses patented technology to cleanse, extract, and hydrate skin in one relaxing session.” This structured information is also exactly what AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini pull from when making recommendations. The more detailed and specific your service listings are, the easier it is for both Google and AI platforms to match you to what people are searching for.
5. Upload Fresh, High-Quality Photos
Google’s own data shows that businesses with recent, high-quality photos receive significantly more clicks, calls, and direction requests than businesses with outdated or no photos. It’s one of the easiest wins available to you.
Upload 10–15 new photos of your spa or medspa. Include:
The exterior of your building (this helps Google verify your location)
Your reception area and waiting room
Treatment rooms
Your team
Close-ups of products, tools, or unique design details
Before-and-after results (with client permission)
Use real photos, not stock images. Google’s algorithms can detect stock photos, and they don’t help your ranking. Natural lighting and horizontal orientation tend to perform best. You don’t need a professional photographer — a clean, well-lit iPhone photo is perfectly fine. Make this an ongoing habit. Adding a few new photos each month signals to Google that your business is active and gives potential clients a current, accurate view of your space.
The Bigger Picture: Why Consistency Is What Actually Matters
Every one of those five tips will help. But here’s the honest truth: doing them once isn’t enough. The spas and medspas that rank at the top of Google Maps and get recommended by AI platforms aren’t doing something magical. They’re doing these exact things consistently, week after week, month after month. They’re responding to every review. They’re publishing regular posts. They’re keeping their information accurate. They’re uploading fresh photos.
Google’s algorithm rewards consistency above almost everything else. A profile that’s moderately optimized but consistently active will outrank a profile that was perfectly optimized once and then abandoned.
The same is true for AI search. These platforms are constantly re-evaluating their data sources. A business that’s actively publishing content, generating reviews, and maintaining accurate listings across the web is one that AI tools will confidently recommend. A business that’s been quiet for six months is one they’ll skip.
The spas that win aren’t doing more. They’re doing the basics consistently. That’s the entire secret.
What If You Don’t Have Time for Any of This?
If you’re reading this and thinking, “This all makes sense, but I don’t have time to do this every week,” that’s exactly why we built SPA AI SEO.
SPA AI SEO is our done-for-you GBP AI Optimizer designed specifically for spas and medspas. It handles everything we talked about in this post, automatically:
Responds to every Google review with thoughtful, on-brand replies
Publishes regular posts to your Google Business Profile and YouTube
Syncs your business information across 60+ directories
Generates structured FAQs and schema markup for your website
Optimizes your presence for ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and voice search
Delivers monthly heatmap reports showing your rankings across your city
It runs automatically once you’re set up. No logging in, no posting, no managing. $299 per month, per location. No contracts.
The first step is seeing where you actually stand.
Run your free Google Business Profile audit and see exactly how your spa or medspa ranks right now. It takes 30 seconds and costs nothing. → AUDIT MY GBP
The Bottom Line
The way people find local businesses has fundamentally changed. Google Maps is still the starting point for most searches, but AI-powered tools are growing fast — and both systems rely on the same foundation: your Google Business Profile. If your profile is active, accurate, and consistently optimized, you’ll show up everywhere clients are looking. If it’s dormant, you’re handing those clients to the spa down the street. Whether you do it yourself using the five tips above or let SPA AI SEO handle it for you, the most important thing is to start. Every day your profile sits inactive is a day your competitors are gaining ground.
Your clients are searching right now. Make sure they find you.
