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In this guide: how Practo and your own Google Business Profile work for a clinic in Gurgaon (Gurugram), what you control on each, the costs to check, how to measure where patients come from, and a sensible way to use both. Facts about Practo and Google come from their own help pages, listed under Sources. General information, not legal advice. Last reviewed: 20 October 2026.
Short answer: Practo and a Google Business Profile do different jobs, so most clinics in Gurgaon use both. Your Google Business Profile is free and shows your own number and booking link on Google Search and Maps[1][4]. Practo is a doctor-booking platform with a free profile and optional paid products[6]. Build Google first, and judge paid Practo products by booked visits.
Clinic owners often ask whether a listing-platform subscription is paying off, and whether it is wise to depend on one platform for new patients. This guide compares Practo vs Google Business Profile for clinics fairly, using what each company publishes about its own products, so you can decide with your own numbers rather than a sales pitch.
| Question | Your Google Business Profile | Your Practo profile |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Your clinic’s listing on Google Search and Maps[1] | A listing on a healthcare platform where patients search for doctors and book[6] |
| Cost to list | Free[1] | Free profile; paid products such as Reach and Prime are optional[6] |
| Phone number patients see | Your own number, which must be under your direct control[3] | A virtual number assigned by Practo that forwards calls to your clinic; your direct number is not shown[7] |
| Booking | Booking links you add, with one marked as preferred[4] | Booking inside Practo’s website and app[6][9] |
| How visibility is decided | Mainly relevance, distance and prominence; no way to pay for a better local ranking[2] | Practo’s search, by specialty and locality; Reach adds a separate sponsored card[7][8] |
| Reviews | Google reviews on your profile, which also count towards prominence[2] | Feedback from verified patients, moderated by Practo[6] |
| Numbers you can see | Views, searches, call-button clicks, website clicks, direction requests and more[5] | Practo’s dashboards and email or SMS updates for paid products such as Reach[8] |
A Google Business Profile is the panel that appears when someone searches for your clinic, and the listing that can appear on the map for searches such as “dentist near me” or “skin clinic Sohna Road”. Google says creating a profile and listing your business is free[1]. Local results are based mainly on relevance, distance and prominence, and Google states there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking[2].
Distance matters in a spread-out city like Gurugram, where patients usually prefer a clinic near home or work. You cannot change your distance from a searcher, but you can improve relevance and prominence. Google’s own tips include complete and accurate information, replies to reviews and real photos, and it says prominence draws on links to your website and on your reviews[2]. Our step-by-step guide to healthcare marketing in Gurgaon covers the wider local picture.
Three of Google’s rules matter most for clinics[3]:
You can also add booking links, up to 10 per category, and mark one as “Business preferred”. Some third-party booking links can appear on your profile automatically, and Google lets you request their removal[4]. You decide which booking path patients see first.
Practo describes itself as a platform that connects patients with doctors, clinics, hospitals, diagnostics and pharmacies[6]. For providers it lists a free Practo Profile for doctors, plus products for clinics and hospitals: Prime, Ray (practice management software), Insta (hospital software) and Reach[6].
Practo verifies each doctor’s medical registration against medical council records before a profile goes live[7]. The practice name must match the signage outside the clinic, and the locality and city go in separate fields rather than in the name[7]. Patient calls reach the clinic through a virtual number that Practo assigns, and the clinic’s direct number is not shown on Practo.com[7].
Practo says only verified patients can leave feedback, and that each piece of feedback is manually moderated[6]. It also says it does not charge for patients or appointments that come through a Practo.com profile[8]. For many patients, a complete Practo profile is simply one more place where your timings, fees and qualifications can be checked before they book.
Reach is a paid subscription for clinics, hospitals and practices. It shows an information card about the practice on Practo’s specialty listing pages for the localities (zone) you choose, and the card is marked “sponsored”[8]. Practo says buying Reach does not change the order in which you appear in its search results, that the number of practices and the card’s visibility depend on site traffic, and that Reach does not assure appointments[8].
Practo describes Prime as a technology product for clinics and hospitals, covering instant online booking, a calling system and visit-experience commitments to patients; individual doctors cannot subscribe[9]. According to its FAQ, Practo charges a one-time technology fee the first time a patient uses its technology to connect with the clinic, valid for a set period during which repeat appointments are not charged[9]. The same FAQ says Prime does not assure any appointments or patients, that a clinic without Prime is still listed, and that Prime can be discontinued at any time[9].
Help pages can lag behind current contracts, so treat the points above as questions to confirm in writing before you sign anything.
Neither channel is fully “yours”: Google and Practo both set the rules for their own platforms. The useful question is which parts you control and which parts stop when a contract ends.
A Google Business Profile has no listing fee; the cost is staff time to keep hours, photos and services accurate, and any Google Ads you choose to run, which are billed separately[1][5]. A Practo profile is also free, so the decision is really about the paid products[6]. We do not quote platform prices here, because they vary by product, specialty and locality and change over time.
Before you sign or renew a paid listing on any platform, ask for written answers to these questions:
Measure booked and completed visits by source, not views or clicks. Each platform counts its own activity in its own way, so your front desk needs one simple record that covers every channel.
At booking or at the reception desk, ask “How did you hear about us?” and tick one option: Google Search or Maps, Practo, another doctor’s referral, a friend or family member, passing by or the signboard, or other. Record the date, the source, whether they booked and whether they visited. Leave out symptoms and health details; the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and its Rules are being brought into force in phases, and collecting only what you need is the safer habit[12].
Add UTM parameters to the website and booking links on your Google profile, for example utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=gbp, so Google Analytics can separate those visits from other traffic[10]. Use a different tag for every link you control, including any link you share on WhatsApp.
Once a month, divide what you spent on each channel by the number of new patients from that channel who actually visited. Include staff time for the free channels. Compare at least three months together, because doctor leave, festivals and seasons move the numbers.
The right mix depends on your specialty, your locality and how established you are. A reasonable order of work looks like this:
| Your situation | Sensible approach |
|---|---|
| New clinic | Set up and verify the Google Business Profile and the free Practo profile in the same week, with identical details. Start the “How did you hear about us?” log from the first patient. |
| Established clinic already paying for a Practo product | Keep it while you measure three months of visits by source. Renew, change or stop it based on cost per patient who visited, not on views. |
| Clinic with an incomplete Google profile | Fix the Google profile first: real name, own number, hours, services, photos, booking link to your own site. It costs no listing fee and supports every other channel. |
| Multi-doctor clinic | Complete each doctor’s Practo profile; on Google, keep one profile per location and check the practitioner conditions before adding doctor profiles[3]. |
| Several branches across Gurugram | One Google profile per staffed branch, branch-wise Practo localities, and a separate source log per branch. |
In short: keep the channels you control in good shape, rent extra visibility on terms you can measure, and let your own records decide. Our digital marketing for clinics page explains how the Google profile, website, ads and enquiry handling fit together.
Use the same clinic name, address, phone format, timings and doctor list on Google, Practo and your website. Both platforms ask for the signboard name and keep the locality out of the name[3][7]. Update both before festivals, doctor leave and timing changes, because patients notice when two listings disagree.
The National Medical Commission’s guidelines of 06 October 2026 apply to hospitals, medical institutions and individual doctors, and content published through a platform or agency counts as the provider’s own if they authorised or knowingly permitted it[11]. Factual directory details such as name, qualifications, specialty, registration number and availability are treated as patient information rather than advertising[11]. Keep profile descriptions factual: no superlatives, outcome promises or inducements such as discounts or freebies[11].
On reviews, the guidelines say a registered medical practitioner should not request or share patient testimonials or reviews for professional promotion on social media[11]. Never offer anything in return for a review, and reply to reviews on either platform without confirming that the person was a patient. Our guide to genuine Google reviews for clinics covers reply wording. Check with your medical council or a lawyer where you are unsure.
Many clinics run their listings in-house, with one staff member who knows the doctors’ timings keeping both profiles current. If you want help with the Google profile, the website and tracking, keep every account in your clinic’s own name. Our healthcare SEO services cover the Google profile, local search and your website.
Sai Healthcare Marketing, founded in 2020, works on healthcare marketing in Gurgaon from its office at 1st Floor, Block B, Metro World Mall, Sector 56, Gurugram, Haryana 122011 (phone 093545 03426). If you want a second opinion on your Practo vs Google Business Profile mix, share your specialty, locality and your patient counts by source for the last three months (no patient names needed), and we will reply with a written view.
All sources accessed 20 October 2026. Practo and Google change their products and terms; check the current pages before you decide.
They do different jobs, so most clinics use both. A Google Business Profile is free, appears on Google Search and Maps, and shows your own phone number and booking link. Practo is a doctor-search and booking platform with a free profile and optional paid products. Build and maintain the Google profile first, then decide on any paid Practo product by measuring booked visits.
Yes. Google states that creating a Business Profile and listing your business on Google is free. Your costs are the time to keep details, photos and hours accurate. Google Ads is a separate paid product, and Google says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking.
According to Practo’s Reach FAQ, no. Reach is a sponsored card shown on specialty listing pages for the localities you choose, it is marked as sponsored, and Practo says buying it has no impact on the order of its search results.
No. Practo’s own help pages say Practo Reach is a visibility tool that does not assure appointments, and that Practo Prime does not assure any appointments or patients. Whether a patient books is up to the patient, so judge any paid product by your own measured results.
Yes. Google lets you add up to 10 links per category, including links to book an appointment, and mark one as the business-preferred link. Some third-party booking links can appear automatically, and you can ask for those to be removed.
Ask every new patient “How did you hear about us?” and record one source from a fixed list, then mark whether they booked and visited. Read your Google profile’s performance report and Practo’s reports alongside that log, and compare each channel’s cost with the new patients who actually visited.
The NMC guidelines of 06 October 2026 apply to hospitals, medical institutions and doctors, and content published through a platform or agency counts as the provider’s own if they authorised or knowingly permitted it. Factual directory details such as name, qualifications, specialty, registration number and availability are treated as patient information. Keep both profiles factual and take advice where unsure.
Disclosure: Sai Healthcare Marketing is a healthcare marketing agency that provides Google Business Profile, SEO and website services, which are among the channels discussed above. This guide was not reviewed or endorsed by Practo or Google. Practo and Google are trademarks of their respective owners. General information, not legal advice. Last reviewed: 20 October 2026.
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