The guide
Yes, and it is probably the highest-return free thing a care home can do. Whitespark's 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors study, based on a survey of 47 local search specialists, put Google Business Profile signals at 32 per cent of local pack ranking weight, the single largest category of any, with review signals second at 20 per cent. For a family typing "care home near me" on a phone, your profile is often the first and sometimes the only thing they see.
Updated August 2026
Your profile is often the first thing a family sees. In brief:
Why it matters
Because care searches are local, urgent and on a phone.
of local pack ranking weight comes from Google Business Profile signals, the single largest category (Whitespark, 2026)
comes from review signals, second largest, up from 16 per cent in 2023
of online UK adults used Google Search in the month (Ofcom, 2025)
Whitespark's 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors study is based on a survey of 47 local search specialists. Ofcom's Online Nation 2025 report found Google Search was used by 82 per cent of online UK adults in the month, with most online time spent on a smartphone.
The person searching is usually a close family member, most often an adult child but frequently a spouse, sibling, niece or grandchild, doing it in the evening. They will see a map, three listings and a set of photographs before they see anyone's website. That is the moment your profile is either working or not.
What to fix this week
Each one takes an hour or less, and together they are the quickest improvement a home can make to how it is found.
Get it right and get it specific. This is one of the highest-weighted individual signals in the Whitespark data.
Real ones, of the actual home and the actual people, current to this season. Not stock, not the architect's render from 2016.
Opening hours, phone number, address, website link. Wrong details cost enquiries silently.
Reply to every one, including the difficult ones.
Ranking and persuading
They rank you, and they persuade. Review signals rose from 16 per cent to 20 per cent of local pack influence between 2023 and 2026 in the Whitespark study, so they are a growing ranking factor.
They are also the thing families care about most. Care England and Log my Care surveyed 1,000 UK families who had recently arranged care and found reputation was the single most important factor in choosing a provider at 30 per cent, ahead of cost at 25 per cent, staff experience at 24 per cent and location at 24 per cent. Only 19 per cent said they used inspection reports.
So the same twenty minutes spent asking families for reviews and replying to them improves your ranking and your conversion at the same time. There are not many activities in marketing that do both.
A difficult review
Calmly, promptly, and without breaching anyone's confidentiality. Acknowledge the concern, say what you have done or will do, and offer to continue the conversation privately. Never dispute clinical detail in public.
Every future reader is watching how you handle it. A measured reply to a hard review reassures families far more than an unbroken run of five stars, because it shows them what happens when something goes wrong.
Common slips
Most of these go unnoticed for years, and every one is quick to put right.
Where it fits
If families are not finding you at all, the full diagnosis is in why families are not finding your care home online. Whether search work more broadly is worth it is covered in does SEO work for care homes.
What it cannot do
For that you need to be present earlier, which is what paid social does, and our pillar on whether Meta ads work for care homes covers it.
Common questions
Yes, and it is probably the highest return free thing a care home can do. Whitespark's 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors study, based on a survey of 47 local search specialists, put Google Business Profile signals at 32 per cent of local pack ranking weight, the single largest category, with review signals second at 20 per cent.
The correct primary category, real photographs of the home and its people rather than stock, accurate opening and contact details, a description written for families rather than for search engines, and replies to every review. Keep the photographs current, because a garden in the wrong season signals neglect.
Increasingly important. In Whitespark's 2026 study review signals accounted for 20 per cent of local pack influence, up from 16 per cent in 2023. Reviews also do double duty, because families rank reputation above cost, staff experience and location when choosing a home.
Yes, always, and calmly. A measured reply that acknowledges the concern without breaching anyone's confidentiality reassures every future reader far more than an unanswered complaint. Families read the reply as evidence of how the home handles difficulty.
Often weeks rather than months, which makes it unusually fast for anything in search. Completing a neglected profile and answering reviews can shift local visibility within a few weeks, and it costs nothing but attention.
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