Most med spa Google Business Profiles are missing a business description. A large share are using the wrong primary category. Many haven't updated their photos in over a year.
These aren't cosmetic issues. They directly affect whether patients find you in Google Maps, local search results, and — increasingly — AI-generated answers. A broken or incomplete GBP doesn't just look unprofessional. It actively costs you placement.
The good news: most of this can be fixed in under ten minutes. Here's exactly what to do.
Google Business Profile is the single highest-leverage piece of your online presence. It controls your Maps listing, your local pack placement (those three businesses that appear above organic search results), and it feeds directly into AI tools that summarize local businesses for users.
When Cornflower scans a med spa's GBP, the same problems show up over and over.
Missing business description. Google gives you 750 characters to tell patients — and the algorithm — exactly what you do. Most med spas leave this blank or have a single placeholder sentence. That's 750 characters of free real estate going to waste. Google uses this field to understand your services and match you to relevant searches.
Wrong primary category. A surprising number of med spas are listed under a category that doesn't match how patients search. Common errors: listing as "Spa" instead of "Medical Spa," or "Beauty Salon" instead of "Skin Care Clinic." Google's primary category is one of the most important ranking signals in local search. If your category is off, your relevance score is off — and your ranking drops accordingly.
Outdated photos. Many profiles haven't added a new photo in over a year. Google explicitly states that profiles with recent photos perform better in local results. Photos also signal activity — an account that hasn't been updated in over a year reads as neglected, both to patients and to the algorithm.
Go to your Google Business Profile dashboard (business.google.com), click "Edit profile," and find the "Description" field.
Write 2–3 sentences that answer these three questions: What do you do? Who do you serve? Where are you located?
A working example: "Serenity Med Spa offers medical-grade aesthetic treatments including Botox, dermal fillers, laser skin resurfacing, and body contouring for patients in Austin, TX. Our licensed providers specialize in natural-looking results with no downtime. We're located on South Congress, with same-week appointments available."
That's it. No brand story. No mission statement. Just clear, specific information that helps Google understand what you offer and helps patients decide to click.
Use your actual treatment names. Use your city. Keep it under 750 characters.
In the same "Edit profile" panel, look for "Business category." Your primary category should be "Medical Spa" in almost every case. If you see "Day Spa," "Beauty Salon," "Skin Care Clinic," or anything else as your primary, change it.
You can also add secondary categories. If you offer laser treatments, add "Laser Hair Removal Service." If you offer body contouring, add "Weight Loss Service." Secondary categories expand the searches you're eligible to appear for.
This is a one-minute fix that can meaningfully move your local pack ranking within a few weeks.
Google recommends at least three new photos per month. You don't need professional photography. Your phone is fine.
Right now, take or find five to ten photos you haven't uploaded yet: your reception area, a treatment room, your team, a before/after (with patient permission), or your building exterior. Upload them in the "Photos" section of your profile.
Caption them if you can — "Hydrafacial treatment room at [your spa name], [city]" gives Google another data point to understand your business.
Consistency matters more than quality. Ten phone photos uploaded this month is better than five professional photos uploaded once a year.
This sounds obvious, but it's one of the most common errors: a phone number that was changed six months ago but never updated on GBP. A holiday schedule still showing from December. A service area that was never configured at all.
While you're in the dashboard, verify that your phone number matches your current number, your hours match your actual current hours, and your service area (under "Location and areas") includes the cities and neighborhoods you actually serve. If you don't have a service area set, set one — it affects which searches you appear in for surrounding areas.
Most owners understand that GBP affects Google Maps. Fewer realize it also affects the local pack — those three business listings that appear above organic results for searches like "med spa near me" or "Botox Austin."
And almost nobody realizes it affects AI search.
ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's own AI results pull from publicly available business information to answer questions like "What's the best med spa in Dallas for Botox?" They use your GBP data, your reviews, and mentions of your business across the web. A complete, accurate, active GBP makes you a more reliable data source. An incomplete one makes you invisible.
An incomplete GBP doesn't just hurt your Maps ranking. It makes you harder for AI to recommend — because AI needs clear, consistent signals to surface a business with confidence.
The fixes above take under ten minutes total. None of them require a marketing agency or a monthly retainer. They require you to log into a dashboard you already have access to and fill in information you already know.
After you make these changes, it takes Google roughly two to four weeks to recrawl and reindex your profile. You won't see results overnight. But the med spas showing up on page one — and in AI results — are the ones that did this work months ago.
Before you fix your GBP, it helps to know your starting point. Cornflower's free scan scores your profile — along with your Google Search presence, AI visibility, reviews, and social accounts — and tells you exactly where you're losing patients.
Most med spas score well below where they need to be. After fixing their GBP alone, many see a meaningful jump within 30 days.
Run your free scan, see your score, and get a specific list of what to fix first.