When should practitioners and departments have their own Business Profiles?
Firms with public-facing professionals often have more than one Business Profile at the same address: one for the firm, and one for each practitioner or department customers seek out by name. This page explains who qualifies, how the profiles differ and how to keep them from competing.
Who can have a separate practitioner or department profile?
Public-facing practitioners, such as doctors, lawyers and real estate agents, can have their own profiles, and departments within a business can have separate profiles with distinct names and categories. Google's guidelines for representing your business set these out.
It applies to clinics, law and accounting firms, brokerages, dealerships, hospitals and campuses: anywhere clients seek out a named person or a distinct department.
Staff who are not public-facing, such as assistants, back-office teams or associates clients never book directly, do not need profiles. The firm profile covers them. See multi-location SEO if the firm also has several offices.
The trade-off is upkeep. Every extra profile needs accurate hours, a working phone line, photos and replies to its reviews. ShoutEx view: start with the firm profile and the two or three practitioners clients most often ask for by name, then add others once those are well maintained.
How does a practitioner profile differ from the firm's?
The two panels below show a fictional firm and one of its lawyers at the same address. The firm profile describes the whole practice; the practitioner profile is titled with the person's name only and describes their own work.
Family, real estate and wills and estates law for individuals and families across central New Brunswick.
- Firm's real-world name
- Broad category for the practice
- Main reception number
Family lawyer at Riverbend Law LLP. Separation, parenting arrangements and support.
- Practitioner's name only
- Category for their own practice area
- Direct line and own booking link
| Field | Firm profile | Practitioner profile |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Firm name as on the sign | Practitioner's name only |
| Category | The practice as a whole | The practitioner's own area |
| Phone | Main reception | Direct line where possible |
| Website link | Firm homepage | The practitioner's bio page |
| Reviews | About the firm | About this person's work |
What if one practitioner is the whole practice?
When a single practitioner works under a practice brand, the guidelines ask for one profile named in the format "[brand]: [practitioner name]", rather than separate profiles for the brand and the person.
| Situation | Profiles | Name format |
|---|---|---|
| Solo physiotherapist trading as Harbourview Physiotherapy | One | Harbourview Physiotherapy: Daniel Okafor |
| Three lawyers at Riverbend Law LLP | Firm plus one per public-facing lawyer | Riverbend Law LLP; Priya Raman |
| Real estate agent within a brokerage office | Brokerage plus the agent | Brokerage name; agent's name |
| Solo accountant trading under own name | One | The name used on the sign |
Link each practitioner profile to that person's page on the firm website rather than the homepage. It gives the profile a matching landing page, which also helps with location and bio pages.
When should a department get its own profile?
A department qualifies when customers deal with it separately: its own entrance or desk, its own hours, its own phone line. It needs a distinct name and category from the main business.
- Car dealership: sales and service often run separate hours and lines.
- Hospital or large clinic: a lab or imaging department patients visit directly.
- University: an admissions office with public hours.
- Retailer: a pharmacy counter inside a larger store, with its own hours.
ShoutEx view: departments that share one phone and one front desk with the main business are usually better described in the services list.
Give each department a name customers would recognize on a sign or a phone menu, such as the dealership's service centre, and choose a category for what that department does. Set its own hours, including holiday hours, because departments often close at different times from the main business. Link it to a department page on the website rather than the homepage.
One profile per thing a client can choose.
The firm, a named professional, a distinct department. If clients cannot choose it separately, it does not need its own profile.
How should clients contact a practitioner now that chat has ended?
Google ended chat on Business Profiles. Its page on chat and call history changes says that as of July 31, 2024, chat and call history features are no longer available. Any process that relied on profile chat needs another route.
| Contact route | Use it for | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Phone | Urgent and first contact | A direct line on practitioner profiles |
| Booking link | Consultations and appointments | Tag the link to measure it |
| Website form | Detailed enquiries | Link the practitioner's bio page |
Check that each route is staffed. A practitioner profile that sends calls to a full voicemail box loses the client it attracted.
When a practitioner is away for weeks, say so where clients look: update the booking link, note the return date on the bio page and route calls to a colleague. Keep the profile itself accurate rather than letting it promise appointments nobody can take.
What should a firm measure across these profiles?
| Profile | Calls | Booking clicks | New reviews |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverbend Law LLP (firm) | 64 | 22 | 3 |
| Priya Raman | 19 | 15 | 2 |
| Second lawyer | 11 | 6 | 1 |
Watch for profiles competing for the same searches. If the firm profile stops appearing for the firm's own name, review names and categories. Read Business Profile performance for the reports and duplicate listings if overlapping profiles appear.
Frequently asked questions
Can a doctor or lawyer have their own Google Business Profile?
Yes. Public-facing practitioners such as doctors, lawyers and real estate agents can have their own profiles.
How should a practitioner profile be named?
With the practitioner's name only. A solo practitioner at a branded practice uses one profile named "[brand]: [practitioner name]".
Can departments have separate profiles?
Yes, when they have distinct names and categories from the main business.
Do all staff need profiles?
No. Only public-facing professionals clients seek out by name. The firm profile covers everyone else.
Is Business Profile chat still available?
No. As of July 31, 2024, chat and call history features are no longer available on Business Profiles.
What happens to a practitioner's profile when they leave?
Agree this in writing at setup, and keep the profile accurate so clients are not misdirected.
Should a practitioner profile link to the firm homepage?
Better to link to the practitioner's own bio page on the firm site, so the profile and landing page match.
Sources & further reading
Regulator rules, platform policies and local data change. These sources let you check the facts on this page, last checked October 7, 2026.