You can show your aggregate Google star rating on your clinic website. You cannot republish individual reviews that talk about clinical care. That single distinction is the whole answer, and once it clicks, the rest is just knowing how to configure your website and your review plugin so they respect it. This article is that configuration guide, written for a busy practitioner rather than a compliance officer.
If you have already read my piece on why patient testimonials are prohibited in Australia, this is the natural next question, and the one where most clinics get tangled up, because reviews feel different from testimonials. They are not, really. A review you reproduce is a testimonial. But there is a genuinely safe and useful way to use them, and it is worth getting right, because reviews carry real weight with both patients and Google.
01.The Short Answer
Displaying your aggregate rating as a factual statement, such as "4.9 stars from 120 Google reviews" with a link to your profile, is generally accepted. Reproducing the text of individual reviews that mention treatment, outcomes or clinical care on a platform you control is a breach, because it publishes a testimonial about clinical care. The rating is a verifiable fact. The review text is an endorsement. Show the first, link to the second.
02.The One Line That Makes Sense of Everything
Here is the mental model that keeps clinics safe, and it hinges on one idea: who controls the platform.
When a patient leaves a review on Google, that content lives on Google, a platform you do not control. You are not responsible for it as advertising, you are generally not required to remove it, and honestly you usually cannot. That is fine. It sits there doing its job.
The moment you copy that review onto a page you control, your website, your Facebook, an Instagram post, a printed flyer, you have made a choice to publish it. Now it is your advertising, and if it discusses clinical care, it is a prohibited testimonial. Nothing about the words changed. Only who is doing the publishing changed. That is the entire distinction.
03.Showing the Star Rating Safely
Here is exactly what a compliant review display looks like, so you can check yours against it.
| Element | Safe version | Version to avoid |
|---|---|---|
| The rating | "4.9 stars on Google" stated plainly | The same rating wrapped around a quoted review |
| The count | "from 120 reviews", a verifiable number | Cherry-picked "top" reviews shown in full |
| The link | A link to your Google profile for the full reviews | Screenshots of individual five-star reviews |
| The wording | Factual: "our Google rating" | Endorsing: "see what our patients say about their treatment" |
| The source | Left on Google, where the patient posted it | Copied onto your homepage or a slider |
A useful test: could you prove the statement is true with a single screenshot of your Google profile, without any interpretation? "4.9 stars from 120 reviews" passes that test. "Our patients love the results" does not, because it is a claim about clinical outcomes dressed up as feedback.
04.The Review Widget Problem Almost Every Clinic Has
This is the practical trap, and it catches even careful practices, because the risk is created automatically and quietly.
Your plugin may be publishing testimonials for you
Many clinic websites run a review widget, from Trustindex, Elfsight, EmbedSocial or similar, that pulls in your latest Google reviews and displays them in full. If those reviews mention treatment or outcomes, the widget is publishing clinical testimonials on your behalf, and it does it again every time it refreshes. You may not have looked at it in months. It is still your responsibility.
The fix is straightforward and you do not need to remove the widget entirely. In the widget's settings, switch it to a layout that shows the aggregate rating and review count only, often called a "badge" or "rating summary" style, rather than the "review list" or "carousel" that displays full text. Then link that badge to your Google profile. You keep the trust signal of a strong visible rating, you lose the compliance risk, and as a bonus the page loads faster without the review carousel.
A note for your own marketing site, if you have one
These rules bind regulated health services. If you are a practice manager reading this for a clinic, they apply to you. If you happen to run a non-clinical business alongside, that business is not bound the same way. The distinction matters, and it is the kind of thing worth confirming rather than assuming.
05.Collecting Reviews the Right Way
You are allowed, and encouraged, to invite patients to leave honest feedback on Google. This is good practice and it genuinely helps your local ranking. There are just two lines you must not cross.
- No incentives. Do not offer a discount, a prize, a draw entry, or anything of value in exchange for a review. This is a rule for everyone, not just health, and Google prohibits it too.
- No steering. Do not tell patients what to write, and do not filter so only happy patients get the invitation. Ask everyone, the same way.
The mechanics that work best are boringly simple: a neutral request, sent by SMS or email a few days after the visit, with a direct link to your Google review page. Recent, genuine reviews are what move your ranking, and the timing matters more than the wording.
Notice the middle number. In most healthcare markets, the number of new reviews you gather each month, your review velocity, is a stronger differentiator than your all-time total. A clinic with a steady trickle of recent reviews often out-ranks one with a big but stale pile. That is why a simple, consistent request process beats an occasional push.
06.Replying to a Negative Review Without Making It Worse
This deserves its own moment, because the instinct to defend yourself is exactly the thing that creates a second, bigger problem.
Never confirm the person was a patient
Even if the reviewer names their condition and their appointment date, do not acknowledge in your public reply that they were a patient. Confirming a treating relationship in public can breach privacy obligations. This is the single most common mistake in review responses, and it turns a bad review into a compliance issue.
The safe response neither confirms nor denies that the person was a patient, and it works for positive and negative reviews alike:
"Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We take all feedback seriously and would welcome the chance to discuss your experience. Please contact our practice directly on [phone] so we can help."
It is calm, it is professional, it moves the conversation off a public page, and it reveals nothing. Use it as a template and you will never have to improvise a reply while annoyed, which is when the mistakes happen.
07.Why Reviews Still Matter Enormously
It would be reasonable to finish all this and think reviews are more trouble than they are worth. They are not. Handled correctly, they remain one of the most powerful things working in your favour, for a simple reason: patients trust independent platforms far more than anything you say about yourself.
The research on how patients choose a provider is consistent. A strong, recent, well-managed set of Google reviews influences both your visibility in the local map results and the patient's decision once they see you there. The top three map listings capture around seven in ten clicks for local medical searches, and reviews are one of the biggest factors deciding who occupies those spots. You do not have to reproduce a single word of a review to benefit from all of that. You just have to earn them, display the rating, and respond well.
08.Questions Practitioners Ask
Can I show my Google star rating on my website?
Yes, generally. Your aggregate rating stated as a factual statement, with a link to your Google profile, is accepted because it is verifiable. What is restricted is reproducing individual reviews that reference clinical care.
Do I have to take down Google reviews that mention my treatment?
No. Reviews a patient posts independently on Google are outside your control and are not your advertising. You generally cannot remove them and are not required to. The rule only concerns you reproducing that content on a platform you control.
My review plugin shows full reviews. What do I do?
Switch it to a rating-summary or badge layout that shows the star rating and count only, then link it to your Google profile. Most widgets offer this. It keeps the trust signal and removes the risk, and it usually speeds up your page as well.
Can I offer a small thank-you for leaving a review?
No. Incentivising reviews is prohibited, both under advertising rules and by Google's own policies. Ask every patient the same neutral way, with no reward attached.
How should I reply to a bad review?
Use a neutral response that thanks the reviewer, takes the matter offline, and never confirms they were a patient. The same template works for good and bad reviews and keeps you clear of privacy issues.
Where to Go From Here
If your website currently shows a rating and links to Google for the reviews, you are already doing this right, and you can stop worrying about it. If it shows full review text, or runs a widget you have not checked in a while, that is a five-minute fix worth doing this week.
Reviews are one piece of a compliant, high-performing clinic website. The other pieces, credentials, process, real clinical content, all pull in the same direction, both for the rules and for your ranking. I have written about that whole picture in the guide to E-E-A-T for medical websites, and about the underlying reason testimonials are off the table in can Australian clinics use patient testimonials.
📚 Sources
- AHPRA. Guidelines for advertising a regulated health service. ahpra.gov.au
- AHPRA. Testimonials: understand the requirements. ahpra.gov.au
- Google Business Profile Help. Prohibited and restricted content, including review policies. support.google.com/business
- Medical Board of Australia. Advertising a regulated health service. medicalboard.gov.au
Nayananjalee Rajarathna
I help medical and healthcare practices get found on Google and in AI search, without falling foul of the advertising rules that govern regulated health services. Reviews done right are a genuine advantage. Reviews done wrong are a quiet liability. Knowing the difference is most of the job.