Psychology Today vs Google Business Profile: Where Should a Therapy Practice Put Its Money?

The real question is not which directory

Most therapists frame this as Psychology Today versus another listing. The more useful comparison is between visibility you rent and visibility you own. Psychology Today is a paid profile inside someone else's directory. A Google Business Profile is your own listing on the largest search platform there is. They are not the same kind of thing, and they do not carry the same risk.

What each one actually does

A Psychology Today profile puts you inside a directory that ranks well on Google. The catch is that the directory ranks, not your profile. You cannot add content to a Psychology Today profile or build links to it, and a search in any mid-sized city returns hundreds of listings spread across dozens of pages. Psychology Today markets that its directory is the top Google result for therapy seekers most of the time, which is true for the directory and not for the individual profile buried inside it.

A Google Business Profile works the other way around. It is your listing, and when it ranks it puts you, not a directory, into the local map pack. The map pack is the block of three businesses with a map that sits above the normal search results. Recent local search data puts it at roughly 44 percent of clicks on local-intent searches, ahead of organic results at 29 percent and paid ads at 19 percent. For a search like "therapist near me," that is the most valuable position on the page, and it is free.

The cost math has shifted

A Google Business Profile takes about two hours to set up correctly and costs nothing to run. A Psychology Today listing is a fixed $29.95 per month, around $360 a year, with no guarantee of referrals. That fee bought a lot more five years ago. Independent therapists have reported referral drops in the range of 77 to 94 percent since 2020, depending on market and specialty, which means the effective cost per inquiry from Psychology Today has risen sharply even though the monthly price has not. The question is no longer whether the listing is cheap. It is whether it still earns its place when a free channel sits right next to it.

So where should the money go first

Set up and optimise your Google Business Profile before anything else. It is free, so there is no reason not to, and in most markets it is the single clearest local visibility gap a solo practice has. For the steps that move it, see how to rank in the local 3-pack. From there, the durable channel is your own website, where SEO for private practice builds visibility that compounds instead of resetting each month.

Keep Psychology Today only if it still produces qualified inquiries. There is no prize for cancelling a listing that pays for itself. But it should be a supplement to channels you own, not the foundation your practice depends on. The therapists feeling the drop in Psychology Today referrals most are the ones who never built anything else. If that is you, start with the channels that do not depend on a directory.

Frequently asked questions about Psychology Today and Google Business Profile

Is a Google Business Profile better than Psychology Today?

They are different tools. A Google Business Profile is free and owned by you, and it places you in the local map pack. Psychology Today is a paid profile inside a directory you do not control. For most independent practices the Business Profile should come first because it costs nothing and reaches clients searching on Google directly. Keep Psychology Today only if it still sends qualified inquiries.

How much does Psychology Today cost in 2026?

Psychology Today charges a flat $29.95 per month for an individual listing, with no contract, which works out to about $360 a year. There are no separate tiers for individual practitioners. A Google Business Profile, by contrast, is free.

Does a Psychology Today profile help my Google ranking?

Not in the way most therapists assume. The Psychology Today directory ranks well, but your individual profile inside it does not, because you cannot add content to it or build links to it. A Google Business Profile is what actually puts your practice into local search results and the map pack.

Should I cancel Psychology Today?

Only if it no longer sends you qualified inquiries. If even one retained client a year covers the cost, the listing can still earn its place. The mistake is treating it as your only channel. Build your Google Business Profile and your own website first, then decide whether the listing is still worth its monthly fee.

Can a Google Business Profile get my practice cited by ChatGPT?

Yes. A complete Business Profile is one of the primary local sources AI tools draw on when they recommend a therapist. Ahrefs research published in 2025 found that only 12 percent of pages cited by AI assistants rank in Google's top 10 for the same question, which means a solo practice does not need to outrank Psychology Today to appear in AI recommendations.