The numbers behind how patients find physical therapists — and what they mean for your practice

Before citing any figure from this page, read this section. It matters for credibility — yours and ours.

The benchmarks here draw from three sources: publicly available industry research (including studies from Google, BrightLocal, and healthcare marketing publications), observed ranges across campaigns we have managed for physical therapy practices, and keyword research data from tools including Ahrefs and Semrush, sampled at multiple points in 2024 and 2025.

Where we cite our own observed ranges, we note that explicitly. We do not attach client counts or volume claims to those observations. Where we cite third-party research, we name the source. Where no reliable source exists, we use qualified language — 'industry benchmarks suggest,' 'many PT practices report,' or 'in our experience working with rehab practices.'

Important limitations to understand:

• Search volume figures fluctuate monthly and vary by region — treat them as directional, not precise
• Conversion rate benchmarks depend heavily on how a practice defines a conversion (form submission vs. phone call vs. scheduled appointment)
• Map Pack ranking factors shift with Google algorithm updates — figures reflect observed patterns, not designed to outcomes
• State-specific advertising rules for physical therapists vary — this page does not constitute legal or compliance advice. Verify current rules with your state licensing board.

This page is updated annually. Benchmarks published here reflect data collected through mid-2025 unless otherwise noted.

Understanding search behavior is the foundation of any PT marketing strategy. The way a patient searches changes depending on where they are in their decision process — and which search type your practice shows up for determines whether you capture referral-independent patients at all.

Local-intent searches dominate PT discovery

Queries like 'physical therapist near me,' 'physical therapy [city name],' and 'PT clinic near me' represent the largest share of PT-related search volume. Google Trends data consistently shows these terms outperforming generic educational queries for practices trying to attract new patients.

Condition-specific queries carry high purchase intent

Terms like 'knee pain physical therapy,' 'back pain PT near me,' and 'sports injury rehab [city]' tend to convert at higher rates than broad 'physical therapist' searches in our experience. A patient searching for help with a specific condition has already self-identified their problem — they are looking for a solution, not more information.

Insurance-driven searches are significant but underserved

Searches combining insurance terms — such as 'physical therapist that accepts [insurance name]' — represent a meaningful segment that most PT practice websites do not address directly. Practices that include clear insurance information on their website and GBP profile capture this segment more reliably.

Mobile search is the primary channel

Industry data consistently shows that healthcare searches, including PT queries, skew heavily toward mobile devices. This makes page load speed and mobile-optimized intake forms disproportionately important for PT practices — a slow or difficult mobile experience means losing patients who were already searching for your services.

Benchmarks vary significantly by market. A physical therapist in a competitive urban market faces a different search landscape than one in a mid-size suburban area.

For most PT practices, the Google Map Pack — the three local business listings that appear above organic results for local searches — is the highest-value real estate in search. A practice that ranks in the Map Pack for core PT queries in their market captures patient attention before any organic result, any paid ad, and any directory listing.

Map Pack ranking factors most relevant to PT practices

Based on publicly available local SEO research and our observed experience with healthcare campaigns, the factors that most consistently correlate with Map Pack placement for PT-related queries include:

• Google Business Profile completeness and accuracy — incomplete profiles with missing hours, services, or photos consistently underperform
• Review volume and recency on Google — practices with a steady stream of recent reviews tend to rank above those with older, static review counts
• Citation consistency across healthcare directories — Healthgrades, WebMD, Zocdoc, and Yelp Health are the most referenced directories for PT practices
• Proximity to the searcher — Google weights physical proximity heavily for 'near me' queries, which limits how far a single-location practice can dominate
• Website authority signals pointing to the GBP-linked domain — a stronger website improves Map Pack performance, not just organic rankings

Review benchmarks

BrightLocal's annual consumer research consistently shows that most patients read reviews before selecting a healthcare provider. For PT practices specifically, review recency matters as much as total volume — a practice with 40 reviews in the past 12 months typically outperforms one with 150 reviews, most of which are 3+ years old.

Industry benchmarks suggest that PT practices averaging fewer than 4.2 stars face meaningful drop-off in click-through rates from local search results. These thresholds vary by market and should not be treated as universal rules.

A physical therapy practice website serves a different conversion function than most other healthcare sites. Many PT patients arrive via physician referral and search for the practice specifically — meaning a significant portion of website traffic is not discovery traffic at all. This distinction matters enormously when interpreting conversion rate data.

What counts as a conversion for a PT practice?

Before benchmarks are meaningful, you need a consistent definition. Common conversion events for PT websites include:

• Online appointment request form submitted
• Phone call initiated from the website (tracked via call tracking)
• Online patient intake form completed
• Insurance verification form submitted
• Direct booking completed (where scheduling software is integrated)

Practices that track only form submissions often undercount their actual conversion rate significantly — phone calls from mobile users are frequently the dominant conversion path and are easy to miss without call tracking in place.

Observed conversion rate ranges

In our experience working with physical therapy practices, website conversion rates for PT-specific pages (service pages, condition pages) typically fall in the range of 2–6% of organic sessions, with significant variation based on how clearly the page communicates insurance acceptance, location, and next steps. Practices with friction-free online scheduling tools tend to sit at the higher end of this range.

These ranges are directional. A practice in a low-competition market with strong GBP presence and a clear 'request appointment' flow can outperform these figures. A practice with a slow, outdated website and no clear call to action will underperform them. Benchmarks vary significantly by market, firm size, and service mix.

The referral dependency problem

PT practices that rely heavily on physician referrals often have websites optimized for existing patients, not discovery patients. These sites rank poorly for condition-specific queries because they lack the educational content that Google rewards — and that prospective patients search for before choosing a provider.

Raw search volume numbers for PT-related keywords are often cited without context, which makes them misleading. This section explains what the volume data actually means for a practice owner making marketing decisions.

High-volume terms vs. convertible terms

Terms like 'physical therapy exercises' or 'how to treat back pain' carry high national search volume but low local commercial intent. A patient reading an exercise guide is not necessarily ready to book an appointment. These terms are worth targeting for brand awareness and content authority — but they should not be the primary measure of SEO success for a PT practice.

The terms that matter most for patient acquisition are local-intent, condition-specific queries — and these typically carry lower absolute volume but significantly higher conversion rates in our experience.

Understanding keyword difficulty in the PT space

Keyword difficulty scores from tools like Ahrefs and Semrush reflect national competition. For local PT searches, the competitive landscape is shaped primarily by:

• Multi-location PT chains (e.g., ATI Physical Therapy, Select Medical) dominating broad terms
• Hospital system PT departments ranking for institutional brand terms
• Independent practices competing most effectively on hyper-local and condition-specific queries

Independent PT practices rarely win on broad national terms. The opportunity is in the specific: 'rotator cuff PT [city],' 'pelvic floor physical therapy [neighborhood],' 'post-surgical rehab [zip code area].' These terms have lower volume, lower competition, and — critically — a searcher who is already close to booking.

Seasonal search behavior

PT-related searches show measurable seasonal patterns. Sports injury queries rise in late summer and fall sports seasons. Post-surgical rehab searches correlate loosely with elective surgery scheduling, which clusters around deductible resets in January. Practices that publish condition-specific content ahead of these windows are better positioned to capture seasonal demand.

Data without interpretation is noise. This section explains what these benchmarks actually suggest for a PT practice owner evaluating their marketing approach.

If you are not in the Map Pack for core local queries, that is the first problem to solve

For most PT practices, organic rankings matter less than local pack visibility. A practice ranked fifth in organic results but third in the Map Pack will capture significantly more traffic than the reverse. If your GBP profile is incomplete, inconsistent, or under-reviewed relative to competitors, that gap should be addressed before anything else.

Condition-specific content is the highest-ROI content investment for independent PT practices

Independent practices cannot compete with hospital systems or multi-location chains on broad terms. The content gap that exists in most PT markets is at the condition-and-location intersection — pages that address specific diagnoses in specific geographic areas. These pages serve the patients closest to booking and face the least competitive pressure from large institutional sites.

Conversion infrastructure matters as much as traffic

Driving search traffic to a website that lacks mobile optimization, clear insurance information, and a frictionless booking path is a common failure mode in PT marketing. Industry benchmarks suggest conversion rates roughly double when online scheduling is available versus form-submission-only contact options — though this varies by patient population and practice type.

Timeline expectations

Most PT practices working with a structured local SEO approach see meaningful ranking movement within 4–6 months for local queries, and 6–12 months for competitive condition-specific terms. These timelines assume foundational work — GBP optimization, citation cleanup, and on-page structure — is completed in the first 60 days. Markets with established multi-location competitors may require longer timelines.

For context on how these benchmarks translate into ROI for a physical therapy practice, see our analysis of SEO investment returns for PT practices, which models patient lifetime value against typical organic search investment ranges.

This page contains educational benchmarks, not individualized marketing advice. Results vary by market, starting authority, and implementation quality.