Plastic Surgery SEO: Put Your Name and Training in Front of Patients

What is plastic surgery SEO?

Plastic surgery SEO is the work that makes a plastic surgeon visible, by name, while patients research a procedure: on Google Maps, in the ordinary results and in what AI assistants answer. For a surgeon in private practice, the person is the brand. Patients compare the training, technique and reviews of two or three surgeons, sometimes in several cities, and they search each name before they book.

It rests on three things you control: a profile page that states your training in plain words, one page per procedure you perform, and articles that answer the questions patients bring to a consultation. A practice organized around a facility and a team has other searches to win: see our page for cosmetic surgery clinics, and those for med spas and dermatologists for non-surgical care.

How do patients choose a plastic surgeon on Google and in ChatGPT?

They check the surgeon first, then the procedure. A patient types your name with "reviews", reads your profile, studies the gallery and looks up the board or society you cite. On Google Maps, a surgeon who sees patients can hold an individual Business Profile: Google's guidelines for practitioners allow a title such as Dr. or MD in its name, and a surgeon who is the only practitioner of a branded practice shares one profile named "[practice]: [surgeon]".

AI assistants assemble their answer from many places. Our healthcare AI citation study advises practices to keep the names and credentials of their practitioners consistent wherever they appear, because inconsistency dilutes them. A surgeon listed as "Dr. J. Smith, MD" in one directory and "John Smith, FACS" in another gives the models two people instead of one; our guide to entity SEO explains why.

Why do titles and credentials weigh so much in this specialty?

Patients cannot judge surgical skill directly, so they judge the titles, and some countries regulate them. In Australia, a law passed in 2023 restricts the title "surgeon" to doctors registered in the recognised specialties of surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology or ophthalmology, in all advertising too, with a maximum penalty of 60000 Australian dollars or three years in prison, according to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency. Elsewhere the rules differ: use the titles your own regulator allows, and nothing more.

A good profile page answers the checks before the patient makes them: your medical school, residency and fellowship, the board that certified you and the year, the hospitals where you hold privileges, the societies you belong to. Link each credential to the body that can confirm it. Sorank reuses these facts in every article, and our guide to personal branding covers the rest of your name online.

Which keywords should a plastic surgeon target?

Start from what patients ask for. The 2025 statistics of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons rank liposuction, breast augmentation, tummy tuck, breast lift and eyelid surgery as the five leading cosmetic procedures in the United States. They also name patients aged 66 and older as the fastest-growing group, with procedures up 24% in a year, while demand among 18 to 25 year olds fell 9%. Then sort the searches by intent:

• Your name: "Dr. [name] reviews", "[name] plastic surgeon before and after". Your profile page and your Business Profile answer them.
• Procedure and city: "eyelid surgery Phoenix", "breast lift surgeon Chicago". Your procedure pages.
• Credentials: "how to check if a plastic surgeon is board certified", "plastic surgeon vs cosmetic surgeon". Articles on the titles used in your country.
• Technique: "deep plane vs SMAS facelift", "preservation rhinoplasty". Articles that explain your approach and who it suits.
• Older patients: "facelift at 70", "eyelid surgery when the lids block vision". Answers on health checks, anesthesia and recovery with age.
• Reconstruction: "breast reconstruction options after mastectomy", "reconstruction after skin cancer on the nose". Pages for the patients your hospital work brings.

Google treats all of them as YMYL topics, where the experience and expertise of the author count (see E-E-A-T).

Should a plastic surgeon publish about reconstructive surgery?

Yes, if you perform it: it is the side of the specialty that cosmetic marketing forgets, and its questions are urgent and precise. In the United States, the Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act requires a group health plan that covers mastectomies to cover, for a patient who chooses breast reconstruction, all stages of reconstruction of that breast, surgery on the other breast for symmetry, prostheses and the treatment of complications, lymphedema included, as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services summarize it.

A patient who reads this on your site before meeting the oncology team arrives with better questions. Explain the timing options, at the time of the mastectomy or later, the techniques you offer and the steps of insurance approval, and send every personal question to the consultation. Hand surgery, burns and skin cancer reconstruction deserve the same care: patients search them as plainly as cosmetic procedures.

What should a procedure article written for a surgeon contain?

Your voice and your limits. It opens with a direct answer, then explains who is a good candidate and who should wait, the technique you use and why, the anesthesia, the length of the operation, recovery as ranges you set, the common risks and the rare serious ones, and when a second operation may be needed. It names you as the reviewing surgeon, with your credentials and the date of review, cites its sources and ends with a link to your consultation form.

Photos need more care than text: show only cases with written consent, the same light and angle before and after, and an honest caption; our guide to image SEO covers the files and alt text. Sorank writes on this structure from your brief, and your default instructions can forbid what you never want to read, such as a guaranteed result.

What does Sorank do, and what stays with the surgeon?

Sorank handles keyword research by procedure and on your name, the articles with their sources and internal links, publication after your approval, backlinks from the sites of other Sorank customers, the monthly report on AI answers and your Search Console and Analytics data in one dashboard.

You keep everything that engages your license: the medical review of each article, your practitioner Business Profile, the reviews and your replies, which should never confirm that the reviewer is your patient (see how to respond to Google reviews), your gallery and its consent forms, your listings in society and directory pages, your fees and your consultations. Our guide to online reputation management covers the review side in depth.

How much does SEO cost for a plastic surgeon?

With Sorank, a solo practice pays $49 a month for one website on the yearly Essential plan, or $99 without commitment, for 20 articles a month and 10 AI prompts tracked in ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini. A surgeon who operates in two cities, or adds a reconstructive section, may need Pro, $129 a month yearly or $249 monthly, for 60 articles with Grok tracked too, or Business, $249 yearly or $499 monthly, for 120 articles. Each plan opens with 3 free days and carries the 90-day results-or-refund guarantee (see the plans).

How long before patients find you through search?

Months rather than weeks, and no one can promise a date. A complete profile page and Business Profile can show quickly on searches for your name. Procedure articles first earn impressions, then clicks, and many patients research for a year before surgery. Judge each procedure after three months of publishing on its Search Console impressions, then on consultation requests.