Greg K.SEO and analytics at Adcore · LinkedInMedical website SEO follows the same search rules as any other site, but with three extra limits: Google judges these pages more strictly, Ukraine’s Law “On Advertising” bans some common tactics, and ad platforms restrict targeting on health topics. The second one often gets skipped, even though that’s where the risk lies. Below we cover all three, with links to primary sources.
How healthcare website promotion differs from the usual kind
Health is a big topic: in the EU, according to Eurostat, 60% of people aged 16–74 looked for health information online within the past three months, up from 56% in 2023. We found no recent representative data for Ukraine, but the logic is the same: people google first and choose a doctor afterward.
Why Google is so strict about these topics, we explain in our article on YMYL, and what exactly it wants to see on a page, in our article on E-E-A-T. We won’t repeat that here and will move on to what gets talked about less.
Medical advertising rules in Ukraine: what the Law “On Advertising” forbids
This section is about Ukrainian law and Ukrainian clinics. Article 21 of the Law of Ukraine “On Advertising” sets the rules for advertising medicines, medical devices and methods of prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation. Some of marketing’s favorite tactics are banned there in so many words:
| What you’d like to write | What the law says |
|---|---|
| “The most effective method,” “the safest treatment,” “no side effects” | Bans referring to methods “as the most effective, the safest, exceptional in the absence of side effects” |
| “Hanna’s story: after treatment everything went away” | Bans “references to specific cases of successful use” |
| Thank-you notes and letters from patients | Bans “special expressions of thanks, gratitude, letters” with stories about the result |
| “Recommended by leading doctors” | Bans recommendations “of medical workers, scientists, medical institutions” |
| A doctor in a white coat in an ad video | Bans the participation of doctors and of people whose appearance imitates them |
| “Skip treatment now and later it will be too late” | Bans statements that foster a fear of falling ill from not using the advertised services |
| “Check yourself and treat it at home” | Bans statements that encourage self-diagnosis and self-treatment with the advertised products |
Law of Ukraine “On Advertising” No. 270/96-VR, Article 21, parts 4, 6 and 7, version of July 31, 2026. Quotes are our translation from Ukrainian.
Ads for these services must also carry the warning “Self-medication may be harmful to your health,” taking up at least 15% of the ad’s area or running time. In Ukraine the warning appears in Ukrainian, so this is our translation of it. Advertising is supervised by the State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection, and the fine for an advertiser can reach five times the cost of the advertising.
Does this apply to a clinic’s website? That’s disputed. The Ukrainian portal Medychna Sprava writes that information a facility posts free of charge on its own site or social media doesn’t count as advertising. But the law defines advertising as information distributed for payment or “for the purpose of self-promotion” in any form, and we found no such exception in it. We also found no official clarification on case studies on a clinic’s site.
Our advice is cautious: in paid advertising, always follow these bans, and run your site’s copy past a lawyer. An article about how a treatment works or what to do about symptoms is usually not a problem. The problem starts when the copy promises a result or shows a specific cured patient. This section isn’t legal advice.
Patient photos, reviews and replies to them
- Patient photos only with consent. The Civil Code of Ukraine allows showing a person’s photo only with their consent, and the advertising law requires that consent in written or electronic form. Keep it on file.
- Health data is a special category. Ukraine’s law on personal data protection forbids processing it without explicit consent. Even an anonymous photo of teeth must not make the person recognizable.
- Don’t confirm treatment in a reply to a review. People have the right to confidentiality about the fact of seeking care and about their diagnosis. A phrase like “your implant went well” reveals what the author may not have chosen to share. This is our own reading of the law, not an official clarification: reply in general terms and move the conversation to private messages.
- Don’t ask for a review in exchange for a discount. Google’s rules forbid it. More in our article on Google Business Profile.
What is allowed in Google Ads and Meta
You can advertise a clinic, but not in every way.
| Rule | Google Ads | Meta |
|---|---|---|
| Your own audiences on health topics | Not allowed: remarketing, customer lists and lookalike audiences are banned for health topics; Google’s predefined audiences are allowed | Meta removed some targeting options on health topics back in 2022 |
| Age | Personalization only for 18+ | Cosmetic procedures only for 18+; teeth whitening is an exception |
| “Before and after” photos | Banned for significant body changes, under the clickbait rules | Allowed for general cosmetic procedures, 18+, but not for weight loss or wrinkle treatment |
| Promises | Speculative and experimental methods are restricted | You can’t promise to cure incurable diseases or try to generate negative self-perception |
In practice, advertising a clinic on Google search queries works as usual: people look for the service themselves, and the limits concern personalization. They hit targeted advertising hardest, because its whole mechanism is built on data about the person. For some areas such as telemedicine or pharmacies, Google requires certification by country, but it doesn’t mention Ukraine in its list of special conditions, so the general rules and local law apply.
What really works in healthcare website promotion
- A separate page for each servicePeople search for a specific procedure, not for a “clinic.” The page should answer their questions: who it’s for, how it works, what it costs, who performs it.
- Articles that answer right awayThe answer to the query first, details after. In our measurement of 65 articles on a medical blog, this, not the author box, is what set the top-ranking pages apart. Details in our article on E-E-A-T.
- A real doctor and reviewerName, specialty, a profile on the site. Google writes that invented profiles are deception, so a stock-photo “Dr. Olena” does harm.
- Real photos and pricesYour own photos of the premises, equipment and team. Prices or an honest range: before calling, people want a sense of the ballpark.
- A Google Business ProfilePatients often search near where they are. A doctor and a clinic can have separate profiles, but only if the doctor sees patients in a public-facing role.
How this looks in numbers, we show in our article on SEO for dentistry: it includes a measurement across nine clinics.
What won’t help, even though people often charge for it
On May 7, 2026, Google stopped showing FAQ rich results in search entirely; health sites used to be the exception. Visible questions on the page are useful to the reader, but markup just to show up in search results will no longer do anything.
The MedicalWebPage and Physician types exist in schema.org, but Google’s gallery has no medical rich results. It does no harm, just don’t expect an effect in search results.
In its 2026 guide Google writes that ordinary SEO practices work for AI Overviews. We cover clicks separately in our article on AI Overviews.
A doctor’s name on weak copy doesn’t make it strong. The author is there so people trust you, but rankings are won by answering the query.
At Adcore we’ve been promoting clinics for years and know these limits firsthand. We handle it all together: the site, content with doctors, the Business Profile and advertising. Healthcare marketing at Adcore. What it costs overall is covered here: how much SEO costs.
Frequently asked questions about medical website promotion
Can I show “before and after” photos on a clinic’s website?
Only with the patient’s consent. Ukrainian law doesn’t say directly whether this counts as advertising, and in advertising, Article 21 bans images of bodily changes caused by disease and cases of successful treatment. Run the specific example past a lawyer.
Can I publish patient reviews?
Reviews on independent platforms are written by the patients themselves, and that’s fine. In advertising, individual people’s stories about their results are banned, and on your own site this is the same gray area as above.
Do I need to state the license in advertising?
Ukrainian law forbids placing ads without a valid license in the register. We found no requirement in the law to state the license number in ads for medical practice, but it’s worth showing on your site: it builds trust.
Who supervises clinic advertising?
The State Service of Ukraine on Food Safety and Consumer Protection, which can also halt advertising and impose a fine.
How long does clinic promotion take?
The first changes usually show up within a few months, and noticeable results come closer to six months or later, because medical topics are competitive and trust builds slowly.
Sources
Quotes from Article 21 are our translation from the Ukrainian text of the law, as close to it as possible, with some word forms adjusted to fit the table. This is Ukrainian law and it applies to Ukrainian clinics. This text isn’t legal advice.
- Law of Ukraine “On Advertising”, version of July 31, 2026.
- Law of Ukraine “On Personal Data Protection”, version of June 14, 2025.
- Civil Code of Ukraine, Articles 286, 307, 308, version of August 5, 2026.
- Requirements for advertising by a medical facility, Medychna Sprava, March 2024.
- Individuals seeking health information online, Eurostat, updated April 17, 2026.
- Health in personalized advertising, Google.
- Healthcare and medicines, Google.
- Clickbait ads, Google.
- Health and Wellness, Meta.
- Documentation updates: FAQ rich result, Google Search Central, May and June 2026.
- Structured data gallery, Google Search Central.
- Guide to optimizing for generative AI, Google Search Central, 2026.