Google Ads for physical therapy
LocaliQ's 2025 healthcare benchmarks put physical therapy at $4.95 per click and $32.79 per lead, about half the $66.02 healthcare average (US campaigns, October 2024 to September 2025). 15.35% of clicks became leads, so a PT clinic can usually buy new evaluations on Google for less than most medical specialties.
Physical therapy cost per click and per lead
| Category | Data period | Cost per click | Click-through rate | Conversion rate | Cost per lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Physical Therapy[1] | Oct 2024 to Sep 2025 | $4.95 | 6.61% | 15.35% | $32.79 |
| All healthcare[1] | Oct 2024 to Sep 2025 | $5.64 | 6.07% | 8.09% | $66.02 |
Physical therapy's conversion rate was nearly twice the healthcare average, which is most of why its leads cost less.[1]
Cost drivers for PT clinics
- Referral searches. Patients sent by a surgeon or doctor often search for a clinic by name or location, and those clicks are cheap.
- Condition searches. Back, knee and shoulder searches compete with chiropractors, orthopedic practices and fitness content.
- Insurance. Searchers often add their insurer to the query, and those terms bring patients you can bill.
- Specialties. Pelvic floor, vestibular and sports therapy have less competition than general terms.
A budget for 40 leads a month
A three-therapist clinic wants 40 new-patient leads a month.
40 physical therapy leads a month
Google can spend up to twice the daily budget on a single day but no more than 30.4 times it in a month.[5]
The two budgets differ because the benchmark cost per lead, cost per click and conversion rate are each calculated separately across thousands of campaigns, not taken from one account. Plan for the higher one, then use your own numbers after 30 days.
RunAds plans the campaign at your budget and writes the ads.
Campaign structure for a PT clinic
Group by condition or specialty, with a page for each that explains the first visit.
| Campaign | Ad groups | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| General physical therapy | Physical therapy near me, physical therapist, PT clinic | Tight radius around each clinic location. |
| Orthopedic and post-surgery | Knee replacement rehab, ACL rehab, shoulder surgery physical therapy | Patients often arrive with a referral. Mention it on the page. |
| Back and neck | Physical therapy for back pain, sciatica physical therapy, neck physical therapy | Competes with chiropractors. Plain, factual copy. |
| Specialty programs | Pelvic floor physical therapy, vestibular therapy, sports physical therapy | Lower competition. Only programs you run. |
| Brand | Clinic name | Referred patients search by name. |
Keywords to start with
Condition plus "physical therapy" or "physical therapist", in phrase and exact match.
General
physical therapy near mephysical therapist near meoutpatient physical therapy
Post-surgery
knee replacement physical therapyacl rehab physical therapyrotator cuff physical therapy
Back and neck
physical therapy for back painsciatica physical therapyneck pain physical therapist
Specialty
pelvic floor physical therapyvestibular therapy near mesports physical therapy
Negative keywords for physical therapists
These remove students, job seekers and at-home exercise searches. Add plurals too.[3]
jobssalarytravel ptpta programdpt schoolce courseslicenseexercises pdfat home exercisesyoutubeequipmentresistance bandsbilling codescpt codefree
Ad copy examples
Two sets of responsive search ad assets. List only the insurance, hours and programs your clinic offers.
General physical therapy
Headlines (up to 30 characters)
- Physical Therapy Near You25
- Evaluations This Week21
- Most Insurance Accepted23
- One-on-One Sessions19
- Book Your First Visit21
Descriptions (up to 90 characters)
- Book a physical therapy evaluation with a licensed therapist. Early and evening hours.86
- One-on-one sessions and a home program you can follow. Referral not always required.84
Post-surgery
Headlines (up to 30 characters)
- Rehab After Knee Surgery24
- Post-Surgery PT Near You24
- Start Rehab This Week21
- Work With One Therapist23
Descriptions (up to 90 characters)
- Rehab after knee, hip or shoulder surgery, following the plan your surgeon sets.80
- Send us your referral and we'll book your first session and check your insurance.81
Add call assets for front desk hours and count calls with call reporting.[4] Direct-access rules vary by state, so check yours before using referral lines.
Audience rules for PT ads
When ads promote in sensitive health categories, Google doesn't allow Customer Match, your data segments, audience expansion or lookalike segments.[2] In practice that means no retargeting from a patient list. Keyword and location targeting on Search carry the account.
How RunAds runs Google Ads for PT clinics
What the agent does for you
- Builds campaigns for each condition and program on your site, limited to the area around each location.
- Writes the ads and shows you the full launch before anything goes live.
- Watches search terms daily, flags student and exercise searches that spend without booking, and proposes negatives for you to approve.
- Tracks evaluation requests server-side with Smart Pixel and blocks fraudulent clicks.
See everything the agent does, how a campaign gets built, or the pricing section.
Credit packs from $25, 5 credits per $1 of ad spend.
Common questions
How much do Google Ads cost for physical therapy?
In LocaliQ's 2025 healthcare data, physical therapy averaged $4.95 per click, a 6.61% click-through rate, a 15.35% conversion rate and $32.79 per lead. The average across 16 healthcare specialties was $5.64 per click and $66.02 per lead.
How much should a PT clinic spend on Google Ads?
40 new-patient leads a month costs about $1,312 at the benchmark cost per lead, or $1,290 sized by clicks. Set the number from how many evaluations your therapists can take each week.
Can physical therapists use remarketing or patient lists in Google Ads?
Often not. Google's health in personalized advertising policy blocks Customer Match, your data segments, audience expansion and lookalikes when the ads promote in sensitive health categories, including physical health conditions. Build the account on Search keywords and location.
Which physical therapy services should I advertise?
Start with the conditions and specialties your clinic is known for, such as post-surgery rehab, back and knee therapy, sports injuries, pelvic floor therapy and vestibular therapy. Each gets its own ad group and landing page.
Can RunAds manage Google Ads for a physical therapy practice?
Yes. RunAds is an AI agent that builds the campaigns from your site, writes the ads and watches the account daily. You approve the launch and every budget change.
Sources
- Healthcare Search Ads Benchmarks for 16 Specialties, LocaliQ, by Susie Marino. Last updated January 13, 2026; data from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025.3,542 US search campaigns, at least 43 per specialty. The page says its averages are medians.
- Health in personalized advertising, Google Advertising Policies Help. Checked Nov 6, 2026.Customer Match, your data segments, audience expansion and lookalike segments can't be used when promoting in sensitive health categories, which include cosmetic surgery and injections.
- About negative keywords, Google Ads Help. Checked Nov 6, 2026.Negative keywords don't match close variants, so synonyms and singular or plural forms have to be added separately. Casing and misspellings are covered automatically.
- About call assets, Google Ads Help. Checked Nov 6, 2026.Numbers can be set to show only when the business can take calls, and call reporting counts calls as conversions.
- About average daily budgets, Google Ads Help. Checked Oct 30, 2026.A campaign can spend up to 2x its average daily budget on a given day, and up to 30.4x it in a month.
Every outside number on this page links to its source above, with the date we checked it. RunAds has not published its own account data here.
Related pages
A full evaluation schedule from Google Ads.
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