Marketing a chiropractic practice honestly

If you run a chiropractic practice, you may have noticed that a lot of the marketing you grew up around does not sit well with the advertising rules any more. The conditions list on the home page, the story of the patient who got their life back, the offer of a cheap first visit and a package of adjustments, the gentle line about coming in regularly to stay well: each of these is common, and each carries risk. At the same time, you still need people to find you and feel comfortable walking in. This guide is about doing both. It is not legal advice. Where the Chiropractic Board has its own guidance, you should read the current version yourself.

We are a small Melbourne studio that builds websites and does local search and Google Ads for health practices, so we see the same patterns repeatedly. Our chiropractor page covers the shape of the market; this guide stays with the question of what to say, and what to leave out.

Why the scrutiny is closer, and what that means for you

Advertising by every registered health practitioner falls under section 133 of the National Law. Chiropractors sit among the 15 National Boards that jointly issued the advertising guidelines, and those guidelines apply to anyone who advertises a regulated health service: practitioners, businesses, and the agencies or staff who write on their behalf. You remain responsible for what others publish for you. Our plain-English guide to the rules covers the wider picture.

Section 133 says you must not advertise in a way that is false, misleading or deceptive, offers a gift or discount without stating its terms, uses testimonials, creates an unreasonable expectation of beneficial treatment, or directly or indirectly encourages the indiscriminate or unnecessary use of regulated health services. The maximum penalty for a breach is $60,000 per offence for an individual and $120,000 for a body corporate. A National Board can also take action on registration, separately from any fine.

Claims to avoid

Outcome claims and cures

"Fixes your back pain", "relieves migraines", "corrects your spine" and "restores your body's natural healing" are all statements about outcomes. AHPRA's summary says that if you list conditions and say you treat or help them, you must make clear how, and have acceptable evidence behind the claim. A bare list of conditions on a home page, with the implication that each one responds, is the most common way practices fall short of that. If you cannot point to evidence you would be comfortable showing a regulator, leave the claim out.

Unreasonable expectations

Creating an unreasonable expectation of beneficial treatment can happen without a single outcome word. Words like "guaranteed", "pain-free" or "painless", or a line suggesting that everyone improves, do it directly. Photographs, patient journeys and personal anecdotes can do it indirectly, because one person's result does not predict another's. Talk about what you do and how you assess, and let the patient draw their own conclusions.

Urgency

AHPRA's summary notes that phrases such as "don't delay", "act now before it's too late" and "for a limited time only" create urgency and may be unlawful when linked to unsupported claims that health will suffer without action. An urgent tone around a spinal problem is particularly risky, because it implies harm from waiting. If someone genuinely needs prompt care, say so in plain terms and point them to appropriate urgent services.

Pressure to attend regularly

Encouraging regular check-ups or ongoing visits when there is no clinical basis is the example AHPRA itself gives of encouraging indiscriminate or unnecessary use. This is the one chiropractic marketing most often walks into, because visit frequency is part of how many practices run. The distinction is that a treating practitioner can recommend a schedule for a particular patient after assessing them. An advertisement cannot tell the general public to come in regularly, or imply that everyone should.

Comparisons and titles

Comparing outcomes, professions or practitioners can mislead unless supported by clear, accurate evidence, so avoid lines such as "better than physio" or "the safe alternative". On titles, chiropractic has no specialist registration under the National Law; only medicine, dentistry and podiatry do. AHPRA's own example of a breach is "Dr Lopez (Chiropractor) is a specialist in paediatric chiropractic care", and its suggested correction is "has substantial experience working with musculoskeletal issues in children". The same guidance says a descriptive term such as "sports chiropractor" is acceptable, because it signals a focus area rather than claiming registration. If you use "Dr", state the profession alongside it.

Say this, not this

The table below shows how to turn common phrases into wording that describes what you do without promising what you cannot. The right-hand column is a starting point, not a script. Your own clinical reality should shape it.

Describing services and the first visit instead

Searchers who are weighing up chiropractic against other options mostly want to know three things: what will you do to me, what will it cost, and will I be pushed into something. A page that answers those honestly does more work than a conditions list.

• The sequence of the visit. How long it runs, what you will ask, what the examination involves, what happens if treatment is recommended, and what happens if you refer elsewhere.
• What the patient chooses. Make clear that treatment is something they agree to after hearing the options, and that they can decline or stop.
• Risks. AHPRA's summary says advertising must give accurate information about risks. A short, honest section on possible short-term soreness and when to seek urgent medical help is better than silence, which can itself mislead.
• Who the practitioner is. Name, registration, where they trained, and an account of their experience in plain words.
• When you will send someone elsewhere. A clinic that says it refers on to a GP when something is outside its scope is more trustworthy than one that treats everything.
• Fees and rebates. Covered below.

Testimonials and reviews

This is the area where practices are most often caught out, usually without meaning to. AHPRA's definition of a testimonial covers recommendations or positive statements about the clinical aspects of a service. A comment is clinical if it mentions a symptom, a diagnosis or treatment, or an outcome, including the skill or experience of the practitioner by comparison.

• Not clinical, so allowed: friendly reception, easy to book, punctual, clean and welcoming.
• Clinical, so not allowed in your advertising: anything about their pain, their diagnosis, what was done, or how it turned out.
• Using a review is wider than posting it. Publishing it, linking to it, re-sharing it, or interacting with it (liking or replying) on a platform you advertise on can all count as use.
• Patients can still post. AHPRA says patients may share views and post reviews on review platforms; the rule restricts your use of them, not their right to write them.
• Your own pages are your responsibility. On a clinic social page you control, you may need to remove clinical comments, or switch the reviews function off if you cannot be selective.
• Never edit or cherry-pick. Removing the negative parts of a review, or showing only positive ones, can itself be misleading. The ACCC has also made clear that suppressing negative reviews or writing your own is a problem under consumer law.

Do not offer discounts or gifts in return for reviews. The ACCC says incentivised reviews risk being misleading unless the incentive is offered regardless of whether the review is positive or negative and clearly disclosed, and we would suggest not going near it in a health setting at all. Our guide on what you can and cannot do with patient reviews takes this step by step, including how to reply to a review safely.

Social media

Your practice's social pages are advertising, and everything above applies. A few specific habits cause most of the trouble.

• Before-and-after photos and posture images. Pictures implying that treatment caused a change create unreasonable expectation if the link is unclear or the image is edited. Keep them out unless you are certain.
• Patient stories and tagged posts. Re-sharing a patient's post about their result is use of a testimonial, and the story format counts even though it disappears.
• Comments. A thank-you reply to a clinical comment may count as interacting with it. Consider turning the function off, or replying with a general message that does not discuss anyone's care.
• Content from agencies and staff. Check it before it goes out. AHPRA's position is that control, not authorship, decides responsibility.

Offers that need terms

A discounted first visit is a normal way to lower the risk of trying a new provider, and the rules allow it. The requirement is that the advertisement itself states the terms and conditions, and that those terms are clear, accurate, honest and easy to find. AHPRA's guidance also notes that an inducement out of proportion to the cost or risk of the service can independently encourage unnecessary use, whether or not the terms are stated. In other words, generous is not the test, but excessive can be a problem of its own.

• Before you publish an offer
• The total price is shownNot only an introductory figure.
• What is included is statedFor example the length of the visit and whether an examination is part of it.
• Who is eligible and for how longNew patients only, and the dates.
• Terms sit in the same advertisementNot behind a link on another page.
• No pressure wordingNo countdowns or phrases that imply harm from waiting.

The marketing that still works

None of this leaves you with nothing to say. Most of what brings chiropractic patients in is quieter than the claims above, and it holds up better under scrutiny.

Local search

People search by symptom and by place: "neck pain [suburb]", "chiropractor near me", "chiropractor open Saturday". A tidy Google Business Profile with accurate hours and services, a website that has a page for each real service, and consistent details across listings do much of the work. Write the pages as honest explanations: what causes this complaint in general terms, what an assessment involves, when to see a GP urgently, and what you can offer. Our local SEO checklist goes through each step, and our SEO service is built around it.

A clear first-visit page

If you do only one thing, do this. The page should say how long the first visit runs, what the practitioner asks and examines, what you wear, what it costs, what happens if treatment is recommended and whether it begins that day, what the options are, and what you will do if it is not something you can help with. A person deciding whether to try chiropractic for the first time is deciding about the first visit, not about chiropractic in general.

Referral relationships

GPs, physiotherapists, personal trainers, gyms, workplaces and sports clubs all meet people who might benefit from seeing you. A short, respectful introduction, a clear account of what you see and what you send on, and a prompt note back after a referral builds trust more reliably than any advertisement.

Fee transparency

State the fee for an initial visit and for follow-ups, say what private health cover may or may not rebate, and say whether a care plan is paid for up front or visit by visit. AHPRA's guidance also asks for the total price to be clear, so showing your fees openly is both good practice and safe practice. If the site itself needs work, what a practice website costs in Australia is a candid read, and our website service is one option.

A checklist for your own site and socials

• Chiropractic advertising review
• No outcome or cure wording anywhereSearch the site for "fix", "cure", "relieve", "correct" and "heal".
• Any list of conditions says how you help, with evidence you can showOtherwise remove it.
• No guarantee, pain-free or painless wordingUnless you are teaching why they are avoided.
• No urgency languageNo countdowns, no "before it is too late".
• No general invitations to attend regularlyVisit frequency is discussed with the patient, not advertised.
• No specialist titlesUse "substantial experience in" instead.
• No clinical reviews or patient stories in your own channelsNon-clinical comments only, shown unedited.
• Offers carry their terms in the advertisement itselfWith the total price.
• A first-visit page exists and is linked from every pageWith risks stated honestly.
• Fees are publishedIncluding what a care plan costs and how it is paid.
• You have read the Chiropractic Board's current guidanceAnd reviewed it again each year.