How to Claim Your Free Rated Clinics Listing
Your clinic probably has a profile already, built from the CQC register. Here is how to claim it, what verification checks and what changes once it is yours.
The short answer: find your profile and press the claim button
To claim your Rated Clinics listing, find your clinic's profile, press Claim this profile - free, and sign in with a free clinic account. Claiming costs nothing, and once your documents are checked you can be verified within two or three working days.
Most clinics don't need to create anything. If you're a CQC-registered dental or aesthetics practice in England, there's a good chance a profile already exists, built from the Care Quality Commission's public register. Each one carries the line "This profile is unclaimed" until someone from the practice takes it over.
This guide covers how to claim a Rated Clinics listing, what verification asks for, and what changes once the profile is yours. Everything described here is on the live site today. If a feature isn't mentioned, don't assume it exists.
Why your clinic is probably listed already
Unclaimed profiles are compiled from the CQC's public register, which holds every registered location's address, provider and registration date. Each profile shows when those details were last checked against the register.
That gives you a starting point, not a finished page. A typical unclaimed profile has your address, phone number, CQC registration number and the regulated activities you're registered for. It usually has no description, no named practitioners, no treatments list and no reviews.
Patients can also add clinics we've missed through the public suggest a clinic form. Those listings are marked as patient suggested and carry no badge until the clinic claims and verifies them.
How to claim your Rated Clinics listing, step by step
- Find your profile. Search the clinic directory, or filter by city and treatment. Check the address and CQC number match yours, since group practices sometimes have several locations with similar names.
- Press the claim button. On an unclaimed profile it reads "Claim this profile - free".
- Sign in or create a clinic account. It's free, and you verify your email address before you go further.
- Fill in the basics. Name, address, treatments, opening hours, social links and a short description.
- Submit for verification. Upload your regulator registration and your current indemnity insurance certificate.
- Wait for the decision. The team reviews documents by hand and emails you the outcome, typically within two to three working days of everything being uploaded.
If you can't find your clinic at all, use the "List your clinic" route on the for clinics page instead. It follows the same steps, starting from a blank profile.
What verification checks, and why it's done by hand
Claiming gives you control of the profile. Verification is the separate step that proves you are who you say you are, and it's the one patients see.
The how we verify page sets out the checks. The team looks for:
- regulator registration with the CQC, GDC, GMC or NMC, depending on the practice
- a current professional indemnity insurance certificate
- proof that the registered owner controls the clinic account
- named lead practitioners with active registration numbers
- no active enforcement action or suspension
Have your registration numbers to hand before you start. For dentists and dental care professionals, you can confirm each one on the GDC's online register in a minute or two, which saves a back-and-forth if a number has been mistyped.
Verified status isn't permanent. It's reviewed every year, and a clinic that stops meeting the checks loses it. The site doesn't take money for verification, and there's no faster route for anyone.
How claiming changes your Trust Score
Every profile has a Trust Score out of 100, calculated from the record. You can't buy points, and a bad review doesn't take any away. What you can do is fill the gaps that an unclaimed profile leaves empty.
| What counts | Points available | What an unclaimed profile usually has |
|---|---|---|
| Profile completeness (website, email, phone, address, a description of 120 characters or more) | Up to 40 | Address and phone, often a website |
| Verification of regulator documents by our team | 30 | None |
| Named practitioners (5 for one, 10 for three or more) | Up to 10 | None |
| Approved reviews written on Rated Clinics (2 each, capped) | Up to 20 | Usually none |
The full method is on the Trust Score page. The practical point is that verification alone is worth almost a third of the score, and only a claimed profile can be verified. Star ratings imported from other sites don't count.
Know what patients see before you claim. Many unclaimed profiles sit at the bottom of the scale and show "New listing", with a rating of 0.0 and no reviews. That isn't a judgement on your care. It's an empty record, and you're the only one who can fill it.
What you can do once the profile is yours
Your clinic dashboard is split into sections you can update whenever you like:
- Settings: contact details, address, opening hours, social links and compliance fields, saved section by section
- Treatments: the treatments you offer
- Practitioners: photos, bios and registration numbers
- Before and after gallery: paired photos, posted with patient consent
- Reviews: read them, reply publicly, or report one you think breaks the rules
- Analytics: profile views, clicks to call, clicks to your website and your top treatments, updated daily
- Widgets: a trust badge, profile card, reviews carousel and featured profile block you can embed on your own website
All of it is free for every clinic. There's nothing to choose and you're never asked for payment details.
What claiming doesn't let you do
This is the part that matters most to patients, so it's worth being blunt about.
Claiming a profile doesn't let you remove, hide or reorder reviews. The review policy says a review comes down only if it breaks the policy, never because a clinic dislikes it. Clinic accounts can't write reviews at all, and you can't import reviews from Google or anywhere else.
You also can't offer patients anything in return for a review, or suggest what they should say. That's our rule, and since April 2025 it's also the law. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act bans fake reviews and incentivised reviews that hide the incentive, and the CMA can now fine businesses directly. Its fake reviews guidance (CMA208) is short and worth reading before you send any review request. Our guide to getting more Google reviews within the law covers the same ground for Google.
When you reply to a review, don't reveal anything about the patient's treatment that they haven't already shared themselves. Replies go through moderation in the same way reviews do.
Getting the first reviews in, fairly
A claimed, verified profile with no reviews still looks quiet. Reviews on Rated Clinics are written by signed-in patients and read by a moderator before they go live, usually within 24 hours. That's slower than some sites, but it's why patients can trust them.
The rule for asking is simple: ask every patient on the same terms, not just the ones you think were happy. A short line at the end of an appointment, or a link in your follow-up message, is enough. Point them to your profile or to the write a review page.
Regulator status, named practitioners and real reviews are the signals our checklist for finding a good dentist tells patients to look for. They do more for a profile than any amount of marketing copy.
FAQ
Is claiming a Rated Clinics listing really free?
Yes. Claiming, verification, the gallery, the widgets and the analytics are all free for every clinic. You're never asked for payment details.
How long does verification take?
Typically two to three working days from the moment every required document is uploaded. You're emailed when a decision is made.
Can I claim a listing if I'm not the practice owner?
Verification asks for proof that the registered owner controls the clinic account. If you're a practice manager, involve the owner from the start so the documents match.
Will a bad review lower my Trust Score?
No. Each approved review adds two points up to a cap of 20, whatever its rating. Your star rating does reflect every approved review, good or bad.
Can I get a review removed once I've claimed my profile?
Only if it breaks the review policy. You can report it from your dashboard and the team will check it, but disliking a review isn't grounds for removal.
What if my clinic isn't on the site?
Use "List your clinic" on the for clinics page and start from a blank profile. The steps and checks are the same as claiming one that already exists.