How patients choose a doctor is usually told through surveys, where people describe what they think they do. Search data shows what they actually do. This study looks at 213 searches that patients type when they need care, across 22 specialties, and sorts them by intent: "near me", cost, condition and treatment, and availability and insurance.
The short version: patients start local and specific. They search for a type of provider near them, ask what a treatment costs, look up their condition, and check who is open or takes their insurance. Each intent asks something different of a practice's website and Google listing. This study is part of Medfy's healthcare marketing benchmarks.
Key findings
- "Near me" dominates. 144 of the 213 queries are "near me" searches, and they hold the largest volumes: "urgent care near me" 4,090,000 a month, "dentist near me" 1,830,000.
- Price questions are concentrated in elective care. "Dental implants cost" (135,000), "invisalign cost" (74,000) and "tummy tuck cost" (33,100) lead 26 cost questions.
- Condition searches can outweigh provider searches. "Plantar fasciitis treatment" (246,000) is searched far more than any podiatry provider search that returned data, and "psoriasis treatment" draws 201,000.
- Availability is a search in itself. "Walk in clinic near me" gets 201,000 searches, "dentist that accepts medicaid" 22,200 and "doctors accepting new patients near me" 8,100.
- Some demand is invisible. 67 queries, including "plastic surgeon near me", "podiatrist near me" and "rehab near me", returned no data. That's a reporting gap, not zero interest.
Methodology
Source: Google Ads Keyword Planner historical metrics via the DataForSEO API (opens in a new tab) (keywords_data/google_ads/search_volume). Location US (2840) or Canada (2124), language English, 12-month average to Sep 2026, pulled Oct 2026. CPC = average cost per click; bids = low/high top-of-page bid. This page uses the US national pull.
Query set: 213 patient-side searches chosen by Medfy as representative of 22 specialties (optometry and ophthalmology share one eye-care set, so the data has 21 groups). They're a sample of how patients search, not every search.
Intent groups, assigned with simple text rules:
| Intent | Rule | Queries | With data |
|---|---|---|---|
| Availability and insurance | mentions accepting, new patients, Medicaid, insurance, open, same day, after hours or walk-in | 15 | 14 |
| Cost | mentions cost, how much or free | 26 | 21 |
| "Near me" | contains "near me" (and none of the above) | 144 | 95 |
| Condition and treatment | everything else | 28 | 16 |
Limits:
- These are national totals, not local ones. A city's volume is a fraction of these; see our metro study for local figures.
- Google rounds search volumes (opens in a new tab) and groups close variants. "Therapist near me" and "therapy near me" report the same 368,000, so don't add them together.
- Restricted health terms, especially in addiction treatment and prescription drugs, can return no data. We mark those "no data", never zero.
"Near me" searches by specialty
"Near me" searches are the patient choosing a provider right now. They carry the biggest numbers in every specialty.
| "Near me" search | Specialty | Monthly searches (US) |
|---|---|---|
| urgent care near me | Urgent care | 4,090,000 |
| dentist near me | Dentists | 1,830,000 |
| chiropractor near me | Chiropractors | 673,000 |
| dermatologist near me | Dermatologists | 673,000 |
| eye doctor near me | Eye care | 450,000 |
| therapist near me | Therapists | 368,000 |
| physical therapy near me | Physical therapists | 368,000 |
| optometrist near me | Eye care | 301,000 |
| obgyn near me | OB-GYNs | 301,000 |
| orthodontist near me | Orthodontists | 246,000 |
| pediatrician near me | Pediatricians | 246,000 |
| pediatric dentist near me | Dental specialists | 201,000 |
| psychiatrist near me | Psychiatry | 165,000 |
| doctor near me | Primary care | 135,000 |
| endocrinologist near me | Medical specialists | 110,000 |
| laser hair removal near me | Med spas | 110,000 |
Google Ads Keyword Planner data via DataForSEO, US, 12-month average to Sep 2026.
Two details matter for practices. Patients often search for the service rather than the provider type: "dental implants near me" (90,500), "invisalign near me" (60,500), "lip filler near me" (74,000) and "dry needling near me" (18,100). And 49 "near me" searches returned no data, including "ophthalmologist near me", "gastroenterologist near me" and "emergency dentist near me". Treat those as unmeasured.
For what each of these clicks costs to advertise on, see CPC by specialty.
Cost questions patients ask
Cost searches cluster where patients pay out of pocket or face a big bill:
| Cost search | Monthly searches (US) |
|---|---|
| dental implants cost | 135,000 |
| dental crown cost | 74,000 |
| invisalign cost | 74,000 |
| tummy tuck cost | 33,100 |
| blepharoplasty cost | 33,100 |
| root canal cost | 27,100 |
| how much are braces | 27,100 |
| hearing aids cost | 14,800 |
| mommy makeover cost | 14,800 |
| cataract surgery cost | 12,100 |
| botox cost | 12,100 |
Google Ads Keyword Planner data via DataForSEO, US, 12-month average to Sep 2026.
Dentistry and orthodontics alone account for five of the 11 largest cost questions. Five cost searches returned no data, including "ivf cost", "rhinoplasty cost" and "liposuction cost".
Condition and treatment searches
Some patients search for the problem before they know which provider solves it. These searches are often informational, but they're where a practice can be the first credible answer:
- "plantar fasciitis treatment": 246,000
- "psoriasis treatment": 201,000
- "cochlear implant": 90,500
- "physical therapy for back pain": 40,500
- "childhood vaccine schedule": 40,500
- "dental bone graft": 27,100
- "chiropractor for back pain": 22,200
- "all on 4 dental implants": 18,100
Twelve condition searches returned no data, such as "sciatica chiropractor" and "eczema dermatologist". The pattern still holds: a condition page that explains the problem, the treatment options and when to see your specialty reaches patients a provider-only page never meets.
Availability and insurance searches
These are small numbers with high intent. A parent searching "pediatrician accepting new patients" (170 a month) is ready to call today.
| Availability or insurance search | Monthly searches (US) |
|---|---|
| walk in clinic near me | 201,000 |
| dentist that accepts medicaid | 22,200 |
| urgent care open now | 14,800 |
| doctors accepting new patients near me | 8,100 |
| dentist open saturday | 3,600 |
| does insurance cover chiropractor | 1,900 |
| same day doctor appointment | 880 |
| obgyn accepting new patients | 590 |
| dermatologist accepting new patients | 210 |
| pediatrician accepting new patients | 170 |
Google Ads Keyword Planner data via DataForSEO, US, 12-month average to Sep 2026.
"Therapist that takes insurance" returned no data, which is a reminder that the most important questions in some specialties aren't measurable this way.
What surveys add (self-reported). In rater8's 2026 Patient Choice Report (opens in a new tab) (published June 3, 2026; nearly 1,000 US adults; rater8 sells reputation software and its page doesn't publish fieldwork dates), patients who searched for a doctor in the past year named AI tools such as ChatGPT and Claude as an influence (36%) about as often as Google search (34%) and doctor recommendations (32%). That's what people say, not what logs show. Read it alongside the search data, not instead of it.
What this means for your website and listing
Each intent maps to something a patient should find on your site or Google Business Profile:
- "Near me" needs a complete local listing and a page per service. Patients search "invisalign near me", not "orthodontic practice". A page per service, with your city in plain text, is what matches. Medfy's base plan rebuilds your website with a page per service and structured data, which tells search engines what each page is about.
- Cost questions need a cost page with sources. Give ranges, what changes the price and what insurance usually covers. Medfy's weekly articles are drafted from MedlinePlus and PubMed and approved by your practice, which suits cost and FAQ pages that need sources.
- Condition searches need condition pages. Explain the problem, the options and when to book, in plain language.
- Availability searches need visible signals. Say "accepting new patients" in text, list insurance plans and Saturday or evening hours, and keep the same facts on your Google listing.
- Measure what happens next. Medfy's first-party analytics count calls, forms, bookings and directions, so you can see which pages turn searches into patients.
For the full list of pages your website needs and how these searches fit the patient journey, see our guides. To check how your practice performs on these signals today, run the free marketing audit: it scores your website, SEO, Google listing and AI visibility.
Download the dataset
All 213 queries, with specialty, US monthly searches and average CPC, are in one CSV: download the CSV. Queries that returned no data are left blank, not zero.
Cite this page: Medfy, "How patients choose a doctor online: what they search, by specialty", medfy.ai/benchmarks/patient-search-demand. Data: Google Ads Keyword Planner via DataForSEO, US, 12-month average to Sep 2026, pulled October 2026.
Changelog:
- 2026-10-23: first edition (12-month average to September 2026). Next refresh planned for October 2027.
Frequently asked questions
How do most patients find a new doctor?
Search data shows the most common first step is a 'near me' search on Google: 'urgent care near me' gets 4,090,000 US searches a month and 'dentist near me' 1,830,000 (Google Ads Keyword Planner data via DataForSEO, US, 12-month average to Sep 2026). Surveys add referrals, reviews and, increasingly, AI assistants, but those figures are self-reported. A practice needs to be findable, credible and clearly available at that moment.
Which medical searches have the most volume?
In our set of 213 patient searches, the largest are 'urgent care near me' (4,090,000 a month), 'dentist near me' (1,830,000), 'chiropractor near me' and 'dermatologist near me' (673,000 each), 'eye doctor near me' (450,000) and 'therapist near me' and 'physical therapy near me' (368,000 each). These are US national averages from Google Ads Keyword Planner via DataForSEO, 12-month average to Sep 2026.
Do patients search for prices before booking?
Yes, for elective and out-of-pocket care. 'Dental implants cost' gets 135,000 US searches a month, 'invisalign cost' 74,000 and 'tummy tuck cost' 33,100 (Google Ads Keyword Planner data via DataForSEO, US, 12-month average to Sep 2026). We found 26 cost questions in our set, mostly in dentistry, orthodontics, plastic surgery and eye care. A clear, honest pricing page answers them before a competitor does.