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Services · Yelp Advertising
Yelp Advertising for Local Aesthetic and Service Practices
Yelp isn't for everyone. For the right practice, it quietly prints appointments.
Yelp reaches people at the exact moment they're comparing local options and ready to book. For the right kind of practice, a MedSpa, a salon, a local aesthetic or service business, that's gold. For others, it's the wrong place to spend. We'll tell you honestly which one you are, and if Yelp fits, we run it the way that actually works: alongside a strong Google Business Profile.
- High-intent local reach
- Honest fit assessment
- Paired with Google Business Profile
- Conversion-ready Yelp profile
OVERVIEW
Yelp advertising places a business at the top of Yelp’s local search results and competitor listings, on a pay-per-click basis. About 74 million people use Yelp each month, and in Yelp’s own survey 82% of users bought from a business they found on Yelp within a week. It works best for local, comparison-shopped service businesses, MedSpas, salons, and aesthetic practices, especially when paired with a strong Google Business Profile.
Why Yelp works (when it works)
Yelp catches people at the deciding moment
Most platforms catch people browsing. Yelp catches them deciding. When someone opens Yelp, they’re not killing time, they’re comparing local providers and getting ready to book. The behavior data is striking: about 74 million people use Yelp each month, and in Yelp’s own survey 82% of users bought from a business they found on Yelp within a week.[1] On Yelp, the gap between searching and buying is short.
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An affluent, local audience. It’s also a more affluent audience than people assume: more than half of Yelp users (53%) have household incomes above $100,000.[2] For a premium local aesthetic business, that’s exactly the customer you want walking through the door.
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The intent only pays off with the right fit. Here’s the honest catch, and it’s the whole point of this page: that intent only pays off if you’re the kind of business Yelp users are actually searching for. Which brings us to the part most agencies won’t tell you.
Yelp works best with a strong Google Business Profile, not instead of it
Here’s the insight that separates a real local-marketing partner from someone just buying Yelp ads: Yelp shouldn’t stand alone. The practices that win locally show up strong on both Yelp AND Google.
The data is clear. Consumers now check an average of six review sites before choosing a local business, and Google is still the most used, at 71%.[4] Your future patient isn’t choosing Yelp or Google, they’re checking both. If you’re strong on Yelp but weak on your Google Business Profile (or the reverse), you lose them at the comparison.
So we don’t run Yelp in a vacuum. We pair your Yelp advertising with a well-developed Google Business Profile and local SEO, so that wherever a patient is comparing, you’re the polished, credible, easy-to-book option. That one-two punch, owning both major local surfaces, is where the real local dominance happens. Yelp alone is a tactic. Yelp plus Google is a strategy.
The honest fit
The honest part: Yelp isn't right for every practice
We’ve run Yelp campaigns long enough to know exactly where it wins and where it wastes money. Most agencies will sell it to anyone. We won’t, because Yelp only works for the right kind of business. If you’re a MedSpa, a nail or aesthetic salon, or a local service practice offering things like Botox, facials, lash, or skincare, Yelp can be a real winner. Your services are exactly what Yelp users search for: local, comparison-shopped, ready to book today. These are the clients we’ve seen do well here, and it’s no accident. About two-thirds of Yelp’s 2025 ad revenue came from service categories such as home, auto and professional services, and Yelp reports beauty and health businesses in a separate group.[3] What matters for you is how Yelp users behave: they come ready to compare and book. For plastic surgeons, OB-GYNs, ophthalmologists, and other high-consideration or specialized medical practices, we’ll usually steer you elsewhere. These aren’t the impulse, comparison-and-book decisions Yelp excels at, patients research them differently, often over weeks, and find them through search, referrals, and your website. Your budget works harder on Google Ads, SEO, and local SEO. If that’s you, we’ll say so, and put your money where it converts. The difference between an agency that takes every Yelp budget and one that tells you the truth is the difference between a vendor and a partner. We’d rather run Yelp for the practices it actually works for.
Where Yelp genuinely performs
Local, comparison-shopped aesthetic and service businesses. A MedSpa, a nail or aesthetic salon, or a local service practice offering Botox, facials, lash, or skincare. Your services are exactly what Yelp users search for: local, comparison-shopped, ready to book today.
Where Yelp usually isn't the right spend
High-consideration medical. Plastic surgeons, OB-GYNs, ophthalmologists, and other specialized practices patients research over weeks and find through search, referrals, and your website. We’ll usually steer you to Google Ads, SEO, and local SEO instead.
We'll tell you which one you are
The difference between an agency that takes every Yelp budget and one that tells you the truth is the difference between a vendor and a partner. We’d rather run Yelp for the practices it actually works for.
Addressing the real concerns
"Isn't Yelp kind of dying / just for restaurants?"
No, but it has changed. Yelp has leaned hard into service businesses, which now drive about two-thirds of its ad revenue. Beauty and health businesses sit in a separate category, but for the right local aesthetic or service practice, it’s very much alive, and its users have unusually high intent.
"I've heard Yelp's reviews and sales tactics are aggressive."
It’s a fair concern, and part of why an experienced manager helps. We handle the platform’s quirks, set realistic expectations, manage spend tightly, and keep your reputation strategy honest. You can’t remove legitimate negative reviews, and we won’t promise you can, but a smart, responsive presence turns reviews into a trust asset rather than a liability.
"Will Yelp actually bring me patients, or just clicks?"
For the right business, real contacts: calls, appointment requests, and visits, not just clicks. But we’re honest about attribution. We measure and report what Yelp can truthfully show (clicks, calls, leads, cost per lead), and we work with your front desk on turning those into booked clients. Any agency promising to prove every booking back to a single ad is overpromising.
"Do I need Yelp if I already do Google?"
Often, yes, if you’re a local-service or aesthetic business, because patients check both before deciding. Consumers check an average of six review sites before choosing a local business. Being strong on Google but invisible on Yelp means losing the people who check Yelp at the comparison stage.
What's included
What we actually handle
When Yelp is the right fit, here's what we run. And we coordinate it with the rest of your local presence, especially your Google Business Profile, so the channels reinforce each other instead of working in isolation.
Honest fit assessment
First, the conversation above: whether Yelp deserves your budget at all, and what it should accomplish.
Campaign setup and management
Full Yelp Ads setup, targeting, and ongoing management, so your practice appears at the top of relevant local searches and on competitor listings.
Keyword and competitor targeting
Reaching the people searching for your exact services in your area, and showing up where they’re comparing you to alternatives.
Yelp profile optimization
A great ad sends people to your Yelp page, so the page has to convert. We optimize photos, service highlights, calls-to-action, and branding so your listing reflects the quality of your practice.
Budget and bid strategy
A plan built around your market, competition, and goals, spending efficiently rather than burning budget.
Reputation support
Yelp is a reviews platform, so reputation matters. We help with a review-response strategy and balancing your profile, honestly. You can’t remove legitimate negative reviews, and we won’t pretend otherwise, but a smart, responsive presence consistently reads as more trustworthy. (More on this in Reputation Management.)
Honest reporting
Clear numbers on what Yelp can truthfully show: clicks, calls, profile actions, leads, and cost per lead, with straight talk about what it does and doesn’t prove.
Why Urge
We've seen exactly where Yelp wins, and where it burns money
We know where it wins and where it burns money
Yelp is one of those channels everyone has an opinion about and few actually understand. After running local marketing for practices since 2003, we know precisely which businesses thrive on it and which should spend elsewhere.
We'll always tell you the truth
We know which businesses thrive on Yelp (local, comparison-shopped, aesthetic and service) and which should spend elsewhere, and we’ll always tell you the truth about which one you are.
We run it the way it actually works
When Yelp is right for you, we run it paired with a strong Google presence, with a polished, conversion-ready profile, and honest reporting on what it’s driving.
A partner, not a vendor
We’re a Google Partner and a Meta Business Partner, we work month to month with a 30-day rolling engagement, and we’d rather earn a confident yes, this fits than sell you a channel that doesn’t. That’s the difference between a vendor and a partner who’s already seen where this goes.
74
M
people use Yelp each month
Comscore, 2025. [1]
82
%
of users bought from a business they found on Yelp within a week
Yelp’s own user survey. [1]
53
%
of Yelp users have household incomes above $100,000
An affluent local audience. [2]
6
review sites checked, on average, before choosing a local business
Yelp plus Google wins. [4]
How it works
From honest fit check to local dominance
Assess the fit
First, the honest conversation: whether Yelp deserves your budget at all, and what it should accomplish for your kind of practice.
Set up the campaign
Full Yelp Ads setup, targeting, and bid strategy, so your practice appears at the top of relevant local searches and on competitor listings.
Optimize the profile
We make your Yelp page convert: photos, service highlights, calls-to-action, and branding that reflect the quality of your practice.
Pair it with Google
We coordinate Yelp with a well-developed Google Business Profile and local SEO, so wherever a patient is comparing, you’re the easy-to-book option.
Report honestly
Clear numbers on what Yelp can truthfully show: clicks, calls, profile actions, leads, and cost per lead, with straight talk about what it does and doesn’t prove.
Things you can do yourself on Yelp, right now
Whether or not you ever advertise, these genuinely strengthen your Yelp presence, and they’re free:
- Claim and complete your Yelp page. An unclaimed or half-finished page quietly loses you customers. Claim it, and fill in everything: hours, services, photos, a real description. Yelp surfaces complete profiles over incomplete ones.
- Add real, high-quality photos. Yelp is visual, and for an aesthetic business, your space and your work are the sell. Good photos meaningfully lift how often people contact you.
- Respond to every review, good and bad. This is the single highest-impact free move. A business that responds to criticism publicly, calmly, and professionally consistently reads as more trustworthy than one that stays silent. Yelp also rewards active pages.
- Never pay for or solicit fake reviews. Yelp aggressively flags this and it can get your page penalized. Instead, simply make it easy for happy clients to find you on Yelp and share their experience.
- Build out your Google Business Profile too. Since patients check both, a strong, complete Google profile is just as important as your Yelp page. Claim it, complete it, add photos, and keep it current.
- Keep your information identical everywhere. Your name, address, and phone should match exactly across Yelp, Google, and your website. Inconsistencies confuse both customers and search engines.
If keeping all of that polished, responsive, and consistent across platforms sounds like a job on top of running your practice, it is. That’s what we take off your plate, so your local presence works while you focus on clients.
Selected work
Where Yelp earned its place in the mix
A few examples of the kind of practice Yelp works for, and what changed when it ran the right way.
MedSpa
Top of the local search, at the deciding moment
A Yelp Ads campaign and an optimized, conversion-ready profile, so a comparison-shopping local audience found a polished, easy-to-book option.
- Yelp Advertising
- Profile Optimization
Aesthetic salon
Yelp and Google, pulling in the same direction
Yelp advertising paired with a well-developed Google Business Profile, so wherever a client compared options, the practice showed up strong on both surfaces.
Local service practice
A reviews presence that reads as trustworthy
A professional review-response strategy and a balanced, responsive profile, turning reviews into a trust asset rather than a liability.
Results vary by practice and market. The work above is shown for the kind of problem we solve, not as a performance guarantee.
Prefer a human over a contact form?
Talk with a senior strategist who’s helped practices grow since 2003, no bots, no junior rep.
FAQ
Yelp Advertising questions, answered
Yelp advertising places a business at the top of Yelp’s local search results and on competitor listings, on a pay-per-click basis. Ads appear when users search for related local services, driving calls, profile visits, and appointment requests.
It depends on the type of practice. It works well for local, comparison-shopped businesses like MedSpas, salons, and aesthetic service providers. It is usually less effective for high-consideration medical practices like plastic surgery, OB-GYN, or ophthalmology, where patients research differently and intent-based channels perform better.
Local service and aesthetic businesses whose customers compare options and book quickly, such as MedSpas, nail and aesthetic salons, and practices offering treatments like Botox, facials, and skincare. Yelp’s ad platform is built around service-based businesses.
Yelp Ads run on a pay-per-click model, placing your listing at the top of relevant local searches and on competitor profiles. You pay when users click. Targeting, bidding, and profile presentation determine performance.
No, alongside it. Consumers check an average of six review sites before choosing a local business, and Google is still the most used. Strong presence on both Google and Yelp is what wins local comparisons, which is why we pair Yelp advertising with a well-developed Google Business Profile.
We can help you manage your reputation, but we are honest about the limits. Legitimate negative reviews generally cannot be removed. What works is a professional review-response strategy and a strong, balanced profile, which consistently reads as more trustworthy to prospective patients.
We track what Yelp can truthfully show: clicks, calls, profile actions, leads, and cost per lead. We do not claim to prove every booking back to a single ad, and we work with your front desk on converting the leads Yelp generates.
No. Urge engagements are month-to-month, with the only requirement being 30 days’ notice of cancellation.
Still have a question we didn't answer?
Send it over and a strategist will reply with a straight answer (and a tailored plan) within one business day.
Sources
Let's grow your practice
Let's find out if Yelp is right for your practice
We'll give you a straight answer: whether Yelp fits your business, what it can realistically deliver, and how we'd run it alongside your Google presence. No overselling, no wasted budget.
