The short answer
Botox is a prescription-only medicine, so the advertising code that covers UK businesses bans promoting it to the public, full stop. That affects your Google Business Profile's services list, its posts, your website's treatment pages and even a photo caption that names it or shows a result. The safe way to run your profile is to talk about the clinic, the consultation and the conditions you treat, and leave the specific, named discussion of Botox itself to a prescriber once someone has actually booked in.
The rule in one paragraph
The Advertising Standards Authority's CAP Code sets the rule plainly: prescription-only medicines and prescription-only medical treatments can't be advertised to the public. Botox is a brand of botulinum toxin, and botulinum toxin is a prescription-only medicine in the UK. "Advertised" is read broadly here. It covers a Google Business Profile post, a services list entry, a website page, a social media post and a photo caption, not just a traditional advert. This isn't a Google rule, so Google won't flag it for you. It sits above Google entirely, enforced by the ASA, and it applies wherever the content appears, whether that's a platform Google controls or one you do.
What this means for your Google Business Profile
Your profile's services list, business description, Q&A section and posts all count as advertising, and they all sit in public view. In practice, that usually means:
- Avoid naming Botox (or botulinum toxin) as something you offer and promote in the services list and posts. Many clinics describe the consultation or the condition instead, and leave the specific treatment discussion to the appointment itself.
- Don't run offers, discounts or prices against Botox by name. A special offer is itself a form of promotion, which makes the problem worse, not better.
- Be careful with posts timed around events or seasons that nudge people toward booking a named POM treatment. The timing doesn't change the rule.
- Keep the profile's attention on things you can advertise freely: the clinic, the team, facilities, non-prescription treatments, and the booking process itself.
None of this stops you running a genuinely excellent profile. It just means the promotion has to sit one step back from the medicine itself.
Before-and-after photos: what's safe and what isn't
Before-and-after images are some of the most persuasive content a clinic can post, which is exactly why they need the most care. A before-and-after that's clearly built to encourage someone to ask for a named POM treatment is advertising that treatment, regardless of how tastefully it's shot or captioned. A caption that names the product, implies a guaranteed outcome, or invites people to "get this look" pushes the same image further into advertising territory.
Where clinics tend to stay safer is keeping transformation content general (skin, confidence, a result achieved through a consultation) rather than naming the injectable, and treating anything more specific as something shared in a private consultation rather than a public post or profile photo.
What the ASA actually looks at
Enforcement in this area tends to focus on a recognisable set of problems: adverts and posts that name a POM treatment directly, before-and-after content used to encourage someone to seek it out, pricing or discounts attached to it, and wording that implies a guaranteed or dramatic result. None of that is exotic or hard to avoid once you know the pattern. The harder part is that it applies to content that feels completely routine, a seasonal post, a staff member's proud share of a result, a Q&A answer, which is exactly why it's worth a proper check rather than copying wording from a competitor's listing. Something being already online and unchallenged doesn't mean it's compliant.
If you're CQC-registered, where that belongs here
CQC registration (where it actually applies to what your clinic offers) is a separate question from the advertising rules above, and it's worth getting right in its own terms rather than folded into a Botox post. We've written a dedicated page on showing CQC registration on your Google profile and website, covering what to show, where, and what it doesn't prove. Treat the two issues separately: one is about what you can say, the other is about what you can show.
A compliance checklist before you publish anything
Before a post, photo or services list entry goes live, it's worth running through:
- Does the wording name Botox or botulinum toxin, or clearly point at it?
- Does a photo or caption encourage someone to seek out that specific treatment?
- Is there a price, offer or discount attached to it?
- Does anything imply a guaranteed or dramatic result?
- Would the same wording look fine coming from a prescriber in a consultation, rather than from a public post?
If any answer is yes, it's worth a rewrite before it goes live, not after a complaint arrives.
When to get help, and what we'd do
If you'd rather have someone else check this properly than second-guess every post, this is a focused job, not a big project. We'd review your current Google Business Profile services list, posts, photos and captions, flag anything that strays into advertising a prescription-only treatment, and rewrite it so the profile still looks active and appealing without the risk. That's part of our Google Business Profile setup work, the same seo-gbp component covered on the main customers can't find us on Google page, just with the claims check built in alongside the categories, photos and posts.
Frequently asked questions
Can I mention Botox anywhere on my website at all?
Mentioning that a clinic offers consultations covering a range of aesthetic concerns is generally safer than promoting the named treatment itself. The closer the wording gets to encouraging someone to specifically seek out Botox, the more it looks like advertising a prescription-only medicine, which is what the rule is there to stop.
Does this apply to Instagram and Facebook as well as Google?
Yes. The rule isn't platform-specific. It applies to any advertising aimed at the public, which covers social posts, stories and captions just as much as a website page or a Google Business Profile post.
What about dermal fillers, are they the same as Botox here?
Fillers aren't prescription-only medicines in the same way Botox is, so the specific CAP Code rule on advertising POMs doesn't apply to them in the same way. They still sit inside wider advertising rules on claims, before-and-afters and exaggeration, so the same instinct to be cautious and specific is worth keeping.
Who actually enforces this, and what happens if I get it wrong?
The Advertising Standards Authority enforces the CAP Code, and it does act on this specific area. Getting it wrong typically means a request to amend or remove content, which is far less disruptive than it sounds, but avoiding it in the first place is simpler than fixing it after the fact.
Is a more cautious profile going to lose me bookings to a competitor who isn't following the rules?
It can feel that way, since a competitor's bolder post or before-and-after might look more eye-catching. The safer, compliant version still does the job of showing a current, professional, well-reviewed clinic, which is what most new clients are actually weighing up, and it doesn't carry the risk the bolder version does.