Veterinary Roots

From Arlington to Lacey, in a 2,600 square mile area, there are 849 veterinary practices currently ranking on Google maps. I have created a webapp that shows all of these rankings for the top 10 keywords in the veterinary space, calculated by cost per click and search volume.

All five hospitals are represented here, plus the nonprofit. The Vetroots recruiting site does not have a Google Business Profile, so it is not listed.

Across your five hospitals and ten searches, scanned at 1,544 points each — 77,200 chances to land in the top three — you get there just 259 times, well under half a percent overall. Only one hospital ever breaks even 1%, and then only on one search.

On the map below, each ring is one scan point, and the number inside it is your rank at that spot — single digits near the hospital, nineties at the edges of your service area. This is a typical result for a business with strong reviews and weak websites.

Appearing on the map and being chosen are two different things. Google shows three practices before a patient has to tap “more places”, so the question that decides whether the phone rings is not whether you are on the map. It is whether you are in those three.

The chart below draws both ends of that gap for each of the ten searches. Presence is genuinely strong — depending on the search you appear across 38% to 86% of the map. The top three is where it stops, and no search clears 3%. These positions are winnable: on tplo surgery dog a single competitor holds the top three across 51% of the same map. They are simply not being won here.

Reviews are the one ranking input you control outright — no developer, no agency, nothing to wait on. They are also the strongest asset the group already has, which is what makes the shape of the chart below worth a minute of your time.

Every one of the five profiles peaked in 2022 or earlier. Firgrove has the largest audience at 896 reviews and is now running 39% below its 2020 rate. The exception is Elliott Bay: its part‑year 2026 has already passed its whole of 2025, so something there changed, and it is worth knowing what — because whatever it is, the other four can copy it.

There is nothing complicated about the repair work; what matters is the order.

First, repair that which directly blocks your search rankings — the technical SEO issues on the websites such as broken links and images, missing tags, the slow servers and so on. The largest single item is at Bothell, where 464 of 509 pages cannot appear in Google’s results at all — most of them because the pages are no longer being served, the rest because of a tagging error; that repair is worth more than everything else on this list, and I detail it under Websites: Current Issues below. Then the rest: for example, your websites variously score 28/100 to 56/100 for speed on mobile devices. Google penalizes heavily on these issues by suppressing search rankings, as slow server speeds and broken site infrastructure prevent relevant content from reaching the searcher.

Next, build out content pages for your sites that exactly match what searchers are looking for. I have all of this data, and it is extensive — it is all referenced in my diagnostic report. Build content pillars with topical relevance — exactly what Google and Bing want to see — and then produce content that reflects EEAT: expertise, experience, authority and trust.

Vetroots already has everything you need to begin ranking properly — a long legacy within the local communities, deep expertise in the field, the authority conferred by degrees and certifications, and the trust proven by your many excellent customer reviews.

All of this is possible with the correct diagnosis and execution. I do not see anything missing here, except the actual creation of a proper and robust digital presence.

Keywords are the currency of search engine optimization.

Currently, Vetroots does not rank anywhere near the top for one of the most expensive keywords ‘tplo surgery dog’, which is also one of the most profitable surgical procedures for a veterinary practice. Elliott Bay ranks #134 for this keyword, Lynnwood is at #150, Rainier #163, Bothell #220 and Firgrove #429. The Rainier hospital mentions that specialists are available for this surgery, Bothell and Lynnwood mention orthopedics (Bothell also has two dead blog URLs on cruciate‑repair topics), and Firgrove mentions advanced orthopedics with two doctors — Dr. Barber and Dr. Shirley — claiming it by name in their bios.

Other wins are close. Dozens of your keywords sit at positions 11 to 30 — page two of Google, where nobody looks. Lynnwood is at #11 for urgent care; one good revision of an existing page is often all it takes to cross onto page one. Bothell, meanwhile, ranks for its sister hospital’s name but not for its own services.

These are just a few examples, and there is much more granular data available. All of the Vetroots hospitals can begin ranking for high demand and high profit keywords, using dedicated and sustained SEO strategies.

Another area that affects local SEO is called citations — how you appear in business directories such as Yelp, Google Business Profile, Apple Maps, Bing Places, Nextdoor, Citysearch and MapQuest. All of these are free — no payments are required — but they must all match exactly, with no exceptions. The Vetroots hospitals appear in as few as 3 of the 26 directories I checked — none are on Bing, and three of five are missing from Apple Maps, which is the default on every iPhone.

There is also a new form of search now, GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) or AEO (Answer Engine Optimization). These are called zero click searches, as they result in no clicks back to your website. Google’s AI overviews and ChatGPT/Gemini/Claude/Perplexity are examples of this — they offer the answer directly, and no searchers ever land on your site. There are specific ways you can use this new search mode to appear in AI rankings, and to also create demand and loyal customers. This involves heavy social media content generation and posting, using specific strategies for timing, content ratios, user engagement, etc.

There is a lot more to SEO — the information above is just a small sample of the repair work to be done. I am happy to explain all of this in more detail.

The websites are due for rebuilding, with modern design systems, expanded content and hosting on extremely fast edge servers. I have already drafted a working redesign of the Vetroots site. It’s just the main page, but it gives you a good idea of the upgrade potential.

Search is not the only channel for visibility, especially with the rise of zero click searches. Social media is becoming more important now for this new era of search engineering, but the strategies have changed in several important ways.

No longer can we simply post content, updates and links — all of this has changed recently with the advent of AI engines, and content strategy is still evolving as we speak.

Content has to bring real value to the viewer — it has to drive engagement, and by offering value (new information, unique perspectives, expert commentary, etc) the viewer becomes involved with your brand (signing up for newsletters, programs, discounts, etc.) This allows you to capture those viewers from those digital islands (AI engines, Instagram, TikTok etc) and establish your own island, typically a vibrant email campaign, and sometimes direct SMS messaging. In this way, you own your customer base, and you have direct opt-in access to those clients. This is a very powerful position to be in.

A social media presence begins with compelling content creation — bold graphics, clear information design and engaging stories and information. This can be created via AI, but a human should be in the loop for initial design comps, campaign strategy and final edits and approvals.

I have created some social media content examples for your review — sixteen animated social graphics for Veterinary Roots, ready to post. Again these are just some examples — an almost unlimited amount of design variations are available.

I know you are seeking an in‑house marketing position, and I write to let you know of an additional option — adding someone like myself as a fractional data, content and SEO lead in order to more effectively support your marketing manager hire.

They take brand, storytelling and recruiting — the work a good marketing hire is best at — and I take the technical and analytical side. Or, if it serves you better, I will cover the whole posting, minus whatever you would rather keep in-house.

Here are my findings. Every number in this report was measured, not estimated. All of my work is evidence-based, backed by data and rich, interactive reporting. The full diagnostic is at vetroots5.toolforge.ai.

I am always available for a follow‑up discussion whenever it suits you.