Practo, Google Business Profile or a WhatsApp AI receptionist: which does what for a clinic?

A front-desk manager asks three questions in the same breath: should we list on Practo, is our Google profile worth fixing, and should we get one of these WhatsApp AI tools? They are not competing for the same job, so the honest answer starts with what each one actually does.

What is each of these three, in one line?

Practo is a marketplace app patients search inside to find and compare doctors. Google Business Profile is your clinic's free listing on Google Maps and Search. A WhatsApp AI receptionist is software that replies to a patient who messages your clinic and books the visit. Here is what each does, in the clinic owner's own terms.

What is Practo for, and what does it cost?

Practo is where a patient who doesn't know your clinic yet goes looking for one, by specialty, locality or name, and can see other doctors listed alongside yours. That comparison is the whole point of the app, so it suits clinics that want to be found by patients who haven't decided who to see.

The listing itself is free and separate from Practo's paid products, according to Practo's own setup guide (opens in a new tab). A doctor profile and a clinic profile each need to be created and linked to the other, verification takes about 48 hours, and the profile then goes live. Practo Prime is a different, paid product: Practo charges the clinic or hospital a one-time technology fee the first time a patient uses it to connect with them, valid for 6 months, with unlimited repeat appointments inside that window at no extra charge, per Practo's Prime FAQ for providers (opens in a new tab). That same page states plainly that individual doctors and RMPs cannot subscribe to Prime, only clinics and hospitals can. Practo does not publish the fee amount, so ask Practo directly for a current quote rather than relying on a third-party estimate.

What is Google Business Profile for, and what does it cost?

Google Business Profile is what makes your clinic show up on Google Maps and in Google Search, with your hours, phone number, directions and reviews. It fits a different moment than Practo: a patient who already has a rough idea of what they want and searches by location, or types your clinic's name directly.

It is free to add, claim and manage, and it is meant for businesses with a real, face-to-face location during stated hours, according to Google's own Business Profile help page (opens in a new tab). If you haven't set one up yet, or want to check it's configured correctly, our step-by-step Google Business Profile guide covers claiming, verifying and what not to put in the listing's name.

What is a WhatsApp AI receptionist for, and what does it cost?

Neither Practo nor Google Business Profile talks to the patient once they've found you. That's the job a WhatsApp AI receptionist does: it reads the message a patient sends to your clinic's WhatsApp number, answers questions like fees and timings, and books the appointment, at any hour.

Pricing varies by vendor: a flat monthly fee, a tiered plan, per-conversation charges or per-minute charges, sometimes with a setup fee on top. Our AI receptionist for clinics guide has the full pricing-model breakdown and a list of questions worth asking any vendor before you pay. Medslots, made by the team behind this site, is a flat ₹4,999 a month per clinic with no setup fee.

Which one finds new patients, and which one talks to them?

Practo and Google Business Profile do discovery: they put your clinic in front of a patient who is looking. A WhatsApp AI receptionist does conversation: it answers the patient once they've already found your number, wherever they found it. A profile nobody replies to loses the same enquiry as a fast reply nobody could find.

Do you need all three, or can you start with one?

Most clinics don't need to decide all at once. A sensible order, in plain terms:

• Google Business Profile first. It's free, takes a few minutes to claim, and covers searches almost every patient runs, including "near me".
• Practo, if your patients actually search there. It suits clinics competing for patients who compare doctors inside the app, less so a practice that runs mostly on referrals and a small, settled catchment.
• A WhatsApp AI receptionist once enquiries outpace replies. If messages sit unanswered after hours or during a busy clinic, that's the specific problem this category solves. Listing yourself in more places before you can answer what already comes in usually just adds to the pile.

None of the three substitutes for another. A clinic that's easy to find but slow to reply, and a clinic that replies instantly but is nowhere to be found, lose patients for opposite reasons.

What does the clinic still have to do, whichever it picks?

Signing up for any of these is the easy part. Keeping it accurate and actually replying is the part that decides whether it brings in patients.

WhatsApp's Business Messaging Policy (opens in a new tab) sets out that opt-in expectation for businesses messaging on the platform. It applies whether the reply comes from a person or an AI receptionist.