How clients choose professionals online: what the surveys say and what they do not

Updated 3 October 2026 · 6 min read

Every article on websites quotes a survey. Most do not say who ran it, when, who was asked or who paid. This guide gathers what we could verify about how people research professionals online, gives each figure with its source, year and population, and says plainly what the numbers can and cannot tell you. The evidence is thinner and older than the confident headlines suggest, but the direction is consistent, and it matches what most professionals see: clients look you up before they call.

The short answer

Published surveys consistently find that many people use online reviews and searches when choosing a professional such as a lawyer or doctor.
The figures we could verify are from US consumer surveys run in 2016 or earlier, mostly commissioned by companies that sell to professionals. Treat them as direction, not precise measurement.
In a FindLaw survey reported in 2016, 59% of respondents said they had used online reviews when choosing a professional service provider, and about two-thirds said they would be more likely to hire a lawyer with online reviews.
Reliability and trust of reviews differ by age: in the same research, younger adults were more likely to use them.
No survey replaces your own evidence: ask your last ten clients how they found you.

Read surveys with care

Before you rely on any statistic about online behaviour, ask five questions.

Who ran it, and who paid? A company that sells marketing to lawyers has a reason to find that online presence matters.
When? Search and review behaviour has changed a great deal since 2016, and AI assistants did not exist as a research tool then.
Who was asked, and where? A US consumer sample does not tell you about patients in Pune or clients in Poland.
What exactly was asked? “Used online reviews” is not the same as “chose because of a website”.
How big was the sample, and was it random? Many surveys are done through online panels of people who are already online.

What we could verify

Published survey findings, with source and limits
Finding	Source and year	Limits
59% of people said they had used online reviews when choosing a professional service provider such as a lawyer or doctor	FindLaw survey, reported by Thomson Reuters, 2016	US consumers, a legal-marketing vendor, more than nine years old
About two-thirds of consumers said they would be more likely to hire a lawyer with online reviews	FindLaw survey, reported by Thomson Reuters, 2016	Stated intention, not behaviour
81% of millennials (aged 18 to 35) were more inclined to hire lawyers with online reviews, compared with a lower share of older groups; 71% of millennials and 49% of baby boomers had used consumer reviews of professional services	FindLaw survey, reported by Thomson Reuters, 2016	Age bands are those of 2016; the youngest group is now older
70% of respondents said online ratings and review sites had influenced their choice of physician; 29% went to Google, 18% to WebMD and 15% to Healthgrades	Survey of US adults reported by MobiHealthNews	US only; the platforms named have changed since; check the original for the year and sample

A medical-journal summary of earlier research reports a similar pattern: for physicians, a majority said ratings sites were somewhat or very important, about a third chose a doctor because of good ratings, and a similar share avoided one because of bad ones. The exact figures differ by study.

What the numbers suggest

Many people look up a professional before they make contact, and reviews are a large part of that look-up.
A professional with visible reviews and a clear presence is usually at an advantage over one with none, all else being equal.
Younger clients rely on online research more, but older clients also use it.
Google was the most common starting point for finding doctors in the survey that named platforms.

Together these support practical steps: a clear page, a complete Google Business Profile, and honest reviews. See how to get Google reviews and the Google Business Profile setup.

What the numbers do not tell you

They do not tell you how many clients you would gain from a website. That depends on your market, your competition and your work.
They do not measure how people use AI assistants, which have changed how many people research. See what is GEO.
They say little about referrals. Many clients still arrive on a recommendation and then check you online. The check can lose you the referral.
They are mostly about US reviews sites. In other countries, directories, registers and messaging apps play different roles. See directories that matter by country.
They do not show causation. Professionals with good reviews may simply be better.

Find your own evidence

The best data about how clients find you is your own. It takes an hour.

List your last ten clients or patients.
For each, write down how they first heard of you and what they did before contacting you. Ask them if you do not know.
Add a question to your intake or booking form: “How did you find me?” with options such as recommendation, Google, social media, directory, other.
Ask recommended clients whether they looked you up, and what they saw.
Check your Google Business Profile insights and any page statistics for where visitors come from.
Repeat every six months and compare.

You will learn how clients actually find you, and which of the steps in this series will pay off most.

What to do with all this

Make sure that when someone looks you up, they find something that matches what they were told. See show up when people search your name.
Keep your details identical in every place. See why AI gets your details wrong.
Ask happy clients for reviews, in a way that follows the rules. See testimonials that build trust.
Check what search and AI assistants say about you today. See check what AI says about you.

Where BeVisible fits

BeVisible turns the basics into one clear page: your name, role, place, services, contact route and a “Get found” checklist that points you to the profiles and listings that matter. It does not promise any number of clients, and neither should any provider. You can build and preview free, and publish free for 7 days with no card needed; after that one yearly plan keeps a website online, and one plan covers one website. Start from a photo or type your details.

Frequently asked questions

Do people really research professionals online before contacting them?

Published surveys say many do. In a 2016 FindLaw survey, 59% of respondents said they had used online reviews when choosing a professional service provider such as a lawyer or doctor. The research is mostly from the US and is more than nine years old, so treat it as direction rather than precise measurement.

How much do online reviews influence the choice of a doctor?

In one US survey reported by MobiHealthNews, 70% of respondents said online ratings and review sites had influenced their choice of physician. Other research summarised in a medical journal found that a majority considered ratings important. Figures vary by study.

Are these surveys reliable?

They are indications, not precise measures. Many were run by companies that sell marketing to professionals, are several years old, and cover US consumers. Read the source, the year and the sample before relying on any number.

Do older clients also search online?

Yes, though younger clients rely on online research more. In the 2016 FindLaw research, 71% of millennials and 49% of baby boomers had used consumer reviews of professional services.

How can I find out how my own clients find me?

Ask your last ten clients, add “How did you find me?” to your booking or intake form, and check the source of visits in your Google Business Profile and page statistics. Repeat every six months.

Is a website enough without reviews?

A clear website helps visitors decide, but reviews are one of the most used signals in the surveys we found. Aim for both: an accurate page and honest reviews gathered in line with the rules.