Kentucky at a glance
| Rule | Kentucky | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| PSYPACT (psychologists) | Yes | 8 October 2026 |
| Counseling Compact (counselors) | Yes, not live yet | 8 October 2026 |
| Social Work Licensure Compact | Enacted, not issuing licenses yet | 8 October 2026 |
| Health-data or health geofencing law | None | 30 September 2026 |
| Privacy law treating health data as sensitive | Kentucky Consumer Data Protection Act | 30 September 2026 |
Kentucky licensing boards’ advertising rules
Ads, websites and directory profiles all count as advertising to a licensing board. These are the Kentucky rules we check copy against, with links to the official text. Boards update their rules, so read the current version before you rely on a summary.
Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure
- Physicians commit unprofessional conduct if they publish or make oral or written representations containing grossly improbable or extravagant statements that tend to deceive or defraud the public. (KRS 311.597(2))
Kentucky Board of Licensed Professional Counselors
- Under the counselor advertising rule, a statement is false, fraudulent, misleading or deceptive if it misrepresents a material fact, is intended or likely to create an unjustified expectation, or leaves out a material fact. (201 KAR 36:040, Section 9(2))
Kentucky Board of Social Work
- Social workers must accurately present their services, education, professional credentials, qualifications and license level to the public. (201 KAR 23:080, Section 7(1))
Telehealth across Kentucky's borders
Kentucky is a PSYPACT state. A psychologist whose home license is in Kentucky can apply for PSYPACT's telepsychology authorization and then see clients by telehealth in the other PSYPACT states, so ads can reach clients there too.
Kentucky has enacted the Counseling Compact, but it wasn't live here yet when we checked. Once it is, a licensed professional counselor based here can apply for privileges to practice in other member states instead of a separate license in each.
It has also enacted the Social Work Licensure Compact, which isn't issuing multistate licenses yet; the compact's commission expects its licensing system in 2027.
For physicians, psychiatrists included, Kentucky is in the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, which speeds up getting a license in other member states but doesn't replace it.
Telehealth ads should only reach places where the clinician can legally treat: see PSYPACT and Counseling Compact states.
Practices near a state line often see clients from next door. Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri and Illinois each have their own page.
Health data, tracking and Kentucky law
The Kentucky Consumer Data Protection Act, in effect since January 2026, treats health information as sensitive data. A business needs the person's opt-in consent before processing it. Most small practices fall below its size thresholds, but the ad platforms and data companies that receive website data usually don't, which is one more reason health information shouldn't reach them.
This is not legal advice.
How the states compare: state health-data laws.
What patients search for in Kentucky
Searches a month that name a Kentucky city, with the average cost per click, from Ahrefs (checked between 30 September and 5 October 2026). A dash means too few to measure; “near me” searches aren't counted. The Statewide row is searches that name the state.
| City | Therapist | Psychiatrist | Ketamine | IOP | Weight loss | Functional med. | GI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bowling Green | 150 $3.00 | 200 $2.50 | – | – | – | 10 | 300 $1.80 |
| Louisville | 100 $7.00 | 100 $2.50 | 20 | 50 | 40 $2.50 | 10 | 30 $1.40 |
| Lexington | 50 $3.50 | – | 40 | 90 | 100 | – | – |
| Statewide | 50 $3.50 | 50 | 100 $4.50 | 40 $4.00 | 10 | 20 | – |
Of the cities measured, Bowling Green gets the most of these searches. Its biggest single search, “gastroenterologist bowling green ky”, gets about 300 a month. To turn a cost per click into a cost per booked patient, put your own numbers into the patient acquisition cost calculator.
Across the searches measured here, Kentucky patients look most for therapists (about 350 a month), then psychiatrists (350). Bowling Green alone accounts for 42% of them. A click on a therapist search here costs about $4.29 on average, close to the $4.00 median across the 306 therapist searches measured on our state pages.
Fill The Lobby is a remote US healthcare marketing agency; the ads and pages we write for practices are checked against rules like these. See how we handle compliance.
Sources
- PSYPACT, compact map, checked 8 October 2026
- Counseling Compact, member map, checked 8 October 2026
- Counseling Compact, 10 states now offering privileges, checked 8 October 2026
- Counseling Compact, Pennsylvania becomes the 40th member, checked 8 October 2026
- Social Work Licensure Compact, enacted in 35 states, checked 8 October 2026
- Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, participating states, checked 14 October 2026
- IAPP, US State Privacy Legislation Tracker, checked 30 September 2026
- Ahrefs Keywords Explorer, US search volumes and cost per click, checked 30 September 2026
- Kentucky Consumer Data Protection Act, checked 30 September 2026
- Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure, checked 5 October 2026
- Kentucky Board of Licensed Professional Counselors, checked 5 October 2026
- Kentucky Board of Social Work, checked 5 October 2026