Ohio at a glance
| Rule | Ohio | Checked |
|---|---|---|
| PSYPACT (psychologists) | Yes | 8 October 2026 |
| Counseling Compact (counselors) | Yes, live | 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 | None | 30 September 2026 |
Ohio licensing boards’ advertising rules
Ads, websites and directory profiles all count as advertising to a licensing board. These are the Ohio 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.
Ohio Counselor, Social Worker and Marriage and Family Therapist Board
- A client's identifiable information, photos or videos, or work they created in treatment, can't be used in ads, social media or other promotion without the client's written, voluntary consent setting out how and for how long it will be used. (Ohio Adm. Code 4757-5-02)
State Medical Board of Ohio (physicians)
- A false, fraudulent, deceptive or misleading statement in advertising for patients is grounds for discipline, including one likely to create false or unjustified expectations of favorable results. (Ohio Rev. Code 4731.22(B)(5))
- So is advertising that you will waive all or part of a patient's insurance deductible or copayment, with narrow exceptions. (Ohio Rev. Code 4731.22(B)(28)(b) and (N))
Ohio Board of Psychology (psychologists)
- Licensees may not include false or misleading information in public statements about the psychological services they offer. (Ohio Adm. Code 4732-17-01(B)(4)(b))
- They may not ask or authorize a client to solicit business for them. (Ohio Adm. Code 4732-17-01(B)(5))
Telehealth across Ohio's borders
Ohio is a PSYPACT state. A psychologist whose home license is in Ohio 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.
Ohio is one of the first states where the Counseling Compact is live, so a licensed professional counselor based here can already apply for privileges to practice in the other live 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, Ohio 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. Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana and Michigan each have their own page.
Health data, tracking and Ohio law
Ohio has no comprehensive consumer privacy law or consumer health data law in effect as of 30 September 2026. Federal rules and a practice's own HIPAA duties still apply.
This is not legal advice.
How the states compare: state health-data laws.
What patients search for in Ohio
Searches a month that name an Ohio 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. | Concierge | GI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati | 600 $9.00 | 400 $5.00 | 100 $4.50 | 40 $8.00 | 100 $2.50 | 200 $0.90 | 10 $1.90 | 350 $1.30 |
| Cleveland | 250 $7.00 | 250 $4.50 | 100 $3.00 | 50 $3.00 | 10 | – | – | 20 $1.80 |
| Columbus | 150 $8.00 | 50 | 10 | 20 | 150 | – | – | 70 $1.90 |
| Toledo | 150 $6.00 | 90 $3.00 | 80 | – | 10 | 60 $0.90 | – | 40 $1.90 |
| Statewide | 80 $3.50 | 50 $3.50 | 200 $5.00 | 20 $3.50 | – | 10 $1.00 | – | – |
| Dayton | 150 $7.00 | – | 30 | – | 20 | 100 | – | – |
| Akron | 70 $8.00 | 30 $2.50 | – | – | – | – | – | 100 $2.00 |
Of the cities measured, Cincinnati gets the most of these searches. Its biggest single search, “therapist cincinnati”, gets about 600 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, Ohio patients look most for therapists (about 1,450 a month), then psychiatrists (870). Cincinnati alone accounts for 43% of them. A click on a therapist search here costs about $7.68 on average, above 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
- Ohio Counselor, Social Worker and Marriage and Family Therapist Board, checked 30 September 2026
- State Medical Board of Ohio (physicians), checked 14 October 2026
- Ohio Board of Psychology (psychologists), checked 14 October 2026