Virginia at a glance
| Rule | Virginia, as of 30 September 2026 |
|---|---|
| PSYPACT (psychologists) | Yes |
| Counseling Compact (counselors) | Yes, not live yet |
| Social Work Licensure Compact | Enacted, not issuing licenses yet |
| Health-data or health geofencing law | Reproductive and sexual health data (SB 754) |
| Privacy law treating health data as sensitive | Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act |
What patients search for in Virginia
Monthly Google searches in the US that name a Virginia city, from Ahrefs (checked 30 September 2026). Each cell is searches a month, then the average cost per click advertisers paid on Google. They are estimates, and a dash means too few searches to measure. Most people search “near me” instead of typing a city, so these are the visible part of the demand, not all of it. The Statewide row counts searches that name the state instead of a city.
| City | Therapist | Psychiatrist | Ketamine | IOP | Weight loss | Functional med. | Concierge | GI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia Beach | 400 $6.00 | 350 $4.00 | 60 $4.50 | 10 | 30 $4.00 | 100 $1.60 | 50 $1.70 | 500 $1.10 |
| Statewide | 100 $7.00 | 100 $3.50 | 40 $3.00 | 100 $4.50 | 50 | 30 $1.10 | 10 | 50 $1.00 |
| Northern Virginia | 30 | 70 $2.50 | 10 | 60 | 30 | 50 | 150 $1.70 | 40 $1.10 |
| Richmond | 200 $9.00 | 20 $4.50 | – | – | 50 | 10 $1.20 | 100 $1.10 | 10 |
| Norfolk | 90 $9.00 | 30 $3.50 | 10 | – | – | – | – | 60 |
| Chesapeake | 80 $7.00 | 10 | – | – | – | – | – | 20 |
The largest is Virginia Beach, where “gastroenterologist virginia beach” gets about 500 searches a month. To turn a cost per click into a cost per booked patient, put your own numbers into the patient acquisition cost calculator.
Telehealth across Virginia's borders
Virginia is a PSYPACT state. A psychologist whose home license is in Virginia 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.
Virginia 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.
Physicians, psychiatrists included, need a license in each state they treat patients in; the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact can speed that up where a state takes part.
For marketing, that sets the map: an ad for online therapy or telepsychiatry should only run where the clinician can legally see the person who clicks it. Our guide to PSYPACT and Counseling Compact states lists every member state and how to set up ad targeting around them.
Practices near a state line often see clients from next door. Maryland, Washington, DC, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina each have their own page.
Health data, tracking and Virginia law
Virginia amended its Consumer Protection Act in 2025 to require consent before anyone obtains, discloses or sells a person's reproductive or sexual health information.
Virginia's Consumer Data Protection Act, in effect since January 2023, treats health data as sensitive data that needs opt-in consent before it is processed.
Wherever the practice is, our rule is the same: no health information goes to ad platforms, and booking pages ask for nothing clinical. None of this is legal advice; your counsel decides what applies to your practice.
For how these laws compare across states, and the website setup that works under all of them, see our guide to the My Health My Data Act and other state health-data laws.
How we work with Virginia practices
We're a remote US healthcare marketing agency, so there's no Virginia office to visit. We work by video with practices across Virginia, including Virginia Beach, Northern Virginia, Richmond and Norfolk. The ads run in your own accounts, the booking page takes the appointment, and we count booked appointments, not clicks. Most practices start with the 30-day Proof Pilot, which opens with an audit.
Ads stop when the budget does, so we pair them with healthcare SEO: the work that gets a practice found when people in Virginia Beach and Northern Virginia search, without paying for each click.
The specialties we run, each with its own page: mental and behavioral health, therapy and counseling, psychiatry, ketamine and Spravato, IOP and PHP, medical weight loss, functional medicine, concierge and DPC and gastroenterology.
Sources
- PSYPACT, compact map, checked 30 September 2026
- Counseling Compact, member map, checked 30 September 2026
- Counseling Compact, Pennsylvania becomes the 40th member, checked 30 September 2026
- Social Work Licensure Compact, enacted in 35 states, checked 30 September 2026
- Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, participating states, checked 30 September 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
- Virginia LIS, SB 754 (2025), checked 30 September 2026