Research · September 2026

2026 Med Spa Search Demand: what patients search for and what it costs

Monthly searches, Google Ads cost per click, and ranking difficulty for 18 aesthetic treatments and provider searches in the US. Free to read and cite.

Published September 23, 2026 by Outlier Creative Agency · Data: Semrush US keyword database, pulled September 23, 2026

Key findings

  1. "Botox near me" is searched 74,000 times a month in the US, costs $6.95 per click, and has an organic difficulty of just 12.
  2. Lip filler, microneedling, CoolSculpting, chemical peel, and hormone replacement "near me" searches all have organic difficulty of 11 or lower.
  3. The average aesthetic treatment click costs under $5 on Google Ads, a fraction of the $100-plus legal clicks, so in aesthetics the win is conversion and retention, not buying attention.
  4. Laser hair removal near me is the most expensive common med spa click at $13.93, and semaglutide near me the most expensive overall at $19.72.
  5. "Dermatologist near me" is the largest local aesthetic search at 368,000 a month.

Treatment demand, cost, and difficulty

Highlighted rows are the open doors: organic difficulty of 12 or lower, which a practice with one strong page per treatment and steady reviews can win in its city without buying the clicks.

Source: Semrush US keyword database, pulled September 23, 2026. National volumes; your city is a share of them.
Search termSearches / monthAvg. cost per clickSEO difficulty
Dermatologist near me368,000$3.3249
Blepharoplasty90,500$2.0645
Botox near me74,000$6.9512
Breast augmentation60,500$3.2854
Rhinoplasty60,500$3.9469
Laser hair removal near me49,500$13.9312
IV therapy near me49,500$3.9421
Morpheus840,500$1.4322
Med spa near me33,100$3.7045
Microneedling near me27,100$2.6211
Lip filler near me22,200$3.318
Hydrafacial near me22,200$2.7020
Weight loss clinic near me22,200$10.4336
CoolSculpting near me14,800$4.1210
Plastic surgeon near me12,100$3.889
Chemical peel near me12,100$2.559
Semaglutide near me8,100$19.7225
Hormone replacement therapy near me8,100$7.907
  • Botox near me: 74,000 searches a month, difficulty 12, $6.95 per click.
  • Laser hair removal near me: 49,500 searches a month, difficulty 12, $13.93 per click.
  • Microneedling near me: 27,100 searches a month, difficulty 11, $2.62 per click.
  • Lip filler near me: 22,200 searches a month, difficulty 8, $3.31 per click.
  • CoolSculpting near me: 14,800 searches a month, difficulty 10, $4.12 per click.
  • Plastic surgeon near me: 12,100 searches a month, difficulty 9, $3.88 per click.
  • Chemical peel near me: 12,100 searches a month, difficulty 9, $2.55 per click.
  • Hormone replacement therapy near me: 8,100 searches a month, difficulty 7, $7.90 per click.

The five checks that decide most of the outcome

From Outlier’s 40-point Med Spa Marketing Audit. Clicks are cheap in aesthetics, so the practices that win are the ones that convert and keep patients.

Review velocity

8 or more new Google reviews a month, every month, with a 4.8+ rating and every review answered.

One page per treatment

A dedicated page for each treatment you sell, with before-and-afters, a starting price, and an FAQ.

Booking in one step

A patient can pick a treatment and a time without calling, from the header and every treatment page.

Speed to lead

A human reply within five minutes in business hours, and an automated text within sixty seconds.

Recall by treatment

Automated rebooking: Botox at 12 weeks, filler at 9 to 12 months, laser series reminders.

Methodology

Volumes are average monthly US searches. Cost per click is the average advertisers paid for the exact term in Google Ads. Difficulty is Semrush’s 0 to 100 estimate of how hard it is to reach the top 10 organically. Pulled September 23, 2026; refreshed yearly.

Cite this: Outlier Creative Agency, “2026 Med Spa Search Demand,” September 2026, www.outliercreativeagency.com/research/med-spa-search-demand-2026. Free to quote with attribution (CC BY 4.0).
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