How to Check a Clinic Website Against Singapore Advertising Rules: Claims, Reviews and Prices
Singapore clinic advertising rules for websites: 7.2% of 573 clinic homepages checked use MOH-listed praise words. A seven-step check of claims, reviews and prices.
Quick answer
Singapore clinic advertising rules apply in full to a licensed clinic’s own website: MOH’s FAQ on the Healthcare Services (Advertisement) Regulations 2021 says advertisements on a licensee’s website are covered, so every page must be factual and must not praise the clinic, compare it with others, show before-and-after photos, reproduce reviews or advertise discounts. In Canlah AI’s check of 573 dental, medical aesthetic and GP clinic homepages in Singapore, collected October 20–22, 2026, 7.2% used a word from MOH’s list of likely laudatory terms in the homepage title or meta description, and 11.5% of 183 medical aesthetic homepages did.
The seven-step check below covers claims, photos, reviews, prices, comparisons, awards and links, the parts of a site where MOH’s FAQ draws a line. MOH does not vet advertisements before they go live, so treat the check as a first pass and take legal advice on any claim you are unsure about.
Disclosure: Canlah AI publishes this guide and builds, fixes and runs SEO and GEO work for clinic websites, as described below. The homepage figures come from Canlah AI’s own check, and no clinic is named. This guide is not legal advice.
What Singapore clinic advertising rules cover on a website
Singapore clinic advertising rules cover any advertisement of a licensable healthcare service by a Healthcare Services Act (HCSA) licensee or a person it authorises, and MOH’s FAQ names the clinic’s own website, its social media accounts and paid search ads as places where those rules apply. Medical clinics, dental clinics and doctor-run aesthetic practices hold HCSA licences, so their sites fall inside the Healthcare Services (Advertisement) Regulations 2021.
Three boundaries matter for a website. Services that need no HCSA licence, such as Traditional Chinese Medicine, physiotherapy and chiropractic, sit outside these regulations and fall under other laws, such as the Medicines (Advertisement and Sale) Act. Search engine optimisation is not advertising in itself under MOH’s FAQ, but the page content it promotes is, and search engine marketing counts as paid advertising.
Anyone who advertises a licensable service without being a licensee or an authorised person commits an offence under section 31 of the Healthcare Services Act. MOH’s FAQ and its written parliamentary answer of January 9, 2024 put the penalty for an individual at a fine of up to S$20,000, up to 12 months in jail or both, and the FAQ adds up to S$1,000 a day for a continuing offence.
What the Singapore Dental Council’s Ethical Code adds for dental clinic websites
A Singapore dental clinic’s website must also meet section 5.4.6 of the Singapore Dental Council’s Ethical Code and Ethical Guidelines (2018 edition, updated April 15, 2019), which sets the standards for any website a dentist publishes. A dentist who publishes on a website must make sure that what it says about them and their practice, and any links from it, meet the section’s standards. The section allows neutrally toned, objective information about SDC-registered qualifications, experience, areas of practice and expertise in procedures. It bans “before” and “after” images, even “after” images on their own, and testimonials on any media the dentist controls.
Singapore Dental Council website standards, section 5.4.6 of the Ethical Code and Ethical Guidelines
| SDC standard | What it means for a dental clinic website |
|---|---|
| (a) Neutral, objective information about SDC-registered qualifications, experience, areas of practice and expertise | Doctor pages list SDC-registered qualifications and areas of practice, in plain language |
| (b) No “before” and “after” images, or “after” images alone | Treatment pages explain the procedure without case photos |
| (c) and (d) No appeals to strong emotion, self-esteem or body image, and no glitz, glamour, celebrities or fashion | Pages describe treatments and who they suit, without lifestyle imagery |
| (e) No free or discounted examinations or treatments outside legitimate non-commercial health promotion, no time-limited offers, card tie-ups or gifts | Promotional banners and “limited time” offers come off the site |
| (f) No testimonials on media the dentist controls, and no asking or inducing patients to write positive ones | Review carousels and quoted patient praise come off the site |
| (g) No disparaging other dentists and no impression of being superior | Pages make no comparisons with other dentists or practices |
Source: Singapore Dental Council, Ethical Code and Ethical Guidelines 2018, updated April 15, 2019, section 5.4.6, read by Canlah AI on October 30, 2026.
The same section says a dentist’s website must not be sponsored by pharmaceutical or commercial companies. Its recommended guidelines add that the site must not carry testimonies from satisfied patients or colleagues or link to commercial companies, and that photographs or videos of identifiable patients are not allowed without their prior consent. The code still refers to the Private Hospitals and Medical Clinics Act, so a dental site should pass both sets of rules: the seven steps below follow MOH’s FAQ on the 2021 regulations, and the table above adds the SDC’s. When Canlah AI writes or fixes pages for a dental clinic, it checks each page against both.
What the Singapore Medical Council’s code and its 2020 SEO-platform advisory mean for clinic websites
Doctor-run clinics, including GP and medical aesthetic practices, also answer to the Singapore Medical Council’s Ethical Code and Ethical Guidelines (2016 edition, in force since January 1, 2017). On November 25, 2020, the SMC told doctors to “refrain from participating in online Search Engine Optimisation platforms that make use of patient feedback and ratings”. The advisory treats those ratings as patient testimonials, which section G2(7) of the code forbids on any media where the doctor controls the content. It adds that doctors should not buy packages from such platforms to obtain testimonials, because paying could be taken as agreeing to use testimonials in their publicity.
Singapore Medical Council rules on testimonials and SEO platforms, and what they mean for a clinic website
| SMC source | What it says | What it means for a doctor-run clinic’s website and SEO |
|---|---|---|
| Ethical Code and Ethical Guidelines, G2(7) | Testimonials must not be used in advertising on any media where the doctor has control over the content; doctors must not ask or induce patients to write positive testimonials in any media | No review carousels or quoted patient praise on the clinic’s site or social pages, and no campaigns asking patients for positive reviews |
| Handbook on Medical Ethics, G2.3 | Testimonials or their equivalent are disallowed on websites, social media and blogs the doctor maintains, even through hyperlinks | The clinic site should not link out to pages of patient praise |
| Handbook on Medical Ethics, G2.3 | Spontaneous comments on review sites the doctor does not control can happen, but asking or inducing them is unacceptable | Third-party reviews may exist; the clinic must not solicit positive ones |
| Advisory of November 25, 2020 | Refrain from SEO platforms that use patient feedback and ratings; do not pay for their packages to obtain testimonials | Avoid SEO or listing services sold on patient ratings or paid testimonial packages |
Source: Singapore Medical Council, Ethical Code and Ethical Guidelines (2016 edition) section G2(7), Handbook on Medical Ethics (2016 edition) section G2.3, and the advisory of November 25, 2020, read by Canlah AI on October 31, 2026.
Dental clinics follow the Singapore Dental Council’s code in the section above, which uses the same wording on testimonials. Canlah AI’s clinic SEO work does not use review or ratings platforms, and it never asks patients for testimonials.
How many Singapore clinic websites use MOH-listed praise words
In Canlah AI’s check of Singapore clinic homepages, collected October 20–22, 2026, 41 of 573 dental, medical aesthetic and GP homepages (7.2%) used at least one term from MOH’s Annex A list of likely laudatory terms in the title or meta description. “Leading” and “best” were the most common, and medical aesthetic sites used listed terms most often.
Singapore clinic homepages using an MOH-listed praise term in the title or meta description, October 20–22, 2026
| Clinic segment | Homepages checked | Homepages using a listed praise term | Most common listed terms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medical aesthetic | 183 | 11.5% (21) | best (6), leading or leader (5), premier (5) |
| Dental | 257 | 5.4% (14) | leading or leader (4), highest, greatest or safest (4), best (3) |
| GP | 143 | 4.2% (6) | leading or leader (4), best (3) |
| All three segments | 573 | 7.2% (41) | leading or leader (13), best (12) |
Source: Canlah AI check of Singapore private-clinic Google Maps listings and homepages, October 20–22, 2026. Segments come from Google Maps categories, and licence status was not checked; sites whose title and description name only beauty, hair or wellness services were left out. Each website counts once, and 10 websites sit in two segments, so the segment rows add up to more than 573. Terms were matched against MOH’s Annex A list, with “top” counted only in the “top [specialty] doctor” form and context-dependent terms not counted.
Medical aesthetic homepages were about twice as likely as dental homepages and 2.7 times as likely as GP homepages to carry a listed term, at 11.5% against 5.4% and 4.2%. The count reads only the homepage title and meta description, and it skips Annex A words whose meaning depends on context, such as “better”, “latest”, “first” and “precise”. Mentions of the Pioneer and Merdeka Generation subsidy schemes were excluded, because “pioneer” there names a scheme rather than making a claim.
The title and meta description are the lines Google shows in search results, so a praise word there sits on the most visible line a clinic publishes. Canlah AI tracks clinic answers in ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode, and in its ChatGPT test of October 25, 2026, 18 of 22 clinic pages cited were treatment, service, doctor or about pages. Inner pages that describe a treatment, service or doctor are what ChatGPT quoted in that test.
How to check a Singapore clinic website against the advertising rules in seven steps
The seven steps below follow the order of MOH’s FAQ and take a clinic team through every part of a site where the rules apply. Work page by page and start with the homepage title and meta description, because those two lines appear in every search result.
Step 1: Replace praise words with plain facts
Laudatory statements are prohibited even when they are true, MOH’s FAQ says, and Annex A lists terms such as “best”, “leading”, “premier”, “state-of-the-art”, “number 1”, “top [specialty] doctor” and “world’s most advanced” as likely to be read that way. Replace each one with a fact a patient can check: the services offered, the doctors’ registered qualifications, the area and the opening hours. “Dental clinic in Tampines offering implants and braces, open on Sundays” tells a patient and a search engine more than “leading dental clinic in Singapore”.
Step 2: Take down before-and-after and after-only photos
Advertisements must not feature before-and-after or after-only treatment photos, videos or films, even with disclaimers, according to MOH’s FAQ. The same photos may still be shown to a patient during a consultation, where the doctor explains the possible outcomes. Remove galleries from the public site, including image sliders, embedded social posts and case-study pages.
Step 3: Stop copying reviews onto the clinic website
MOH’s FAQ says a licensee must not reproduce testimonials, endorsements or photos on its website or social media, in whole or in part, and that includes sharing a patient’s own Facebook or Instagram post. A testimonial a patient gave directly to the clinic may be displayed only if it is organic, unpaid and unsolicited, was not induced or coerced and has not been modified by the clinic. Doctors are also bound by the Singapore Medical Council’s ethical code, quoted in the same FAQ: testimonials must not be used in advertising on any media where the doctor controls the content. Paid reviews must be removed, whether or not the sponsorship was disclosed.
Step 4: State each price as one exact final price
A licensee may list only the exact, final price of a service, with no prefix such as “from” or “as low as”, no original price beside it and no comparative price list, according to MOH’s FAQ. Words such as “discount”, “promotion”, “offer”, “complimentary” and “free” count as soliciting, and so do time-limited prices, discount packages, instalment amounts shown without the total, giveaways and points redemption. The FAQ does allow a clinic’s public workshop or seminar to be advertised as free. Patients may hear about payment plans and packages only at the point of payment.
Step 5: Remove comparisons and time-to-result promises
Licensees must not compare the quality of their services with another licensee’s, even when the other clinic is not named, under a question MOH added to its FAQ in November 2024. Promises of results within a set time, such as “instant teeth whitening” or “straight teeth in 2 weeks”, count as soliciting. Teleconsultation pages must not suggest an unrealistic duration, such as “completed within 1 minute”, and must not mention medical certificates in a way that advertises getting one, such as “MC in 1 minute”.
Step 6: Keep only awards earned for technical standards
A clinic may show an accreditation, certification or award on its premises, website and social media only when it was conferred for meeting technical standards in its licensable service, as MOH’s FAQ explains Regulation 13. On that test, a popularity title or a reader-vote award is unlikely to qualify, and any award shown must still be accurate and not exaggerated. The professional qualifications of registered doctors and dentists are not awards under this rule.
Step 7: Check outside links and everyone who publishes for the clinic
A clinic can be liable for a page it links to that carries non-factual statements about its service, and it must remove the link once it knows, according to MOH’s FAQ on hyperlinks. Agencies and staff the clinic appoints to publish for it are authorised persons and can be held liable, but the licensee stays responsible for every advertisement. A paid influencer review or endorsement counts as a paid review, which Regulation 14 prohibits. Review agency-written blog posts, landing pages and social posts against the six steps above before they go live.
Singapore clinic website advertising check at a glance
The table below turns the seven steps into one pass over a clinic website, with the line MOH’s FAQ draws for each element and the fix that keeps the page useful.
Singapore clinic website advertising check, based on MOH’s FAQ updated November 2024
| Step | What to check on the clinic website | What MOH’s FAQ says | Fix that keeps the page useful |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Praise words | Titles, meta descriptions, headings, banners | Laudatory statements are prohibited even if true; Annex A lists likely terms | Services, qualifications, area and hours stated as facts |
| 2. Treatment photos | Galleries, sliders, case studies, embedded posts | No before-and-after or after-only photos, even with a disclaimer | Photos shown only in consultation; treatment steps described in text |
| 3. Reviews | Testimonial blocks, copied or embedded reviews, shared posts | No reproduced testimonials; paid reviews must be removed | Copied reviews removed; any direct testimonial checked against the SMC code |
| 4. Prices | Price lists, offers, packages, banners | Exact final price only, with no prefix, discount or package wording | One exact price per service |
| 5. Comparisons and promises | Copy about other clinics, speed of results, MCs | No comparisons, even unnamed; no time-bound results | The clinic’s own service described on its own terms |
| 6. Awards | Badges and award logos | Only awards for technical standards may be shown | Accreditations kept; popularity awards removed |
| 7. Links and publishers | Outbound links, agency pages, influencer posts | The licensee answers for linked pages and for authorised persons; paid reviews are prohibited | Non-factual links removed; third-party copy reviewed before release |
Source: MOH, FAQs on the Healthcare Services (Advertisement) Regulations 2021, updated November 2024, read on October 28, 2026.
How to interpret five common results of a clinic advertising check
Five results come up most often when a clinic team runs the check, and each has a fix that keeps the page’s search value.
- A praise word in the homepage title. Fix this first, because the title appears in every search result. Replace it with the clinic type, area and main services, which is also how patients phrase their searches.
- A before-and-after gallery that brings in search traffic. Remove it anyway, and move the explanation of the treatment steps, recovery and risks to a factual treatment page that answers the same search.
- “From S$” prices on treatment pages. Replace each starting price with the exact final price, or remove the price, because “from” is a prefix, and MOH’s FAQ bars any prefix or description to a price.
- Patient quotes on the homepage. Trace where each came from: a review copied from Google or social media has to go, and a quote given directly to the clinic still runs into the SMC code’s bar on testimonials in advertising a doctor controls, so a medical clinic is safer removing these too.
- An agency blog post with “top” or “best” in the heading. The clinic answers for it like any other page, so edit the heading and the meta title and keep a dated record of the change.
What a clinic advertising check cannot prove
A clinic advertising check cannot prove that a website complies with the law. MOH does not vet or review specific advertisements, its Annex A list is non-exhaustive, and whether a phrase is laudatory or soliciting depends on context. The check removes the obvious breaches, and a lawyer should answer questions about a specific claim. Canlah AI’s homepage figures share that limit: they read two lines per homepage, count only terms whose meaning does not depend on context and rely on Google Maps categories rather than licence records.
When to move from an advertising check to a clinic website rewrite
Move from a check to a rewrite when the fixes change most page titles, remove the main gallery or leave service pages with little factual content. At that point the site needs new copy that describes each treatment, doctor and price in plain terms, which is also the content search engines and AI answers draw on. Canlah AI’s clinic SEO service writes that copy against MOH’s FAQ, and the free AI-readiness check shows how a clinic site reads to machines before any work starts. Whichever route a clinic takes, verify each change against MOH’s FAQ rather than relying on this list or on Canlah AI’s reading of it.
Frequently asked questions
Does MOH approve clinic advertisements before they go live?
No. MOH’s FAQ says the ministry does not vet or review specific advertisements to confirm that they comply. Clinics are told to read the regulations and the FAQ and to obtain their own legal advice if necessary.
Can a Singapore clinic website show before-and-after photos?
No. MOH’s FAQ says advertisements must not feature before-and-after or after-only treatment photos, even with disclaimers, and a licensee’s website is covered. The photos may be shown to a patient during a consultation with proper context.
Can a clinic put its Google reviews on its own website?
Not by copying them. MOH’s FAQ says a licensee must not reproduce testimonials in whole or in part, including posts patients made on social media. Reviews that patients post on Google or other third-party sites of their own accord, unpaid and unsolicited, are not advertising by the clinic.
Do Singapore clinic advertising rules apply to TCM and physiotherapy clinics?
The Healthcare Services (Advertisement) Regulations 2021 do not, because Traditional Chinese Medicine, physiotherapy and chiropractic are not licensable healthcare services under the Healthcare Services Act. Their advertising falls under other laws, such as the Medicines (Advertisement and Sale) Act, which prohibits advertisements referring to services that treat any ailment.
Is SEO allowed for clinics in Singapore?
Yes. MOH’s FAQ says search engine optimisation is not advertising in itself and is not push technology, but the content it promotes must comply with the regulations. If the SEO work uses patient reviews or ratings, MOH treats that information as an advertisement that must comply. Search engine marketing is treated as paid advertising and must comply as well.
Can a Singapore clinic list prices on its website?
Yes, as exact final prices. MOH’s FAQ allows a licensee to list the exact and final price of a service, with no prefix such as “from” and no original or comparative price beside it.
Method and sources
Homepage figures come from Canlah AI’s check of Singapore private-clinic Google Maps listings and homepages, collected October 20–22, 2026, the same data set as the Singapore clinic website benchmarks. This guide uses only websites in the dental, medical aesthetic and GP segments, the clinic types that need a licence under the Healthcare Services Act. Segments come from Google Maps categories and business names, and licence status was not checked against MOH records. Each website counts once; sites that returned an error or a broken page, and sites whose title and description name only beauty, hair or wellness services, were left out, leaving 573 homepages with a title or meta description. Terms were matched against MOH’s Annex A list, with “top” counted only in the “top [specialty] doctor” form, context-dependent terms not counted and subsidy-scheme names excluded. MOH sources were read on October 28, 2026, the Singapore Dental Council code on October 30, 2026, and the Singapore Medical Council sources on October 31, 2026. This guide summarises public guidance and is not legal advice.
- Healthcare Services (Advertisement) Regulations 2021. Primary text.
- MOH, FAQs on the Healthcare Services (Advertisement) Regulations 2021, updated November 2024. Website scope, Annex A laudatory terms, photos, reviews, prices, comparisons, awards, hyperlinks, SEO and MOH’s position on vetting.
- Singapore Dental Council, Ethical Code and Ethical Guidelines 2018, updated April 15, 2019. Section 5.4.6, standards for dentists’ websites.
- Singapore Medical Council, advisory on medical practitioners’ participation in online search engine optimisation platforms, November 25, 2020. SEO platforms that use patient ratings, and paid testimonial packages.
- Singapore Medical Council, Ethical Code and Ethical Guidelines, 2016 edition and Handbook on Medical Ethics, 2016 edition. Sections G2(7) and G2.3 on testimonials.
- Healthcare Services Act, summary of requirements. Licensing context.
- MOH written parliamentary answer on advertising of aesthetic treatments, January 9, 2024. Aesthetic procedures as regulated medical procedures and the penalty scale.
- Canlah AI Singapore clinic website check, October 20–22, 2026, anonymised. Homepage praise-term shares.
- Canlah AI ChatGPT test of 24 Singapore buyer questions, October 25, 2026. Clinic page types cited.
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