How searching has changed
A few years ago, placement started with a discharge planner or a physician referral. Those still matter — but the family now checks you online before they agree to anything. The first move is nearly always the same: phone in hand, often late at night, a Google search and a look at your star rating.
What they type, word for word
- "nursing homes near me" and "nursing homes in [city]" — the base search, always tied to a place;
- "nursing home cost [city]" — cost is the dominant worry;
- "nursing homes that accept Medicaid [city]" — the single most decisive filter;
- "memory care [city]";
- "short term rehab [city]" — the Medicare Part A stay;
- "assisted living vs nursing home" — families who do not yet know what they need.
Notice what is missing: almost nobody searches the name of a facility. If you do not appear on the generic searches for your city, you do not exist for that family.
The three places a facility disappears
1. No website, or one frozen years ago. It does not need to be beautiful: it needs to say where you are, what you offer, what it costs, whether you take Medicaid, and who to call — and it must read well on a phone.
2. An incomplete Google Business profile. Often the very first contact: hours, a number that works, recent photos, the correct address. Free, and the bare minimum.
3. Absence from comparison sites. Many families are not looking for a facility — they are looking to compare several. If you are not where the comparison happens, you never make the shortlist, and you will never know.
Your CMS star rating is read before your website
Families check Medicare Care Compare early. You cannot change last year's survey, but you can control the story around it: if your rating is low, address it openly on your own site — what happened, what changed, what you did about staffing. Silence reads worse than a plain explanation.
Reviews: replying matters more than the rating
A negative review left unanswered weighs far more than the same review with a calm, specific reply. Families are not looking for perfect facilities: they are looking for teams that listen.
Two checks worth twenty minutes
Search "nursing homes in [your city]" in a private window: do you appear, and where? Then open your Google profile and check the phone number, hours and photos.
Where Curalune fits
Curalune is one of the places that comparison happens, city by city. Your basic listing is free and you can claim it. With Partner Presence you appear prominently in searches across your area.
See how Partner Presence works — or email info@curalune.com for a free check of your listing.
This article is written for facility administrators and owners. Curalune does not manage admissions and does not guarantee placements.
The starting point, already done
Finding suitable homes, checking they can meet the level of care and gathering the contacts takes days of phone calls. Curalune Care Help gives you that starting point: 3 to 5 suitable nursing homes within 24 business hours, with contacts, links and a ready-to-send message you can put to all of them at once. $89, one-off: if you don't receive at least 3 homes matching the area and criteria you gave us, we refund you in full. Start here