Guide
Advertising injectables legally
The single most common way a private clinic website breaks the law, and the version that does not.
The short answer: it is unlawful to advertise a prescription-only medicine to the public in the UK. Botulinum toxin products are prescription-only medicines. So a clinic website cannot use the brand name to promote the treatment, however many competitors do exactly that.
What does the rule actually prohibit?
The prohibition is on advertising the medicine to the public. It is not a prohibition on providing the treatment, on discussing it with a patient who asks, or on describing the treatment in general terms. The line falls at using the product’s brand name as the advertisement: as the page title, the service name on a price list, the alt text on an image, or the search term you buy.
What can a clinic website say instead?
- Describe the treatment generically, by what it does rather than by brand
- Keep clinical information factual and balanced, including risk and recovery
- Answer a direct question from an individual patient, which is a consultation rather than an advertisement
- Publish prices against the generic description
Why do so many clinic websites get this wrong?
Because the brand name is what patients search for, and because a generalist web agency has no reason to know the rule exists. It builds the page, the page performs, and the liability sits with the clinic rather than the agency. In our own market research the aesthetic sector had the highest advertising costs of anything we measured, at £54.93 per click on "aesthetic clinic marketing", which tells you how much commercial pressure is pushing in the wrong direction.
DataforSEO, United Kingdom, September 2026.
Which other rules apply to the same pages?
The ASA and CAP publish specific guidance on marketing non-surgical cosmetic interventions, and the GMC guidance on cosmetic interventions applies to any doctor involved. Where a nurse prescriber or another registered professional is involved, their own regulator’s code applies too. The MHRA rule is the strictest of the set because it is a statutory prohibition rather than a code.
What should you check on your own site today?
- Page titles and headings containing a brand name of an injectable
- Price lists naming the product rather than the treatment
- Image file names and alt text
- Meta descriptions, which are easy to forget and are still advertising
- Paid search terms and ad copy
This is general information rather than regulatory advice, and the responsibility sits with you as the regulated party.
Sources: CAP guidance on advertising botulinum toxin and non-surgical cosmetic interventions, and the ASA guidance on marketing surgical and non-surgical cosmetic procedures, read 10 September 2026.
Common questions
Every competitor names the product. Why can I not?
They are in breach and most of them have never been told. Frequency is not a defence, and the liability is the clinic’s rather than the agency’s.
Can I use the brand name anywhere at all?
In a consultation with an individual patient who has asked, yes. As advertising to the public, no.
Does this apply to fillers as well?
Dermal fillers are generally devices rather than prescription-only medicines, so the statutory prohibition does not apply in the same way. The ASA and CAP rules on cosmetic interventions still do.
Want the checklist as a document?
The full checklist from this guide, as a one-page document you can hand to whoever builds or edits your site. Two details and it comes to your inbox.
Want your site read against these rules?
We do a compliance read of every published claim as part of the build.