Every state board polices chiropractic advertising in its own words, and federal rules sit under all of them. Below is our reading of those rules as published in October 2026, which is what we check a practice’s ads against. Treat it as a starting point, not legal advice, and confirm any offer, testimonial or headline with counsel licensed where you practice.
The federal floor under every state
- Health claims need evidence behind them. The FTC’s Health Products Compliance Guidance expects competent and reliable scientific evidence for a claim that something treats or relieves a condition, and says patient testimonials do not stand in for it. “We see patients with sciatica” describes the practice; “cure your sciatica in three visits” makes a claim you would have to prove.
- Patient stories need a signature. Putting a real patient’s recovery in an ad uses health information to market the practice, so HIPAA asks for a signed authorization from that patient first (45 CFR 164.508). One consent form, signed before filming, covers the video wherever it runs.
- Reviews cannot be bought or filtered. The FTC’s 2024 rule on fake reviews and testimonials bars rewards conditioned on a positive review, and Google’s review policy bans incentives and asking only the patients you expect to be happy.
How three states draw their own lines
- Florida spells out the offer. The board’s advertising rule, Florida Administrative Code 64B2-15.001, treats a claim of quality or superiority over other chiropractors as misleading. Florida Statutes 456.062 adds a statement in capital letters to any free or discounted exam offer: the patient may refuse to pay, cancel or get a refund for any further service performed as a result of the ad within 72 hours of responding. Our Florida chiropractor marketing page explains why PIP care has to start within two weeks, and how the winter residents change the calendar.
- New York answers to the Regents, not a chiropractic board. Part 29 of the Rules of the Board of Regents rules out ads that guarantee a service, claims the practice cannot verify and claims of being better than other practices, and it allows a new-patient discount but not a gift or raffle in its place. The New York chiropractor marketing page walks through testimonials and no-fault.
- Michigan has no advertising rule written for chiropractors. The health code’s discipline list, MCL 333.16221, covers false or misleading advertising and fee splitting for every licensee, and the chiropractic scope law, MCL 333.16401, rules out anything that punctures the skin and any drug, so dry needling and injection language stay out of Michigan ads. More on the Michigan chiropractor marketing page, including winter budgets by county.
Personal injury patients come with their own rules
A practice that takes car accident patients is working under rules most other marketing never meets. They differ by state, and the penalties are criminal rather than administrative, so this is the part of the plan we write with your attorney’s advice in mind, not around it.
Florida. Under Florida Statutes 817.234, nobody may solicit a person involved in a motor vehicle accident by any means other than advertising directed to the public within 60 days of the crash, and a health care practitioner may never solicit by phone or in person at the patient’s home, even after that. Personal injury protection pays medical benefits only if care starts within 14 days of the accident, and the limit is $2,500 unless a physician, dentist, physician assistant or advanced practice nurse finds an emergency medical condition, which raises it to $10,000. Chiropractors can provide the initial care but cannot make that finding. The practical result: speed matters, and the only lawful way to be first is to be easy to find and quick to answer.
Texas. Texas Penal Code 38.12 makes it an offense for a chiropractor to send an accident victim a written or phone solicitation before the 31st day after the accident. Repeat offenses are a felony.
Michigan. Under MCL 750.410b, nobody may reach out to a person known to have been hurt in a crash, or to that person’s close family, for 30 days, and a text or email counts as reaching out just as a call does. Public advertising stays open the whole time.
California. The state board’s rules list using “cappers or steerers” to bring in patients as unprofessional conduct.
What that leaves is plenty: search and map visibility for the searches people make after a crash, a phone answered on the first ring, clear information about how billing works with auto insurance, and relationships with attorneys built on referrals rather than lists. That is the version of personal injury marketing we run.
