Quick answer: There is no single list. What a UK aesthetic clinic's website must show, and must not, depends on three facts about the clinic: what it offers (prescription-only medicines such as botulinum toxin have their own rules), who gives the treatment (doctors, nurses and other practitioners answer to different bodies) and whether the CQC has rated it. The table below sets out each rule beside its source and the date we read it, and the checklist after it turns them into things to tick before a site goes live. Your own adviser decides how they apply to your clinic.
This page is not legal advice. We build websites; we do not warrant any clinic's compliance, and each rule below links to the regulator's own words so you and your adviser can read them in full.
Which rules decide what an aesthetic clinic's website can say?
Ten, from the law, the advertising regulator, the CQC and the professional bodies. Every source was opened on 24 October 2026, and each row says who it applies to, because that is where clinics differ.
| Rule | Applies to | What it means on the website | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| No advertising of prescription-only medicines to the public | Any clinic offering one: botulinum toxin, and others the JCCP lists, such as hyaluronidase, prescription vitamin B12, local anaesthetic injections, prescription weight-loss medicines and IV drips | No mention on the homepage, in logos, testimonials or hover text. A medicine may be named only as a possible outcome of a consultation, in factual, balanced words | Human Medicines Regulations 2012, reg 284; CAP Code rule 12.12; CAP advice on botulinum toxin (29 Oct 2025); the list of medicines is the JCCP's |
| Before and after photos are treated as testimonials | Every clinic that shows them | Hold signed and dated proof each photo is genuine and unmanipulated. None for a prescription-only treatment | CAP advice on before and after photos (5 Jun 2025) |
| Testimonials and reviews must be genuine | Every clinic | Hold evidence each one is real and how to contact its author; publish with permission; say where a review was incentivised; do not hide the negative ones | CAP Code rules 3.44 to 3.50 |
| Say who treats, and hold proof of their qualifications | Every clinic | Name who gives each treatment, their qualifications and where it happens. "Practitioners must have relevant and recognised qualifications" | CAP Code rule 12.3; CAP Bitesize |
| No titles you cannot back | Every clinic | "Dr" in a clinic's name implies a medical qualification. The ASA upheld a complaint where it was not substantiated | ASA ruling, Dr Bunny Aesthetics (24 Apr 2024) |
| Responsible marketing of cosmetic treatments | Every clinic | No "lunch break" trivialising, no countdowns or "offer ends at midnight", nothing suggesting people are not good enough as they are. Prices include every non-optional charge, such as booking fees or deposits | CAP Bitesize; CAP advice on social responsibility (24 Oct 2024) |
| Not aimed at under-18s | Every clinic | Cosmetic interventions must not be directed at under-18s "through the selection of media or context in which they appear" | CAP Code rule 12.25, in force since 25 May 2022 |
| Doctors' own duties | Treatments given by a doctor | Follow the CAP Code; publish only what is factual and can be checked; never claim a treatment is risk free; say if a medical assessment is needed first; never imply a guaranteed result | GMC guidance on cosmetic interventions, paragraphs 46 to 53 (in effect 1 Jun 2016, updated 13 Dec 2024) |
| Nurses' own duties | Treatments given by a nurse or nursing associate | Anything published for their services must be accurate, must not mislead or exploit vulnerabilities, and must reflect their real skills and qualifications | NMC Code, 21.4 |
| Show your CQC rating | Clinics in England that are CQC-registered and rated | The rating, the date it was given and a link to the report, shown legibly and conspicuously, within 21 calendar days of the CQC publishing it | Regulated Activities Regulations 2014, reg 20A; CQC: how providers must display ratings (updated 26 Nov 2025) |
Two rows need a word more, because the answer depends on the clinic.
The CQC row may not apply to you at all. Many aesthetic treatments sit outside CQC registration. The CQC's own inspection reports describe "Botox and fillers for cosmetic reasons" as outside its scope, while botulinum toxin for excessive sweating is inside it (an example report, 6 April 2023). Whether your clinic carries on a regulated activity is a question for the CQC and your adviser. If you are registered and rated, the CQC offers a widget for your website.
The professional rows stack. A doctor working at a clinic is bound by the GMC's guidance and by the CAP Code; a nurse by the NMC Code and the CAP Code. A practitioner on the JCCP's register has the JCCP's guidance on top. The advertising rules apply to the clinic whoever treats.
How should a clinic show before and after photos?
Only with photos you can prove are genuine, and never for a prescription-only treatment. The CAP and the ASA regard before and after photos in the same way as testimonials, so the clinic should "hold signed and dated proof that the photos are genuine and have not been manipulated" (CAP). In practice, for each photo on the site:
- It shows a real patient of the clinic, who gave permission for its use.
- It is not retouched in any way that changes the treated area, and you keep the originals to show it.
- It is representative of what a patient could likely expect.
- It is labelled with the treatment it shows, and that treatment is not a prescription-only medicine. Before and after imagery of a prescription-only product "even in isolation without any accompanying claims, is very likely to be seen as an implied ad" for it.
- It carries no filter. A caption such as "filter used" is unlikely to fix a misleading picture (CAP Bitesize).
If a clinic offers both toxin and fillers, photos of filler treatments are possible, and CAP asks that the photos say plainly they show the non-prescription treatment (CAP Botox FAQs).
What should a clinic check before its website goes live?
Work through this list with the person who signs off your marketing. Each line comes from a row above.
Homepage and menus
- No prescription-only medicine is named, pictured or hinted at: not in the menu, the logo, the small print or any link in the footer.
- Treatments that need a prescription are offered as a consultation, such as "a consultation for lines and wrinkles".
- No countdowns, "limited slots" or offers that rush a decision.
Treatment pages
- A prescription-only medicine appears only on a page reached through the consultation pages, as one possible outcome, with its risks as well as its benefits.
- Nothing makes a treatment sound like a decision to take lightly.
- If a doctor gives the treatment, the page never calls it risk free or promises a result, and says so where a medical assessment comes first (GMC).
- Every price includes booking fees and deposits, and no price for a prescription-only medicine is reachable from the homepage.
People
- Every practitioner is named, with qualifications you hold evidence for, and the page says who gives which treatment and where.
- No name or title, such as "Dr", implies a qualification you cannot show.
Photos and reviews
- Every before and after photo has signed, dated consent and an unretouched original on file, and none shows a prescription-only treatment.
- Every testimonial is genuine, permitted, about the treatment it sits beside, and names no prescription-only medicine.
- Reviews are shown fairly, negative ones included, and incentivised ones say so.
Booking and enquiries
- No booking page lets a visitor buy a prescription-only treatment without a consultation first.
- The enquiry form asks only what the clinic needs. Information collected "when they register for health services or access treatment" can be health data under UK GDPR (ICO), so the clinic decides its lawful basis with its adviser before the form goes live.
Registration
- If the clinic is CQC-registered and rated, the rating, its date and the link to the report are on the site.
Sign-off
- The clinic's adviser has read the site as it will go live.
Do the same rules apply to dental practices?
Partly. The advertising rules on prescription-only medicines, testimonials and before and after photos apply to any advertiser. Dentists also follow the General Dental Council's guidance on advertising, which lists further things a practice website must display, such as each dentist's GDC registration number and the date the website was last updated. The rest of that guidance is not covered on this page.
Is anything about to change?
Possibly. Since 1 July 2022 the Health Secretary has had the power to make regulations requiring a licence for non-surgical cosmetic procedures in England (Health and Care Act 2022, section 180). When we checked on 24 October 2026 we found no regulations made under it. Check again before you launch, because a licensing scheme could change what a clinic must show.
What else do clinics ask about their websites?
Can our website mention Botox at all?
Yes, in narrow circumstances: as one possible outcome of a consultation, on a page reached through the consultation pages, never on the homepage. The first row of the table above sets out the rule and its sources.
Who checks that our website follows the rules?
You do, with your adviser. The rules bind the clinic and the people who treat there, and a web designer cannot take that responsibility from you. The ASA's Copy Advice team also answers questions about specific ads and websites (CAP Bitesize).
What should we look for in the website itself?
A site built around the consultation, with the rules above designed in rather than patched on. How to create a website for a UK aesthetic clinic sets out what each page has to do and the questions to ask any web designer.
Ready to build a clinic website that gets these right from the first page? How we build websites walks through the steps, from a first call to handover.