Most providers won't see you without screening you. With reviews, screening becomes a lot easier and faster. All they have to do is check out the reviews you've left, and the responses to those reviews.
I tend to look for people who have worked with past injuries. They tend to be the best at offering massages that help especially with working with the old whiplash injury I had years ago. Thanks to a lot of past massage work the injury doesn't do what it used to do. But it acts up every so often causing the back muscles to lock up
The first person I went to when it originally happened literally spent the majority of the 2 hours just on the back doing really slow work. That was far better than the people I tried before that who I swear tried to wring or beat the injury out which failed
But the first person moved on and really ever since then it's been challenging to find quality intuitive people offering massage. Even in the regular massage crowd. You’d be surprised how many bad regular massages I’ve had over the years. I tend to find quality folks here and there but it's usually sporadic when the injury acts up but every now and again I'll find someone consistent to work with
Ironically some of the best massage providers I’ve found have come from this group of people. I don’t know if it’s because of the training or because of the compassion but I tend to find the best relief from the old injury through the work providers have done over time