Location Based Directory Best Practice

Hi,

I am creating a directory for doctors in the US (ex. chiropractors). The directory will contain doctors name,phone,address..etc

I would like to be able allow visitors to browse doctors by US-STATE (ex. All Chiropractors in California) so optimal I’d like to have a list of all directories (something like: https://cl.ly/image/332J0A033B2Y )

however, that’s not necessary the best way to do it via categories (even though I’ve seen many people do it that way), since I would I imagine that I lose all the search & many integration features with the google maps..etc.

So my second idea was to hard code the US-States and create links that would filter down the listing to only the listings in that state, but I am not sure what that link would be.

https://localhost/?s=&map-state1–2=%5BUS STATE NAME]

Is that the best way to create a directory based on locations (GEO driven)?

Any lessons learnt / best practices / tips before I go down the wrong path?

Thanks!