A visual analysis of the internationally published literature on stem cell therapy for ischemic stroke between 2012 and 2021 was performed. Methods: The core collection of Web of Science citation index database was used as the data source, and CiteSpace software was used to make a visual analysis of the literature related to stem cell and ischemic stroke between 2012 and 2021 in terms of annual number of publications, country, institution, author, co-citation, and keywords. Results: A total of 1 941 articles were included. The United States and China were the countries with the highest number of publications in this field, and the representative institutions were the University of Florida in the United States and Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China, respectively. The most prolific team was the one led by Prof. Cesar V Borlongan, a professor at the University of South Florida College of Medicine. Mesenchymal stem cells, transplantation, neural stem cells, animal models, functional recovery, regenerative medicine, and nanomaterials were the research hotspots in this field. According to the time series analysis, research on the action mechanisms of different types of cells, such as mesenchymal stem cells, neural stem cells, and bone marrow stromal cells was mainly conducted in the early stage of development; research on implantation of stem cells and recovery of post-stroke dysfunction was mainly conducted in the middle stage of development; the research on drug delivery, immunotherapy, and nanomedicine has been focused on from the late stage to the present. Conclusion: Stem cell therapy for ischemic stroke has broad prospects in the future.