How Google picks the three practices on the map
Google says local results rest mainly on relevance, distance and prominence, and a practice moves two of the three.
| What Google weighs | What it reads | What the practice does |
|---|---|---|
| Relevance | How well a Business Profile matches the search: its categories, its services, its description | The category that says what the office is, and every treatment it offers in services |
| Distance | How far the office is from the patient searching | Nothing on the site changes it |
| Prominence | How well known the practice is: its reviews and rating, and the websites that link to it | A review request after every visit, and links from sites people in town read |
The ranking cannot be bought: Google says there is no way to pay for a better local ranking. The shortcuts sold as local SEO put the profile itself at risk. A virtual office is not eligible for a profile, a second profile for the same office breaks Google’s rules, and the business name is the name on the door, with no town or treatment added.
One Business Profile for each office
Each office gets one profile under the practice’s real name, with the primary category that describes it, such as Dentist, Orthodontist or Pediatric dentist, and as few other categories as it takes. Its services list the treatments patients search for at that office, its hours include holidays, and its phone rings at that office.
The practice keeps ownership of every profile and gives managers access, so no agency leaves with them. Where several dentists see patients at one office, each can have a profile of their own, linked to that dentist’s page; a practice with one dentist keeps one profile. The Google Business Profile guide for dentists covers ownership, verification and every field.
The page the profile sends patients to
A patient who taps Website comes to check what they saw on the map. The office page answers it: the address and how to get there, the hours, the dentists who work there, the treatments offered there and a way to book. A patient who finds all of that does not go back to the map to try the next practice. In local SEO for dental offices, a practice with one office uses its homepage as that page, and a group gives each office its own.
Patients comparing implants, Invisalign or veneers read before they call, and they read the practice pages that rank under the map, so each treatment you want more of gets its own page.
When an office changes
When an office moves, a dentist leaves or the hours change, the site, the profile and the directories change together, from one record of the facts. A footer, an office page and a profile that each say something different leave the patient to guess which one is right.
Reviews after every visit
The same request goes to every patient after the visit, with the office’s own review link or QR code, so the review lands on the profile of the office they visited. Google does not allow incentives for reviews, asking only the patients you expect to be happy, or asking for particular content, such as a dentist’s name. Dental reputation management covers the requests, the replies and the reviews that break Google’s rules.
Citations patients read
Dental citations, the SEO citations dentists are sold in bulk, are the directories that repeat your name, address and phone, and patients choose from some of them: Healthgrades, Zocdoc, Yelp and your insurers’ dentist finders. The wrong listings get corrected, starting with the ones patients use. Dental marketing packages often sell local SEO as a hundred directory submissions, which add listings no patient reads.
Calls and bookings, office by office
The profile’s website and booking links carry a tag, so your analytics can tell visits from the map apart from other visits from Google. Google’s profile report shows calls, direction requests and website clicks for each office.
Then count what the front desk counts: booked and attended appointments per office, which is also how to judge a dentist SEO company. A profile that is seen and not clicked has a different problem from one that is clicked and does not book, and a call routed to the wrong office is a profile problem.
More than one office
A group gets one office right first, profile, page, reviews and tracking, then an office that does not fit the pattern, and then the rest. DSO SEO covers keeping every office right across the group.
Frequently asked questions
What is local SEO for dentists?
Local SEO for a dental clinic or practice is the work that gets each of its offices into the three practices Google shows on the map when a patient nearby searches for a dentist or a treatment. Google places them mainly by relevance, distance and prominence, so the work is each office’s Business Profile, its reviews, the links to its site and the page its profile sends patients to.
Should each dentist have their own Google Business Profile?
A dentist who sees patients and can be reached at the office during its hours can have one, and where several dentists practice at one office, the practice keeps its own profile for the office beside theirs. A dentist who is the only one at a branded practice shares one profile with it, named with the practice’s name, a colon and the dentist’s name.
Can a dental office rank on the map in a town where it has no office?
Not with a profile of its own there. Google does not allow a Business Profile at a virtual office, an address the practice rents but does not practice from, and the distance to the office is one of the three things the map is ranked on. A practice ranks around the offices it has.
Can you pay Google for a better spot on the map?
Only as an ad, marked Sponsored, that shows while it is paid for. The ranking itself cannot be bought: Google says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. The money that moves it goes into dental SEO: the profile, the reviews, the links to the practice’s site and the office pages.
Do citations still matter for dentists?
The listings patients read do: Healthgrades, Zocdoc, Yelp and your insurers’ dentist finders, each with the office’s name, address and phone exactly as its profile has them. A package of a hundred directory submissions adds listings no patient reads.
How does a dental office get more Google reviews?
Send every patient the same request after the visit, with the review link of the office they visited. Google’s rules forbid incentives, asking only the patients you expect to be happy, pressing patients to review while they are still in the office, and asking for particular content, such as a dentist’s name.
How is local SEO for a DSO or a group different?
Every office gets the same three things, run from one record of each office’s address, hours, dentists and treatments. A group gets one office right first, then one that does not fit the pattern, then the rest.