AI Search Optimization for Dentists

What your customers ask AI

Examples of what a customer might ask ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity when they need a dental practice:

• “I cracked a molar and it really hurts. Which dentists near me can see me today?”
• “Find a dentist near me who is in network for my Delta Dental PPO plan and is taking new patients.”
• “Book a cleaning and checkup for my seven-year-old on a Saturday morning.”
• “Is this dentist an orthodontist, or a general dentist who also does braces?”
• “What does a crown cost at dentists near me if I pay without insurance?”
• “Which dentists nearby offer sedation for nervous patients and have staff who speak Spanish?”

What AI agents can already do for your customers

Being found is the first step. Once an agent reaches a dental practice, these are the things it can already do for the customer it works for, each from the company's own announcement and marked live, rolling out or announced.

Where AI reads about dentists

Your website is one source. AI assistants also draw on what other sites say about you, so these are worth keeping complete and consistent.

What to fix first

1. 1

   List your dental plans by network

   Write out every plan you are in network with, using the network names patients see on their insurance cards, and say plainly how you handle patients whose plan you are not in network with. Change the list the day a contract changes, along with your Zocdoc listing and, if you are an ADA member, your Find-a-Dentist profile.

2. 2

   Say whether you take new patients and how emergencies work

   Near the top of your homepage, state whether you are accepting new patients, whether you see a cracked tooth or a swollen jaw the same day, what a patient in pain should do after hours, and, once you have checked your dental board's rules on advertised fees, what an emergency exam costs. Put the office number beside it as a link a phone can dial.

3. 3

   Set up Google profiles for the practice and each dentist

   If several dentists see patients, keep one profile for the practice location and, if you want them, one per dentist, titled with the dentist's name and degree but not the practice name. A solo dentist at a branded practice uses one shared profile named practice first, then dentist. Choose dental categories, keep holiday closures on the profile, and link your online booking.

4. 4

   Let your real schedule take bookings

   If your practice software connects to Reserve with Google, turn that on, so the times patients see on Google come from your own calendar. Zocdoc does the same for Gemini and Yelp, and charges a one-time fee when it helps a patient discover and book you. Without either, add a short request form that asks only for what booking needs and confirms by text or email, and keep health history in your practice's own secure intake process.

5. 5

   Publish prices and credentials

   Check your dental board's rules on advertised fees first, since some states require a disclaimer, then give self-pay prices or ranges for an exam, a cleaning, X-rays and common treatments such as a crown, or explain your membership plan. Name each dentist with their degree and state license, and use the word specialist only as your board and the ADA code allow.

6. 6

   Ask every patient for a Google review, and reply with care

   After each visit, send every patient the same short request for an honest Google review, and never tie it to a discount or a free whitening. When you reply to any review, leave out names, treatment, insurance and visit details, the kind of disclosure HHS has settled with dental practices over.

This is the start of the A.G.E.N.T.I.C. Framework, the seven phases we use to get a business found, read and used by AI assistants.

Frequently Asked Questions