With more patients turning to AI tools, Shaz Memon explores why dental SEO and Google rankings are still essential for your visibility.
Search is changing. With the rise of AI tools like ChatGPT, patients have new ways to explore dental information.
While AI isn’t yet widely used to find local dental practices in the same way Google is, it’s playing a growing role in how people research treatment options. Google is still the go-to platform for local searches – it’s quick, familiar and designed for exactly that. But AI platforms are helping patients understand things like Invisalign, teeth whitening and composite bonding before they ever land on a dentist’s website.
That means dental practices may soon need to think about how visible they are – not just on Google, but to AI tools as well. And since most AI tools pull their information from Google search results, keeping your dental SEO in good shape remains essential.
How AI is changing the way people search
AI platforms like ChatGPT are increasingly being used to answer health-related queries. People ask questions such as:
- What are the pros and cons of composite bonding?
- How long does Invisalign take?
- What’s the difference between a hygienist and a dentist?
These platforms return full answers, often in plain language. But AI doesn’t know things on its own. It draws from high-ranking websites, articles and online sources – usually the same ones Google already trusts.
That’s where dental SEO comes in. If your website isn’t ranking well on Google, AI is unlikely to find or feature your content either. So improving your visibility in traditional search is still the most effective way to reach both search engines and AI tools.
Why SEO still matters for dentists
Even as AI grows in popularity, most patients still use Google to find a dentist near them. Phrases like ‘dentist in Islington’ or ’emergency dentist Maida Vale’ are searched every day. Your practice needs to appear in those results – ideally on page one.
At the same time, patients are using AI to guide their decisions. Before they pick up the phone or click a ‘Book Now’ button, they might ask an AI tool about your treatments, your pricing, or how a procedure works. If the content on your site is clear and relevant, it can support those queries and build trust – even indirectly.
Here’s what can help:
- Useful, well-written content: write about your treatments in plain language. Aim to answer the questions patients are likely to type into Google or AI tools
- Focus on local SEO: use the name of your area in your content, titles, and meta descriptions. Think: ‘Invisalign in Islington’ or ‘Dental hygiene near Maida Vale’
- FAQs that actually help: a good FAQ page can do double duty – supporting both your patients and the algorithms that generate AI answers
- Consistent listings: make sure your practice name, address and contact info match across Google, your website and other directories.
For a better understanding of SEO, please read: The ultimate dental SEO guide
What Digimax does differently
At Digimax, we work only with dental practices. We don’t believe in one-size-fits-all SEO. Instead, we look at what patients are really searching for and help practices build content that meets those needs – clearly, honestly and in a way that helps them show up in both search and AI-driven platforms.
Established in 2003, Digimax is the UK’s most trusted and respected provider of dental SEO, delivering proven, safe, and predictable growth. Hundreds of practices have seen significant increases in their revenue as a result.
It’s not just about rankings. It’s about relevance. We focus on long-term results through strong content, local optimisation and smart technical improvements. You can read more about our approach to dental SEO here.
Final thoughts
AI may not replace Google for finding local dental practices just yet, but it is reshaping how patients make decisions. They might still search ‘dentist near me’ on Google, but they’ll also turn to AI to explore what different treatments involve, what’s worth considering, and how to feel more confident about their choices.
The takeaway? Your dental SEO is still the foundation of your online visibility. If you keep it healthy, you’ll not only perform better on Google – you’ll also stay more visible in this evolving digital landscape.
Learn more here: digimax.dental/dental-seo-google/
Contact us here for a free consultation: digimax.dental/contact
Click here to check out our Google reviews.
This article is sponsored by Digimax.
