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Local SEO for dentists: what actually matters

For a dentist, local SEO is mostly a verified, accurate Google Business Profile with the right category and genuine reviews that you reply to, plus a website that says plainly where you are and what you treat. Google says local results rest on relevance, distance and prominence, and that you cannot pay to change them.

Nobody outside Google knows exactly how much each factor counts, and Google does not publish the weights. So we only list things Google itself tells owners to do, and say clearly when we are giving advice rather than a rule.

What to do, in order of effect

1. Fix your Google Business Profile first. It is the listing patients see on Maps. Go through the checklist: verified, real name, real address, a phone that reaches the clinic, correct hours including festival closures.
2. Choose the category that says what you are. Google says to pick as few categories as possible and as specific as possible, and never to use categories as keywords. For most clinics the main category is the one for a dentist; check the list in your dashboard. If your clinic is mainly an orthodontic or paediatric practice, a more specific category may describe you better.
3. Be one profile per location. Google allows only one profile per location. Duplicate profiles for the same clinic are against its guidelines.
4. Collect genuine reviews, and reply. Ask patients to use your Google review link or QR code. Never offer a discount or free treatment for a review: Google prohibits it. Reply briefly and politely, and never put the patient’s private details in a public reply. For a complaint, move to phone.
5. Give each main treatment its own page of plain text. Root canal, braces, implants, check-ups: what it is, who it suits, how long it takes, and your prices if you publish them. Google asks for unique, descriptive page titles and content written for people first, with first-hand experience shown. Put the dentist’s real name and qualifications on the site and do not invent credentials or testimonials; Google calls invented personas deceptive.
6. Add schema using the specific type. Google says to use the most specific LocalBusiness sub-type; Dentist exists. Include address, hours and phone, and mark up only what is on the page. See the schema guide.
7. Add an appointment link to your profile. In the Booking section of the profile, add the link patients should use.
8. Make sure the site works well on a phone. Google indexes and ranks using the mobile version of your site.

One India-specific caution

Dentists in India work under the Dental Council of India’s Revised Dentists (Code of Ethics) Regulations, 2014, which include rules on advertising. We are not lawyers and have not summarised the clauses here. Read the regulations, and your state dental council’s notices, before publishing claims such as “best” or “painless” on your site or profile.

What does not matter, or can hurt

• Meta keywords. Google says it does not use the keywords meta tag.
• Buying reviews, or offering treatment for reviews.
• Stuffing the clinic name with “best dentist in Andheri”. Google does not allow it.
• Copying treatment descriptions from other sites. Google asks that you avoid copying others’ work.

Checklist

• Profile verified, one profile for the clinic.
• Main category chosen on purpose.
• Hours match the site and signboard.
• Reviews asked for by link or QR; no rewards; all replied to.
• One page per main treatment, in plain text.
• Dentist schema on the home page.
• Appointment link on the profile.