Dental SEO
Dental SEO: get found on Google, on the map and in AI answers
When patients look for a dentist, they no longer leaf through a directory. They type their question into Google, look at the map, or ask an AI. SEO is the work that puts your practice into those three answers. Here is how it works, what the French Dental Council (Ordre national des chirurgiens-dentistes) says about it, and how we do it.
SEO for a dental practice, on one page
SEO (search engine optimization) covers everything that helps your practice appear when patients search on their own. For a dentist, it plays out in three places, and each one looks at different things. The part that covers the map and searches that include a city name is called local SEO.
1. Google's organic results
A patient types “dental implant Lyon” or “dentist veneers Bordeaux”. Google looks for the page on your website that answers best: its text, its speed on a phone, the other websites that mention you, and what your Google Business Profile says. Google handles 88.76% of searches in France (Statcounter, August 2026).
2. Google Maps and the local pack
Below the map, Google shows three practices with their rating and opening hours (the local pack, also called the map pack), chosen from Google Business Profiles on three criteria it makes public: relevance, distance and prominence.
3. AI answers
ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and, since July 22, 2026, Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode all answer before the list of websites, naming two or three practices. An AI does not know your practice. It searches, reads a few sources, cross-checks them and cites. It looks at whether it can find you, whether it understands you, whether your information matches everywhere, and whether a specific page answers the patient's question.
These three spots cannot be bought, and for a dentist they must not be: advertising is prohibited for you. They are built with accurate, consistent information, across three workstreams: the practice website, the Google Business Profile and your presence in AI answers.
Why it now makes the difference
Four figures, all verified, sum up the change:
- 59.8% of French people look for health information online (Eurostat, 2025).
- 56.6% of French people already use artificial intelligence, including to find a dentist (Arcom and Médiamétrie, April 2026).
- 33,100 searches a month for “implant dentaire” (dental implant) in France (Semrush, August 2026).
- July 22, 2026: Google's AI Overviews go live in France. The answer now comes before the list of websites (official Google announcement).
Patients looking for an implant or veneers compare little and choose fast. The practice they find first is the one they call.
The Dental Council's rules, in plain terms
The code prohibits you from buying a spot, not from making yourself known. Article R.4127-217 II prohibits obtaining priority placement in exchange for payment: a paid Google ad falls into that category. On the other hand, R.4127-215-1 states that the practitioner “is free to communicate with the public, by any means, including on a website”, and R.4127-240 II requires you to inform patients about your fees.
What we never do: no paid advertising, no patient testimonials, no comparisons with other dentists, no promised ranking. The article-by-article detail is in our guide on what the Dental Council allows on a dentist website.
Local SEO: the map, relevance, distance, prominence
Google chooses the three practices shown on the map using three criteria. Relevance: does your profile say that you place implants? Distance: it cannot be changed, but it matters less for a treatment patients plan ahead. Prominence: what Google knows about you elsewhere, from your website, official directories and the websites that mention you.
Relevance and prominence are the two you can really act on, and that is the work described on our Google Business Profile for dentists page. For directories that describe you without asking your opinion, starting with Doctolib (France's leading online booking platform), see our guide Doctolib outranks my website.
AI now answers before the list of websites
Since July 22, 2026, Google has been showing AI Overviews in France: a written answer, placed before the ten links, citing two or three practices. In ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity, a patient gets names directly.
Being fourth on Google meant being slightly less visible. Being missing from an AI's answer means not existing in the conversation. How to get into those answers: our page on AI search visibility.
What we measure, and how often
SEO is judged on verifiable figures, not on a promised ranking. Your dashboard brings together six measures:
- Indexed pages. The pages Google knows about. A page Google has not crawled cannot rank.
- Impressions. How many times your website or your profile was shown, and for which search queries.
- Clicks from patients to your website or your profile from Google.
- Calls made from your Google Business Profile and from your website.
- Appointment requests coming from your website, to Doctolib or to your front desk.
- Presence in AI answers. For your treatments and your city, the percentage of answers from ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and AI Overviews that cite your practice.
The diagnostic sets the starting point. After that, the figures update every month on your dashboard, with what has moved and what remains to be done. They come from Google's free tools (Search Console, which shows what Google knows about your website, and your Business Profile performance data) and from our checks in AI tools, run again with the same prompts.
How long it takes
No one can honestly set a deadline in advance, because Google and AI tools decide on their own. Here is what we observe:
- Within a few days: corrections to your Google Business Profile show up on the map.
- Within a few weeks: the website is live and its pages are known to Google. Searches for your own name (branded searches) are where movement shows first.
- Over several months: non-branded searches (a treatment and a city) move slowly, because Google compares your website with those of other practices at every update.
- For AI tools: presence builds up through consistent information and treatment pages. It fluctuates, hence the monthly tracking.
What makes these timelines vary: the size of your city, the number of other practices already working on their visibility, the starting state of your website and your profile, and how quickly you approve the texts. The diagnostic gives you a realistic timeline, never a guarantee.
Which practices it is for
Our method is designed for dentists in private practice and dental care organizations of every size:
- General dentistry practices, for which the Google map and a “dentist” search with the neighborhood name do most of the work.
- Implant practices, where patients look for a specific treatment, compare little and are willing to travel.
- Cosmetic dentistry practices (veneers, whitening, aligners), where questions about the process and fees are the most frequent.
- Orthodontic practices, for parents searching for their children as well as adults who want discreet treatment.
- Dental centers and group practices, with several practitioners and several treatments to describe without contradicting each other.
We work in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg. The ethical rules change from one country to another: we write each website within the rules of the practice's own country. Three example websites can be seen on the home page.
How DeveloppIA handles it
Every practice follows the same five-step path, always in the same order: the diagnostic, the website, your place on Google, your place in AI answers, then monthly follow-up. You approve the texts, we do the rest, and you focus on your patients. The details are on the home page.
It all starts with the diagnostic: your real place on Google, on the map and in AI answers, and what is missing, shown on screen in a video call. You leave with a clear picture, whatever you decide. To go further, our guides and the blog cover every topic on this page, without jargon.
On the blog
Our articles on this topic.
Dental SEO results: how many new patients, and how to measure it
The four numbers that measure dental SEO results, a table showing where to read each one and what it does not tell you, the front desk tracking sheet, and an honest way to count new patients.
Read the article ArticleHow long dental SEO takes: when will your practice show up on Google?
What moves fast, what takes months and what is in no one's hands in a dental practice's SEO, plus the markers to track progress without waiting on a ranking.
Read the article ArticleThe seven mistakes we see on dental practice websites
Seven common mistakes on dental practice websites, each with a one-minute test, what it costs and the fix.
Read the article ArticleRedesigning a dental practice website: the five questions that settle it
Five questions to find out whether to redesign a dental practice website or fix it, with the decision table, the fifteen-minute check and the order of operations if you do redesign.
Read the articleFrequently asked questions
What dentists ask us about this.
How long does SEO take for a dental practice?
Your website and Google Business Profile are in place within the first few weeks. Progress on the map and in AI answers is then measured month after month. The timeline depends on your city and your competition: we give it to you during the diagnostic.
Is SEO allowed for a dentist?
Yes. The code of ethics prohibits advertising, not information. Presenting your practice, your treatments, your background and your fees on your website and your Google Business Profile is allowed. SEO simply makes that information easy to find and easy to understand.
Do I need a new website to rank well?
Not always. We review your current website during the diagnostic. If it is well built, we strengthen it. If it holds back your visibility, we replace it, keeping your web address and everything that already works.
What is the difference between Google SEO and AI search visibility?
Google SEO places your practice in the organic results and on the map. AI search visibility gets your practice cited in the answers of ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity. Both rest on the same foundations, a clear website and consistent information, and we work on both at the same time.
Can a dentist pay to be first on Google?
No. Article R.4127-217 II prohibits dentists from obtaining priority placement, whether by payment or by any other means: the Dental Council specifies “paid or not”. Organic SEO, which is built on information, remains allowed.
Should I display my fees on my website?
Yes. Article R.4127-240 II requires you to inform patients about fees and payment methods, and the ministerial order (arrêté) of May 30, 2018 requires the display of the consultation fee, at least five common procedures and at least five prosthetic or orthodontic procedures. The Dental Council recommends five to ten procedures on the website.
My address is not the same on Doctolib, on Google and in the national health insurance (Assurance maladie) directory: does it matter?
Yes. Google and AI tools compare every source that describes your practice. An address or phone number that differs lowers their confidence, and they would rather cite another practice whose information matches. We list every discrepancy during the diagnostic and we fix them.
How can I tell whether my practice shows up in ChatGPT?
In a private window, ask it the questions a patient would ask about your treatments and your city, several times, and note how often your practice is cited. It is a percentage, not a ranking. The full method is in our French blog article “Does your practice show up in ChatGPT?”.
Should I ask my patients for reviews?
No article of the code of ethics prohibits it, and we say so exactly as it is written. However, in 2025 the Dental Council called for reviews of practitioners to be removed, and the code prohibits citing third-party testimonials in your communication. So we never run review collection, and we help you reply to existing reviews in a neutral way, with full respect for patient confidentiality.
Can I display “website by DeveloppIA” on my site?
No. Article R.4127-225 prohibits any advertising that benefits a third party or a commercial company. The websites we design carry your name only, with no provider signature or logo.
What is local SEO for a dentist?
It is the part of SEO that comes into play when a patient searches with a place in mind: “dentist Lyon 6th arrondissement”, “dental implant near me”. Google then answers with the map and three Google Business Profiles, chosen for relevance, distance and prominence. Local SEO therefore works on your Google Business Profile, on a consistent name, address and phone number everywhere (NAP consistency), and on the website pages that name your city and your treatments.
How much does SEO cost for a dental practice?
It depends on what needs to be built: a website to rebuild or strengthen, a Google Business Profile to rework, the number of treatments and cities to cover. The free diagnostic sets that scope, and you receive a written proposal before making any decision. To see what this work could bring in, our profitability simulator runs the numbers month by month with your own figures.
Do you work with practices in Belgium, Switzerland or Luxembourg?
Yes. Google, the map and AI tools work the same way in all four countries. The ethical rules differ: we write each website within the rules of the practice's own country, for example with no before-and-after photos in Luxembourg, where they are prohibited.
What's next
Let's talk about your practice.
The simplest step is to request your diagnostic: you will see where your practice really stands on Google, on the map and in AI answers, and we walk through it together on a video call.
No commitment.