Google Business Profile services for dentists: what to list
The services section tells Google and patients what your practice actually does. Here is how to fill it in properly, with a structure that suits a dental practice and the rules your descriptions need to follow.
Practice Radar shows a dental practice where it ranks against every practice nearby, and does the work to move up.
Thirty days free. No card, and nothing starts automatically when it ends.
Google Business Profile services are the list of treatments you add to your practice's profile, each with an optional price and description. Patients see them on your profile in Google Maps, and Google can highlight a matching service when someone searches for it. This guide covers Google Business Profile services for dentists: how to add and edit them, a sensible way to structure a dental services list, what to write in each description, and the professional rules that apply to anything you publish there.
What the services section does
Google describes services as a way for businesses in certain categories to showcase their offerings. It says that on the Google Maps app customers can view your full menu under Services, and that a service may be highlighted on your profile when it matches what someone searched for.
Google's local ranking page says results are mainly based on relevance, distance and popularity, and defines relevance as "how well a Business Profile matches what someone is searching for". A complete, accurate services list is part of telling Google what you do. It is not a shortcut to ranking for a treatment you barely offer, and it works best when each service matches a page on your website.
See this for your own town.
Every practice competing with yours on one map, sized by the share of local search each one holds, re-checked every week. The sample town shows the whole thing now, with no sign-up.
Run on our own practice first: ninth of the 14 practices measured in its town in May, first of 18 in September, on UK-wide search value. Page-one keywords: 6 in May, 194 in September.
Thirty days free. No card, and nothing starts automatically when it ends.
How to add services to your Google Business Profile
- Go to your Business Profile while signed in as an owner or manager.
- Select Edit services.
- Choose from the services Google suggests for your category, or add a custom service if yours is not listed.
- Select a service to add a price and a description.
- Services are grouped under your business categories. Google lets you add a business category from Edit services, so only add one that genuinely describes the practice.
- Select Save.
Edits are reviewed before they appear. Google says edits usually take up to 10 minutes to review, but sometimes up to 30 days. Google also says custom services that break its policies are rejected automatically.
Rules for service names
Google asks you to avoid profanity, gibberish, personal information, prices or phone numbers in custom service names. Put the price in the price field, not the name. Use the plain words patients use, such as "Dental implants" rather than a brand name or internal term.
A Google Business Profile services list for a dental practice
List only what you genuinely offer at that site. A group should tailor each location's list rather than copying one list to every profile. The groups below are a way to plan the list. On the profile itself, services sit under whichever business categories you hold, so the headings patients see depend on those categories. Be careful with categories such as Orthodontist or Periodontist, which could be read as a specialist title the GDC reserves for dentists on its specialist lists.
| Group | Example services |
|---|---|
| General dentistry | Dental check-up, fillings, extractions, root canal treatment, crowns, bridges, dentures |
| Hygiene and prevention | Hygienist appointment, scale and polish, gum disease treatment, children's fluoride varnish |
| Urgent care | Emergency dental appointment, toothache appointment |
| Cosmetic dentistry | Teeth whitening, composite bonding, veneers |
| Orthodontics | Clear aligners, fixed braces |
| Tooth replacement | Dental implants, implant-retained dentures |
| Patient groups | Children's dentistry, nervous patients, sedation |
If you provide NHS care, say so clearly and keep it accurate, including whether you are currently taking on new NHS patients. A patient who reads "NHS dentistry" on your profile and is then told you have no availability is unlikely to trust the rest of it.
What to write in each service description
A good description answers the questions a patient has before they call. Keep it factual and specific to your practice.
- What it is, in one plain sentence.
- Who provides it, such as a named dentist, hygienist or therapist, without implying specialist status they do not have.
- How it starts, usually with a consultation or assessment.
- Practical details, such as NHS or private, evening availability, or whether payment plans are offered.
An example for composite bonding might read: "Tooth-coloured composite used to repair chips or reshape teeth. Treatment starts with an assessment with one of our dentists to check it is suitable for you. Private treatment." That is accurate, sets expectations and makes no promise about results.
The GDC and ASA rules for services and prices
Your services list is marketing in space you control, so the professional and advertising rules apply.
- The CAP Code applies. The ASA's remit covers marketing by a business on its own website and in other non-paid-for space online under its control.
- Leave out prescription-only medicines. The ASA says products such as Botox are prescription-only and cannot be advertised to the public. Do not list them by name as a service.
- No specialist titles you do not hold. The GDC's guidance on advertising says a dentist not on a GDC specialist list must not use titles that imply specialist status, such as Orthodontist, Periodontist or Endodontist.
- No unjustified expectations. The same guidance asks you to avoid claims likely to create an unjustified expectation about results, and to back up claims with facts.
- Prices that hold up. If you add a price, make it the price patients are actually offered. If you use a starting price, it should be genuinely available to a fair share of patients, not a rare exception.
- NHS charges. If you list NHS treatment with a price, use the current band charges published on the NHS website and update them when they change.
Make services match your website
Each main service on your profile should have a matching page on your website that explains it properly. That helps patients who click through, and it gives Google a consistent picture of what the practice does. If you list implants on your profile but your website barely mentions them, the profile is making a claim the rest of your presence does not support.
Our guide to SEO for dental practices covers treatment pages in more detail. Practice Radar's Growth plan also shows the searches nearby practices win that you do not, which is a practical way to decide which services deserve a better page first.
How do I go to Google Business Profile Manager?
For a single practice, sign in to the Google account that manages the profile and go to your profile on Google Search or in the Google Maps app, then select Edit profile, as Google sets out on its edit your Business Profile page. Groups with several sites can use Business Profile Manager at business.google.com to manage profiles in bulk.
Who has access to my Google Business Profile?
Go to your profile, select More, then Business Profile settings, then People and access. That lists every owner and manager. Google says owners have full control, while managers have mostly the same access but cannot add or remove users or remove the profile. Remove anyone who has left the practice.
Can anyone make a Google Business Profile?
Not for a business they do not own or represent. Google says only business owners or authorised representatives may verify and manage a profile, and that third parties must never claim a profile without the owner's express consent. If an agency set up your profile, it should transfer ownership to you on request.
Can I have two business profiles on Google?
Not for the same location. Google says you can have only one Business Profile for each business, and that multiple profiles for the same business are against its policies. A group with several sites should have one profile per site. Individual dentists can have their own practitioner profiles under Google's guidelines for representing your business, which name dentists as individual practitioners and set rules for how those profiles are named.
Can I delete a Google Business Profile and start over?
It rarely helps. Google says removing your ownership and content does not guarantee the business won't show up on Maps and Search, and creating a new profile alongside it would be a duplicate. If the services or other details are wrong, edit them. If the profile is suspended, appeal it rather than starting again.
A quarterly services check
- Compare the services list with what each clinician actually provides now.
- Remove anything you have stopped offering.
- Update prices and NHS status.
- Check every description against the GDC and ASA points above.
- Make sure each main service has a matching, current page on your website.
The services list takes an hour to do well, and it is one of the few parts of the profile where you can say exactly what the practice offers in your own words. For the rest of the profile, see our guide to local SEO for dentists.
See the searches rivals win
Practice Radar's Growth plan shows the treatment searches nearby practices win and you do not, with page briefs for the gaps worth closing.
Run on our own practice first: ninth of the 14 practices measured in its town in May, first of 18 in September, on UK-wide search value. Page-one keywords: 6 in May, 194 in September.
Thirty days free. No card, and nothing starts automatically when it ends.