Google Maps ranking factors for dentists: what actually counts
Google publishes the three things that decide who appears on the map, and it is clear that nobody can pay for a better place. Here is what each one means for a dental practice and which parts you can change.
Practice Radar shows a dental practice where it ranks against every practice nearby, and does the work to move up.
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Google Maps ranking factors for dentists come down to three things Google names itself: relevance, distance and popularity (Google still heads that section Prominence). Relevance is how well your profile matches the search, distance is how far you are from the person searching, and prominence is how well known your practice is, which includes reviews and links from other websites. This guide explains what each means for a dental practice, what Google's rules forbid, how to rank higher on Google Maps without risking your profile, and how to check where you really stand.
What Google says decides Maps rankings
Google's help page on improving your local ranking says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and popularity, and it explains the third under the heading prominence. It defines them like this:
- Relevance "is how well a Business Profile matches what someone is searching for."
- Distance "refers to how far each business is from the customer who's searching."
- Prominence "means how well-known a business is", and Google adds that it is based on information "like how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have."
Two more statements on the same page matter. "There's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google." And "more reviews and positive ratings can help your business's local ranking." Anyone who promises a guaranteed map position, or says Google Ads spend lifts your map ranking, is contradicting Google.
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.
Relevance: telling Google what you do
Relevance is the factor most practices underuse. Google says that to help it match your profile to relevant searches you should "provide complete and detailed business info". For a dental practice, that means:
- Categories. Google's guidelines say to use as few categories as possible, choose ones that are as specific as possible, and pick categories that complete the sentence "this business IS a", not "this business HAS a". Do not add categories just as keywords.
- Services. List the treatments you provide on your profile, in the words patients use.
- Your website. A treatment mentioned only in a list on one page is a weak signal. A page of its own that answers patients' questions is a strong one.
- Accurate details. Google says businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to show in local results, including hours and special opening hours.
Distance: the factor you cannot move
Distance is measured from the person searching, not from the town centre. Google says that if someone does not share their location, it "uses what it knows about their location". This is why your map ranking is not one number. Search from outside your front door and you may be first. Search from an estate two miles away and you may not appear.
You cannot move the building, but you can understand the shape of your visibility. Our guide to Google Maps visibility and rank grids explains how to see where in your catchment you show and where you do not.
Prominence: reviews, links and reputation
Prominence is where practices compete most visibly, and reviews are the part everyone can see. Our study of 1,489 UK places recorded the three practices in the local pack for "dentist" plus each place name. The typical review count needed depends heavily on how many practices compete:
| Practices competing in the town | Median reviews of a pack holder |
|---|---|
| 5 or fewer | 70 |
| 6 to 8 | 108 |
| 9 to 11 | 188 |
| 12 or more | 249 |
Across all places the median was 113 reviews, but one pack holder in ten had 12 or fewer. Reviews matter, and they are not a wall. The median star rating was 4.8, so a high rating is normal rather than a differentiator. Our guide to working out your review target shows how to apply this to your own town.
Links are the other half of prominence that Google names. A link from a local organisation, a community group you sponsor, a local news story or a professional body tells Google that real people know about your practice. Aim for genuine local links that real people might follow, rather than bulk directory entries nobody visits.
What Google's guidelines forbid
Some tactics may appear to work for a while but break Google's guidelines for representing your business, and Google says it can suspend profiles that violate them.
- Keywords in the business name. Your name must reflect your real-world name, as used on your signage, website and stationery. Google lists service descriptors and location details added to a name as not allowed. "Example Dental Practice" is fine. "Example Dental Practice Implants Invisalign Emergency Dentist Townname" is not, unless that is genuinely your name.
- Addresses you do not trade from. Google says an address you rent but do not operate from, a virtual office, is not eligible for a Business Profile.
- Call centre numbers. Google asks for a local number that connects to the individual location where possible.
- Fake or incentivised reviews. Google's fake engagement policy bans paying for reviews in any form, offering incentives, and selectively asking only happy patients.
Individual dentists can have their own profiles. Google's guidelines treat dentists as individual practitioners, who must be contactable at the verified location during stated hours, and suggest the format "[brand]: [practitioner name]" for a solo practitioner at a branded location. Think carefully before creating these, because each practitioner profile can appear in results alongside the practice's own.
When a rival breaks the rules
If a nearby practice has stuffed its name with keywords or uses a fake address, you can report it. Google Maps lets anyone report misleading business information through Suggest an edit, and for misleading names, phone numbers or website addresses it points to its Business Redressal Complaint form. The same page has a route to report a business incentivising reviews. Report what you can show with evidence, such as a name that does not match the practice's signage.
How to rank higher on Google Maps: a checklist for dentists
- Verify your profile. Google says verification makes a business more likely to show up in search results.
- Choose the right primary category and only a few additional ones that genuinely describe what the practice is.
- Complete every relevant field: services, hours, special hours for bank holidays and closures, attributes such as accessibility, and a description.
- Add real photos of the building, reception, surgeries and team, and keep them current.
- Ask every suitable patient for a review, steadily, and reply to every review. Google says replies show you value feedback and that positive reviews and helpful replies help a business stand out.
- Give each main treatment its own page on your website, and link your profile to the most relevant page.
- Keep your name, address and phone number identical everywhere they appear online.
- Earn local links from organisations, events and press in your area.
- Check the map pin sits on your entrance, not the middle of the street.
How to check your Google Maps ranking
A single search from your own phone is a poor guide, because the answer depends on exactly where you are standing when you search. Better options:
- Your profile's search terms. Google's performance report lists the searches your profile appeared for, updated monthly.
- A rank tracker or map rank checker that checks your main searches from a grid of points across your catchment rather than one spot.
- The same searches at the same time each month, so you compare like with like.
Practice Radar was built for this. 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.
Is local SEO still worth it with AI search?
Yes, on Google's own account. Its guide to optimising for generative AI features says AI responses can include information about local businesses, and that Google Business Profiles can help businesses be visible in both AI responses and other search results. It also says SEO best practices remain relevant to appearing in those features. The work that improves your map ranking, complete profile information, genuine reviews and clear treatment pages, is the same work Google describes for appearing in its AI features when patients ask for a dentist. Our guide to local SEO for dentists goes further on the map pack itself.
See your map ranking street by street
One search from your desk shows one point on the map. Practice Radar's map pack watch and, on Growth, a rank grid check your main searches across your catchment, re-checked every week.
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.