Dental SEO: what brings in patients, based on data from nine clinics

Greg K.SEO and analytics at Adcore · LinkedIn

Dental SEO rests on three things: a Google listing on the map, a separate page for each service with a price, and articles that answer patients’ questions. That’s what our data from nine Ukrainian clinics shows: almost a third of non-brand clicks come from price searches, and in clinics with a separate blog, articles bring in more than half of all non-brand clicks. Below are the numbers and what to do with them.

What patients search for: data from nine clinics

We took 90 days of Search Console data, from August 6 to November 3, 2026, from nine Ukrainian dental clinics we work or have worked with, and removed queries containing the clinic’s own name. That left 13,788 clicks. We don’t name the clinics, because these are our clients’ numbers.

Query types are assigned by the words in the query, so the split is approximate. Blog: three clinics where articles sit in a separate section. The largest clinic brings more than half of all clicks, so the picture may differ for smaller ones. The sample is small: this is a pattern, not proof.

What follows from this? First, people search for a service, not a clinic: implants, aligners, veneers. Each one needs its own page. Second, price decides: almost a third of clicks come from queries with words like “price” or “how much does it cost.” For one clinic, its price page alone brought 27% of non-brand clicks. Third, most people don’t search for “dentist near me”: a city or district appears in only one click in eight. The map takes part of that demand: calls and directions from it don’t show up in these numbers.

Google Maps and reviews

For queries like “dentist” near you, the map block becomes the main result. What affects it, we cover in detail in our article on Google Business Profile. For dentistry, three details matter.

• Category. The primary category carries the most weight, so choose the most precise one from Google’s list: Dentist or Dental clinic, not something generic. Add Orthodontist or Pediatric dentist only if you really offer that service.
• Doctor and clinic. Google lets a doctor have a separate listing if they see patients in a public-facing role. The doctor’s listing name should contain only their name. This doesn’t apply to receptionists and assistants.
• Reviews. The topic itself is sensitive: don’t confirm someone’s treatment or diagnosis in a reply, and Google’s rules ban discounts for reviews.

How much do reviews matter? There’s little research, and it contradicts itself. In a survey of 1,500 Americans commissioned by the agency IronMonk in 2019, 43% would choose the dentist with the best reviews and 19% the nearest one. In a 2023 survey by the site Dentaly, 52% said they consider only a clinic with at least 10 reviews. Both surveys came from companies that make money on this. The only Ukrainian study we found surveyed 790 patients in Kyiv in 2021: in private clinics the most common reason for choosing was the clinic’s popularity, 56%, but it didn’t ask about the internet.

What kind of service page brings in patients

How many pages should you make? As many as you have distinct services that people search for. Separate pages for each district usually don’t pay off: in our experience, the homepage does well for your own district, while Google treats dozens of similar pages as doorways.

What to write about in a dental blog

Look at what brought the most clicks to our clients’ articles over these 90 days: which dentures are better, stomatitis, the stages of getting an implant, the cost of implants, types of crowns, odontogenic sinusitis, tooth cysts, gum abscesses, bad breath.

The pattern is simple. People search for what’s worrying them right now, or compare options before deciding. Hardly anyone searches for “advantages of our clinic.” Most of these queries don’t overlap with service pages, so an article gives the clinic an entirely new audience, and by the time they’re ready to book, they already know the doctor.

Articles on this topic are judged especially strictly, because they’re about health. The requirements an author and reviewer must meet, we show with numbers in our article on E-E-A-T: it includes a dental blog where daily clicks grew roughly thirtyfold after a full rewrite.

Dental advertising: what to know

SEO builds slowly, while ads bring in inquiries as soon as tomorrow, so clinics usually combine the two. There are a few dental specifics. Google bans “before and after” photos for significant alterations to the body, while on Meta they’re allowed for general cosmetic procedures and people 18 and over. Meta explicitly excludes teeth whitening from age restrictions. Remarketing on Google is limited for health topics, so factor that into your plan. Everything on Ukrainian law and the platforms is in our article on promoting medical websites.

Advice that hurts a dental practice

Here’s what we regularly see in other people’s advice and what you’re better off not doing:

Frequently asked questions about dental marketing

How fast will a dental clinic get patients from search?

The first changes usually show up within a few months, and a noticeable flow of patients closer to six months. A Google listing can bring calls sooner, because there’s less work involved.

Which is better: SEO or advertising?

Ads are faster, but the inquiries stop when the budget does. SEO is slower, but it compounds. Clinics usually start with both and cut the share of ads as search grows.

Does a dental clinic need a blog?

Yes, if it’s backed by doctors rather than rewritten copy. For a small clinic, a few strong articles about what people most often come to you with are enough.

Which dental service should be promoted first?

The one that’s profitable for you and has demand: usually implants, braces or aligners. Work out how much you make per patient and how many people in your city search for it.

Is it worth making a separate listing for each doctor?

Only for doctors who see patients in a public-facing role and want to build their own following. A doctor’s listing and the clinic’s listing compete with each other, so don’t rush to create them for everyone.

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