"Stop Chasing Hacks" - The Biggest Dental Marketing Takeaways from 2025

In this episode of The Dental Marketing Mix, host Dan Brian breaks down the biggest dental marketing takeaways of 2025—and why this year represents one of the most significant shifts we’ve ever seen in how patients find and choose a dentist. Drawing on industry-leading research, including the latest Whitespark Local Search Ranking Factors Report, Dan explains the new rules shaping visibility, trust, and patient acquisition in 2025.

You’ll learn why Google reviews are more influential in SEO and AIO than ever, how Local Services Ads (LSAs) have emerged as the most reliable paid acquisition channel for dental practices, and why PPC is still essential—especially for cosmetic, specialty, and high-value patient demand.

Dan also explores the rising influence of AI search platforms (Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and more) and how your website content now acts as training data for AI systems. Plus, he uncovers one of the most overlooked growth levers in dentistry today: lead handling. With practices losing 30–50% of potential new patients at the front desk, Dan explains how optimizing follow-up, phone performance, and chat-to-text can transform your ROI without spending a dollar more on ads.

Whether you’re a GP, pediatric dentist, or orthodontist, this is a must-listen episode if you want to future-proof your practice, improve your visibility, and convert more new patients.

🔗 Show Notes:
https://www.dentalscapes.com/stop-chasing-hacks-the-biggest-dental-marketing-takeaways-from-2025/ 

📞 Book a Free Strategy Call:
https://DentalScapes.com/start

Tune in, take notes, and get ahead of the curve.

Transcript

0:00

Alright, welcome back to the Dental Marketing Mix. I am Dan Bryan, co-founder of Dentalscapes, and today we are going to unpack the biggest dental marketing takeaways of 2025. Let me start with a question. Does it ever feel like the moment you finally understand what's working in your marketing, Google changes the rules again? You're not imagining it. 2025 has introduced some of the biggest shifts we've seen in how patients find, evaluate, and choose a dentist. So I want to walk you through today the five most important lessons dentist owners need to take from this year, supported by real research, not just my opinion, although I'll share some of that too. Before we dive in, if you're listening, the day before this episode drops, happy early Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving always makes me reflective and it is a perfect moment to look back at what changed this year in dental marketing. And if anything today resonates with you and you want clarity on where your practice stands, please grab a free strategy call at dentalscapes.com. There's no pressure, no gimmicks. Just think of it as a quick post Thanksgiving checkup for your marketing. All right, so let's start with takeaway number one. The foundations of local search still matter, but the weight of each factor has shifted. Each year, White Spark publishes the Local Search Ranking Factors Report, which is an industry benchmark for what Google actually values in local search. My co-founder, Brian, and I actually talked about this in a recent episode, so you can check that one out if you haven't already. Go back, it's a good one. The 2024... slash 2025 edition has highlighted some major changes in what affects visibility, but a lot has stayed the same also. For one, Google Business Profile signals remain the most influential factor in local search visibility. Second, reviews increased in ranking influence. So we're gonna talk about this in a minute. Also, on-page content quality is more important than ever, and if you've been listening to this show for a while, you know I talk about content quality a lot. Citations or directory listings, on the other hand, have dropped to being one of the least impactful factors, although they are still important. Personally, I really think this validates something that we have been saying on this show for years. You can't out hack your way to visibility anymore. You really have to earn it. And that means optimizing your GBP, improving your content, and actually engaging with potential patients online. And that reminds me, if you want to understand where your practice stands in AI powered search, you can grab a free AI visibility audit from us at DentalScapes. Just visit dentalscapes.com slash AIO and we will run the report for you. But let's dive a little deeper into that all-important ranking factor, is reviews, specifically Google reviews. Because takeaway number two is this, Google reviews are yet again one of the most important ranking and conversion factors of 2025. Reviews are not just social proof. They are a core ranking factor. And if I can be so bold, the number one conversion trigger for new patients today. Brightrope. Bright Local's recent local consumer review survey found that 87 % of consumers use Google to evaluate local businesses. And patients trust recent reviews more than old ones. No surprise, right? Review responses directly influence trust and action. And they're also something that Google and other LLMs are using to assess the context and the relevance of your practice. Brian and I talked about that on a past podcast as well. But from where I'm sitting, I can't think of anything in dental marketing that punches above its weight like reviews. And this is good news for most dental practices because you don't need a massive budget. You just need consistency and a simple process. It's one of the reasons why at Dentalscapes we work with every client to develop and stick to a proven workflow for consistently generating five-star Google reviews. But now I want to move to the paid side of things with takeaway number three. Takeaway number three. Local services ads have become the most reliable paid channel for dental practices, although PPC or pay-per-click ads still play a vital role. Local services ads, otherwise known as LSAs, sit above everything on the search engine results page today. They're above PPC ads, the map pack, organic listings, and even most AI overviews on Google. And because they are a pay-per-lead ad product, not pay-per-click, or PPC, they are often the most stable and cost-efficient way to get new patients online. And just to recap, here are a few reasons that Google LSAs worked so well for dental practices. They sit at the very top of Google. You only pay for qualified leads. And the Google Screen badge builds instant trust. They also capture high-intent searchers, folks who are actually looking for a new dentist or dental service. For many practices, this results in cost per patient ranges of $70 to $150, depending on market conditions. And of course, you'll pay more for new patients seeking dental implants and Visalign or other cosmetic treatments. But LSAs aren't the entire strategy. Don't neglect traditional Google PPC. PPC is still essential because it lets you do a number of things. One, target cosmetic intent or niche procedure searches. 2. Customized messaging and landing pages. Three, expand into nearby towns and other communities. And four, promote high value services more specifically. With PPC, you can also scale more effectively when LSAs max out. At Dentalscapes, we often run both LSAs and PPC, adjusting budgets monthly based on actual cost per booked patient. Remember, if your LSA or PPC performance feels muddy, that's exactly the kind of thing we can talk through on a free strategy call. Just visit dentalscapes.com slash start and we can go from there. But I am not here to talk about our agency for the most part. I wanna get into takeaway number four. And that's your content. Your website is now training data for AI search. And thin content is getting punished. AI search, like Google's AI Overviews, Chat GPT, Gemini, Perplexity, et cetera, has fundamentally changed how your website is evaluated and how much visibility your practice has online. And Google's own guidance makes this clear. Content demonstrating experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness is rewarded. We call those EAT principles, or E-E-A-T. For Dennis Dre, this means a few things. Thin, non-localized service pages will not cut it anymore. Also, keyword stuffing doesn't work and, you know, hasn't for a long time. AI generated fluff won't rank. You can use AI for content development, but you human eyes on everything. It's about responsible AI usage. Lastly, you need to hype yourself up and reinforce your experience and credentials. If you want AI driven visibility, need depth, clarity, originality, and a sense of who you are as a clinician. Patients want that, and now AI does too. So we have covered a lot already, but takeaway number five is a big one. Lead handling is now one of the biggest revenue drivers and the biggest point of loss for most dental practices. This is the sleeper trend of 2025, and not enough dentists or marketing agencies are talking about it, quite frankly. But this is the nasty reality. Research from platforms like CallRail and WhatConverts show that practices lose 30 to 50 % of potential patients due to missed calls, slow follow-up, or inconsistent call handling. 30 to 50%. But here is the point I want you to really hear. Two practices can spend the exact same amount on marketing, generate the exact same number of leads, and end up with drastically different results, based solely on their front desk conversion rates. Let me give you an example. We'll keep the math easy. Say your practice gets 100 inquiries in a given month. If your front desk team converts 40 % of those calls, that's 40 new patients. But if your team can convert 70 % of those calls, that's 70 new patients. And that is a huge 75 % increase in revenue with zero additional ad spend. Of then there's other channels like website chat. An increasing percentage of modern patients prefer to chat before they call. Chat can capture things like... After-hours visitors, or people at work who can't talk, or phone-averse patients. Visitors who need quick answers. This is why every DentalScapes marketing program includes Dentow, our chat to text platform. It consistently converts leads your team would otherwise miss. And every chat seamlessly merges into a one-to-one text conversation so potential clients can stay connected to your team wherever they go. Okay, so what does this all mean for your practice as we close out 2025? This is my take. I genuinely believe that 2025 is the year that dental marketing stopped being about specific tactics and became about ecosystems. Everything is now interrelated. Your reviews impact your rankings and ads. Your content shapes AI search. Your GBP drives your map visibility. And your team's call handling determines your actual return on investment or ROI. I know it's a lot. So if you're feeling unsure about where to start or you just want a clearer picture, grab that free strategy call or AI visibility audit at dentalscapes.com slash start. And since this episode lands right before Thanksgiving, let me say how grateful I am to you for listening and supporting this show. If you've enjoyed the dental marketing mix, it would mean so much to me if you left a quick review on Apple podcasts or Spotify. It's the best way to help other dentists discover the show. and supports what we're building. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, enjoy the time with the people you love, and I'll see you in the next episode.