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The Only Online Marketing Blog for Dentists You'll Need
Do you want your practice to be more successful? To be seen as 'The' best in your area? Sure you do. But you'll never get there if people don't know how to find you. Sound familiar? We can help you be found.
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Local SEO Guide for Dentists: What Works in 2026 and What Doesn’t

Local SEO Guide for Dentists: What Works in 2026 and What Doesn’t

2/5/2026 3:11:53 PM   |   Comments: 0   |   Views: 39
Have you already worked with a marketing company on your online presence and SEO, but local results still feel weak?
 

You’ve updated your website. You’ve claimed your Google Business Profile. You may even see impressions going up. Yet you don’t show up consistently in local searches. Nearby competitors appear above you. Calls and bookings don’t match the visibility reports you’re seeing.

Research from BrightLocal shows that about 46% of Google searches have local intent. When your practice misses local visibility, you’re not missing traffic. You’re missing nearby patients who’re ready to act.

We see this pattern often. Practices do the right things, but in the wrong order, or without first fixing the local signals that matter most.

This post breaks down local SEO for dentists, but here’s what you should know right now. Local SEO stops working when key local signals fall out of sync, and no one brings them back into alignment.

A question we hear all the time is:

Why is my dental practice not ranking locally even though we already did SEO?

The answer is usually pretty straightforward. 

Local rankings stall when Google sees mixed signals about trust, relevance, and activity. If those signals don’t align, visibility drops even if the basics look done. That matters because Google data shows that about 76% of local mobile searches lead to a visit within a day.

Here's a quick checklist to diagnose the problem:

-----Inconsistent name, address, and phone details across directory listings
-----Weak location focus on your main pages
-----Slow, minimal, or non-existent review growth
-----Incorrect Google Business categories
-----Missing "proof" (before/after, office photos, staff, etc)
-----Entity confusion
-----OR: it may be ranking for terms or phrases you aren't aware of, and your tracking is to blame.

Continue reading about the Local SEO Guide for Dentists: What Works in 2026 and What Doesn’t

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