Why the profile outranks the site
When someone searches for a dentist near them, Google shows a map with local results before it shows any websites. Many patients decide inside that panel and never click through to a site at all.
That makes the profile the first impression for a large share of your prospective patients, and it is the asset most practices have never deliberately worked on.
What to fix, in order
Primary category. The single most powerful individual factor. A practice categorised generically rather than as a dentist — or as the wrong dental speciality — is competing with one hand tied.
Claim and verify. Roughly 11% of profiles across all businesses are unclaimed and 36% unverified. An unclaimed profile can be edited by others.
Completeness. Hours, services, attributes, description. Complete profiles receive substantially more engagement than partial ones.
Photos. Recent, real photographs of the practice, team and premises, added regularly rather than once.
Reviews, continuously. Not a one-off push — a steady flow, because recency is what is weighted.
The review point most practices get wrong
Practices often chase a total: 'we want 100 reviews'. Then they hit it, stop asking, and slide as competitors keep collecting.
Because recency now outweighs volume, the practice that asks after every appointment beats the practice that ran one campaign two years ago, even at a lower total. It is a flow, not a target.
Respond to reviews, including negative ones. It signals an active profile and it is visible to every future patient reading them.
Questions
Should my profile category be 'Dentist' or something more specific?
Choose the category that most accurately describes the practice's primary business, then add secondary categories for other services. Accuracy matters more than trying to game the choice.
How many reviews does a dental practice need?
There is no threshold. What matters is having recent reviews arriving continuously, and enough of them to be credible against the practices you compete with locally.
Can I ask patients for reviews?
You can ask, but you cannot incentivise or filter — offering something in exchange, or asking only happy patients, breaches Google's policies and can cost you the reviews.