How to Rank Higher on Google Maps as a Dental Practice

A dental practice ranks higher on Google Maps by matching what patients search, being close to them, and being better known than the practices around it. Google calls these relevance, distance and prominence. In practice that means the right primary category, a complete profile, details that match everywhere, and more real reviews than the practices you want to pass.

If you’re not in the top 3, one of seven things is usually holding you back. This guide shows how to check each one, using what we found in two Texas suburbs.

What do the top practices in Plano and Frisco have in common?

On 11 October 2026 we looked at Google’s local results for “dentist in Plano TX” and “dentist in Frisco TX”: about 170 practices in all. Four things stood out.

• Every practice in both top 10s had at least about 270 reviews. The lowest in Plano had 350, the lowest in Frisco 269. None of the top 20 in either city had fewer than 100.
• Ratings didn’t separate anyone. Most practices had 4.8 to 5.0 stars, and none in either top 10 was below 4.5. A high rating gets you in the room. It doesn’t move you up.
• 18 of the 20 top-10 practices used “Dentist” as their primary category. For a search like “dentist”, the general category wins.
• Reviews alone didn’t decide the order. Frisco’s #1 had 394 reviews, fewer than several practices below it. In Plano, practices with 1,200 to 1,400 reviews sat at #29, #54 and #69.

What that means: reviews are the entry ticket. Among practices that clear the bar, the category, the profile and the distance to the person searching decide the order.

We searched each city by name, so Google measured distance from the city itself. A patient searching “dentist near me” from their home will see a different order. The section on checking your real ranking below shows how to see what they see.

Why isn’t your practice in the Google Maps top 3?

Work down this list. Each one says how to check it and what to do.

1. The wrong primary category. Check: open your Business Profile and look at the first category. Fix: a general or family practice should lead with “Dentist”. A specialist leads with the specialty, such as “Orthodontist”. Add secondary categories, like “Cosmetic dentist” or “Emergency dental service”, only for work you really do.
2. Fewer reviews than the practices above you. Check: search your main term, write down the review count of the top 3, and compare. Fix: ask every patient, the same way, and text the review link the same day. Our guides on asking patients for reviews and getting the review link have the scripts and steps.
3. Your office is farther from where patients search. Check: ask three staff members to search “dentist near me” on their phones from home, in a private window, and note your position. Fix: you can’t move the office, but you can win the neighborhoods closest to you and searches for specific treatments, which depend less on distance. A website page for each main treatment helps with both.
4. A half-filled profile. Check: hours (including holidays), phone, website, booking link, insurance, every treatment with a short description, and recent photos. Fix: fill every field. Our Google Business Profile checklist for dental practices goes through each one.
5. Details that don’t match across the web. Check: your name, address (with suite number) and phone on your website, Yelp, Healthgrades and your insurance networks’ directories. Fix: make every one identical to your Google profile. When they differ, Google is less sure which to trust. ChatGPT and Google’s AI answers check the same details, as our guide on AI search for dental practices explains.
6. A weak website behind the listing. Check: does your site load fast on a phone, show your address, and have a page for each treatment you want more of? Fix: Google reads the website when it ranks the listing. A clear page per treatment, naming your area, is the work local SEO for dental practices does.
7. Duplicate or split listings. Check: search your practice name and address on Google Maps. Look for an old listing from a previous address, or a listing for a dentist who left. Fix: ask Google to merge duplicates or mark them as moved, so reviews and calls stop splitting.

The first time, go through all seven. After that, numbers 2, 4 and 7 are a monthly habit.

How do you check where you really rank?

Your own phone is the worst place to check. Google knows you, and you are standing in your own office. Three better ways:

• Ask staff who live in different directions to search “dentist near me” and your main treatment from home, in a private window, once a month. Note the position each time.
• Search the city by name, as we did above. It shows the general order, not what a nearby patient sees.
• Use a grid tool that checks your position from many points around the office. Several paid tools do this, and it is the most accurate view.

The practice audit searches Google near your office the way a patient would and compares you with the three practices above you.

How long does it take to move up?

Weeks to a few months, not days. A category or profile fix can show within a few weeks. Reviews help a little more each month, so do the sum for your own gap: at five or six new reviews a week, catching up 300 reviews takes about a year. In a small town with a handful of dentists, a practice can climb much faster.

What never works?

• Paying Google for a higher unpaid position. It isn’t possible. Google Ads and Local Services Ads buy paid spots marked as ads, which is a separate thing.
• Adding a city or keyword to your practice name. “Best Dentist Plano” breaks Google’s rules and can get the listing suspended. A suspended listing doesn’t show at all.
• Fake or paid reviews, or asking only happy patients. Both break Google’s policy and can get reviews removed or the profile flagged.
• A virtual office or fake address. Google can suspend the listing.
• Anyone who guarantees the number one spot. No one can.

Where does Studio Smirk sit?

We run the Google Business Profile and the local SEO work behind it for dental practices, in accounts in your name. The practice audit shows where you rank against the three practices above you and which of the seven causes to fix first. It costs nothing and comes by email.