Winning clients online
How to get customers for dental practices in United States
Industry card · United States ·
1 · What your customers need
Where the demand is and where the opportunity is
Each circle is a buyer need. Further right, more searches; higher up, harder to rank. Size shows what the client is worth.
- Take now: high value, little competition
- Contest: high value, more competition
- Later: low or medium value
| N1Find a dentist I can trust near me | Patient | Very high | Medium | 89 % | Very high |
| N2Find a dentist for my child | Patient | Very high | High | 68 % | Very high |
| N3Get emergency dental care today | Patient | Very high | Medium | 78 % | High |
| N4Straighten my teeth with braces or clear aligners | Patient | High | Medium | 49 % | Very high |
| N5Have a tooth or wisdom teeth removed | Patient | High | Low | 45 % | High |
| N6Treat gum disease and receding gums | Patient | High | Low | 23 % | High |
| N7Improve my smile with veneers | Patient | High | Low | 17 % | Medium |
| N8Replace missing teeth with dental implants | Patient | Medium | Low | 22 % | High |
| N9Whiten my teeth at the dentist | Patient | Medium | Medium | 23 % | Medium |
| N10Pay for dental care I can afford | Patient | Medium | Medium | 75 % | Medium |
| N11Get dentures or partial dentures | Patient | Medium | High | 8 % | Medium |
| N12Restore a tooth with a crown or bridge | Patient | Low | High | 6 % | Low |
| N13Save a tooth with a root canal | Patient | Low | Low | 60 % | Low |
| N14Get a dental cleaning and checkup | Patient | Low | Low | 33 % | Low |
| N15Get dental care despite my fear of the dentist | Patient | Low | Low | 62 % | Low |
2 · What they ask
The questions your customers ask Google
- What is a red flag for a dentist?
- Is $2000 a lot for a root canal?
- How to go to the dentist if you can't afford it?
- Can I just pull a tooth instead of a root canal?
- How much is a normal dentist visit out of pocket?
- Will a dentist pull a 4 year old's tooth?
- Can a dentist pull a rotten, broken tooth?
- Is DMD or DDS more prestigious?
- What to say to schedule a dentist appointment?
3 · What buyers want to hear
What your buyers want to know and nobody tells them
We asked ChatGPT and Gemini what a buyer should check before choosing a business in this sector, then read what the first Google results say. What the AI explains and nobody tells them is your opportunity.
That they are ADA and American certified
32%of AI answers mention it
0%of Google results mention it
Nobody mentions itThat they treat gum disease
27%of AI answers mention it
4%of Google results mention it
Some roomThat they handle root canals
19%of AI answers mention it
7%of Google results mention it
Some room
- That they are ADA and American certified32 points freeSome room
- That they treat gum disease23 points freeSome room
- That they handle root canals12Some room
- That they do implants and crowns12Some room
- What the deep cleaning includesLittle room
- How much it costs without insuranceLittle room
- Mentioned in the first Google results
- Mentioned by ChatGPT and Gemini
- Room to stand out
Measured in November 2026 on 15 buyer needs: 136 ChatGPT and Gemini answers to 75 buyer questions, and the titles and descriptions of 4,030 first-page Google results across 472 searches. A percentage is the share of those answers, or of those results, that mention the topic at least once.
4 · Who wins today
Who takes the clicks, by type of business
Example: the sector's 15 needs. Estimated share of clicks on Google’s first page.
- Big platforms and chains
- Businesses in the sector
The business in the sector with the most clicks takes 4 % of the total.
5 · Who gets recommended
Whom Google and ChatGPT cite
The sources ChatGPT, Gemini and Google’s AI answer cite when they answer this sector’s customers’ questions, and how often.
ChatGPT
- ada.org25 citations
- my.clevelandclinic.org11 citations
- healthline.com7 citations
- adanews.ada.org5 citations
- nhs.uk3 citations
- aapd.org3 citations
Gemini
- realdentalcosts.com8 citations
- mouthhealthy.org5 citations
- urgentcaredental.co.uk5 citations
- drcaryganz.com5 citations
- carecredit.com5 citations
- tracycentraldental.com3 citations
Google (AI Overview)
- youtube.com93 citations
- my.clevelandclinic.org56 citations
- deltadental.com31 citations
- aspendental.com30 citations
- carecredit.com29 citations
- mayoclinic.org23 citations
Summary
Key conclusions
In the United States, buyers search most often for a dentist they can trust nearby, a dentist for their child, same-day emergency care, and straightening their teeth with braces or clear aligners. Wisdom teeth and extractions, gum disease, veneers and dental implants follow, each with more than 500,000 searches a month. Common questions include what a red flag for a dentist is and whether $2,000 is a lot for a root canal. AI answers name ADA membership or certification (32 %) and gum disease treatment (27 %) far more often than the first Google results of dental practices (0 % and 4 %).
Classification
Which businesses this card covers
Dental offices that win new patients for checkups, emergencies, implants, aligners and cosmetic work. Their buyer is a patient or parent choosing a dentist nearby, often comparing cost, insurance and reviews.
Activity codes · NAICS 2022
- 621210
- · main
Do Google and ChatGPT recommend you?
Epica asks the way your customers do, finds out who gets recommended instead of you and tells you what to change.