Orkkid · Free resource · 2026
The Dental AEO / GEO Checklist
Everything a dental practice needs to get recommended by ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews, starting from zero. Work top to bottom. Each phase builds on the last.
How to use this
Tick items as you go. Your progress lives in this tab only, so print to PDF (or use the button at the bottom) when you want a copy you can keep. Tags: SEO helps Google rankings, GEO helps AI citations, Both does both. One caution up front: dental practices advertise under AHPRA's advertising guidelines. Nothing here is legal advice; when in doubt about a claim or testimonial, check the guidelines or ask your professional association.
1
Fix the entity first AI models recommend practices they can identify without ambiguity. If your practice name, address and practitioners differ across the web, you lose before you start.
Week 1
Lock one practice name and use it everywhereBoth
Same spelling, same suffix on your site, Google Business Profile, socials, health directories and invoices. "Smile Dental" vs "Smile Dental Care" reads as two different entities to a machine.
Choose a domain that matches the practice nameBoth
Skip keyword domains like cheapdentistsydney.com. AI engines treat those as spam signals.
Write a one-paragraph entity statementGEO
Who you are, treatments offered, suburbs served, practitioners and their registrations, year founded. This exact paragraph goes in your About page, GBP description, LinkedIn and every directory.
Publish practitioner names, qualifications and AHPRA registration publiclyBoth
Named dentists with real credentials on a team page. AI answers lean on "who" signals, and health queries get held to a higher trust bar than any other category.
Set up Google Business Profile with the primary category "Dentist" or "Dental clinic"Both
Add secondary categories only if you genuinely offer them: Cosmetic dentist, Orthodontist, Emergency dental service, Pediatric dentist.
Create matching profiles on Bing Places, Apple Business Connect and LinkedInGEO
ChatGPT pulls heavily from Bing. Ignoring it is the most common practice-marketing mistake.
Get listed on the health platforms AI actually readsGEO
Health booking and review platforms (e.g. HealthEngine, HotDoc), your association member directory, and general review platforms. Identical name, address and phone on each.
2
Make the site machine-readable A site AI crawlers cannot read cannot be cited. Do this before writing a single blog post.
Week 1–2
Allow AI crawlers in robots.txtGEO
GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, Google-Extended, Bingbot. Check your host or CDN isn't blocking them at the firewall level.
Publish an llms.txt fileGEO
Plain markdown at /llms.txt: what you do, service areas, links to your key pages, contact details.
Serve content as real HTML, not client-side rendered JSBoth
Most AI crawlers do not execute JavaScript. View source: if your text isn't there, they can't see it.
Add Dentist / LocalBusiness schema with sameAs linksBoth
Schema.org has a dedicated Dentist type. Point sameAs to every profile from Phase 1 so engines connect the dots between your properties.
Add FAQPage schema to treatment and suburb pagesBoth
Validate in Google's Rich Results Test. Broken schema is worse than no schema.
Pass Core Web Vitals on mobileSEO
LCP under 2.5s, CLS under 0.1, INP under 200ms. Practice sites die on giant uncompressed hero images and heavy booking widgets.
Use one clean H1, logical H2/H3 hierarchy, and descriptive URLsBoth
/dental-implants-parramatta beats /services/page-3.
Add a visible "last updated" date on every content pageGEO
Fees, health fund arrangements and government schemes change. Freshness signals decide which page gets cited.
Submit XML sitemap to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster ToolsBoth
Bing indexing is the direct feed into ChatGPT search.
3
Build the core pages Every page answers one question in the first two sentences, then earns the rest of the scroll.
Week 2–4
One page per treatment: check-ups, emergency dental, implants, crowns, Invisalign/orthodontics, whitening, kids' dentistryBoth
Only the treatments you actually provide. Thin pages for services you don't offer hurt trust.
One page per suburb you draw patients from, with genuinely local contentBoth
Parking, public transport, which health funds locals hold, real landmarks. Swapping the suburb name is not local content.
Open every page with a direct 40–60 word answerGEO
"A dental check-up and clean in Parramatta typically costs $X–$Y, takes 45 minutes, and is covered by most health fund extras." That block is what gets lifted into AI answers.
Publish honest fee ranges for common treatmentsGEO
Vague "contact us" pages never get cited for cost queries, which are the highest-intent dental searches. Keep fee claims accurate and not misleading, per AHPRA guidance.
State health funds, payment plans, and government schemes you acceptBoth
"Dentist that accepts [scheme] near me" and CDBS (Child Dental Benefits Schedule) questions are real, high-intent queries.
Add a 6–10 question FAQ to each treatment and suburb pageBoth
Pull questions from front-desk calls, not from a keyword tool. Mark up with FAQPage schema.
Write the About page as a proof pageGEO
Named practitioners, qualifications, registrations, years practising, association memberships, real team photos. AI engines rank "who" signals above marketing copy, and health content most of all.
Keep testimonials AHPRA-safeBoth
Testimonials about clinical care can't be used in advertising under the national law. Reviews living on Google are fine; republishing clinical praise on your site is where practices get caught. When unsure, leave it off.
4
Own the dental questions AI engines cite the page that answers the question most completely and most plainly. Cover the full patient journey.
Month 2–3
Cost guides: "How much does a crown / implant / check-up cost in [city] in 2026"Both
Honest ranges per treatment, updated regularly, with the update date visible. Cost questions are the biggest unanswered dental queries online.
Emergency pages: toothache, knocked-out tooth, broken crown, weekend dentistBoth
Emergency searches are the highest-intent dental traffic there is. Answer what to do first, then when to come in.
Scheme and funding guides: CDBS, health fund extras, payment plansBoth
Link to the official government source for each scheme. Set a calendar reminder to update when policy changes.
Comparison guides: Invisalign vs braces, implant vs bridge, veneers vs whiteningGEO
Honest comparisons including options you don't sell. AI engines reward balanced sources, and comparison questions dominate treatment research.
Anxiety and first-visit content: "what happens at a check-up", sedation options, needle-phobiaBoth
A huge share of patients delay care from fear. The practice that answers this calmly and plainly earns both the citation and the booking.
"Best dentists in [suburb/city]" style content that includes other practicesGEO
Counter-intuitive and it works: you become the source AI reads to answer that exact question. Keep every claim factual and verifiable.
Problem pages: bleeding gums, sensitive teeth, wisdom tooth pain, bad breathBoth
Symptom searches happen at 11pm. Answer the symptom, state when it needs professional care, and the booking follows.
Add an original statistic to every guide where you canGEO
Average appointment length, most common treatment by age group in your practice, no-gap check-up share. Unique data is the single best citation magnet. Keep it accurate and non-identifying.
Cite your sources with outbound linksGEO
Government health sites, the ADA, peer-reviewed sources. Pages that cite get cited, and health content is judged hardest on this.
5
Earn mentions off-site AI models learn who to trust from what other sites say about you. Your own site is only half the picture.
Month 2 onward
Build a steady weekly flow of Google reviews with an AHPRA-safe processBoth
Ask at checkout with a QR code, uniformly, never selectively. Reply to every review without discussing clinical details. Steady recency beats a one-off push.
Collect reviews on the health platforms patients actually checkGEO
Booking platforms with review layers plus general review sites. AI engines cross-reference platforms before recommending a health provider.
Be present in local community groups under the practice's real nameGEO
Local Facebook groups and neighbourhood forums shape "who do you recommend" sentiment that AI engines pick up. Help first, never pitch, and never discuss individual care publicly.
Publish on YouTube: practice tours, "what happens at your first visit", hygiene how-tosGEO
Gemini and AI Overviews cite video transcripts. Title videos as questions. Comfort-focused content converts anxious patients.
Get listed in your professional association's find-a-dentist directoryBoth
Association and professional-body listings are high-authority, entity-confirming links that health answers lean on.
Pitch local media with genuinely useful oral-health anglesGEO
School-holiday CDBS reminders, mouthguard season, sugary-drink pieces. A named local dentist quoted in local news is a powerful trust signal.
Join local chambers, sports clubs and school communities the practice already supportsBoth
Sponsorships you already do probably earn zero links or mentions. Ask for the listing.
Add named practitioner authorship with Person schema on all guidesGEO
A named, registered dentist as author beats "Admin" every time, and health content is held to the highest authorship bar.
6
Measure and repeat You cannot improve citations you don't track. Set this up once, check it monthly.
Monthly
Write your 20-prompt test listGEO
The exact questions a buyer in your area would ask an AI. Examples below.
Run the list monthly across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI ModeGEO
Log whether you're mentioned, which page is cited, and which competitors appear instead.
Segment AI referral traffic in GA4GEO
Filter by referrer: chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai, gemini.google.com, copilot.microsoft.com, claude.ai.
Check server logs for AI crawler hitsGEO
If GPTBot never visits, nothing else on this list matters.
Ask "How did you hear about us?" with an AI option at every new-patient intakeGEO
Most AI-driven patients arrive as branded searches. Only the intake question tells you the truth.
Refresh fee and scheme pages every quarterBoth
Update the numbers, bump the date, resubmit in Search Console and Bing.
Review the gaps: which prompts cite competitors, and what does their page have that yours lacks?GEO
Usually it's a price, a table or a named person. Add it and re-test next month.
Starter test prompts
Swap in your suburb and city. Run them logged out, in a fresh session, once a month.
Who is the best dentist in [suburb]?
Emergency dentist open now in [city]
How much does a dental crown cost in [city] in 2026?
Which dentist near [suburb] has the best reviews?
Dentist in [city] that offers payment plans
Kids' dentist that bulk bills CDBS in [city]
Invisalign providers in [suburb], who do you recommend?
I'm terrified of the dentist, who in [city] is good with anxious patients?
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