If you’re looking for technical deep-dives about backlinks and metadata, this isn’t for you. Rather, this is about the quick, high-impact changes you can start making today as a practice owner to rank higher on Google Maps.

This is the immediate playbook that I tell my clients right off the bat. I’m gonna try to dump as much actionable insight as possible while keeping things practical and implementable.

Understanding Local SEO Rankings

Just to get this out of the way, local SEO determines your ranking in the Google Places box, which ranks based on an algorithmic cocktail of the user’s location, relevance, and trust signals.

Local SEO is not to be confused with regular SEO, which is national or even worldwide. With local SEO, the goal is simple: drop as many signals as possible that prove you’re relevant and trustworthy for people searching nearby.

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The Google ‘Places’ page, which ranking order is impacted by local SEO

Google Business Profile: The Foundation

We’ll start with the Google Business Profile, because this is where most practices leave easy wins on the table.

Full profile completion is non-negotiable. Fill out every single available section in detail to communicate relevancy to Google’s algorithm. For your practice’s description, weave primary keywords and locations into your business description naturally. For example, creatively using phrases like “root canal in Seattle” if you offer root canals in Seattle. Notice how this is an exact match to what prospecting patients may be searching. Avoid keyword stuffing, though. This is the overwhelmingly obvious use of keywords with the intent of gaming SEO algorithms. Google is smart enough to penalize this now.

Google Business Profile Posts

Most people don’t even know that you can post on your Google Business Profile, but posts matter more than you think. We know firsthand from Google that businesses that make quality posts on their platform see more reach. The posts are less for you and more to show the algorithm that you’re legit, engaged, and making an effort.

I often speak to practice owners who don’t have time to sit down and write every week, which is why I recommend using AI (I like Claude 4.5 by Anthropic). You write several posts yourself, and then train Claude on your writing style. Anecdotally, Claude can replicate my writing style with roughly 90% accuracy. Aim for one post per week as a good rule of thumb.

Leveraging the Products Section

You don’t sell “products”, I know. And I know I said I wouldn’t talk about websites, but hear me out. Google will not guess which searches are right to show you for. Google depends on you communicating that clearly to them. The products section on your Google Business profile is a great way to make it abundantly clear to Google exactly what you offer.

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Example of the “Products” Section on a Dentist’s Google Business Profile

Here’s how it works: List several services as “Products” on your profile (whitening, root canal, cleaning, etc). Extra points if when someone clicks on a “product”, it leads to a dedicated webpage for that procedure. This gives Google more reasons to categorize you as relevant to more searches. It’s a simple linking strategy that most practices completely ignore.

The Review Strategy: Frequency Beats Quantity

Google prioritizes both a high number of reviews and a consistent inflow of new reviews. In fact, the review frequency outweighs the impact of the total quantity.

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Example of a practice with fewer reviews ranking higher

I was just speaking to a dentist in Huntington Beach the other week who stopped pushing for reviews because he had collected about 100 and figured that was enough to look legit. Wrong. Google wants to see that you’re actively earning trust on an ongoing basis, not just that you earned it once, years ago.

Implementing a Review System

One of the best ways to get new reviews is by training and even incentivizing your team to push for new reviews. However, another strategy I really like is having high-quality business cards printed out with a QR code and a short sentimental message explaining how positive reviews go a really long way. You can drop these in the sample bags with some free toothpaste on the way out the door.

You can also implement a review generation system to automatically request reviews from patients after appointments via text and email follow-ups. Some CRMs include this functionality, but this is something I offer as well.

The Keyword-Rich Review Approach

A little bonus review tip: Push for reviews that mention your primary keywords and location. For example, “…the best dentist in Seattle…” However, this can obviously be a little awkward to request, so do with that information as you will.

If you’re interested in a no-strings-attached marketing audit, schedule a meeting with me at foreseengrowth.com

Your Practice’s Name Matters, Too

One uncommon but real method to gain more reach is to include your city in the name of your business for exact match results. For example, if you own a practice called “Smile Dentist,” rename it to “Smile Dentist Seattle” as you’ll technically be more relevant to anyone searching “Dentist Seattle”. This, however, has some caveats. If your business name on Google doesn’t accurately represent what your business is in real life, you could end up shadow-banned or suspended.

Fortunately, there’s a way around this. You can file for a DBA name in your state that includes your city name, which then makes this strategy 100% compliant. In other words, this is a fully acceptable way to list on Google while getting more organic reach.

While it may not be feasible for you to just wake up one day and change your business name, it’s something worth considering especially if you’re a new practice.

Final Thoughts

To sum this up simply: In order for Google to rank you higher, you need to drop as many cues as possible that prove you’re relevant and trustworthy. This article was meant to be more of a quick, actionable checklist rather than an exhaustive technical guide. The technical deep-dive is a rabbithole of its own, but these changes alone will move the needle for most practices.

I can’t possibly deep-dive the nuance required for every practice in an article like this, but hopefully this gives you some insight. If you’re interested in a no-strings-attached marketing audit (incl. reality check for both organic reach and paid ads), schedule a meeting with me at foreseengrowth.com