Google reviews for dentists
Google reviews are frequently the deciding factor when a patient chooses between two dental practices, and the rules around them tightened significantly in 2024. Incentivised and fabricated reviews are now a banned commercial practice under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act, with penalties reaching 10% of global turnover.
- How to ask, and when, for the best response rate
- What is now illegal under the DMCC Act 2024
- How to respond without breaching patient confidentiality
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The tiebreaker
Why reviews decide it
In a dense market, review volume and recency are frequently what separates two practices that look otherwise identical. Westminster has 617 dental practices within four miles. A patient is not comparing clinical outcomes, because they cannot. They are comparing what other people said.
Recency matters as much as volume. Forty reviews with the most recent eighteen months ago reads worse than fifteen with three from last month.
The process
How to ask properly
Ask at the point of maximum satisfaction, which is usually immediately after a completed treatment rather than after a routine check-up.
Ask in person and follow up with a link. A verbal request followed by a text with a direct link converts several times better than either alone.
Make it one click. A shortened Google review link that opens the review box directly removes most of the friction.
Ask consistently rather than in campaigns. A steady trickle looks natural and reads better than thirty reviews appearing in one week, which looks exactly like what it is.
The law changed
What you cannot do
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 made fake reviews a banned commercial practice, enforceable by the CMA with penalties of up to 10% of global turnover.
You cannot write reviews. Not for yourself, not from staff accounts, not from family.
You cannot incentivise them. Offering a discount, entry into a prize draw or free whitening in exchange for a review is prohibited. This is the one that catches practices out most often because it feels harmless.
You cannot filter. Asking only patients you expect to be positive, sometimes called review gating, is prohibited.
The GDC guidance on testimonials applies alongside this, and it is worth remembering that a review discussing clinical treatment can raise confidentiality issues in the response.
Replies
Responding without breaching confidentiality
Respond to everything, positive and negative. It signals attentiveness to prospective patients far more than the individual review does.
The trap is negative reviews. Correcting a factual inaccuracy about a patient’s treatment in public confirms they were a patient and discusses their care, which breaches confidentiality. Even confirming attendance can be a breach.
The safe pattern is to acknowledge, express regret that they were unhappy, and move it offline: a named contact and a direct line, without discussing any clinical detail. Never say “you were told at your appointment”, however tempting.
On site
Displaying reviews on your website
You may display genuine reviews on your website. They must be accurate, attributed appropriately and you must hold evidence of them.
Do not add Review or AggregateRating schema to your own website for your own business in order to display star ratings in search results. Google’s guidelines prohibit self-serving markup of this kind and it can trigger a manual action.
A live feed from your Google Business Profile is the safer approach, and it keeps itself current.
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FAQs
Common questions
Can we offer patients a discount for leaving a Google review?
No. Incentivised reviews are a banned commercial practice under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, enforceable by the CMA with penalties of up to 10% of global turnover. This applies to discounts, prize draws and free treatment alike.
How should we respond to a negative review from a patient?
Acknowledge it, express regret that they were unhappy, and offer a named contact to discuss it offline. Do not confirm they were a patient, do not correct clinical detail and do not reference what happened at their appointment. Public correction breaches patient confidentiality even when you are right.
When is the best time to ask for a review?
Immediately after a completed treatment rather than after a routine appointment, in person, followed by a text containing a direct one-click link. That combination substantially outperforms either method alone.
Can we choose which patients to ask?
Selectively asking only patients you expect to leave positive feedback, known as review gating, is prohibited. Ask consistently across your patient base.
Can we put star ratings on our website?
You can display genuine reviews. What you should not do is add Review or AggregateRating schema for your own business to your own site to generate stars in search results, which is against Google’s guidelines and can trigger a manual action. A live Google feed is safer.
How many reviews does a dental practice need?
There is no threshold, but recency matters as much as volume. Fifteen reviews with three from the last month generally outperforms forty where the newest is eighteen months old.
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