The short answer
Win the map search with a complete profile, the right categories and services, steady reviews, careful replies and an easy way to book. In Australia, the law bans using testimonials about clinical care to advertise a dental practice, so take care with how you use and reply to reviews.
General information, not legal advice. Check Ahpra’s current guidelines for your profession, and get independent advice before you use reviews in your marketing.
Most new patients find a dentist on a map. They search for a treatment or for “dentist near me”, compare a few practices and book the one that looks right. This playbook covers how to be that practice, and how to handle reviews within the rules that apply to health services in Australia.
Get found for the treatments people search
Patients search for a treatment as often as for a dentist. Make your Google Business Profile match.
- Choose the most specific primary category, usually Dentist, and add extra categories only for distinct services.
- List every service you offer.
- Add photos of the practice, the entrance and your team.
Make booking easy
Take out every step between finding you and booking.
- A booking link on your profile
- Correct hours, including after-hours or emergency care
- A phone number that’s answered
Reviews, within the rules
Reviews help patients choose, and Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking. But the law that covers health advertising in Australia is strict.
- Testimonials are banned in health advertising. Section 133 of the National Law prohibits advertising a regulated health service in a way that uses testimonials. Ahpra defines a testimonial as a positive statement about a clinical aspect: the symptom, the diagnosis or treatment, or the outcome.
- Your website and social pages count. Whoever controls the website or page is responsible for the reviews on it. Ahpra suggests turning off review features on social media you can’t edit.
- Service-only reviews aren’t testimonials. Comments about customer service or communication that don’t mention clinical care fall outside the definition. Don’t edit a review to change its meaning or show only the positive parts.
- Patients can still post reviews. The ban doesn’t stop patients sharing their views on review platforms, and you don’t have to remove reviews on sites you don’t control.
When you ask for reviews on Google, ask every patient, not just the happy ones, and never offer a discount or gift in return. Google’s policies ban both.
Reply with privacy and the rules in mind
A public reply can reveal more than you intend, and Ahpra warns that engaging with reviews may count as using a testimonial.
- Never confirm that a reviewer is a patient, or mention their treatment.
- Thank them in general terms.
- Invite them to contact the practice directly.
Running more than one practice
Groups do best when every practice is consistent, and when they spot the ones falling behind early.
- The same details and standards at every practice
- A monthly look at every practice’s profile, reviews and enquiries