Search for “dentist near me” on a phone and, depending on the market, the first screen can be dominated by sponsored results. In the example we recently captured, the sponsored section filled the initial screen and continued well into the next scroll before a true organic result appeared.
That matters.
A dental practice may still rank well organically, but the patient has to get past a lot of paid real estate before that ranking even enters the picture.
And within those sponsored results, Google is giving users immediate actions like Call, Website, and Directions.
Organic visibility still matters. But ranking well no longer guarantees the easiest or most prominent path to a phone call.
Google Is Giving Ads More Space in Local Search
For years, dental practices could generate a significant number of new patient calls simply by ranking well organically.
First, getting the practice website near the top of Google carried a lot of weight. Then Google Business Profiles and local map results became increasingly important, particularly as patients started relying heavily on reviews when choosing a dentist.
Ads were there, of course. But strong organic visibility could still put a practice in front of a large percentage of people searching nearby.
That balance has been shifting.
Today, someone searching for a dentist on a phone may encounter Local Services Ads, traditional Google Search Ads, and extended sponsored-result blocks before reaching anything organic.
In the mobile search we captured, the above-the-fold experience was entirely sponsored.
Keep scrolling, and you're still in the sponsored section.
That changes what a strong organic ranking actually means in practice.
This is why we've been paying close attention to Google Ads for dental practices. Paid search isn't sitting off to the side of organic results anymore. In some searches, it occupies most of the first thing a prospective patient sees.
The Biggest Issue Isn't Just Rankings. It's Access.
This is the part practice owners shouldn't overlook.
In the example discussed on the Dental Practice Launch Podcast, sponsored results gave patients immediate options to call, visit the website, or get directions.
A patient interested in one of those practices could tap Call without leaving the sponsored result.
Meanwhile, the organic results were farther down the page.
So the issue isn't simply whether your practice ranks first, second, or third.
It's what the patient has to move past before they ever see you.
That introduces friction.
And in local search, where someone may be comparing several dentists quickly on a phone, small amounts of friction can matter.
Your Rankings Can Stay the Same While Calls Go Down
Here's where this gets confusing.
A dental practice could look at its SEO reporting and see that rankings are holding steady.
Maybe the practice is still first in the local results. Maybe the website hasn't lost any important organic positions either.
Yet the phone isn't ringing as often from organic Google traffic.
That doesn't automatically mean something went wrong with your dental SEO strategy.
The search results around your ranking may have changed.
Sterling Sky recently analyzed two years of Google Business Profile data across 179 profiles belonging to 34 U.S. law firms. Their analysis found declining click-to-call activity even among businesses that continued to rank well.
That dataset wasn't specific to dentistry, so it shouldn't be treated as dental-industry data.
But the underlying pattern is relevant, particularly because changes to call-button visibility have also been observed in dental local search.
We've noticed a similar movement in our own client data. In recent months, the cost to acquire a new patient through Google Ads has gone down for some Crimson Media clients as paid placements have become more prominent.
That doesn't mean SEO stopped working.
Far from it.
It means ranking first isn't the same thing as owning the first thing a patient sees.
Mobile Search Results Are Getting More Crowded With Ads
The pace of this shift is worth watching.
At the beginning of 2025, Sterling Sky reported seeing local pack ads in roughly 1% of the mobile ranking reports it was tracking.
By December, that figure was approaching 22%.
Local Services Ads followed a similar direction. They appeared on roughly 11% of the queries Sterling Sky was tracking at the beginning of the year and reached 31% by November.
Those figures don't mean that 22% or 31% of every Google search contains those ad formats. They're percentages from Sterling Sky's own tracked reports and queries.
But the direction is clear.
Paid placements are becoming a much larger part of the local mobile search experience.
And when you're looking at an actual “dentist near me” search on a phone, that change becomes much easier to understand.
The first question isn't necessarily:
Who ranks first organically?
It may be:
How far does the patient have to scroll before they even reach an organic result?
Does This Mean Dental Practices Should Stop Investing in SEO?
No.
Organic search still produces patients, and Google Business Profile visibility, reviews, website rankings, and useful content all remain important.
The mistake would be expecting organic search to do the entire job.
Think about how someone might choose a dentist today.
They may see a practice on Instagram before they ever need an appointment.
Later, they notice the same practice sponsoring a local event.
A few weeks after that, they ask ChatGPT why a tooth suddenly hurts when they drink something cold.
Eventually, they search Google for a dentist nearby.
Now that practice name looks familiar.
That's very different from the old model of someone searching “dentist near me,” clicking the first organic result, and scheduling immediately.
Patient decisions aren't always point A to point B anymore.
Dental Marketing Is Moving Toward Omnipresence
We've talked about omnipresence at Crimson Media for years, and changes like this are exactly why.
An omnipresence strategy doesn't mean spending money everywhere or opening accounts on every platform available.
It means giving prospective patients several chances to encounter and remember the practice.
Organic Google visibility plays a role.
Google Ads can capture people actively searching for a dentist.
Facebook and Instagram can build familiarity before that search happens.
Regular social content keeps the practice visible.
Reviews give patients something to evaluate.
Community involvement gets the name outside the screen entirely.
One channel supports another.
We've previously broken down why omnipresence marketing matters for dental practices, and Google's current direction makes that strategy even more relevant.
A practice that depends almost entirely on organic Google calls is vulnerable whenever Google changes the search page.
A practice that patients see in several different places has more room to move.
What About AI Search?
AI deserves attention too, but there's an important distinction between informational searches and local intent.
Someone may ask ChatGPT:
“Why is my back tooth suddenly sensitive to cold?”
That conversation could eventually lead them to realize they should see a dentist.
When they're ready to actually find one nearby, local search may still become the next step.
How that behavior develops will continue to change.
So the lesson isn't to abandon Google for AI, or SEO for ads, or social media for something else.
It's to stop building a patient acquisition strategy that depends on one doorway.
What Dental Practice Owners Should Watch Now
Start with your own numbers.
Look at Google Business Profile calls and compare them with an equivalent period from the previous year when possible. Account for seasonality and anything else that changed within the practice.
If calls have fallen, look at rankings too.
Did your visibility actually decline?
If rankings remained relatively stable but calls dropped, changes to the search results themselves may be contributing to what you're seeing.
Then look beyond organic traffic.
How many new patients are coming from paid search?
Social?
Referrals?
Community relationships?
How often are prospective patients encountering the practice before they finally call?
Those questions give you a much clearer picture than one ranking report.
Build a Dental Marketing Strategy That Can Handle Google's Next Change
Google has been moving organic results farther down the page for years.
The growing presence of paid placements is another step in that direction.
There will probably be more.
Dental practices don't control how much sponsored content Google puts above organic listings.
They don't control which buttons appear on those paid placements.
And they don't control how far a patient has to scroll before an organic result appears.
They can control how dependent they are on that one source of patients.
Build the name.
Build the reputation.
Keep the practice visible organically, but don't stop there.
Paid search, social advertising, useful content, reviews, and a real presence in the community can work together instead of competing for the marketing budget.
That's the idea behind the relationship-based approach we use at Crimson Media Dental Marketing.
Google will keep changing.
The practices in the strongest position will be the ones patients already know, recognize, and remember before they’re ready to make the call.