How to get more Google reviews as a dentist
Your patients are happy. Your Google rating doesn’t show it. Here’s exactly why that happens, and the method UK practices are using to fix it, including one that went from 108 reviews in 8 years to 183 more in 30 days.
What this guide covers
- 01Why this is the highest-value marketing you can do
- 02How many Google reviews does a practice need?
- 03The method: five steps that actually work
- 04What to actually say (templates)
- 05How to respond to reviews
- 06What Google actually allows
- 07Mistakes that keep practices stuck
- 08The metric most tools get wrong
- 09Frequently asked
Why this is the highest-value marketing you can do
Before a new patient reads your website, calls reception, or hears a word-of-mouth recommendation, they see your Google rating. It sits in Search, in Google Maps, and increasingly inside the answer an AI assistant gives when someone asks it to recommend a dentist. It is the first impression you never get to make in person, and it forms in seconds.
That is why more, better, and fresher Google reviews is the single most cost-effective growth lever a dental practice has. It costs nothing per patient, it compounds over time, and it lifts you both in the rankings and in the decision the patient makes once they see you.
Almost every practice has the same gap: plenty of happy patients, nowhere near enough reviews to prove it. It’s not that patients won’t review you, it’s that nobody asks them at the moment they would. Happy patients leave and forget; unhappy patients are motivated to post. So your public rating ends up shaped by your worst days, not your best. The rest of this guide is how to close that gap, and keep it closed.
How many Google reviews does a practice need?
There is no single magic number, and chasing one is the wrong goal. Recency and consistency matter more to Google, and to patients, than a large but stale total. A practice adding a handful of fresh reviews every week will out-perform one that collected a hundred two years ago and stopped.
Set your real target by looking at the practices ranking above you for “dentist near me” in your area. Note their review counts and their average rating, then aim to add reviews faster than they do, at a 4.5-star average or better, so that within a few months you are the most active, best-rated option a searcher sees. Most single-site practices can comfortably reach 15 to 40 new Google reviews a month from patients they already see, if they ask the right way.
The rule of thumb
Add reviews every single week, keep your average above 4.5 stars, and out-pace the practices ranking above you. Velocity beats volume.
The method: five steps that actually work
Ask at the right moment
The window that matters is the few hours after the appointment, while the visit is fresh and the patient still feels good. Ask a week later and the feeling has faded and the message gets ignored. Timing should also flex by treatment: a routine check-up can be asked a few hours later, but an extraction or implant should wait a day or several days until the discomfort has settled, or you are asking for a review at the exact moment the patient feels worst.
Use WhatsApp, not email or a card
Email review requests are opened by around 22% of people. WhatsApp is opened by around 98%. Same patients, same goodwill, a completely different response rate, because the message is actually seen. A card on the reception desk converts almost nobody: it has no moment attached to it and nothing to tap. WhatsApp also lets the patient reply, so a concern becomes a conversation instead of a silent non-response.
Make leaving a review one tap
Every extra step loses people. A happy patient should land on your Google review screen in a single tap, with the star selector already open, not be told to 'search for us on Google and leave a review'. To find your one-tap link: search your practice on Google, open your Business Profile, click 'Ask for reviews', and copy the short g.page link. That is the only link that should ever go to a happy patient.
Ask happy patients, call the unhappy ones
Invite everyone, but when a patient flags pain, a complaint, or a problem, route them to a private follow-up so your team can put it right before anything is posted publicly. This is compliant, it is not review gating, because you are not blocking anyone from reviewing, you are resolving the issue first. Done well it turns would-be 1-star reviews into handled complaints and retained patients, and it keeps your public rating a fair reflection of your best work.
Automate it so it actually happens
Manual review-chasing always slips the moment the practice gets busy, which is exactly when you have the most happy patients to ask. Connect it to your patient system so every eligible patient is messaged automatically, from your own number, timed by treatment, with no admin. Consistency is the whole game: a practice adding a handful of fresh reviews every week will out-rank one that collected a hundred two years ago and stopped.
What to actually say
The best-performing flow is a short, human check-in first, then the ask only once the patient has replied positively. Never lead with the review link. Copy these and make them sound like your practice.
The check-in (sent first, a few hours after the visit)
The ask (only after a positive reply)
The private route (if they flag a problem)
How to respond to reviews
Responding to reviews is a ranking and trust signal in its own right, and most practices skip it. Reply to every review, positive and negative.
Positive reviews
Thank them by name, keep it warm and specific, and avoid a copy-paste template on every one. A short, genuine reply shows future patients there are real people behind the practice.
Negative reviews
Reply promptly and calmly, never discuss clinical details publicly (a confidentiality breach), acknowledge their experience, and move it offline: invite them to contact the practice manager so you can put it right. A measured reply reassures the next reader.
What Google actually allows
Asking patients for reviews is explicitly allowed and encouraged. Three things are not, and getting them wrong can have reviews removed or your Business Profile penalised:
- ✓
No incentives. Never offer a discount, gift, or prize-draw entry in exchange for a review. This breaks Google's policy and runs into GDC expectations on honesty.
- ✓
No gating. Don't ask only the patients you expect to be positive. Invite everyone; route the unhappy ones to a private fix first. That protects your rating without blocking anyone.
- ✓
No fake reviews. Never write reviews yourself, ask staff to, or buy them. They are detectable, get removed, and put the whole profile at risk.
Mistakes that keep practices stuck
“We put a QR code and a card at reception.”
The reality: It sits there converting almost nobody. There is no moment attached to it and no reply loop. The reviews come from asking a specific happy patient at the right time, not from passive signage.
“We email everyone a review request.”
The reality: Around four in five never open it. Email is the single biggest reason a practice with hundreds of happy patients has a two-reviews-a-month trickle. Move the ask to WhatsApp and the same list behaves completely differently.
“We only ask patients we know loved it.”
The reality: That is review gating, and it breaks Google's policy. Ask everyone, but route the unhappy ones to a private fix first. You get the protection without the compliance risk.
“We got 100 reviews once, we're covered.”
The reality: Recency decays. Google and patients both weight fresh reviews far more than old ones. A stale total quietly slips down the rankings while more active practices climb past you. Velocity beats volume.
The metric most tools get wrong
Some review tools collect feedback onto their own platform instead of Google. It feels productive and does almost nothing for the decision a stranger makes when they search. The only review that counts is the one on your Google profile.
Feedback-wall tool
0.9%
of contacted patients end up on Google
At the top, practices do
~10%
leaving a Google review over WhatsApp
Reviews reaching Google
~100%
sent straight to Google, not to a feedback page
More on this in the Working Feedback comparison and the dental review software guide.
This is exactly what SuiteGrowth automates for UK dental practices, WhatsApp review requests, AI that routes happy vs unhappy replies, connected to Dentally in minutes.
Frequently asked
How do dentists get more Google reviews?
The single biggest lever is asking at the right moment, on the right channel. The methods that work in 2026: send a short, personal WhatsApp message shortly after the appointment (WhatsApp is opened by ~98% of people vs ~22% for email), make the review one tap away, and ask happy patients specifically. Practices that automate this from their patient system, like via Dentally, consistently collect far more reviews than relying on a card on the desk.
Why don't happy dental patients leave reviews?
Because there's no friction prompting them. A happy patient leaves the surgery feeling fine and simply forgets, there's no moment that nudges them to act. Unhappy patients, by contrast, are motivated to vent publicly. Left alone, your Google rating skews towards the few people who had a problem. The fix is to prompt every happy patient, automatically, at the moment they're feeling good about the visit.
How many Google reviews does a dental practice need?
There is no single magic number, and chasing one is the wrong goal. Recency and consistency matter more to Google than a large but stale total. A realistic target for a single-site practice is 15 to 40 new Google reviews a month from patients you already see. Set your real target by looking at the practices ranking above you for 'dentist near me', and aim to add reviews faster than they do at a 4.5-star average or better.
Is it against Google's rules to ask patients for reviews?
No, asking patients for reviews is allowed and encouraged by Google. What Google prohibits is 'review gating': selectively asking only happy customers while blocking unhappy ones from reviewing. It also prohibits incentivising reviews (no discounts or gifts for a review) and fake reviews. The compliant approach is to invite everyone, but route unhappy patients to a private resolution path first, without preventing them from leaving a public review if they choose.
Should I offer a discount or entry into a prize draw for a review?
No. Incentivising reviews breaks Google's policy and can get reviews removed or your profile penalised, and for dental practices it also runs into GDC expectations around honesty. Ask because the visit went well, not in exchange for anything. The WhatsApp method works without incentives precisely because the request lands at the right moment.
How should I respond to a negative Google review?
Respond promptly, calmly, and briefly, and never discuss clinical details publicly (that is a confidentiality breach). Thank them for the feedback, acknowledge their experience, and move the conversation offline: invite them to contact the practice manager directly so you can understand and resolve it. A measured public reply reassures the next reader far more than the complaint itself worries them.
How fast can a dental practice realistically grow its reviews?
Faster than most expect. Deepcar Dental Care, a UK practice, collected 108 reviews over 8 years the traditional way, then added 183 more in just 30 days after automating WhatsApp review requests with SuiteGrowth. The bottleneck was never the patients' willingness; it was never asking them at the right time.
Works with your practice management system
SuiteGrowth connects to 21 practice management systems. You do not need to move systems, and you do not need to be on any one of them to use it.
- ABELDent
- ClearDent
- Dentally
- DentalVision
- Dentrix
- Dentrix Enterprise
- Dolphin Management
- DSN Dental
- DSN Perio
- Eaglesoft
- EndoVision
- Mogo
- Officemate
- Open Dental
- OrthoTrac
- PerioVision
- PracticeWorks
- Software of Excellence (SOE / EXACT)
- SoftDent
- Tracker
- WinOMS
- More coming soon
Dentally and Software of Excellence are the two we run at scale in UK practices today. The rest connect through the same sync layer and are configured during onboarding.
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