The local SEO guide for multi-location medical and dental practices
A new patient is worth years of check-ups, hygiene visits, treatment plans and referrals. They choose a practice once, usually from the three that Google shows on a map, and then stay for a decade. For a dental, medical or optical group, each site’s local ranking is one of the most valuable things it owns.
BY CHRIS EVANS · UPDATED 26 SEPTEMBER 2026 · 8 MIN READ
Give every site its own verified Google Business Profile with categories that match what that location actually offers. Decide deliberately how to handle individual clinician listings. Collect reviews the same way at every practice, at the check-out desk as patients book their next appointment, and never confirm a reviewer is a patient when you reply. Patient privacy shapes how you reply to reviews, not whether you can ask for them.
Why healthcare is different
Each patient is worth years
A dental or optical patient who stays for ten years is worth many times their first appointment. Losing one new-patient search to the practice down the road costs far more than one visit.
Patients read reviews for reassurance
People choosing a dentist or a clinic are often anxious. They read reviews looking for words like gentle, patient and explained everything. Detailed, recent reviews reassure in a way star ratings cannot.
Confidentiality comes first
Patients may mention treatment in a review. You cannot. Every reply, and every part of your review process, has to protect confidentiality, which is why the method of asking matters.
Step by step: set up every site to rank
Give every site its own verified listing
Each practice needs its own Google Business Profile at its real address, with its own phone number and a website link to that site's own page. Search for duplicates left by former owners, previous practice names or old clinicians, and ask Google to merge or remove them.
Choose categories that match the site, not the group
Pick the primary category that describes what that location mainly does: Dentist, Cosmetic Dentist, Orthodontist, Optician, Medical Clinic or Physiotherapist, for example. Add secondary categories only for services that site genuinely provides. A branch without an implant surgeon should not list implant categories just because another site does.
Decide how to handle clinician listings
Google allows individual practitioners to have their own listings. They can split reviews away from the practice and compete with it in search. Decide as a group whether to keep them, and make sure any that exist link back to the correct practice. If a clinician leaves, ask Google to mark their listing as moved.
Fill in every detail accurately
Use the real trading name with no added keywords, accurate opening hours including late evenings and bank holidays, accessibility information, parking, and whether the site accepts NHS patients, private patients or both. Add services with plain descriptions.
Keep each profile active
Post updates such as new clinicians, extended hours or new treatments, answer questions left on the profile, and reply to every review within the privacy rules below.
Build a steady flow of reviews at every site
New and smaller sites fall behind unless every location asks the same way. The rest of this guide covers how to do that without breaching patient confidentiality.
The site asymmetry problem
Groups grow by acquisition and new openings, and the review counts rarely keep up. The founding practice might have 300 reviews while a site bought last year has 20 left over from the previous owner. Google does not share reviews between listings, so a patient searching near the newer site sees a practice that looks small and unproven.
The fix is the same process at every site: the same moment, the same words and the same equipment at every reception desk. Track new reviews per site each month alongside new patient registrations, so practice managers see them as part of the job.
Reviews and patient privacy
Privacy is the reason many practices never ask at all. It should shape how you handle reviews, not stop you collecting them.
- Invite, never pressure. Ask every patient the same simple question, and accept no for an answer. Never ask in the surgery chair, after difficult news, or when a patient is anxious or in pain.
- Collect nothing. The review goes from the patient’s own phone to Google, under their own account. A tap stand holds only your review link and records nothing, so no patient data passes through the practice.
- Reply without confirming anything. Never acknowledge that a reviewer is a patient or mention any treatment, even if they did. “Thank you for your kind words, we are glad you had a good experience with the team” is enough.
- Take complaints offline. For a critical review, reply with a short, general response inviting the reviewer to contact the practice manager directly. Never debate clinical details in public.
- Offer nothing in return. No discounts, whitening vouchers or prize draws for reviews. Google prohibits incentives, and they undermine the trust you are trying to build.
Check any process against current guidance from your own regulator, whether that is the GDC, the GMC, the GOC or the CQC. For Google’s side, read how to ask for a Google review without breaking the rules.
The check-out desk is the moment
Most of a patient’s visit is the wrong time to ask. In the waiting room they are nervous. In the chair they cannot speak. The moment that works is the minute at the check-out desk after treatment: the appointment went well, the patient is relieved, and they are standing still while the receptionist books their next visit.
That booking is the important part. A patient arranging their next appointment has just decided to come back. There is no better signal that they are happy, and no more natural moment for the receptionist to say: “If you have a moment, we would really value a review. Just tap your phone here.”
A stand on every check-out desk
An EvoMaxTap stand sits on the check-out desk at each site, programmed to that site’s own Google review link. The patient taps their phone, the review page opens directly for the practice they are standing in, and they can leave the review while booking or on the way out. No shared tablet, no pen, no leaflet and no email.
The stand is premium cast acrylic, which looks at home in a clinical reception area and wipes clean between patients. Placed at every site at once, it gives each practice the same starting line.
Ask while they book the next appointment
Each stand is programmed to its own site’s review link before it ships. The Branch Bundle covers five sites and The Everywhere Bundle covers ten. One payment, no subscription, free UK delivery, with our thirty-day money-back guarantee and five-year hardware guarantee.
Get Your StandsCommon questions
Is it allowed for a dental practice to ask patients for Google reviews?
Yes. Google allows businesses to ask customers for reviews, and nothing prevents a practice from inviting patients to share their experience. The rules are the same as for any business: ask everyone, offer nothing in return, and never have staff review their own practice. Professional guidance also expects you to avoid pressure and to protect confidentiality.
Does the stand collect any patient data?
No. The stand contains a chip holding one web address, your practice's Google review link. Tapping it opens the review page in the patient's own browser. Nothing is recorded by the stand, by EvoMaxTap or by the practice. The review is posted by the patient from their own Google account, and they choose what to write.
Can we reply to a review that mentions a patient's treatment?
You should reply, but never confirm that the reviewer is a patient or discuss any details of their care, even if they shared them first. Thank them in general terms, and for complaints, invite them to contact the practice directly. The reply must work for anybody who reads it.
Should each dental practice in a group have its own Google listing?
Yes. Local search results show the listing nearest the searcher, so every site needs its own verified profile with its own reviews. A group-level listing with no real address does not appear in local results and can breach Google's guidelines.
What about individual dentists' Google listings?
Google allows them, but they compete with the practice listing for reviews and searches. Many groups keep one listing per site and leave clinician listings in place only where a dentist has a strong personal following. If a clinician leaves, request that their listing be marked as moved.
When is the best time to ask a patient for a review?
At the check-out desk, as they book their next appointment. The treatment is over, they are standing still, and they are already thinking about coming back. Avoid asking in the surgery, after difficult news or when the patient is anxious or in pain.
Is the stand suitable for a clinical reception area?
Yes. The stand is cast acrylic with a smooth, sealed surface and nothing to press or open. Wipe it with a damp cloth or a non-alcohol surface wipe, as alcohol-based products can cloud acrylic over time. Patients tap it with their own phone, so there is no shared pen or tablet.
Do you offer support?
Yes. We are a UK team and you can reach us seven days a week during normal office hours at sales@evomaxtap.com.