Digital Floss Blog

Dental Video Marketing That Works: 90 Days of Video Ads Across 45 Practices

Thu, 05 Nov 2026 15:30:07 GMT

Disclosure: I founded Digital Floss, which films and runs video for dental practices. These are our own clients' numbers, added across accounts.

Across the video ads we ran for 45 dental practices in the 90 days ending October 5, 2026, the ads were seen 5.75 million times, watched for at least 15 seconds 1.70 million times, and watched all the way through more than a million times, at an average of 6.3 cents per 15-second watch. Patients tapped to book or learn more 30,801 times. Those are the numbers a dental video marketing company should be able to show you for its own work.

Key points

5.75 million times seen, 1.70 million watches of 15 seconds or more, 1.02 million watched to the end (Meta Ads Manager, 45 practices, 90 days).
About one in six times an ad was seen, it was watched to the end.
Average cost: $18.49 per 1,000 times seen, and 6.3 cents per 15-second watch.
30,801 taps to book or learn more, from ads that send people straight to online booking.
Ask any video agency for these same six numbers from its own accounts before you hire it.

Why we're sharing our numbers

Every dental video company says its videos perform. Very few show you the numbers. Dentists deserve to compare agencies on real results, so here are ours, pulled straight from Meta Ads Manager for the 45 dental practices we ran video ads for in the 90 days ending October 5, 2026.

The ads used video from our shoots at each practice: the doctor and team on camera, speaking in their own words. If you want to see them, a selection is on our video ads page .

The 90-day numbers

Source: Meta Ads Manager, 45 Digital Floss client ad accounts, the 90 days ending October 5, 2026. Totals are added across accounts. Results vary by market and budget.

What the numbers say

People watched to the end

About one in six times an ad was seen, it was watched all the way through: 1.02 million complete views out of 5.75 million. A watched video is one more patient who has already met your doctor.

A 15-second watch costs a few cents

At 6.3 cents per 15-second watch, a practice can put its doctor in front of thousands of nearby households on a modest budget. Fifteen seconds is long enough for a patient to see a face, hear a voice and remember a name.

Taps go to booking, not a form

The 30,801 taps came from ads that send people straight to the practice's online booking, not a lead form someone has to call back. That's the difference between a list of leads and an appointment on the schedule.

How to make one video work on Google, AI answers and social

The same footage that runs as an ad should work everywhere else patients look. My dental video marketing guide covers which videos to film first, where each one goes, and how to get them cited by AI answer engines. Three rules matter most:

On your website , give important videos their own page with the answer written underneath. Google says to keep important content in text form ( Google ) and to give videos a real thumbnail and accurate structured data ( Google ).
On YouTube , title each video with the patient question it answers and upload corrected captions, so search engines and AI tools can read what was said.
On social , post a new video every week and point every one to online booking.

For how AI engines choose a dentist overall, see my guide to AI search for dentists . Our AI visibility work puts the same footage to work there every month.

What to ask any dental video marketing agency

How many times were your clients' videos seen last quarter, and how many were watched to the end?
What did a 15-second watch cost, on average?
How many people tapped to book, and where did the tap send them?
Can I see the ads themselves, filmed at real practices?
Where else does the footage go: website, YouTube, social, Google Business Profile?

An agency that can't answer the first three from its own accounts is guessing. If you'd like to see what video would do for your practice, book a strategy call .

Frequently asked questions

How much do dental video ads cost?

It depends on your market and budget. Across the video ads we ran for 45 dental practices in the 90 days ending October 5, 2026, the average was $18.49 per 1,000 times an ad was seen and 6.3 cents per 15-second watch, according to Meta Ads Manager.

Do people actually watch dental video ads?

In our data, yes. Across 45 practices over 90 days, ads were seen 5.75 million times and watched all the way through 1.02 million times, about one complete view for every six times seen.

What should a dental video marketing agency report?

At minimum: how many times your ads were seen, how many were watched for 15 seconds and to the end, the cost per watch, how many people tapped to book, and how many appointments were booked. Ask for those numbers from the agency's own clients before you hire it.

Where should a dental practice's video ads send people?

Straight to online booking, so a patient can choose a time on your real schedule. A lead form creates a list your front desk has to chase. In our 90-day data, ads that sent people to booking drew 30,801 taps to book or learn more.

Sources

Digital Floss video ads results, Meta Ads Manager, 45 client ad accounts, the 90 days ending October 5, 2026 (published at digitalfloss.com/video-ads): https://www.digitalfloss.com/video-ads
Google Search Central, "AI features and your website": https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features
Google Search Central, "Video SEO best practices": https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/video

About the author

Dr. Anissa Broussard, DMD practiced dentistry for more than 20 years before founding Digital Floss, a dental-only marketing agency. She is the author of FOUND: How AI Chose Your Competitors, And What to Do About It Right Now, and built Digital Floss's AI Visibility Assessment. More about Dr. Broussard

Book a strategy call to see where your practice stands, or read more insights .

How to Choose a Dental Social Media Marketing Company

Tue, 03 Nov 2026 15:30:08 GMT

Disclosure: I founded Digital Floss, which runs social media for dental practices. This is the checklist I'd use if I were hiring a company myself.

The right dental social media marketing company films your real doctor and team, writes every caption from what your doctor actually says, posts on a steady weekly rhythm, gets written patient consent before anyone appears on camera, and reports the appointments your content booked, not just likes. Ask every company you're considering to show you all five, with real practices you can look up.

Key points

Ask who films your content and where. Stock footage of someone else's office tells patients nothing true about yours.
Ask who writes the captions and what they write from. The best answer is your own doctor's words.
Ask for a posting rhythm in writing, and live feeds they run right now that you can scroll.
Ask how they handle patient consent. HIPAA generally requires written authorization before a patient's information is used in marketing.
Ask how they report results. You want appointments booked from social, not just followers.

Hiring help after the last one didn't work

Many dentists have already tried social media once. Someone on the team posted for a while, or a company sent a calendar of stock graphics, and nobody could point to one new patient it brought in. So the next decision feels risky, and it should come with better questions.

Every question here is one you can ask any company, including ours.

What a dental social media company should actually do

At minimum, a dental social media company should plan your content, capture it at your practice, write it, post it, manage it, and tell you what it produced. Some also run paid ads with the same content. Here's how the common types compare:

None of these is wrong for every practice. The mistake is paying for one type and expecting the results of another.

Questions to ask before you sign

Who films the content, and where?

Patients are choosing people. The content that earns trust shows your real doctor, your real team and your real office. Ask whether the company films at your practice, who's on the crew and how a shoot day is planned. If the answer is stock video or "send us clips from your phone," you'll be doing the hard part yourself.

Who writes the captions, and from what?

A caption should sound like your doctor talking to a patient, not like a marketing department. Ask what the writing starts from. The strongest answer is a recorded interview with your doctor, so every post reflects what you actually said, how you actually treat and the patients you want more of.

How often will you post, and where?

Get the rhythm in writing: how many posts a week, on which platforms, and what happens when you're slow to approve. Pew Research Center's 2025 survey found 84% of US adults use YouTube, 71% use Facebook and 50% use Instagram ( Pew Research Center ), so ask how the company covers the platforms your patients actually use.

Can I see feeds you run right now?

Ask for the handles of current dental clients and scroll them yourself. You're looking for real faces, a steady rhythm and posts that sound like a person. A portfolio of mockups isn't the same as a live feed.

How do you handle patient consent?

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says the HIPAA Privacy Rule generally requires a patient's written authorization before their protected health information is used for marketing ( HHS ). A recognizable patient photo usually counts. Ask to see the company's consent process, and have your compliance advisor review the form. If anyone receives something of value for posting about you, the FTC expects that to be disclosed too ( FTC ).

Who replies to comments and reviews?

Social media is a conversation. Ask who responds, how fast, and how they avoid confirming that someone is a patient in a public reply.

How do you report results?

Likes and followers are nice, but they don't pay your team. Ask how the company connects posts to booked appointments. A booking link on every video and a monthly report of what it produced is a good sign. A report that only shows reach is not enough.

Does the content help me get found in AI search?

Patients increasingly ask AI tools for a recommendation before they search. BrightLocal's 2026 research found 45% of consumers use AI tools for local recommendations, up from 6% a year earlier ( BrightLocal ). Ask whether the company's posts, videos and captions are written to answer the questions patients ask, so AI engines have something specific to read. My guide to AI search for dentists explains how the engines choose, and our AI visibility page shows how we measure it every month.

Red flags

Stock photos or someone else's office in your feed.
Captions that could belong to any practice in any city.
No written posting schedule.
No consent process, or "we just blur the faces."
Reports full of impressions with no booked appointments.
You can't name the person who manages your account.

How we do it at Digital Floss

We're a dental-only agency, so here's how our social media management answers the questions above. Our crew films at your practice: your doctor, your team and your office. Everything we write comes from the transcripts of what your doctor said on camera. A new video goes live every week on Instagram, Facebook and four more platforms, with photos and posts in between, and a dedicated social media manager handles the rest, including replies to your Google reviews. Every video points to your online booking link, so you can see the appointments your content brought in.

Whoever you hire, hold them to the same checklist. For the broader agency decision, my guide to choosing a dental marketing agency covers contracts and reporting. For what to post once you've chosen, see my guide to social media marketing for dentists .

Frequently asked questions

What should a dental social media marketing company do?

It should plan your content, film your real doctor and team at your practice, write captions in your doctor's own words, post on a steady weekly schedule, manage comments and reviews, and report the appointments your content booked. Ask every company to show you each of those with live feeds you can scroll.

What should be in a dental social media contract?

The posting schedule and platforms, who films and how often, who writes and approves captions, how patient consent is handled, what the monthly report includes, and the contract term and exit. If it isn't written down, assume it isn't included.

Should a dental social media company film at my office?

Yes, if you want content that earns trust. Patients are choosing people, and footage of your real doctor, team and office tells them something true about your practice. Stock video or someone else's office tells them nothing about yours.

Sources

Pew Research Center, "Americans' Social Media Use 2025" (November 20, 2025): https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2025/11/20/americans-social-media-use-2025/
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, "Marketing" (HIPAA Privacy Rule guidance): https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/guidance/marketing/index.html
Federal Trade Commission, "Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers": https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/disclosures-101-social-media-influencers
BrightLocal, AI trust findings, 2026: https://www.brightlocal.com/research/lcrs-ai-trust/

About the author

Book a strategy call to see where your practice stands, or read more insights .

Dental SEO Company vs. AI-Search Agency: Which Does Your Practice Need?

Thu, 29 Oct 2026 15:30:12 GMT

Disclosure: I founded Digital Floss, a dental marketing agency that does both kinds of work. Use the questions at the end on any company you're considering.

If your Google Business Profile is incomplete, your services share one page, or your name and address differ across listings, hire for SEO first. If those basics are solid and ChatGPT, Gemini or Google's AI still name your competitors instead of you, you need AI-search work. Most practices end up needing both, in that order, because the two share a foundation.

Key points

SEO and AI search share a foundation: a complete Google Business Profile, a clear page for every service, consistent facts and steady reviews.
SEO is judged by rankings, calls and bookings from Google. AI search is judged by whether the engines name you.
Google says AI Overviews need no special optimization beyond good SEO fundamentals.
AI engines also read sources SEO often ignores: video, social posts, directories and third-party mentions.
If your basics are broken, fix them first. If they're solid and AI still skips you, that's the AI-search gap.

Two highways to the same front door

Patients used to find a dentist one way: a Google search and a list of links. Now there's a second way running beside it. A patient asks ChatGPT, Gemini or Google's AI "who's a good implant dentist near me?" and gets a short list of names.

Dentists keep asking me which kind of company they need for that. The honest answer is that the two jobs overlap more than either kind of company likes to admit, and they differ in a few specific places.

What a dental SEO company does

A good dental SEO company works on getting your practice found in Google's regular results and the map pack:

Your Google Business Profile: categories, services, photos, hours and reviews.
One clear page for every service and every location.
Structured data, like the Dentist schema type ( Schema.org ), with your name, address and phone number matching everywhere.
Site speed, mobile experience and internal links.
Tracking calls and booked appointments from search.

My SEO for dentists guide walks through each of these.

What an AI-search agency adds

An AI-search agency starts from the same foundation, then measures whether the engines actually name you, service by service, and works on the sources beyond your website that they read: video, posts, directories and other sites' mentions of you. I lay out the monthly work in what an AI-search agency for dentists actually does , and the self-audit is in my guide to AI search for dentists .

Side by side

Where they overlap

Google says there are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, and no special optimization needed. The same SEO fundamentals apply: helpful content, crawlable pages, good internal links and important information in text ( Google ). So good SEO is not wasted on AI search. It's the first layer of it.

The other engines also read the web. OpenAI, for example, runs a search crawler, OAI-SearchBot, so sites can appear in ChatGPT's search answers ( OpenAI ). If your site blocks it, ChatGPT search has less to work with. That's a one-line check your SEO company can make today.

Which one you need right now

Start with SEO basics if:

Your Google Business Profile is incomplete or has the wrong category.
Your services sit on one list instead of their own pages.
Your name, address or phone differ across your site and listings.
You can't tell how many calls come from search.

Add AI-search work if:

Your basics are solid, but ChatGPT or Gemini name your competitors and not you.
You have little video or social content about your key services.
Nobody is checking the AI engines for your practice each month.

In our October 2026 data from 62 practices, practices with the largest web footprint were named in 44% of AI answers, compared with 30% for the smallest. Searches for specific services named the practice more often than generic "best dentist" searches. Both point the same way: the more specific, readable content you have, the more the engines have to work with. The full numbers are in our AI search data .

Questions to ask either kind of company

What will you change in the first 30 days?
How will I know it's working, in calls and bookings?
Will you run my top services in ChatGPT and Gemini with me, live?
Who writes my content, and from what?

At Digital Floss, our AI visibility work covers both layers: a site built answer-first and marked up for AI engines, monthly checks of the engines, and content from your own doctor. Whoever you hire, ask them to show you booked patients and AI answers, not just rankings.

Frequently asked questions

Do dentists still need SEO if patients use AI search?

Yes. Google says AI Overviews and AI Mode use the same SEO fundamentals, and AI engines read the same websites and listings that SEO improves. SEO is the foundation; AI-search work builds on it.

What is the difference between dental SEO and AI search optimization?

Dental SEO works to rank your website and Google Business Profile in Google's results. AI search optimization works to get your practice named in answers from ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI, which also draw on video, posts, directories and other sites.

Can my current SEO company handle AI search?

Ask them to run your top services in ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity with you, live, and to report which engines name you each month. If they can, they may cover both. If they only show rankings, you have a gap.

Should a dental practice hire an SEO company or an AI-search agency first?

Fix the basics first: a complete Google Business Profile, a page for every service and consistent facts everywhere. If those are solid and AI engines still recommend competitors, add AI-search work.

Sources

Google Search Central, "AI features and your website": https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features
OpenAI, "Overview of OpenAI crawlers": https://platform.openai.com/docs/bots
Schema.org, "Dentist": https://schema.org/Dentist
Digital Floss AI visibility sweep, October 1, 2026: 62 dental practices in 35 states; ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity asked through their own APIs with web search on; a practice counted as named only when the answer named the practice or its doctor; engines that returned an error excluded, never counted as a miss.

About the author

Book a strategy call to see where your practice stands, or read more insights .

Dr. Anissa Broussard Answers Dentists' 12 Most-Asked AI Search Questions

Tue, 27 Oct 2026 15:30:12 GMT

More and more people ask AI to recommend a local business, dentists included: they ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity or Google's AI and get a short list of names instead of ten links. These are 12 questions dentists ask me about it, with the straight answers I give them.

Key points

AI engines name a few practices, not a page of links, so being on that short list matters.
There's no special trick for Google's AI Overviews. Google says the same SEO fundamentals apply.
Each engine reads sources differently, so check all of them, service by service.
Specific, answer-first content from your own doctor gives engines something to quote.
Measure monthly and judge the trend, because individual answers move.

I'm Dr. Anissa Broussard, DMD. I practiced dentistry for more than 20 years, founded Digital Floss, and wrote FOUND: How AI Chose Your Competitors, And What to Do About It Right Now. I also built our AI Visibility Assessment, which shows practices how AI engines read them.

What is AI search for dentists?

AI search is when a patient asks an AI tool like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity or Google's AI Overviews to recommend a dentist or explain a treatment, and gets a written answer naming a few practices instead of a list of links. For a dental practice, the goal is to be one of the practices those answers name.

Are patients really using ChatGPT to find a dentist?

More every year. BrightLocal's 2026 research found 45% of consumers use AI tools for local business recommendations, up from 6% a year earlier. And on Google, Pew found people clicked a result in 8% of visits when an AI summary appeared, compared with 15% when it didn't. More patients read an answer before they ever see your website.

How do I check whether AI recommends my practice?

Ask each major engine the question your patients ask, for each service you want to grow, and write down who gets named. My guide to AI search for dentists has a 15-minute self-audit with the exact prompts.

Why does AI recommend my competitor and not me?

Usually because the engine can find more clear, specific, consistent information about your competitor. In what we see, AI engines tend to repeat what credible sources say: your website, Google Business Profile, directories, reviews, videos and posts. If yours are thin, outdated or don't match each other, the engine has less reason to name you.

Should I trust an agency that promises a spot in Google's AI Overviews?

No. Google says there are no additional requirements or special optimizations to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, so there is no secret switch to sell. What an honest agency can promise is the work: helpful content, pages Google can crawl, accurate business information, and a monthly check of what the engines say.

Do Google reviews help me show up in AI answers?

They help patients trust you, and they're part of the picture. But in our October 2026 data from 62 practices, practices with the most Google reviews weren't named more often than practices with the fewest. Practices with the largest web footprint were: 44% of answers, compared with 30%. Keep reviews steady, then invest in content.

Does my website still matter if patients ask AI?

Yes, more than ever. AI engines that search the web read your website to decide what you do and where. Give every important service its own page, open each with a direct answer, keep your name, address and phone identical everywhere, and use Dentist structured data.

Does video help with AI search?

It can. AI engines read video through its title, description and captions, and BrightEdge found YouTube is the video platform AI engines cite most. Title each video with the patient question it answers, upload corrected captions and embed it on the matching page of your website.

Should I stop investing in Google now that patients ask AI?

No. Google is still a major way patients find a dentist, and Google itself now shows AI answers at the top of many searches. The work that helps you on Google, like a complete Business Profile and a clear page for every service, is the same foundation AI engines read. Keep it, then build on it.

Which AI engine matters most for a dental practice?

All of them, because they disagree. In our October 2026 tests, all four engines named the practice in only 13% of searches, and each engine named practices at a different rate. Being named in one doesn't mean you're named in the others.

How long does it take to show up in AI answers?

In our tracking, engines that search the web live can reflect changes within weeks, while answers that come from a model's built-in knowledge move more slowly. Answers also move month to month: about one in six changed between our September and October checks. Judge progress over a few months, not a few days.

Can I do AI search optimization myself?

You can start. Run the self-audit, fix your Google Business Profile and directory listings, give each service its own answer-first page, and film your doctor answering common questions. Where practices usually get stuck is doing it every month: measuring each engine, publishing new answers and keeping every source consistent. That's the part an agency should take off your plate.

If you want to go deeper, my book FOUND is a 12-chapter playbook on how AI decides which practices to recommend and what to do about it. Our AI visibility work is that book, done for you every month. And if you'd like to see what the engines say about your practice today, we'll run it live on a strategy call .

More about me, my talks and where I'm speaking next is on my speaker page .

Sources

BrightLocal, AI trust findings, 2026: https://www.brightlocal.com/research/lcrs-ai-trust/
Pew Research Center, "Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results" (July 22, 2025): https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/07/22/google-users-are-less-likely-to-click-on-links-when-an-ai-summary-appears-in-the-results/
Google Search Central, "AI features and your website": https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features
BrightEdge, "YouTube presence in AI search": https://brightedge.com/resources/weekly-ai-search-insights/youtube-presence-ai-search
Digital Floss AI visibility sweep, October 1, 2026: 62 dental practices in 35 states; ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity asked through their own APIs with web search on; a practice counted as named only when the answer named the practice or its doctor; engines that returned an error excluded, never counted as a miss.

About the author

Book a strategy call to see where your practice stands, or read more insights .

What an AI-Search Agency for Dentists Actually Does

Mon, 26 Oct 2026 15:42:51 GMT

Disclosure: I founded Digital Floss, which does AI-search work for dental practices. These are the tests I'd want any agency, including mine, to pass.

An AI-search agency for dentists does four things every month: it asks the AI engines your patients use who they recommend in your area, it finds why you are or aren't on that list, it publishes real answers from your practice that the engines can read, and it shows you what moved. If an agency can't show you those searches for your own city before you sign, it's an SEO shop with a new label.

Key points

A real AI-search agency checks ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI answers for your practice, by service, every month.
It fixes the sources the engines read: your website, your Google Business Profile, directories, reviews, video and posts.
It publishes content that answers patient questions directly, from your own doctor's words.
It reports which engines name you now compared with last month.
Google says there's no special trick for AI Overviews. Be wary of anyone selling one.

Why this question is suddenly everywhere

In the last year, a lot of marketing companies started calling themselves AI-search agencies. Some of them do new work. Some do the same SEO they did in 2022 and changed the words on their homepage. From the outside, they look the same.

This matters because the shift is real. BrightLocal's 2026 research found 45% of consumers use AI tools for local recommendations, up from 6% a year earlier ( BrightLocal ). On Google itself, Pew found users clicked a result in 8% of visits when an AI summary appeared, compared with 15% when it didn't ( Pew Research Center ). More patients read an answer before they ever see a website.

I wrote FOUND: How AI Chose Your Competitors, And What to Do About It Right Now because this shift reached practices doing everything right by the old rules, and I teach it at dental meetings across the country. Here's what the work should look like.

What the work looks like every month

1. It asks the engines about you

The first job is measurement. An AI-search agency should run the questions your patients ask, for the services you want to grow, in your city, in every major engine: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews. It records whether you're named, who's named instead and which sources the engine leaned on.

One check isn't enough. In our own October 2026 data, about one answer in six changed from one month to the next, and all four engines named the practice in only 13% of searches. See what AI engines say when patients ask for a dentist for the full numbers.

2. It fixes the sources the engines read

In what we see, AI engines tend to repeat what credible sources already say about you. So the agency's second job is the sources: your website, your Google Business Profile, the directories and "best of" lists in your area, your reviews, your videos and your posts. Facts should match everywhere, and every important service should have a clear, specific page.

3. It publishes answers from your practice

Engines can only recommend what they can read. The agency should publish content that answers patient questions directly, in plain language, from your own doctor's knowledge, on your website and on the platforms the engines read. Google's guidance is to create helpful, reliable, people-first content ( Google ), and its spam policies warn against mass-producing pages to manipulate rankings ( Google ).

4. It shows you what moved

Every month you should see which engines name you now, for which services, compared with last month, next to the appointments your marketing booked.

How to tell a real AI-search agency from a relabeled SEO shop

Ask these five things. A real AI-search agency answers all of them without hesitating.

That last row is the easiest test. Google says there are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, and no special optimization needed: the same fundamentals of good search apply ( Google ). Anyone selling a secret switch is selling something Google says doesn't exist.

What an AI-search agency can't promise

A guaranteed spot. No one controls what an engine says, and answers move month to month.
Instant results. In our tracking, engines that search the web live can reflect changes within weeks; answers from a model's built-in knowledge move more slowly.
One engine for all. Each engine reads sources differently, so progress shows up unevenly.

An honest agency tells you this up front and measures the trend instead of promising a rank.

Questions to bring to every sales call

Run my top three services in my city in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity while we talk. Who's named?
Which sources did each engine cite, and which of them do you work on?
Who writes my content, and what do they start from?
What will my report show in month one, and in month three?

How we approach it at Digital Floss

Our AI visibility work is built on those four jobs. Every month we pull what people searched for in your market, check ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity, plus Google's AI answers, for which practices get recommended in your area and why, publish two question-and-answer articles from the transcripts of your doctor's own interviews, post four times a week across Google, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and send a report on where you show up in AI search compared with 30 days ago.

If you'd like to see it for your practice, we'll run the searches live on a strategy call . For the full self-audit, see my guide to AI search for dentists .

Frequently asked questions

What does an AI-search agency for dentists do?

It measures whether AI engines like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews recommend your practice, finds the sources behind those answers, publishes clear answers from your practice that the engines can read, and reports what moved each month.

How is an AI-search agency different from a dental SEO company?

A dental SEO company mainly works to rank your website in Google's search results. An AI-search agency also measures and works on whether AI engines name your practice in their answers, which depends on your website, listings, reviews, videos and posts together. Many practices need both.

Is there a special way to get into Google's AI Overviews?

No. Google says there are no additional requirements or special optimizations for AI Overviews or AI Mode. Helpful, reliable content, crawlable pages and accurate business information are what count. Be wary of anyone selling a secret method.

How long does AI search optimization take for a dental practice?

In our tracking, engines that search the web live can reflect changes within weeks, while answers drawn from a model's built-in knowledge move more slowly. Expect to judge progress over a few months, measured engine by engine and service by service.

Sources

BrightLocal, AI trust findings, 2026: https://www.brightlocal.com/research/lcrs-ai-trust/
Pew Research Center, "Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results" (July 22, 2025): https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/07/22/google-users-are-less-likely-to-click-on-links-when-an-ai-summary-appears-in-the-results/
Google Search Central, "AI features and your website": https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features
Google Search Central, "Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content": https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/creating-helpful-content
Google Search Central, "Spam policies for Google web search": https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies
Digital Floss AI visibility sweep, October 1, 2026: 62 dental practices in 35 states; ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity asked through their own APIs with web search on; a practice counted as named only when the answer named the practice or its doctor; engines that returned an error excluded, never counted as a miss.

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What Social Media Posts Work for Dental Practices? Start With Video

Sat, 24 Oct 2026 14:41:28 GMT

Plenty of dentists we meet have tried social media at some point: a holiday graphic, a whitening special, a photo of a smiling model. The posts go up and the schedule looks the same the next month. When practice owners ask us what to post instead, our answer starts in the same place. Put your own doctor and team on video, in your own words, and send a fresh one out every week. Below is what to post, how often to post it, how to advertise it and how it connects to AI search.

What are some effective social media posts for dental marketing?

The most effective social media posts for dental marketing are short videos of your real doctor and team, talking about the care you want to do more of. Patients choose the dentist they feel they already know, and a minute of video lets them meet you before they ever call.

These are the formats we film and post for the practices we work with:

Doctor introductions: who you are, why you do this work and what a first visit with you feels like.
Procedure explainers that answer a worry, like Little Grins Pediatric Dentistry's What a sedation visit is really like .
Team moments, like Oak Point Pediatric Dentistry's Meet the person who keeps every room spotless .
Welcome videos that show how a visit feels, like Menendez Dental's A team that greets you like family .
Patient testimonials, filmed at the practice in the patient's own words.

Each video should make one point and end with one next step, like booking online. Captions do the same job in writing: one idea, your words and a clear way to book. Keep each video short enough to watch in a feed, and put captions on screen so it works with the sound off.

Testimonials carry extra weight because they come from a patient, so keep them honest. The FTC's guidance on endorsements explains that testimonials have to reflect what the person really experienced.

Why should your posts show your own doctor and team?

Your posts should show your own doctor and team because that's who a new patient is deciding to trust. Nobody books a stranger for a crown. They book the doctor they've watched explain a procedure, laugh with a hygienist and welcome a nervous patient.

That's why everything we post comes from our own shoot days. Our crew flies to the practice, scripts before arriving and keeps camera-shy doctors relaxed on set. Captions are written in the doctor's voice, from the shoot-day interviews. AI is a tool we use, never a stand-in for your voice.

Digital Floss was founded by a dentist, Dr. Anissa Broussard, DMD, who spent 20 years chairside. Our job is to make exceptional dentists impossible to miss.

Dr. Corinne Pearson of Pearson Family Dentistry described the change on camera: "When I look at my social media, it is night and day from what I was doing to what Digital Floss is producing for me."

How often should a dental practice post on social media?

Post every week, on a rhythm your neighbors can count on. For our clients, two shoot days at the practice, twice a year, become four posts a week across six channels.

The shoot days give you a steady supply of real material. One shoot gives us the testimonials, doctor intros and short videos that run all year. Each new video goes live on Instagram, Facebook and four more platforms, with copy in your own words, and a fresh video every week keeps you familiar without wearing anyone out. You can see feeds we run on our social media for dentists page .

One of our reels passed two million views. We still measure every piece against new patients in your chair.

How do dentists advertise?

Dentists advertise with postcards, Google search ads and paid social video. On the social side, we put ad money behind the same real videos your practice posts, so the people around your office see your doctor week after week. Google Ads, powered by our partner Rise DDS, catch patients the moment they search.

Our Visibility Campaigns run one video per week, swapped every Monday, to the higher-income ZIP codes around your practice, ranked by U.S. Census household income. Ad spend is paid by the practice and starts at $500 a month. A Book Now button goes straight to your online booking, so a viewer can pick a time on your real schedule.

Across 45 practices in the 90 days ending October 5, 2026, our video ads averaged $18.49 per 1,000 times seen, pulled straight from Meta Ads Manager. That works out to about 1.8 cents a view, next to around 30 cents a home for a postcard that lands once. Dr. Samir Rana's $48,000 implant case came from one patient, one Facebook ad and about $60 in spend. Individual results vary by market and budget, and we show you what worked and what didn't.

Does social media help your practice show up in AI search?

Social video helps with the moment a patient chooses from the names AI gives them. When a family that has watched your videos later asks ChatGPT or Google for a dentist nearby, your name is the one they already recognize.

Getting named in the answer takes more than posts. We read your market every month, check what the AI engines say about you, and publish the content that puts your name in the answer. Video on your own website pages can show up in Google too, and Google's video best practices for Search explain how to help it find and understand those videos.

Our free FlossIQ report shows which AI engines name your practice today, so you know where you're starting.

Want to see what a year of video could look like for your practice? Book a strategy call with our team . We'll show you where your practice stands in AI search, what the practices around you are running, and what we'd do first.

Published by Digital Floss.