Updated: October, 2026
Quick Answer: Google reviews affect where your Local Services Ad appears. Since July 2025, LSA reviews come from your Google Business Profile, and Google counts your star rating and number of reviews as part of profile quality, which helps decide how often and how high your ad shows. Reviews that break Google’s policies are removed, which can lower your ranking. Ask every patient for an honest review, never offer incentives, and answer leads quickly.
Your LSA reviews do two jobs at once. They feed the profile quality score Google uses to rank your ad, and they’re the first thing patients see next to your practice name. Google weighs reviews alongside your bid, how quickly you respond to calls and messages, how relevant your practice is to the search, and the verification checks you’ve completed.
Here’s how LSA reviews work and what your practice can do to earn more of them.
Table of Contents
- How do Local Services Ads work for dentists?
- How do reviews affect your Local Services Ads ranking?
- Where do Local Services Ads reviews come from?
- What review problems can hurt your LSA visibility?
- How should dentists ask for reviews that help their LSAs?
- What do the most-reviewed dental practices do differently?
- How do you track whether reviews are helping your LSAs?
- How have Local Services Ads changed?
- What’s the bottom line on LSA reviews?
- Frequently asked questions
How do Local Services Ads work for dentists?
Local Services Ads (LSAs) are pay-per-lead ads that appear at the very top of Google search results, above standard Google Ads. Your practice pays when a patient contacts you through the ad by phone call, message or booking. You don’t pay for clicks.
Each ad shows patients the essentials at a glance:
- Your practice name and hours
- Your star rating and number of reviews
- A Google Verified badge, which shows your practice passed the verification checks Google requires for your business type and location
Because patients see your rating and review count before they ever visit your website, reviews carry more weight in an LSA than in almost any other ad format. Google’s Local Services Ads overview shows every element that appears in the ad.
How do reviews affect your Local Services Ads ranking?
Google ranks Local Services Ads partly on your star rating and number of reviews. LSAs are ordered through an auction, and Google lists these factors:
- Your bid: the most you’re willing to pay for a lead
- How likely your ad is to produce a lead, based on:
- Your responsiveness to calls and messages (missed calls can count against you)
- The search itself, including the service, the time of the search and the patient’s location
- How relevant your practice is to that search, based on your services and business bio
- Whether patients can reach you by message or booking, not only by phone
- Profile quality: your star rating, number of reviews, average response time, high-quality photos and the verification checks you’ve completed
You can read the full list in Google’s guide to how Google ranks Local Services Ads. Google doesn’t publish how much each factor weighs, so be wary of anyone who claims to know exact percentages.
In practice, fewer reviews or a lower rating usually means your ad shows less often. Fewer impressions mean fewer calls and fewer booked appointments.
Reviews also work as a trust signal. Patients compare star ratings side by side in the ad before deciding who to call, which is a big part of why Google reviews matter for dentists.
Where do Local Services Ads reviews come from?
LSA reviews are your Google Business Profile reviews. One profile holds one set of reviews, and Google shows them in your Local Services Ad, in Google Search and in Google Maps. You manage them in Google Business Profile, not in your Local Services Ads account.
Until July 2025, LSAs collected some reviews through a separate system. When Google moved review management into Business Profiles, it checked existing LSA reviews against its review policies, so some practices saw their review count or rating change.
What this means for your practice:
- Your Business Profile powers your ads. Keep your hours, services, photos and contact details complete and accurate, because that profile feeds both your listing and your LSA.
- Use one review link. Send patients your Google Business Profile review link for every request.
- Manage everything in one place. Reading, replying to and reporting reviews all happen inside Business Profile.
Occasionally, reviews drop out of view because of a problem on Google’s side rather than a policy removal. If your count falls suddenly, check whether it’s a case of a Google bug hiding your reviews before assuming the worst.
What review problems can hurt your LSA visibility?
Reviews that break Google’s review policies can be hidden or removed, which lowers the review count your ad shows. Google’s help center confirms that LSA reviews follow the same rules as Google Maps reviews, so violating content is taken down.
Avoid these problems:
- Fake reviews, including reviews written by staff, family members or an agency, and AI-generated reviews
- Incentivized reviews, meaning discounts, gifts, drawings or anything else offered in exchange for a review
- Review gating, which means asking only the patients you expect to be happy
- Many reviews posted from one office device, such as a front-desk tablet. Google doesn’t publish exactly how its spam filters work, but this pattern can look suspicious to Google’s filters.
- Copy-and-paste or templated review text that makes reviews look scripted
Read Google’s review policies to see the full list of prohibited content. For more examples of what goes wrong, see our guide to common dental review mistakes.
How should dentists ask for reviews that help their LSAs?
Ask every patient for an honest review using your Google Business Profile review link. A steady, consistent process builds your count and rating without triggering policy problems. Follow these steps:
- Find your review link. In Google Business Profile, select “Ask for reviews.” Google explains how to find your Google review link or QR code.
- Ask every patient, every time. Make the request at checkout once treatment is done.
- Text the link the same day. Patients post from their own phones while the visit is fresh.
- Display the QR code. Put it on signage at the front desk and on appointment cards.
- Automate the follow-up. A reputation management tool can send automated review requests after each appointment, so no patient slips through.
- Reply to every review. Thank positive reviewers and respond calmly to negative ones without confirming any patient details. Learn how to respond to reviews without risking HIPAA.
Word the request simply. Ask for “a review” or “your honest feedback on Google,” never for a specific star rating.
Never offer patients anything in exchange for a review, and never ask only the patients you think are happy.
Want more ideas for building a steady review flow? Here are more ways to get Google reviews.
What do the most-reviewed dental practices do differently?
The most-reviewed dental practices ask for reviews consistently and reply to every review. When My Social Practice analyzed 28,832 dental Google Business Profile listings across the 100 largest US cities, the 100 practices with the most reviews averaged 1,461 reviews each. They also earned about 32 reviews a month. You can see the full results in our study of the most-reviewed dental practices in the US.
The top practice in that study, ChildSmiles FamilySmiles in Newark, New Jersey, had 3,493 Google reviews. In an interview with the practice’s marketing manager, the team described a process that closely matches the steps above:
- Automated review requests by text and email after every visit
- A dedicated patient experience team that monitors reviews every day
- Personal, thoughtful replies to positive reviews
- Calm, non-defensive replies to negative reviews that invite the reviewer to resolve the issue offline
One caveat about the data: the study measured Google Maps rankings, where review count showed only a loose connection to ranking position. Local Services Ads work differently, because Google states directly that star rating and number of reviews factor into LSA ranking. Either way, the study’s main lesson holds: patients often decide whether to call based on what they see in your reviews.
How do you track whether reviews are helping your LSAs?
Watch your ad’s visibility and lead numbers alongside your review count and rating. If reviews climb while impressions and leads hold steady or grow, your reviews are doing their job.
Track these numbers monthly:
- How often your ad shows (impressions)
- Lead volume, broken out by calls, messages and bookings
- Cost per lead
- Review count and average star rating over time
- Missed calls and average response time
Responsiveness belongs on this list because it’s part of how Google ranks your ad. A practice with great reviews can still lose visibility if calls go unanswered.
Local Services Ads are moving into Google Ads (see the next section), so your reporting may live in your Google Ads account rather than the separate LSA dashboard.
How have Local Services Ads changed?
Google adjusts Local Services Ads regularly. These are the changes that affect reviews and how your ad appears:
- July 2025: Review management for Local Services Ads moved into Google Business Profile. In its advertiser email announcing the July 11 change, Google said existing LSA reviews would be checked against Google Maps review policies. Google’s current reviews guidance confirms that reviews are managed through Business Profile and that policy-violating content will be removed. Search Engine Roundtable
- October 2025: Google began replacing the Google Guaranteed, Google Screened and License Verified by Google badges with a single Google Verified badge for eligible advertisers, as outlined in its official announcement. Google Blog
- August 2026 onward: Google began moving Local Services Ads into Google Ads as specialized Performance Max campaigns with pay-per-lead goals. The phased rollout started with select U.S. home and storefront service advertisers and is scheduled to continue through 2027. The billing model remains pay-per-lead, and ads continue appearing in the same positions on Google Search and Maps.
We’ll keep this section updated as Google changes Local Services Ads.
What’s the bottom line on LSA reviews?
LSA reviews drive how often and how high your Local Services Ad appears, and they all live in your Google Business Profile. The fix for weak visibility is steady, honest reviews: ask every patient, use your Business Profile link, skip incentives and reply promptly. Reviews are one piece of building a strong online reputation, and in Local Services Ads they directly affect how many patients call.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Google reviews affect Local Services Ads ranking?
Yes. Google counts your star rating and number of reviews as part of profile quality, which helps decide where your Local Services Ad ranks. Google also weighs your bid, how quickly you respond to leads, how relevant your practice is to the search, and the verification checks you’ve completed. More reviews and higher ratings usually mean more visibility.
Are LSA reviews the same as Google Business Profile reviews?
Yes. Since July 2025, the reviews in your Local Services Ad come from your Google Business Profile. One set of reviews powers your listing in Google Search, your listing in Google Maps and your ad. You manage all of them in Google Business Profile rather than in your Local Services Ads account.
Where do I find the correct link to send patients for a Google review?
Keep every review authentic, voluntary and relevant. Reviews should come from real patients describing their own experience, without discounts, gifts or other incentives. Ask every patient, not only the ones you expect to be happy, and let patients post from their own phones, since many reviews from one office device can look suspicious to Google’s filters.
Where do I find the link to send patients for a Google review?
Your review link lives in your Google Business Profile. Sign in to the Google account that manages your profile, open your Business Profile, select “Ask for reviews,” and copy the link or download the QR code. Share that link by text, by email, on front-desk signage or on appointment cards.
What replaced the Google Screened badge?
The Google Verified badge replaced Google Screened in October 2025. Google retired the Google Guaranteed and License Verified by Google badges at the same time. Google Verified shows patients that your practice passed the verification checks Google requires for your type of business and location.
Are Local Services Ads moving into Google Ads?
Yes. Google began moving Local Services Ads into Google Ads in August 2026, starting with a small group of US advertisers, and plans to continue through 2027. Ads still appear in the same places, pricing stays pay-per-lead, and Google notifies advertisers before their account moves.
Adrian Lefler is the CEO and Co-Founder of My Social Practice and a recognized dental marketing expert with nearly two decades of experience. He is a trusted voice in dental marketing, AI in dentistry, and emerging technology, and he hosts BYTE SIZED, a podcast focused on dental AI, innovation, and technology.
