What You’ll Learn:

Table of Contents

• What Is Google AI Mode, Anyway?
• The Study That’s Changing the Conversation
• The Myth of “Above the Fold”
• Why Page Layout Doesn’t Equal AI Search Visibility
• What Actually Does Matter: Descriptive Subheadings
• What This Means for Your Dental Practice
• The Bigger Picture for Dental Marketing
• Save Your Money, Keep Creating Quality Content
• FAQ

The Truth About AI Search and Dental SEO

What Is Google AI Mode, Anyway?

For dentists who haven’t been glued to SEO news (and honestly, why would you be?), Google AI Mode is the search giant’s latest evolution. Instead of just showing you a list of blue links, Google now uses artificial intelligence to synthesize information from multiple sources and present it in a more conversational, summarized format.

Basically, traditional Google search hands you a stack of brochures and says “figure it out.” AI Mode reads the brochures for you and gives you the highlights.

When AI Mode cites a source, it often includes a clickable snippet that takes you directly to the relevant text on the page. This is called a “text fragment link,” and it’s how researchers were able to study exactly where Google’s AI pulls its information from.

The Study That’s Changing the Conversation

SALT.agency, a technical SEO firm, recently published research that analyzed over 2,300 URLs cited in AI Mode responses. They wanted to answer a question that marketers have been debating since AI Mode launched: Does where your content appears on a page affect whether Google’s AI will cite it?

The short answer? No. Not even a little.

Dan Taylor, partner and head of innovation at SALT.agency, summed it up bluntly: “Our study confirms that there is no magic template or formula for increased visibility in AI Mode responses.”

That sound you hear is a thousand “AI-optimized website” sales pitches crumbling into dust.

The Myth of “Above the Fold”

For years, content marketers have preached the gospel of “above the fold” placement. The idea is simple. Put your most important information in the first 800 pixels of a webpage (roughly what users see before scrolling) because that’s where eyeballs land first.

Some marketers have extended this advice to AI search optimization, claiming that Google’s AI preferentially cites content positioned near the top of pages.

The study thoroughly dismantled this theory. Here’s what they found:

Text buried thousands of pixels down the page was just as likely to be cited as content prominently positioned at the top. Some citations came from content located 60,000 pixels down. That’s the equivalent of scrolling through a small novel.

For dental practices, this means you don’t need to cram everything into your homepage hero section. Your detailed service descriptions, patient testimonials, and procedure explanations buried deeper in your content? They’re just as discoverable to AI Mode as your headline.

Why Page Layout Doesn’t Equal AI Search Visibility

The study also examined whether certain page templates or structural elements correlated with better AI Mode performance. Spoiler alert: they didn’t.

Pages with large hero images pushed cited content further down. Simpler blog or FAQ layouts had citations appearing earlier. But neither layout type showed any actual advantage in getting cited by AI Mode.

FAQs, which have long been touted as an SEO magic bullet, accounted for only about 1% of the citations analyzed. And most of those came from a single website.

This is important context for dentists evaluating website redesigns or vendor pitches. If someone tells you that their proprietary page template will boost your AI search visibility, the data suggests they’re selling snake oil.

What Actually Does Matter: Descriptive Subheadings

Here’s where things get interesting. The researchers did find one consistent pattern in how AI Mode selects content to cite.

AI Mode tends to highlight subheadings followed by the first line of text beneath them.

This suggests that Google’s AI uses heading structures to navigate your content, then samples the opening sentences to determine relevance. It’s like a dental patient scanning your website. They look at the section headers to find what they need, then read the first few sentences to see if it answers their question.

This isn’t revolutionary advice. Clear, descriptive headings have been a content best practice for years, both for human readers and search engines. But it’s reassuring to know that the same SEO fundamentals that help patients navigate your website also help AI systems understand and cite your content.

What This Means for Your Dental Practice

So if “AI-optimized” templates are nonsense and page position doesn’t matter, what should dentists actually focus on? The answer is probably less exciting than you’d hope, but it’s also much simpler.

Keep Doing What Works

The same SEO fundamentals that have driven dental practice visibility for years continue to matter:

• Create genuinely helpful content that answers patient questions
• Use clear, descriptive headings that tell readers (and AI) what each section covers
• Build authority through quality backlinks and consistent online presence
• Maintain accurate business information across directories
• Focus on E-E-A-T signals (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness)

Google AI Mode relies on the same search infrastructure as traditional Google results. The underlying technology that powers text fragment citations has been around for over four years. There’s nothing fundamentally new about what makes content discoverable.

Focus on Content Quality Over Placement

Instead of obsessing over where your information appears on the page, focus on making that information actually useful. A detailed explanation of dental implant procedures buried in a comprehensive services page is more likely to get cited than a vague one-liner in your hero section.

Write content that genuinely addresses what your ideal patients are searching for. If someone in your area searches “how long do dental implants last” and your website has a thorough, accurate answer, AI Mode can find it whether it’s at the top of the page or the bottom.

Be Skeptical of “AI SEO” Sales Pitches

This study provides excellent ammunition for evaluating marketing vendors. If someone approaches your practice with a pitch that includes phrases like “AI-optimized page structure” or “above the fold AI visibility,” you now have research to push back.

Ask them what data supports their claims. Ask them to explain how their template differs from standard SEO best practices. If they can’t answer clearly, or if their answer contradicts what this study found, that’s a red flag.

The Bigger Picture for Dental Marketing

What makes this research particularly valuable is what it confirms about the nature of AI search. Large language models (the technology behind AI Mode and tools like ChatGPT) strip away all the HTML, CSS, and formatting before processing text. They don’t “see” your beautiful dental website design. They read words.

This means the core of dental digital marketing hasn’t changed: create authoritative, helpful content written for actual humans. Structure it clearly so both people and machines can navigate it. Build trust through consistent, accurate information across the web.

The delivery mechanism for search results is evolving, but the fundamentals of being findable and being chosen remain the same. Patients still want to find a dentist they can trust. They still evaluate practices based on reviews, credentials, and how well your content answers their questions.

AI Mode is just a new window through which patients might discover you. The work of making your practice worth discovering hasn’t changed at all.

Save Your Money, Keep Creating Quality Content

The next time someone tries to sell you an expensive website overhaul promising “AI search optimization,” remember this study. There’s no magic template. There’s no secret page structure. There’s no above-the-fold advantage.

What there is, and what there has always been, is the straightforward work of creating well-structured, authoritative content that genuinely helps the patients you want to attract. That’s what worked in traditional search, and it’s what works in AI Mode.

Your dental practice website probably doesn’t need a rebuild. It might just need better content. And that’s good news, because creating helpful content is something you can do today without writing a five-figure check to a vendor promising AI magic.

Frequently Asked Questions

About the Author: Megan Nielsen is an SEO strategist and the Grand Overlord of copywriting at My Social Practice. My Social Practice is a dental marketing company that offers a full suite of dental marketing services to thousands of dental practices throughout the United States and Canada.