What You’ll Learn
- Why your clinical reputation means nothing to AI search engines without digital signals
- How spam backlinks can now actively hurt your practice rankings
- Why user-generated content has become the most important trust signal for AI
- The local authority strategy that costs almost nothing but delivers massive SEO value
- Simple tactics like tagging local businesses that build authority immediately
The Authority You Built Is Invisible to AI
You have been practicing for 20 years. Your patients trust you. You have the largest practice in your area. You are absolutely the authority in your community.
AI search engines have no idea.
Evan Maass, founder of DentistOffices.com, recently joined the Byte Sized Podcast to explain a concept that most dentists fundamentally misunderstand: digital authority is completely different from clinical authority.
“Authority, just like you might have an authority on social media, somebody who is well educated in a topic, it builds trust from the outside world,” Evan explained. “The same thing applies digitally with your online presence. But it’s not always in the eyes of the people. It’s in the eyes of the crawlers, which are what power the search engines.”
When a patient asks ChatGPT or Google Gemini for a dentist recommendation, the AI cannot walk into your practice, shake your hand, or observe how your patients feel about you. It can only measure digital signals. If those signals are weak or missing, you simply do not exist in the AI’s recommendation set.
The Backlink Strategy That Now Hurts You
For 20 years, SEO agencies sold dental practices on backlink building. Get links from other websites pointing to yours, and your authority increases. The more links, the better.
That approach is now dangerous.
“Not only does Google ignore spam backlinks, you get dinged for it,” Evan said. “They consider them spammy and you could get completely removed. I’ve seen dentists go out, hire an agency, they buy 10,000 spam backlinks, and then you’ve got to come in and disavow all these links because they’re terrible and they hurt your online authority.”
Google’s algorithm updates have repeatedly targeted link farming operations. When they flip that switch, practices that relied on purchased backlinks see their rankings collapse overnight.
Backlinks still matter, but only from sources that have their own legitimate traffic and authority. A link from a random directory nobody visits is worthless. A link from a local news station covering your charity event is gold.
User-Generated Content Is the New Trust Signal
The shift from traditional search to AI search has fundamentally changed what builds authority. AI systems like ChatGPT do not have access to Google’s tracking cookies and traffic data. They need different signals to determine trustworthiness.
User-generated content has become that signal.
“Reddit is responsible for about 80% of the authority that AI is looking for,” Evan explained. “It loves Reddit because not only is it user-posted, it’s user-backed. There’s upvotes and downvotes, so it can see what the general population’s opinion is of something.”
This extends beyond Reddit to any content created by real users rather than business owners: Google reviews, social media comments, mentions and tags, forum discussions. AI systems prioritize this content because it cannot be easily manipulated by the business itself.
| Content Type | Authority Value | Why It Matters |
| Reddit mentions | Very High | User voting validates quality |
| Google reviews | High | Verified patient experiences |
| Social media tags | Medium-High | Third-party validation |
| Website content | Medium | Can be self-promotional |
| Paid directory listings | Low | Obvious commercial relationship |
The crawlers even analyze the context of what is being said. Positive comments build authority. Comments calling you a scam actively harm it.
Local Authority Beats National Authority
Ready for a fact that might surprise even experienced dental marketers? AI search engines heavily favor hyper-local directories over national ones.
When Adrian ran searches on ChatGPT and Gemini before recent speaking events, he noticed a consistent pattern. The AI was not recommending HealthGrades or WebMD. It was citing tiny local directories, community newsletters, and regional business listings.
“They’re going to these super hyper-local directories,” Adrian observed. “It was never part of the search engine before.”
This creates an enormous opportunity for dental practices willing to invest effort in local presence rather than national directory fees.
The Community Event Strategy
The single most effective tactic Evan recommends costs almost nothing: sponsor local community events and get mentioned in local media.
“Go do a charity event. Host a charity event at your office. Get it picked up organically by the news media,” Evan said. “Local news stations have some of the highest local authority.”
The key word is organic. Paid advertisements get marked as sponsored, and AI crawlers discount them heavily. But when a local news station covers your free dental day or your sponsorship of a community 5K, that coverage carries massive authority weight.
The approach is simple. Identify local events that align with your practice. Reach out offering to sponsor or participate. Request that any coverage include a mention of your practice name and ideally a link to your website.
“These news outlets are always looking for great community ideas,” Evan noted. “A quick email is usually all it takes.”
Even smaller opportunities matter. Local newsletters, community Facebook groups, neighborhood business associations. The mention from Buffalo Business First outranks national directories for Buffalo-area searches because of concentrated local authority.
The Pizza Shop Tactic
For practices that want to build local authority through social media without complex strategies, Evan offered a remarkably simple approach.
“Go get a pizza from a local pizza shop. Take a picture of your staff eating the pizza. Tag the pizza shop on social media. Usually they’ll tag you back and now you’re reaching their following.”
This works because it creates authentic, local, user-adjacent content. You are associating your practice with other trusted local businesses. When the pizza shop tags you back, their followers see your practice. When those followers engage, you build social proof that AI systems track.
The same principle applies to any local business: coffee shops, restaurants, the local zoo, community centers. Every tag and mention builds the web of local authority that AI search engines now prioritize.
NAP Consistency Still Matters
One technical factor remains critical, however. Your name, address, and phone number must be identical everywhere online.
“If you’re John Smith DDS, use John Smith DDS everywhere,” Evan emphasized. “These crawlers understand now who’s who and what’s what. They’re mentioned here, here, here. But if it’s some funky name that’s different, they can’t make the connection.”
AI systems are trying to build a unified picture of your practice from dozens of sources. Inconsistent information fragments that picture and reduces your authority score.
The Digital Authority Imperative
The gap between clinical reputation and digital authority is only widening. Practices that have spent decades building patient trust through excellent care are discovering that AI search engines cannot see any of it without the right digital signals. The good news is that building those signals does not require massive budgets or complex strategies. It requires consistency: claiming your directory listings, maintaining NAP consistency across platforms, encouraging patient reviews, engaging with local businesses on social media, and showing up in your community in ways that generate organic mentions. The practices that start building these signals now will be the ones ChatGPT and Gemini recommend when patients ask for a dentist. The practices that wait will keep wondering why the phone stopped ringing.
In This Episode:
Evan Maass, Founder of DentistOffices.com
Evan Maass is the founder of DentistOffices.com, a smart dental directory built to help patients find dentists and help practices build measurable online authority. Evan brings a background in cybersecurity, blockchain technology, and software development, and got his start in dentistry by founding a teledentistry practice in New York during COVID. Married to a dentist, Evan has a ground-level understanding of the challenges practices face in attracting and retaining patients in a rapidly shifting digital environment. He built a custom web crawler from scratch to power DentistOffices.com and holds AGD PACE approval for continuing education content. Evan is recognized in the dental marketing space for his white-hat, data-driven approach to building online authority for practices of all sizes.
Adrian Lefler, CEO and Co-founder of My Social Practice
Adrian Lefler, CEO of My Social Practice, is a seasoned expert in the dental marketing industry with 14 years of experience. He is widely recognized for his engaging and informative presentations. Based in Suncrest, Utah, Adrian shares his life with his wife, four children, and a lively mix of pets. My Social Practice is a leading dental marketing company, and Adrian is passionate about helping dental professionals succeed in this dynamic field.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is dental authority in AI search?
Dental authority is how AI search engines like ChatGPT and Google Gemini evaluate whether your practice is trustworthy and should be recommended. Unlike clinical reputation built through patient relationships, digital authority is measured through online signals including user-generated content, quality backlinks, local mentions, and consistent business information across platforms.
How can dental practices build local authority?
Sponsor community events and seek organic media coverage from local news stations and newsletters. Tag local businesses on social media and encourage them to tag you back. Get mentioned in local directories, alumni networks, and community organizations. These hyper-local signals now carry more weight with AI search than national directory listings.
What is user-generated content and why does it matter?
User-generated content includes reviews, social media comments, forum posts, and any content created by patients or community members rather than the practice itself. AI search engines prioritize this content because it represents unbiased third-party validation that cannot be easily manipulated by the business.
