Start with ownership
Before changing anything, check who owns the profile. It should belong to a Google account your practice controls, with any agency added as a manager, never as the owner. Listings verified years ago by a former office manager or website vendor are common, and getting them back takes time, so start early.
Name, address, phone and practitioner listings
- Use the practice's real-world name, exactly as on your sign. Google's guidelines don't allow extra keywords like "Best Dentist London" in the name.
- Use one main phone number, the same one your website shows.
- Match your address to your signage and your website, down to the unit number.
Google also lets individual practitioners have their own profiles. If one dentist is the only public-facing practitioner at a branded practice, the guidelines suggest a single shared profile named "Practice name: Dr. Name". With several dentists, the practice keeps its profile and each dentist can have one named for the dentist alone. Extra profiles can widen your reach, but they also split reviews, so decide deliberately and with each dentist's agreement.
Choose categories carefully
Your primary category carries the most weight, and for a general practice it's usually "Dentist". Add secondary categories only where they're true.
- Specialty categories such as Orthodontist, Endodontist or Periodontist are for registered specialists only. The RCDSO restricts specialist claims to dentists registered in that specialty.
- Categories like "Cosmetic dentist" can read as a specialty claim. Check the RCDSO's guidance before using one.
- "Emergency dental service" only if you really see emergency patients at short notice.
Services, description and hours
List every service you want to be found for, in plain words patients use. Keep the description factual. The RCDSO's advertising advisory applies here as much as on your website: no "best" or "state of the art", nothing that promises results, no free offers, and whenever you name a treatment, make clear whether a general dentist or a specialist provides it.
Set holiday hours ahead of every long weekend, and add a booking link if your system supports online booking.
Photos
Add real photos of your team, treatment rooms, waiting area, entrance and parking. They help patients recognize the building and feel comfortable before a first visit. Skip stock photos, and refresh the set a few times a year.
Reviews and replies
Patients can review you on Google, and a steady flow of recent reviews helps. But the usual agency advice needs adjusting in Ontario:
- The RCDSO rules out testimonials in your own advertising, so don't embed reviews on your website or social accounts.
- Using patients' contact details to ask for reviews is marketing, and Ontario's privacy commissioner says express consent is generally required. Ask in person, use a sign or card, or message only patients who agreed to hear from you.
- Never offer anything in exchange for a review.
Reply to every review, positive or negative, without confirming that the person is your patient or discussing their care. Even the fact that someone is your patient is protected information.
Posts, questions and updates
Google discontinued profile Q&A in November 2025. Its AI now answers patients' questions from your profile, reviews and website. That makes a clear FAQ page on your own site more useful than ever: parking, accessibility, insurance and direct billing, and what happens at a first visit.
Posts still work for news, new services and hours changes. Keep them within the same RCDSO rules as everything else.
A monthly checklist
- Check for edits suggested by Google or the public, and correct anything wrong
- Reply to every new review
- Confirm hours, including any upcoming holidays
- Add a few new photos or a post
- Look for duplicate listings, including old practitioner profiles
- Check where you rank on a map grid around the practice, not just from your front desk
For how rankings work in the first place, see our Google Maps checklist.