Use of ChatGPT and other generative AI tools for local business recommendations rose from 6% to 45% of US consumers in one year, according to BrightLocal's Local Consumer Review Survey 2026, published in February 2026. BrightLocal sells review and local SEO software, surveyed 1,002 US adults through a SurveyMonkey panel, and covers all local businesses, not only dentists. For a practice, it means some patients meet your name, or a competitor's, inside an AI answer before they see your website.
The rest of the journey is changing more quietly. Patients want recent reviews, a higher star floor and a way to book without phoning. Below is each step with the latest data I could verify, plus what I see in my own client accounts.
Most patients in 2026 still start on Google and Maps, but more of them read an AI summary or ask a chatbot first. They shortlist practices by recent reviews and a 4 to 4.5 star floor, check the website for proof, insurance and prices, then contact you through whichever door is easiest: phone, form or online booking.
- 45% of US consumers used ChatGPT or other generative AI for local recommendations, up from 6% a year earlier (BrightLocal, 2026).
- Google users clicked a regular result on 8% of visits with an AI summary, against 15% without (Pew Research Center, March 2025 data).
- 74% of consumers look for reviews written in the last three months (BrightLocal, 2026).
- 31% will only use a business rated 4.5 stars or higher, up from 17% a year earlier (BrightLocal, 2026).
- At one Maryland practice, 360 of 821 tracked inquiries came through online booking, a channel that did not exist before (the practice's own GA4, 15 months).
What does the patient journey look like in 2026?
It still has six steps, the same six it had ten years ago. What changed is how much now happens before a patient reaches your website, and how many places there are to drop out.
What makes a patient start looking for a new dentist?
Something changes: a move, a new insurance plan, a toothache, or a wedding photo they did not love. Before searching for a dentist, many people search the problem itself, and more of them now ask an AI tool.
The CDC's FastStats page on oral and dental health, based on early release data from the 2025 National Health Interview Survey, puts the share of adults with a dental exam or cleaning in the past year at 66.7%. For the third of adults outside a recall routine, the next visit often starts with a trigger, not a reminder card.
In KFF's Tracking Poll on Health Information and Trust (1,343 US adults, February 24 to March 2, 2026, margin of error plus or minus 3 points), 32% of adults had used AI chatbots for health information in the past year. Of those users, 41% did it to look up information before deciding whether to see a provider at all.
The West Health-Gallup survey published in April 2026 (5,660 US adults, October 27 to December 22, 2025, plus or minus 2.1 points) found that one in four adults had used AI for health information or advice. Among recent users, 59% research on their own before visiting a doctor, and 14% said AI advice led them to skip a visit.
Age is the biggest divider. Pew Research Center's Americans and AI 2026 survey (5,119 US adults, February 17 to 23, 2026) found that 49% of adults ever use AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot. 27% of adults under 30 said they use them to get medical advice, against 11% of adults 65 and older.
Gallup saw the same slope: 69% of recent AI health users aged 18 to 29 research before seeing a doctor, against 43% of those 65 and older.
What this means for your practice: the first touchpoint is often a question, not a practice name. Pages that answer pre-treatment questions (how long, how much, does it hurt, will insurance cover it) let you enter the journey at step one. My keyword research guide shows how to collect those questions from your front desk.
Where do patients search for a dentist now?
Google is still the starting point, but it no longer gets the first word. In Tebra's survey, 56% of patients said they start their research for a provider on Google, while 41% check practice websites and 38% use WebMD before booking.
BrightLocal's 2026 data shows how much the sources of local recommendations moved in a single year.
| Source | 2025 | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 83% | 71% | down 12 points | |
| ChatGPT and other generative AI | 6% | 45% | up 39 points |
| Apple Maps | 14% | 27% | up 13 points |
| Local news sites | 48% | 29% | down 19 points |
AI summaries answer before anyone clicks
Pew Research Center tracked the Google searches of 900 US adults in March 2025 and published the results in July 2025. 18% of searches produced an AI summary. With one on the page, users clicked a regular result on 8% of visits, against 15% without, and clicked a link inside the summary on 1% of visits.
Question searches were the most likely to get a summary: 60% of searches starting with words like who, what, when or why produced one. That is exactly how patients phrase their questions before treatment.
Google's own documentation on AI features says there are no additional requirements or special optimizations needed to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. It also says clicks from pages with AI Overviews are higher quality, meaning longer visits. That is Google's claim, not an independent measurement.
Here are three practices that look like a good fit, based on their websites and Google reviews.
Practice A: 4.8 stars from about 300 Google reviews, several from the last two weeks. Its insurance page lists Delta Dental PPO, and online booking shows evening slots on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Practice B: 4.9 stars from about 90 reviews. It is out of network with most PPO plans but says it files claims for you, and it lists financing options for larger treatment.
Practice C: well reviewed, but I could not confirm its insurance plans or evening hours from its website. Call to check before booking.
That answer is invented, but its shape is not. When I test these prompts for clients, assistants repeat checkable facts: rating, review recency, insurance plans by name, hours and online booking. If a fact is not public, the assistant cannot use it, which is how Practice C becomes an afterthought.
The dental example I trust most is a blog post for a private fee for service practice in the Maryland/DC area. It answers the question patients ask the week before they commit to an implant: how long healing takes. It did not exist before we started, and it drew 9,971 visits in 15 months, more than the homepage's 6,202.
What this means for your practice: write down the five questions patients ask before they book, and answer each one on a page that names your practice, your dentists and your town. My guide to AI search for dentists shows how to check what the assistants currently say about you.
How do patients build a shortlist from reviews?
They filter first, then they read. BrightLocal found that 97% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses, and 41% always do, up from 29% a year earlier. Tebra's healthcare number is lower but still decisive: 79% of patients read reviews before they choose a provider.
The filters got stricter in 2026. In BrightLocal's survey, 68% will only use a business with four stars or more, up from 55% in 2025, and 31% require 4.5 stars or higher, up from 17%. Tebra found that 53% of patients won't consider a provider with fewer than four stars.
Recency is the filter most practices miss. To a patient, 400 reviews and nothing since spring can look like a practice that stopped seeing people.
Replies get read too. 89% of consumers expect owners to respond to reviews, 80% say they are likely to use a business that responds to all of them, and 50% are put off by generic or templated replies. In Tebra's survey, 70% of patients said a provider's reply to a negative review improved their opinion.
What this means for your practice: run reviews as a weekly flow, not a lifetime total. Two or three new reviews a week means the newest one is never more than a few days old. My guide to Google reviews for dentists has the ask scripts and reply templates.
What do patients check on your website before they call?
They check whether you are real, whether you take their insurance, roughly what it will cost, and how to get in. BrightLocal found that 54% of consumers visit a business's website after reading positive reviews, up from 32% when it last asked in 2019.
Tebra's survey puts a number on the stakes: 44% of patients say a practice's website influences their choice of provider, and 16% would consider switching practices if a provider's website is outdated.
Cost sits behind most of these questions. The Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker, using 2023 National Health Interview Survey data, found that 21% of adults delayed or went without dental care because of cost. The ADA Health Policy Institute report on dental care use, coverage and cost barriers says dental care has the highest cost barriers of any category of health care, and that 24% of Americans had no dental coverage in 2024.
- "We accept most PPOs" with no plan names
- No price, range or financing on implant and veneer pages
- Stock photos of models instead of the team
- A 14 field form that breaks on a phone
- The phone number only in the footer
- Answers to questions nobody asked
- Plan names listed, plus how out-of-network claims work
- A typical range or a "from" price, plus financing options
- Real photos and a bio page for every dentist
- A short form that works on a phone and confirms instantly
- Tap-to-call and Book buttons on every screen
- Answers to the questions patients ask before treatment
Patients check the dentist, not just the practice. At Kraja & Sidhu Dental in Silver Spring, MD, roughly 600 people a month search the two doctors by name. That traffic used to land on directory profiles the practice could not edit; in year two, the two new bio pages drew 277 and 257 organic views.
What this means for your practice: put four answers (who, insurance, cost, how to book) within one tap of every service page. My guide to service pages that rank without backlinks shows the page structure I use.
Do patients still call, or do they book online?
Both, and a practice that offers only one door loses the people who wanted the other. In Tebra's survey, 41% of patients said they prefer phone calls for scheduling, 34% said online scheduling is important, and 65% prioritize getting an appointment as soon as possible.
Google makes room for both. A Business Profile can carry a booking link, which Google's help page on managing local business links lists as a way for customers to book an appointment. Without one, the patient deciding at 10 pm has to remember to call you tomorrow.
Before the engagement, the practice had recorded 2 calls in 15 months and nothing else: there was no booking tool and nothing tracked the form. The phone still matters; it just stopped being the only door. Another 376 people started a form without finishing it, and I left them out, because an abandoned form is not an inquiry.
What this means for your practice: offer all three doors (tap to call, a short form, online booking) and count all three. If you can't see calls in your analytics, start with my tracking setup guide. Then add the booking link to your profile; my Google Business Profile guide shows where it goes.
What happens between the booking and the first visit?
The journey does not end at the booking. Tebra found that half of respondents value immediate confirmations and reminders, 48% prefer texts for reminders and follow-ups, and 31% have run into mobile forms that don't work well.
That last number is about intake as much as marketing. A patient who books at night and then gets a PDF to print has learned how the rest of the relationship will feel.
The first visit is also where your next review comes from. What this means for your practice: confirm within minutes, send a text reminder, make every form work on a phone, and ask for a review after a normal visit.
Which trends matter most for a dental practice in 2026?
Six, in my reading of the data. Each card gives the number behind the trend and what I would do about it this quarter.
If you only have time for one, start with the step your own data says is weakest. A practice with 4.9 stars and no call tracking has a counting problem, not a reputation problem.
Audit your practice through a patient's eyes
This takes an hour, a phone and a notebook. Run it from outside the office, because your own Wi-Fi and location will flatter you. I sell this audit as part of my work, but nothing on this list needs me.
- Map pack: search "dentist near me" on a phone about two miles from the office. Note whether you appear in the top three and who does.
- AI answer: ask ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode the question a new patient would ask, naming your area and your main insurance plan. Note whether you are named and which facts are used.
- Newest review: open your Google reviews sorted by newest. Is the latest one less than two weeks old?
- Star floor and count: are you at 4.5 stars or above, with at least 20 reviews?
- Replies: does every review from the last 90 days have a specific, human reply with no clinical detail?
- Phone first look: open your homepage on a phone. Can you find the phone number, insurance and booking within one or two taps?
- Insurance page: are plans listed by name, with a plain explanation for out-of-network patients?
- Cost: do your implant, veneer and aligner pages show a typical range, a "from" price or financing options?
- Dentist bios: does every dentist have a page with a real photo, credentials and what they do?
- Form test: fill in your own contact form on a phone. Does it work, and does a confirmation arrive?
- Booking test: try to book online at 10 pm. Which appointment types are open, and what happens next?
- Call test: call at lunchtime and after 5 pm. Does a person or a clear voicemail answer, and is the call tracked?
Score one point per check. Below 8, fix the earliest weak step first, because a leak at step three wastes everything you do at step four. If you would rather go through it together, book a free 30 minute call and bring your results.
Frequently asked questions
Do patients really use ChatGPT to find a dentist?
How many Google reviews does a dental practice need?
Should we offer online booking if we prefer patients to call?
Should a dental website show prices?
How can I tell which step of the journey is losing patients?
Is the journey different for implant and cosmetic patients?
References
- BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (published February 11, 2026). www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/. Accessed 20 October 2026.
- Tebra, Top 5 takeaways about what patients really want in 2025 (6th annual Patient Perspectives survey, 2025). www.tebra.com/theintake/patient-experience/tips-and-trends…. Accessed 20 October 2026.
- Pew Research Center, Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results, July 22, 2025. www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/07/22/google-users-ar…. Accessed 20 October 2026.
- Pew Research Center, How opinions and use of AI differ by age (Americans and AI 2026), June 17, 2026. www.pewresearch.org/internet/2026/06/17/how-opinions-and-u…. Accessed 20 October 2026.
- Pew Research Center, Mobile Fact Sheet, 2026. www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/mobile/. Accessed 20 October 2026.
- KFF, Poll: 1 in 3 Adults Are Turning to AI Chatbots for Health Information, Equaling the Share Who Use Social Media for Health, March 25, 2026. www.kff.org/health-information-trust/poll-1-in-3-adults-ar…. Accessed 20 October 2026.
- Gallup (West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare in America), Americans Turning to AI to Supplement Healthcare Visits, April 2026. news.gallup.com/poll/707789/americans-turning-supplement-h…. Accessed 20 October 2026.
- CDC National Center for Health Statistics, FastStats: Oral and Dental Health, 2025 NHIS early release (last reviewed June 12, 2026). www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/dental.htm. Accessed 20 October 2026.
- Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker, How does cost affect access to healthcare?, March 10, 2026. www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/cost-affect-a…. Accessed 20 October 2026.
- American Dental Association Health Policy Institute, National Trends in Dental Care Use, Dental Insurance Coverage, and Cost Barriers, 2026. www.ada.org/-/media/project/ada-organization/ada/ada-org/f…. Accessed 20 October 2026.
- Google Search Central, AI features and your website, last updated December 10, 2025. developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features. Accessed 20 October 2026.
- Google Business Profile Help, Manage your local business links. support.google.com/business/answer/6218037?hl=en. Accessed 20 October 2026.
- Federal Trade Commission, Federal Trade Commission Announces Final Rule Banning Fake Reviews and Testimonials, August 14, 2024. www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/08/federa…. Accessed 20 October 2026.