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Google Finally Admits How Long Dental SEO Actually Takes
And they outlined the real reason your practice hasn't seen SEO results yet.
Kyle OConnor
July 16, 2025
Read Time: 1 Minute, 40 Seconds
FYI: We’ve staffed up and will be bringing on a handful of new practices in July. I reached out to a few of you that have 100% open rates with an offer. Next week, I’ll open that offer up to everyone is there are any spots left. We’ve brought three practices on and will likely pause again after two more.
We have a 100% retention rate with dental practices, spanning over a decade. Let’s talk.
What's up! Kyle, back in your inbox again.
Last week, Google's John Mueller and Martin Splitt finally said what I've been telling dental practices for 15 years: SEO results aren't instant.
But here's what they revealed that most dental practices don't understand: the timeline depends entirely on what's being changed.
The Two Types of SEO Results
Quick Wins, Days To Weeks
Simple text changes on existing pages on your website.
Basic on-page optimization fixes on your website.
Meta descriptions and title tags on your website landings.
Long-Term Gains, Month To Years
Major website restructuring from top to bottom.
Content strategy overhauls on landings and main-nav pages.
Technical SEO improvements on the backend of your website.
"If you have a website that has never done anything with SEO, probably you'll see a nice big jump in the beginning as you ramp up and do whatever the best practices are. At some point, it'll kind of be slow and regular more from there on." - John Mueller, Google
Why Most Dental Practices Quit Too Early
I see the below pattern, constantly.
Practice starts SEO in January, excited and full of expectations.
Sees small improvements in February/March, these are the quick wins.
Expects exponential growth to continue immediately!
When April/May stay flat, they panic and quit. Ignoring the future goldmine.
So, what’s actually happening? You got the initial boost from basic optimization. Now comes the hard part, the strategic changes that take 6-12 months to show up. And what makes it even harder? The competitors you are now going up against are also investing in SEO, because they know how important it is. There is a reason the big practices are, in fact, big.
The "It Depends" Problem
Mueller used the classic SEO answer: "It depends." But for dental practices, here's what it actually depends on a few factors.
Starting Point: Never done SEO? You'll see quick initial gains. This is the jump that takes place by doing something, after doing nothing.
Local Competition: Competing against 20 dentists or 200? Are those dentists investing in backlinks and pumping out content, especially as you move up the rankings?
Website Technical Health: Major issues take months to fix properly. It’s not as simple as ‘fix the problems!’ like you’d hope. You have to fix problems, let Google index to see how it shakes out, rinse and repeat.
Content Strategy: Building authority takes consistent effort over time. And now, you need to produce content for both traditional SEO (Google Search) and AI Search (AI Mode, ChatGPT). It has to be done correctly for the long-term benefit.
Note: The same could be said for AI Search, all of this. A good foundation will pay dividends. Why is our retention rate so high at my agency? We set clear expectations and track progress toward those expectations. It will work.
What Your SEO Partner Should Be Doing
Whether you have an in-house employee doing your SEO or hire out to an agency, these are basic rules that are universal and timeless.
Red Flags 🚩
"We'll guarantee results in 30 days!"
If someone guarantees you results tied to SEO, my suggestion would be to run. We guarantee output.
"Just wait 6 months and trust the process. We’ll check in then.”
You should be getting bi-weekly updates in the beginning, at the very least. There shouldn’t be a 6 month silence.
"SEO takes time, be patient. We’ll follow up.”
It does take time, you do need to be patient. But if the practice owner is being kept out of the loop on progress, I would question why that is.
Green Flags ✅
Regular progress reports showing what's being done and more importantly, why it’s being done.
Clear explanations of which changes are quick and which changes are long-term, explaining the difference.
Monitoring rankings and traffic changes consistently, taking note of which keywords are quicker wins and which keywords are long-haul targets.
Adjusting strategy based on what's working, and spending up in either time or resources if it’s necessary.
The Reality Check
Mueller emphasized that patience is required, but so is transparency. A good SEO should tell you: "We did all of these things, these things are going to take a while, and I can show you when Google crawls and what is happening when they do."
For Dental Practices?
Month 1-2: Quick Wins From Basic Optimization
Month 3-6: Strategic Changes Start Getting Indexed
Month 6-12: Real Competitive Gains Show Up
Month 12-24+: Compound Growth
And remember, Google changes the algorithm a few times per year. When this happens, it’s bedlam on the agency side 🙃 but a good SEO or agency will adjust and put you in the best possible position, as quickly as possible.
The Bottom Line
SEO isn't broken just because you don't see results in 60 days. Google's own team just confirmed that strategic SEO changes take time to show up in rankings.
The practices that win at SEO understand this timeline. They invest in both quick wins AND long-term strategy. Google ‘dentist [city, state]’ for any major market and Page 1 will be full of practices that have invested in the resources, shown patience for the work to show up and are now piling up new patients every month.
The ones that quit after a few months? They're essentially funding their competitors success. Don't be the practice that quits right before SEO starts working.
-Kyle
My Podcast 👇
