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Written by a human, me. No AI in these emails. Photo proof below!

I did something fun this week. I picked three random dental practices in three random cities (Savannah, GA, Fayetteville, AR and St. Paul, MN) and acted as if I was a new patient looking for a dentist.

No insider knowledge. No second chances. Just me, my phone and their website. Exactly how a real patient would experience it.

Here's what I found.

Practice #1, Savannah, GA

First impression, actually pretty solid. Clean layout, real photos of the team and their doctor's bio felt genuine. They had a new patient special front and center and a clear ‘Request Appointment’ button. Reviews were highlighted on the homepage.

The problem? The site was heavy. Took a few seconds to load on mobile and that's where most patients are searching. Also, their service pages read like a dental textbook. No one searching ‘dentist near me’ wants to read three paragraphs about composite resin materials. They want to know if it will hurt, how much it’ll cost and can I get in this week?

AI readiness? Their content was decent, but it was written for humans browsing, not for AI scanning. No FAQ sections answering real patient questions. No structured content that Google's AI could easily pull from. If someone asks an AI assistant for a dentist in Savannah, this site probably isn't getting cited.

Practice #2, Fayetteville, AR

This one looked polished. Professional photography, clear navigation, organized service pages. The doctor's bio was personal, mentioned his unique background and connection to the community. That stuff matters.

But here's the miss. The homepage felt like a brochure. It told me the practice exists and that they're great. It didn't tell me why I should choose them over the other dentists on the same street. No case studies, no real patient stories on the homepage, no before-and-afters pulling me in.

AI readiness? Similar issue. The content was well-organized for a human clicking through a menu but there was nothing structured for AI to grab onto. No specific answers to questions like ‘best dentist for dental anxiety in Fayetteville’ or ‘how much do dental implants cost in NWA.’ Those are the exact questions patients are asking AI right now.

Practice #3, St. Paul, MN

This one hurt.

The site looked like it was built in 2018 and never touched again. Copyright in the footer said 2023. The homepage had almost no real content, just a few generic sentences and some stock-feeling imagery. The Patient Education Videos page linked out to a third-party library of generic dental videos that had nothing to do with the actual practice.

Biggest red flag? I couldn't easily figure out who the doctors were from the homepage. The About Us page existed, but there was no warmth, no personality, no reason for me to trust these people with my mouth.

AI readiness? Zero. This site is invisible to AI. There's not enough original content for Google's AI or ChatGPT to pull from. When a patient in St. Paul asks an AI assistant for a dentist recommendation, this practice doesn't exist.

The Takeaway

Three practices. Three cities. Same core issues.

Your website is not a brochure. It's a conversion tool. Every page should answer a specific question a patient is actually asking.

And even more importantly right now, your off-navigation pages need to speak to AI Assistants (including Google’s!) to be served in those searches.

And the practices getting this right? They're the ones showing up when patients ask Google, ChatGPT or any other AI tool for a recommendation. Everyone else is getting more invisible by the day.

Take 5 minutes this week. Pull up your website on your phone. Pretend you've never heard of your practice. Would you book an appointment?

Be honest.

— Kyle

PS: I dive a little deeper on these topics in the podcast, which you can download here.