What If Apple Stops Sending Patients To Google?

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You may not realize it yet, but the way patients find dentists online is changing quickly.

And it’s not just Google anymore. This week, Apple made some noise.

Here Is What’s Happening

🔍 Apple is considering replacing Google as the default search engine in Safari, possibly with ChatGPT or Perplexity. This is really big news, especially since Google pays Apple $20 billion per year(!) just to stay as the default.

🤖 Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is now a mainstream thing. AKA, AI Search. Instead of optimizing for 10 blue links, brands are starting to optimize for AI-generated responses and what overviews say about you.

I’ve been telling everyone that will listen: In a year, it’ll be commonplace. Right now, it’s an unfair advantage.

And the biggest piece of information from this release? For the first time in 22 years, searches on Google through Safari are declining.

Apple’s own leadership admitted it. More people are skipping search altogether and just asking tools like ChatGPT (soon to be SearchGPT in this scenario).

What Does This Mean For Dentists?

Patients are still searching but how they’re doing it is shifting.

• AI feedback is gaining trust with users.

• Google’s dominance is softening, giving way to AI models.

• Traditional SEO is no longer the only discovery source through Search.

• Your practice needs to show up everywhere, not just in Google results.

This isn’t about panic. This is about positioning. Below is a CTR (Clickthrough Rate) graphic from NP Digital.

What We Are Doing For Our Practices Right Now

✅ Investing In Google Ads To Guarantee Visibility

✅ Building Trust-Based, Long-Form Content That Can Be Indexed By AI

✅ Organizing Their First-Party Data (Emails, Phone Numbers)

✅ Focusing On Reputation + Clarity

If your marketing is still playing by Pre-2025 SEO rules, it’s time for a reset.

Because if Apple pulls the plug on Google search, everyone will be scrambling at the exact same time. The practices that got ahead of the shift will be in a massively favorable position.

-Kyle

PS: I’ll audit your current strategy. No asks. No strings. Just hit reply.

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