Google Search Ads for dental practices.

Two intents, two campaigns, two budgets

The emergency search is unplanned, often out of hours, and decided fast. What wins it is being open, being close, and showing a phone number. Bids need to be highest exactly when your competitors' campaigns have run out of budget, which is usually evenings and weekends.

The treatment search is the opposite. Someone searching for implant or aligner pricing is weeks from booking, will visit several sites, and converts on a consultation rather than a phone call. Paying emergency-level bids for that click and judging it on same-day conversions will make a genuinely profitable campaign look like a failure.

Run together, the blended cost per booking tells you nothing useful about either. Separated, you can see that emergency terms are expensive and immediate while treatment terms are cheaper and slower, and fund them accordingly.

What a dental ad may and may not say

In Australia, National Law section 133 makes the use of clinical testimonials in advertising a statutory offence, and it reaches ad copy, extensions and the landing page equally. Patient quotes about outcomes are out.

In New Zealand, the ASA Therapeutic and Health Advertising Code has applied to all advertising since 1 July 2026, and its rule on testimonials separates comment on the experience from comment on the clinical outcome. You have more room than in Australia, and less than most advertisers assume.

Section 133 also catches offers. An advertisement offering a gift, discount or other inducement must state the terms of that offer, in the advertisement. A headline promising a discounted check-up with the conditions only on the landing page does not satisfy it.

The landing page is usually the problem

A recurring pattern in dental accounts is strong ads pointed at a generic services page. Someone who searched for an emergency dentist and lands on a page listing every treatment the practice offers has to work out whether you can help them today, and most will not bother.

Each campaign needs a page written for its intent. The emergency page answers availability, cost and what happens when you arrive, above the fold. The treatment page answers process, price range, timeline and what the alternatives are.

This is also the cheapest fix available in most accounts. Changing the destination usually moves conversion rate further than changing the bid.

What about ChatGPT Ads for a dental practice?

Dental services have been named among the categories OpenAI has approved, which puts dentistry in a better position than most healthcare advertisers on that channel. Approval remains case by case with manual review, and the channel is not open in every market we work in.

The policy has changed four times in five months, so verify the current position before committing budget. We check eligibility and market availability before you spend anything.

What we do on a dental ads account

• Emergency and treatment intent separated into distinct campaigns and budgets
• Bid scheduling weighted to evenings and weekends, when emergency demand peaks
• Ad copy checked against the testimonial rules that apply in your market
• Any offer checked for the inducement terms requirement before it runs
• A landing page per intent rather than one generic services page
• Call tracking, because emergency demand converts by phone
• Monthly reporting split by emergency and planned treatment, with cost per booking for each

Questions

Sources

• Google Ads — Healthcare and medicines policy
• AHPRA — Advertising a regulated health service
• ASA Therapeutic and Health Advertising Code (NZ)

Guides for dentists