CATEGORY 104 AUSTRALASIAN DENTIST ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Common AI search mistakes – and how to avoid them Part four of a five-part series on the rise of AI search. By Carl Burroughs Carl Burroughs By now you understand how AI search differs from traditional Google and the foundational steps your practice can take to become visible. However, even well-intentioned practices often make simple but costly mistakes that keep them out of AI recommendations. In this article, we examine the most common errors we see among dental practices and, more importantly, how to correct them before they cost you new patients. One of the biggest mistakes is treating AI optimisation as simply another form of traditional SEO. Many practices stuff their website with keywords such as “best dentist Noosa” or “cosmetic dentistry Sunshine Coast” and assume that will be enough. AI platforms see through this approach. They favour natural, conversational language that genuinely helps patients rather than content written for search engines. The solution is to write as if you were explaining treatments directly to a nervous patient sitting in your chair — clearly, kindly, and honestly. Another frequent error is neglecting structured data and FAQ pages. Some practices invest heavily in a beautiful website design but forget to include the behind-the-scenes code and clear question-and-answer sections that AI systems rely on to understand and trust the information. Without these elements, even the most impressive website can remain invisible to AI recommendations. Adding comprehensive FAQ pages and proper schema markup is one of the highest-return investments you can make right now. Inconsistent online information is also surprisingly common. A practice might list its address one way on Google Business Profile and slightly differently on HealthEngine or its own website. AI platforms notice these discrepancies and often downgrade or ignore the listing as a result. Take time to audit every directory and ensure your name, address, phone number, opening hours, and services are identical everywhere. Consistency builds trust with both patients and machines. Many practices also underestimate the power of reviews in the AI era. Leaving review management to chance is dangerous. AI systems analyse both the number of reviews and the sentiment within them. A handful of generic five-star reviews carries less weight than a steady stream of detailed, recent testimonials that mention specific experiences. Make it easy for happy patients to leave reviews and respond thoughtfully to all feedback — positive or negative. This demonstrates care and professionalism that AI platforms recognise. Another pitfall is publishing content once and then forgetting about it. AI systems prefer fresh, up-to-date information. A blog post from three years ago about teeth whitening may no longer reflect current pricing, techniques, or materials. Regularly review and refresh your content so AI platforms see your practice as active and current. Finally, some practices focus too narrowly on being found only on Google while ignoring the growing number of independent AI tools. Patients are increasingly starting their search directly in ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Gemini. Practices that optimise solely for traditional search risk missing this new wave of patient enquiries entirely. Avoiding these mistakes does not need to be complicated or expensive. It mainly requires awareness, attention to detail, and a willingness to create genuinely helpful content rather than chasing algorithms. Practices that correct these common errors quickly gain a noticeable advantage as AI recommendations become more influential in patient decision-making. In the final article of this series, we will look ahead to the future of AI search and explore what dental practices should prepare for in the coming years. For now, the clear message is this: small, consistent improvements in how you present your practice online can dramatically increase your chances of being recommended by AI platforms. The practices that act on this knowledge today will be the ones patients hear about tomorrow. As Charles Darwin noted, it is not the strongest or most intelligent that survive, but the ones most responsive to change. Adapt now or risk being left behind. If you would like to arrange a free, noobligation IDM AI Visibility Report, simply contact Carl or one of the team at IDM, and they will organise a highly detailed report showing how you appear to AI and what to do to improve it. u IDM – www.idm.com.au carl@idm.com.au – (02) 9211 1477
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