Questions from dental practices

When a patient asks an AI-powered search engine to recommend a private dentist in your area, it answers with the names of practices. We show you which practices it names, where your practice sits among them, and what will strengthen your position. We then keep that picture up to date every month.

Patients can now ask AI-powered search engines for a recommendation instead of scrolling through a list of links, and the answer names a small number of practices. Knowing which practices those are, and why, is competitive intelligence your local competitors do not have.

In March 2026 the Competition and Markets Authority launched a study of the UK’s £8 billion private dentistry sector, and its first tip for people choosing a dentist was to compare what is available, including by searching online. At the same time, the British Dental Association reports that the number of private-only dentists rose from 5,980 in 2019/20 to 9,136 in 2023/24. For a practice competing for private patients, knowing how it appears alongside local alternatives, including in AI recommendations, is an increasingly important commercial question. You can read more in our article on the CMA study.

Sources: Competition and Markets Authority, CMA launches review of private dentistry (5th March 2026); British Dental Association, evidence to the CMA’s private dental market study (April 2026).

The Roadmap is built around how AI recommends private dentists, so it suits any practice offering private treatment, including mixed NHS and private practices.

Search engine optimisation is about how your website ranks in traditional keyword search. Entity Confidence is concerned with which practices AI-powered search engines recommend, and why. A practice website can rank well on Google and still not be the practice AI recommends.

Entity Confidence does not replace your agency or web developer. It tells you which practices AI recommends in your area and what will strengthen your position, which gives your agency or developer a clear, prioritised brief.

Each month focuses on a small number of actions, written for a busy practice. Most can be handled by your practice manager or passed straight to your web developer, and from Month 2 each action links to a practical guide.

Your competitive position this month, the practices AI recommends in your area, your competitive readiness, and your priority actions. It is the full report, not a preview, and it is complimentary and yours to keep, whether or not you subscribe.

If you subscribe, you receive a new Roadmap every month showing how the landscape has moved, how your position and your competitors’ have changed, and what to focus on next. From Month 2 you also receive a working spreadsheet that builds into a cumulative record of your local landscape.

Practical improvements to the evidence AI draws on when it decides which practices to recommend, from your online listings and patient reviews to your website. They are sequenced so that each month builds on the last, and the pace is set by what your practice completes.

Patient reviews are part of the evidence AI-powered search engines can draw on when deciding which practices to recommend, alongside your website, your online listings, and what independent sources say about you. The Roadmap’s priority actions cover your listings and reviews as well as your website.

They are part of the evidence about your practice that AI-powered search engines can find. It helps when the practice name, address, and services on your registrations match what appears on your website and your Google Business Profile, so that AI can tell they all refer to the same practice.

No. We cannot control what AI recommends, and no one can. What we can do is make sure your digital foundations are stronger than your competitors’, your reputation is visible and verified, and your practice is ready to be chosen. The Roadmap monitors the landscape and builds that readiness.

AI answers vary. The same question can bring different practices to the top from one day to the next, and the engines themselves change constantly. That is why the Roadmap reports monthly and looks at the trend over time, rather than relying on a single check.

We monitor the leading AI-powered search engines that patients use to find a dentist. We review the coverage as the market changes, so your Roadmap reflects where patients are actually looking. Our research methodology explains how we put questions to them.

The intelligence names your local competitors, so we offer it to only one of them. Your exclusive position is held for as long as you subscribe. If you stop, it becomes available to other practices in your area.

We currently work with dental practices in Kent, with one position available in each town. We are expanding county by county.

Yes. Contact us with your practice name and county, and we will tell you when we reach your area.

Your Month 1 Roadmap is complimentary and yours to keep, whether or not you subscribe. If you choose to subscribe, it costs £495 per month including VAT from Month 2. There is one subscription at one price, with no tiers to compare.

No. The Roadmap runs month to month, with no commitment beyond the current month.

Your Roadmaps stop, your intelligence record stops growing, and your town’s position becomes available to other practices in your area.

Yes. Your Roadmap is prepared for your practice alone, and because we work with one practice per town, no competing practice in your area receives the same intelligence. Our privacy policy explains how we handle your data.

Entity Confidence Ltd is a UK company based in Canterbury, Kent, founded by Hedley Basford, a chartered accountant, and Tony Lord, a chartered engineer, who have worked together for over 25 years. For the past ten years they have helped businesses secure R&D tax relief, including for projects applying artificial intelligence, which gave them a close, practical understanding of how AI systems process information. You can read more on our About page.