Getting More Patient Reviews (the Compliant Way)

Patients read reviews before they call, and a steady stream of recent ones does more for a practice than a handful from years ago. The good news is that most satisfied patients are willing to leave a review if you ask at the right moment and make it easy. The catch is that dental practices face two sets of rules: the Federal Trade Commission’s rules on reviews, and HIPAA. This guide covers both and gives you scripts to use. For the broader marketing picture, see attracting the right patients.

Start with your Google Business Profile

Before you ask anyone for a review, make sure the place they land is right. Patients who search for you see your Business Profile first, and inconsistent details cost trust and calls.

• Claim and verify the profile, and make sure only current staff have manager access.
• Check the name, address, phone number and hours match your website exactly, including holiday hours.
• Choose an accurate primary category (for example, dentist or a specialty) and list the services you actually offer.
• Add real photos of the office, team and exterior so patients recognize the building.
• Copy the profile’s review link (the “ask for reviews” or share option in the profile tools) and shorten it if you like. That one link goes in every request.

Build a simple asking routine

1. Pick the moment. The best time is right after a positive experience: at check-out after a comfortable visit, or after a patient thanks the team.
2. Ask everyone the same way. A consistent ask keeps you on the right side of the rules (more on that below) and produces more reviews.
3. Send the link. Follow up the same day with a text or email containing a direct link to your review page. Most patients who mean to review but don’t simply forget.
4. One reminder, then stop. A single follow-up a few days later is reasonable. More than that is pestering.
5. Track it. Count requests sent and reviews received each month.

A check-out script

“Thanks for coming in today. We ask all our patients to share their experience online, good or bad. It helps other people in the area find a dentist. I’ll text you a link this afternoon if that’s okay.”

Short, the same for everyone, and no promise of anything in return.

Text and email templates

• Text, same day: “Thanks for visiting Oak Dental today. If you have a minute, we’d appreciate hearing about your experience: [link]. Reply STOP to opt out.”
• Email, same day: Subject: “How was your visit?” Body: “Thank you for choosing Oak Dental. We ask every patient to share their experience, good or bad, because it helps us improve and helps neighbors find a dentist. It takes about a minute: [link].”
• One reminder, two or three days later: “Just a quick reminder in case you’d like to share feedback about your visit: [link]. Thanks either way.”

Keep requests free of clinical details. “Your visit” is fine; “your root canal” is not. A message sent to a patient’s own phone or email is less of a privacy concern than a public post, but a procedure name in a text preview can still be seen by others.

Consent for review-request texts

Review requests aren’t appointment reminders, so the healthcare exemption in the FCC’s automated-text rules (47 CFR 64.1200) may not cover them. Many practices add a line to the intake form in which patients agree to receive texts from the office about their care and their experience, and honor every opt-out. Ask your texting vendor and counsel how your setup handles consent.

QR codes and in-office prompts

A small card or sign at check-out with a QR code to your review page works for patients who prefer to do it later. Don’t hand a patient a tablet and ask them to review you at the counter; Google’s policies prohibit pressuring customers to leave reviews while on the business’s premises.

Which platforms to focus on

For most dental practices, Google is the most important review platform because it appears in local search and maps results. Depending on your area and patients, Yelp, Facebook and healthcare directories may matter too. Pick one primary platform for your review requests so reviews accumulate in one place, and keep your profile details (hours, phone number, address) accurate on all of them. Note that some platforms discourage businesses from asking for reviews at all. Yelp’s guidance says businesses shouldn’t ask customers for reviews, and its software may filter solicited reviews out of the recommended list. Read each platform’s rules before you include it in your requests.

The FTC rule on reviews

The FTC’s Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials (16 CFR Part 465) took effect October 21, 2024. Courts can impose civil penalties for knowing violations, currently up to $53,088 per violation under the FTC’s inflation adjustment, and in December 2025 the FTC sent warning letters to 10 companies about possible violations. It prohibits, among other things:

What about incentives and only asking happy patients?

The FTC rule itself bans incentives only when they are conditioned on a particular sentiment. FTC staff guidance says an unconditioned incentive isn’t banned by the rule but must be disclosed, and that asking only patients you expect to be happy (“review gating”) isn’t specifically prohibited by the rule yet could still violate the FTC Act. Google’s review policies are stricter: they prohibit offering money, discounts or free services in exchange for reviews and prohibit selectively soliciting positive reviews. Since Google is where most dental reviews live, the practical rule is simple: no incentives, and ask everyone.

Google’s policy on fake engagement also prohibits asking employees to solicit a set number of reviews or reviews with specific content, pressuring customers to leave a review while they’re on the premises, and reviews from current or former employees with a conflict of interest. Check the current policy before you build a staff bonus or contest around reviews.

HIPAA and responding to reviews

Replying to reviews, including negative ones, is fine and often helps. The risk is what you say. Confirming that the reviewer is a patient, or mentioning their treatment, balance or visit, can be a HIPAA disclosure even if the patient raised the topic first.

This isn’t theoretical. HHS’s Office for Civil Rights has resolved several cases involving practices that responded to online reviews with patient information:

A patient choosing to post about their own care doesn’t give you permission to discuss it. The safe assumption is that nothing about a reviewer’s care, or even whether they are a patient, belongs in a public reply.

Safe reply templates

• Positive review: “Thank you for taking the time to share this. We appreciate it.” Don’t add details about the visit.
• Negative review: “We take every concern seriously. Because of privacy laws, we can’t discuss anyone’s care online. Please call our office manager at (555) 555-0100 so we can talk directly.”
• Review you believe is fake: Use the platform’s reporting tools. Don’t publicly accuse the reviewer, which can create both HIPAA and FTC problems.

Assign one person to respond, using approved templates, and have anything unusual reviewed before it’s posted. Reply to reviews within a few business days, positive and negative alike; a profile where only complaints get answers looks defensive. Make review replies part of your HIPAA training, since the person replying is making a disclosure decision every time. Our OSHA and HIPAA basics cover the training program.

Testimonials on your own website

Reviews patients post on third-party sites are theirs. Using a patient’s testimonial, name, photo or before-and-after images in your own marketing is different: HIPAA generally requires a signed authorization from the patient before you use their information in marketing. Keep the signed form with the testimonial, and remove it if the patient revokes permission.

Measure and improve

• Monthly review requests sent, reviews received and response rate.
• Average rating and number of reviews in the last 90 days, compared with nearby practices.
• Review velocity: new reviews per month. A steady flow of recent reviews matters to patients more than a large total collected years ago.
• Request-to-review conversion: reviews received ÷ requests sent. If it falls, check that the link works and the message still sounds like you.
• Common themes in negative reviews (wait times, billing surprises, phone experience), fed back to the team.

Negative reviews often point to fixable systems. Billing complaints usually trace back to insurance verification and estimates; phone and scheduling complaints to front-desk systems.

Make it a team habit

Reviews grow when asking is part of the routine, not a campaign. Mention the review request at the morning huddle, so whoever checks a patient out knows to ask. Let the team see new reviews as they come in; praise that names the practice is good for morale. Share the monthly count and celebrate progress as a team rather than tying individual pay to it, which keeps you clear of the platform rules on staff quotas.

When a bad review appears

1. Don’t reply in the first hour. Read it, check internally what happened, and decide whether a call is appropriate.
2. If you know who it is, call the patient privately to understand and, where possible, resolve the issue.
3. Post a short public reply using your privacy-safe template.
4. If the patient is satisfied after you talk, it’s fine to let them know they can update their review if they wish. Don’t pressure them or offer anything for it.
5. Fix the underlying cause and tell the team what changed.

Over time, a steady flow of genuine reviews also gives you something more useful than stars: a running record of what patients notice. Read them at team meetings, both the praise and the complaints.

Getting help

Cisor’s dental marketing team helps practices set up compliant review requests, response templates and tracking as part of a broader local marketing plan. Call (703) 345-0606 to talk about your online reputation.