Results / Case study

RebrandLocal SEOAI Search

How a Kennewick Practice Became the Most Visible Dentist in the Tri-Cities

After a rebrand and a sustained local SEO and AI program, this Kennewick practice leads its market on both fronts: #1 in Google's local results for its core terms, and the most-cited dentist across the AI assistants patients now ask.

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The practice

MarketKennewick, WA

LocationsTri-Cities market

ServicesRebrand, Local SEO, AI

70%

of AI answers name the practice, against 46% for the next one (Nov 2026)

AI citations of its own website, more than any other dental site

15+

Keywords ranked #1 in Google for Kennewick

4,521

Tracked patient leads in a year, about 377 a month

The challenge

Patients now choose dentists in two places: Google and AI answers

Following a rebrand, the practice came to us with a single goal: own the Tri-Cities. The trouble is that owning a dental market now means winning two different places at once.

The first is the familiar one, Google's local results, where a patient types "kennewick dentist" and picks from the map. The second is newer and moves faster. More patients now ask ChatGPT, Gemini or Google AI who they should see, and the assistant hands back a short list. If you're not on it, you were never in the running.

The practice had barely any presence in that second arena, and plenty of room to climb in the first.

The Short Answer

How did a Kennewick practice become the most visible dentist in the Tri-Cities?

By rebuilding the brand and technical SEO foundation, optimizing the Google Business Profile with an active review engine and consistent citations, publishing answer-first content across every service, and structuring that content so AI assistants can cite it.

The practice now ranks #1 in Google for its core Kennewick terms, is the practice AI assistants name most often in the Tri-Cities, and generates 4,521 tracked patient inquiries a year, about 377 a month.

What we did

Four pillars, built to compound

STEP 1

Rebrand and foundation

A cleaner brand and one consistent identity across the website and every profile, with technical and on-page SEO rebuilt for local relevance underneath it.

STEP 2

Local SEO and the Google profile

Business Profile optimization with an active review engine, consistent citations pushed through the data aggregators, and service plus location targeting across Kennewick and the wider Tri-Cities. This is the local program our dental SEO agency is built around.

STEP 3

Content across every service

Dedicated pages for implants, cosmetic, sedation, restorative and family care, written answer-first so they match how patients actually phrase the question.

STEP 4

AI and GEO optimization

Content structured so the assistants can extract and cite it, with direct answers to the cost, insurance and near-me questions patients put to AI, tracked prompt by prompt across every model.

The results

#1 for the terms that fill the schedule

4,521 tracked patient inquiries in a year, about 377 a month, #1 in Google for the core Kennewick terms, and the practice AI assistants name most often in the Tri-Cities.

Google rankings

#1 for "kennewick dentist" and "kennewick dental," with 15+ keywords at #1 and top-3 positions across cosmetic, family and restorative service terms.

AI search

Named in 70% of AI answers to 20 patient questions, against 46% for the next practice, and its own website was cited 21 times, more than any other dental site (weekly checks on Google AI Overview, Google AI Mode and ChatGPT, November 2026).

Patient demand

4,521 tracked patient inquiries in a year, plus 5,942 direction requests and 3,822 website clicks from the Business Profile.

The map pack

On the Tri-Cities Map for Five Years, and Stronger Than Ever

When someone searches for a dentist, Google shows a map with a few local results at the top. We check how often those results show this practice when the search is made from 49 spots around Kennewick. For its main search it has been on page one across nearly all of the area since February 2021, and in the top 3 across almost all of it for more than a year.

22 of 24

quarters with “kennewick dentist” on page one of Google’s map results across 95% or more of the area (Feb 2021 to Nov 2026)

96%+

of the area in the top 3 for “kennewick dentist” in every quarter since mid-2025, apart from the one with the May 2026 scan problem

2.2 → 1.1

average map rank for “kennewick dentist” (May 2023 to Nov 2026)

4.1 → 2.2

average map rank for “tri cities wa dentist” (May 2023 to Nov 2026)

Patients search

“kennewick dentist”

In the top 3 at 100% of the spots in November 2026 (82% in May 2023). On page one at 100% both times.

Patients search

“tri cities wa dentist”

In the top 3 at 88% of the spots in November 2026 (63% in May 2023). On page one at 100% (94%).

It was not always this strong. From 2022 to mid-2025 the top 3 share for “kennewick dentist” ran about 75% to 88%, with page one at 90% or better in nearly every quarter. The rise since mid-2025 is the change. One scan on May 5, 2026 dropped sharply across every search and recovered the next month, and it is counted in the quarter figures above.

May 16, 2023 and November 4, 2026. Both are 7 by 7 grids centered on the office, but the 2023 grid had spots a mile apart (about 6 miles across) and today’s are half a mile apart (about 3 miles), so the 2023 picture reaches farther toward Pasco and Richland. Page one means the first ten places in the map results. These are Google’s map results, not the website’s regular listings. Source: BrightLocal Local Search Grid.

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It is named in 70% of AI answers to our 20 tracked patient questions, against 46% for the next practice, and its own website is the most-cited dental site in those answers.

The outcome, in one line

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