How Dental Practices and Small Businesses Can Safeguard Their Digital Reputation
In today’s digital-first healthcare landscape, your online reputation serves as the front door to your practice. Research shows that 84% of patients trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations from friends and family, and over 77% search online before booking an appointment. For dental practices and small businesses, this means a single wave of negative reviews—whether legitimate or fraudulent—can significantly impact patient acquisition and revenue.
The Rising Threat of Review Extortion
Google recently introduced a dedicated reporting tool to combat review extortion schemes, where scammers flood business profiles with fraudulent one-star reviews and demand ransom payments for removal. These attacks have become particularly prevalent among service-based businesses, including dental practices, moving companies, and repair services.
The pattern is consistent: bad actors post coordinated attacks of fake negative reviews, often 15-20 at a time, causing a practice’s rating to plummet overnight. They then contact business owners through messaging apps like WhatsApp, demanding $100 or more per review to stop the assault. One business owner watched his rating drop from 4.9 stars to 4.1 in a single day before receiving extortion demands.
Why Dental Practices Are Vulnerable
Dental practices face unique reputation challenges that make them attractive targets for both legitimate negative reviews and fraudulent schemes.
The stakes are particularly high because:
- Patient decision-making is heavily review-dependent. With 90% of consumers reading online reviews before making purchasing decisions, a sudden rating drop can immediately impact new patient acquisition.
- Local search rankings depend on review quality and quantity. Reviews are a top-three factor in local SEO, meaning attacks don’t just hurt your reputation—they reduce your visibility when potential patients search for “dentist near me”.
- Trust is harder to rebuild than maintain. Even one unresolved negative review can cast doubt, especially when overall review count is low. For service-based businesses like dental practices, where patient trust is paramount, recovery from reputation damage takes significant time and effort.
Building a Proactive Defense Strategy
Rather than waiting for attacks or negative reviews to occur, Bryant Consultants recommends dental practices and small businesses implement comprehensive reputation management systems.
Here’s how to protect your digital presence:
- Monitor actively across all platforms. Track reviews on Google My Business, Facebook, Yelp, and industry-specific platforms to catch fraudulent activity early. The faster you identify coordinated attacks, the more effectively you can respond through official reporting channels.
- Respond to every review—positive and negative. Businesses that respond to reviews see a 4.6% increase in their Google star rating, and 56% of consumers say business responses have changed their perspective. Professional, timely responses demonstrate accountability and care to prospective patients reading your profile.
- Generate authentic reviews consistently. The best defense against fraudulent reviews is a steady stream of genuine patient feedback. Encourage satisfied patients to share their experiences immediately after appointments when the positive experience is fresh.
- Never engage with or pay extortionists. If contacted by scammers demanding payment, do not respond or negotiate. Instead, use Google’s merchant extortion report form to flag the fraudulent activity and preserve all evidence including screenshots and messages for potential law enforcement investigations.
The Competitive Advantage of Active Management
Small businesses and dental practices that prioritize reputation management gain measurable advantages beyond threat protection. A robust review profile levels the playing field against larger competitors, with 73% of consumers more likely to trust businesses with positive reviews. Practices can leverage patient feedback as business intelligence, identifying strengths to highlight in marketing and areas requiring improvement.
In 2025’s digital-first environment, your online reputation requires the same attention and strategic planning as your clinical operations. The practices that thrive will be those treating reputation management not as an occasional task, but as an ongoing investment in patient trust and practice growth.
At Bryant Consultants, we help dental practices and small businesses develop comprehensive digital marketing and reputation management strategies tailored to your unique goals. Contact us at (877) 768-4799 to learn how we can protect and enhance your online presence.
Hollie Bryant-Foust
CEO & Founder
