When someone searches for a clinic on Google Maps, most people never scroll past the first three results that appear on the map. Those clinics tend to receive the majority of calls and appointment requests.
Clinics that appear further down — even between positions 4 and 10 — have a much lower chance of being contacted by patients. And those that fall outside those top positions rarely get the opportunity to compete, regardless of how good they may be.
Most people assume the top spots belong to clinics with the most reviews, the longest track record, or the largest advertising budgets. However, a Google Maps visibility analysis of 100 dental clinics in Madrid, Spain, conducted by Frenchy, suggests the reality is different.
Clinics that consistently appear in the top positions share a common pattern — but it has little to do with size, age, or budget. Instead, it has to do with how consistently they manage their Google Business Profile.
More reviews do not mean better rankings
One of the most surprising findings of the study is this: the clinic with the highest number of reviews in the entire sample — 2,218 reviews — does not appear among the top 30 results. At the same time, a clinic with fewer than 100 reviews ranks within the top 10.
This pattern appears throughout the dataset. There is no consistent relationship between the number of reviews a clinic has and where it ranks. Clinics with large numbers of reviews appear across all ranking positions, while clinics with relatively few reviews sometimes appear at the top. Review volume alone does not determine the outcome.
The pattern shared by top-ranked clinics
What the top-ranked clinics do share is stronger structural consistency in how their Google Business Profile is configured and maintained. They include more secondary categories — an average of 5.1 compared to 3.3 among clinics ranked between positions 11 and 30. They keep their profile information complete and consistent. And they treat their Google Business Profile as an active channel rather than a static listing.
None of these actions requires a large budget or a marketing team. What they require is understanding what Google actually looks at — and making sure the profile is properly configured and kept up to date.
The clinics that are missing out
The analysis also reveals another important detail. 27% of the clinics analyzed have only their primary category configured in Google Business Profile. In practice, this means they can only appear in very general searches such as “dental clinic near me.”
When a patient searches for something more specific — orthodontics, dental implants, or emergency dental care — those clinics simply do not appear in the results.
These are not necessarily new clinics or clinics with poor reviews. In many cases they offer those services, but their profiles do not properly reflect them. It is a basic configuration step that costs nothing to fix — and one that the clinics ranking above them have already taken care of.
What this means for patients — and for clinics
For patients, the takeaway is simple: the clinic that appears at the top of Google Maps is not necessarily the best clinic in the area. It is the clinic that has managed its visibility on Google Maps most effectively.
For clinic owners and managers, the data highlights a clear opportunity. The structural elements associated with better rankings are neither expensive nor technically complex. In most cases, it simply comes down to having the profile properly configured and keeping it active on Google Maps over time.
About this analysis
Research conducted by José Francisco Ouviña (Frenchy), specialist in local visibility systems for clinics in Spain. The analysis examined 100 private dental clinics in Madrid — one of the most competitive cities in the country — using publicly available Google Business Profile signals.