# Who Google's AI Recommends for Dental Care in the GTA

Source: https://enginely.ai/reports/gta/dental-ai-visibility/

> A citation study of Google AI Overviews across seven Greater Toronto Area sub-markets, measuring which dental practices AI-generated answers name and cite. 111 practices, 183 citations, 21 queries, captured July 27, 2026.

A citation study of Google AI Overviews across seven Greater Toronto Area sub-markets, measuring which dental practices AI-generated answers name and cite — and which are absent.

21 patient-intent queries. 183 citations captured. 111 practices named. Crawled July 27, 2026, and reproducible by anyone willing to run the same queries.

## Headline finding

**111 different GTA dental practices were cited across 21 AI-generated answers, and 76% of them appeared exactly once.** No practice in the Greater Toronto Area currently holds a defensible position in AI search.

| Figure | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Patient-intent queries analysed | 21 |
| Distinct practices cited | 111 |
| Cited exactly once | 76% |
| Citations to practice websites | 87% |

## What did this study measure?

We ran 21 patient-intent dental queries through Google across seven GTA sub-markets and recorded every source cited by the AI Overview each one returned. The result is a count of which dental practices Google's generated answers name, and how widely.

- **21 of 21 queries** returned an AI Overview — every cost, coverage and treatment question we asked
- **183 citations captured**, de-duplicated so a practice cited twice in one answer counts once
- **87% pointed at practice websites** rather than directories, insurers or aggregators
- **111 distinct practices** were named across the seven sub-markets
- **No AI Overview appeared** for “best dentist” queries — only a map pack
- **Single point in time** — captured July 27, 2026, and generated answers vary between runs

_This measures Google AI Overviews only. It does not measure ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini or Copilot, which use different retrieval systems and require separate tracking._

## Findings

### AI Overviews are already answering the money questions

Every one of the 21 cost, coverage and treatment queries returned an AI Overview — implant pricing, Invisalign pricing, cleaning costs and Canadian Dental Care Plan participation among them. These are the questions patients ask immediately before choosing a clinic.

### But not the “best dentist” queries

We separately ran “best dentist in Mississauga” and Google returned no AI Overview at all — only a local map pack. The battleground is not your homepage. It is your cost pages, your treatment explainers and your insurance pages.

### Nobody owns this yet

111 practices split 159 citations. 84 of them (76%) were cited exactly once, and the ten most-cited practices together account for only 25% of all citations. There is no incumbent to displace.

### Citations cross city lines

18 practices were cited in answers for sub-markets they are not located in. One Mississauga clinic appears in answers for five different GTA sub-markets. Your competitor for an AI citation may be twenty kilometres away.

## Every Practice Cited, Ranked

All 111 dental practices cited in GTA AI Overviews across the 21 queries analysed, ranked by how many generated answers cited the practice's own website. “Sub-mkts” counts how many of the seven GTA areas the practice was cited in — the stronger signal, because it indicates content that works beyond one location.

| # | Practice | Location | Citations | Sub-markets | Cited for |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | skymarksmilecentre.ca | Mississauga | 6 | 5 | CDCP coverage, Implant cost |
| 2 | torontodiamonddental.com | Toronto (Downtown) | 6 | 4 | Emergency cost, Implant cost, Invisalign cost |
| 3 | clovedental.ca | Markham | 4 | 4 | Implant cost |
| 4 | underhilldental.com | Brampton | 4 | 4 | Implant cost |
| 5 | dental2.ca | Brampton | 4 | 3 | CDCP coverage, Implant cost |
| 6 | forestmanordental.com | Markham | 3 | 3 | Invisalign cost |
| 7 | marketplacedentistry.ca | Mississauga | 3 | 3 | Cleaning cost, Implant cost |
| 8 | parkdentalcentres.com | Markham | 3 | 3 | Implant cost |
| 9 | smile-by-design.ca | Markham | 3 | 3 | Implant cost |
| 10 | woodbridgedentalcentre.com | Markham | 3 | 3 | Invisalign cost |
| 11 | eglintonoak.ca | Mississauga | 3 | 2 | Cleaning cost, Invisalign cost |
| 12 | osmindenture.com | Toronto (Downtown) | 3 | 2 | Cleaning cost, Implant cost |
| 13 | archerdental.ca | Mississauga | 2 | 2 | Cleaning cost |
| 14 | downtowndentistry.com | Markham | 2 | 2 | Implant cost, Invisalign cost |
| 15 | hwy7familydentistry.ca | Markham | 2 | 2 | Implant cost |
| 16 | leslienorthdental.ca | Mississauga | 2 | 2 | Cleaning cost |
| 17 | mapleridgedentistry.ca | Markham | 2 | 2 | Implant cost |
| 18 | yorkortho.ca | Markham | 2 | 2 | Invisalign cost |
| 19 | axisdental.ca | Brampton | 2 | 1 | Implant cost, Invisalign cost |
| 20 | bramptonsmiles.com | Brampton | 2 | 1 | CDCP coverage, Invisalign cost |
| 21 | buroakdental.com | Markham | 2 | 1 | Implant cost, Invisalign cost |
| 22 | dentalimplantsclinic.ca | Toronto (Downtown) | 2 | 1 | Cleaning cost, Implant cost |
| 23 | lockwoodclinic.com | Toronto (Downtown) | 2 | 1 | Cleaning cost, Emergency cost |
| 24 | mississaugafamilydentistry.com | Mississauga | 2 | 1 | Implant cost, Invisalign cost |
| 25 | mississaugasmilesdentistry.com | Mississauga | 2 | 1 | CDCP coverage, Invisalign cost |
| 26 | royalcrestdentistry.com | Markham | 2 | 1 | Implant cost, Invisalign cost |
| 27 | smiledentalartscentre.com | Markham | 2 | 1 | Implant cost, Invisalign cost |
| 28 | 6006yongedental.ca | North York | 1 | 1 | Implant cost |
| 29 | afdental.ca | Scarborough | 1 | 1 | CDCP coverage |
| 30 | affluxdentistry.ca | Mississauga | 1 | 1 | Implant cost |
| 31 | appletreedental.ca | Toronto (Downtown) | 1 | 1 | Implant cost |
| 32 | artofdentistry.com | Toronto (Downtown) | 1 | 1 | Implant cost |
| 33 | bansaldentistry.com | Mississauga | 1 | 1 | CDCP coverage |
| 34 | bayviewsmilecentre.ca | North York | 1 | 1 | Implant cost |
| 35 | bloorsmiledental.ca | Toronto (Downtown) | 1 | 1 | Cleaning cost |
| 36 | bludental.ca | Markham | 1 | 1 | Invisalign cost |
| 37 | bramptondentalcare.ca | Brampton | 1 | 1 | Implant cost |
| 38 | bramptondentalstudio.com | Brampton | 1 | 1 | CDCP coverage |
| 39 | brimleydental.ca | Scarborough | 1 | 1 | Implant cost |
| 40 | brookmeredental.com | Toronto (Downtown) | 1 | 1 | Cleaning cost |
| 41 | chowdentalgroup.com | Brampton | 1 | 1 | CDCP coverage |
| 42 | churchillsmiles.ca | Mississauga | 1 | 1 | CDCP coverage |
| 43 | damaskidental.com | Mississauga | 1 | 1 | Implant cost |
| 44 | dentalnorthyork.ca | Mississauga | 1 | 1 | Cleaning cost |
| 45 | dentist-scarborough.ca | Scarborough | 1 | 1 | CDCP coverage |
| 46 | dentistinmississauga.ca | Mississauga | 1 | 1 | Cleaning cost |
| 47 | dentistnorthyork.com | North York | 1 | 1 | Implant cost |
| 48 | dentistryataltontowers.ca | Scarborough | 1 | 1 | CDCP coverage |
| 49 | dentistryonsteeles.ca | Vaughan | 1 | 1 | Implant cost |
| 50 | dfdentistry.ca | Vaughan | 1 | 1 | Implant cost |
| 51 | discoverortho.ca | Brampton | 1 | 1 | Invisalign cost |
| 52 | downtowntorontodentistry.ca | Toronto (Downtown) | 1 | 1 | Invisalign cost |
| 53 | drbhandal.com | Brampton | 1 | 1 | CDCP coverage |
| 54 | drsoniasharma.com | Brampton | 1 | 1 | Invisalign cost |
| 55 | dufferindentalclinic.com | Vaughan | 1 | 1 | Implant cost |
| 56 | dundastomkendental.com | Mississauga | 1 | 1 | CDCP coverage |
| 57 | emergencydentaloffice.ca | Toronto (Downtown) | 1 | 1 | Emergency cost |
| 58 | fcpdental.com | Toronto (Downtown) | 1 | 1 | CDCP coverage |
| 59 | forestbrookdental.com | Markham | 1 | 1 | Implant cost |
| 60 | goldenmiledental.ca | Scarborough | 1 | 1 | Implant cost |
| 61 | gorewaydental.ca | Mississauga | 1 | 1 | CDCP coverage |
| 62 | hakeemdental.ca | Brampton | 1 | 1 | CDCP coverage |
| 63 | harmonyortho.ca | Mississauga | 1 | 1 | Invisalign cost |
| 64 | highlandcreekdental.ca | Scarborough | 1 | 1 | CDCP coverage |
| 65 | humberdental.com | Toronto (Downtown) | 1 | 1 | Emergency cost |
| 66 | lakeshoredentistry.ca | Mississauga | 1 | 1 | Cleaning cost |
| 67 | lisgarparkdental.com | Toronto (Downtown) | 1 | 1 | Emergency cost |
| 68 | lornviewdental.com | Scarborough | 1 | 1 | CDCP coverage |
| 69 | luka.dental | Vaughan | 1 | 1 | Implant cost |
| 70 | mapledentalhealth.com | Vaughan | 1 | 1 | Implant cost |
| 71 | markhameglintondental.com | Scarborough | 1 | 1 | CDCP coverage |
| 72 | markhamheritagehealthclinic.com | Markham | 1 | 1 | Invisalign cost |
| 73 | markhamsmilecentre.ca | Markham | 1 | 1 | Implant cost |
| 74 | markhamsouthdental.ca | Markham | 1 | 1 | Implant cost |
| 75 | mayfielddental.com | Brampton | 1 | 1 | CDCP coverage |
| 76 | mistrydental.ca | Mississauga | 1 | 1 | Invisalign cost |
| 77 | onedentalscarborough.com | Scarborough | 1 | 1 | CDCP coverage |
| 78 | onsitesmilecare.ca | Mississauga | 1 | 1 | Cleaning cost |
| 79 | orthodontistmississauga.com | Mississauga | 1 | 1 | Invisalign cost |
| 80 | papedental.ca | Toronto (Downtown) | 1 | 1 | Cleaning cost |
| 81 | pearldentalcare.ca | Mississauga | 1 | 1 | CDCP coverage |
| 82 | pearldentalgroup.ca | North York | 1 | 1 | Implant cost |
| 83 | pickeringsmilecentre.ca | Scarborough | 1 | 1 | Implant cost |
| 84 | polarisdental.ca | Brampton | 1 | 1 | Invisalign cost |
| 85 | redmapledental.ca | Brampton | 1 | 1 | Implant cost |
| 86 | renovadental.ca | Toronto (Downtown) | 1 | 1 | Invisalign cost |
| 87 | sanadentistry.ca | Mississauga | 1 | 1 | Invisalign cost |
| 88 | scarboroughdentalgroup.com | Scarborough | 1 | 1 | CDCP coverage |
| 89 | sharingsmilesdental.ca | Brampton | 1 | 1 | Invisalign cost |
| 90 | shoreline-dentistry.ca | Markham | 1 | 1 | Invisalign cost |
| 91 | skyharbourdental.ca | Brampton | 1 | 1 | CDCP coverage |
| 92 | smilecrafters.ca | Toronto (Downtown) | 1 | 1 | Implant cost |
| 93 | stclairdental.ca | Toronto (Downtown) | 1 | 1 | CDCP coverage |
| 94 | studiodentalcentres.ca | Mississauga | 1 | 1 | Cleaning cost |
| 95 | tasiosortho.com | Vaughan | 1 | 1 | Invisalign cost |
| 96 | thevillagedentist.com | Mississauga | 1 | 1 | Cleaning cost |
| 97 | toothlanddental.ca | Brampton | 1 | 1 | CDCP coverage |
| 98 | torontolakeshoredental.ca | Toronto (Downtown) | 1 | 1 | CDCP coverage |
| 99 | trilliumsmiledentistry.com | Mississauga | 1 | 1 | CDCP coverage |
| 100 | triodentistry.ca | Mississauga | 1 | 1 | CDCP coverage |
| 101 | truortho.com | Vaughan | 1 | 1 | Invisalign cost |
| 102 | unionvillegatefamilydentists.com | Markham | 1 | 1 | Implant cost |
| 103 | upperbeachesdental.ca | Scarborough | 1 | 1 | Implant cost |
| 104 | vaughansmileclinic.com | Vaughan | 1 | 1 | Invisalign cost |
| 105 | walkindentalclinic.ca | Toronto (Downtown) | 1 | 1 | Emergency cost |
| 106 | waltortho.com | Vaughan | 1 | 1 | Invisalign cost |
| 107 | wexdental.ca | Scarborough | 1 | 1 | Implant cost |
| 108 | wiredorthodontics.ca | Markham | 1 | 1 | Invisalign cost |
| 109 | woodbridgesmilecentre.com | Vaughan | 1 | 1 | Implant cost |
| 110 | yongeandwellesleydentist.ca | Toronto (Downtown) | 1 | 1 | CDCP coverage |
| 111 | yorkdaledentalcentre.com | Toronto (Downtown) | 1 | 1 | CDCP coverage |

_Bar length is scaled to the highest citation count in the study. Repeat citations of the same domain within a single answer are counted once. Practices are identified by domain: where a group operates several sites, each is listed separately. Captured July 27, 2026._

## Practices Winning Answers Outside Their Own City

This is the most commercially significant pattern in the data. AI Overviews do not respect municipal boundaries the way the map pack does. A practice with strong treatment-cost content gets cited as the answer for neighbouring cities — capturing patients who were researching a clinic near them.

| Practice domain | Citations | Sub-markets | Cited in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| skymarksmilecentre.ca | 6 | 5 | Brampton, Markham, Mississauga, North York, Scarborough |
| torontodiamonddental.com | 6 | 4 | Markham, Scarborough, Toronto (Downtown), Vaughan |
| clovedental.ca | 4 | 4 | Markham, North York, Scarborough, Toronto (Downtown) |
| underhilldental.com | 4 | 4 | Brampton, Markham, North York, Scarborough |
| dental2.ca | 4 | 3 | Brampton, Scarborough, Vaughan |
| forestmanordental.com | 3 | 3 | Markham, Toronto (Downtown), Vaughan |
| marketplacedentistry.ca | 3 | 3 | Mississauga, Toronto (Downtown), Vaughan |
| parkdentalcentres.com | 3 | 3 | Markham, Scarborough, Vaughan |
| smile-by-design.ca | 3 | 3 | Markham, North York, Scarborough |
| woodbridgedentalcentre.com | 3 | 3 | Markham, Toronto (Downtown), Vaughan |
| eglintonoak.ca | 3 | 2 | Markham, Mississauga |
| osmindenture.com | 3 | 2 | Scarborough, Toronto (Downtown) |
| archerdental.ca | 2 | 2 | Mississauga, Toronto (Downtown) |
| downtowndentistry.com | 2 | 2 | Markham, Scarborough |
| hwy7familydentistry.ca | 2 | 2 | Markham, Scarborough |
| leslienorthdental.ca | 2 | 2 | Mississauga, Toronto (Downtown) |
| mapleridgedentistry.ca | 2 | 2 | Markham, Vaughan |
| yorkortho.ca | 2 | 2 | Markham, Vaughan |

_If your practice is not cited in your own sub-market, the answer patients receive is not blank — it names someone else, often from another city. Absence is not neutral._

## Fragmentation Is Consistent Across the GTA

In every sub-market measured, the number of distinct practices cited is close to the number of citations available — meaning AI Overviews are drawing from a wide, shallow pool rather than a settled set of authorities. That is the definition of a contestable market.

| Sub-market | Queries | Citations | Distinct practices | Most cited |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Toronto (Downtown) | 5 | 32 | 27 | torontodiamonddental.com (3), dentalimplantsclinic.ca (2), osmindenture.com (2) |
| North York | 1 | 8 | 8 | smile-by-design.ca (1), underhilldental.com (1), dentistnorthyork.com (1) |
| Scarborough | 2 | 23 | 23 | brimleydental.ca (1), wexdental.ca (1), upperbeachesdental.ca (1) |
| Mississauga | 4 | 30 | 26 | mississaugafamilydentistry.com (2), skymarksmilecentre.ca (2), mississaugasmilesdentistry.com (2) |
| Brampton | 3 | 21 | 18 | axisdental.ca (2), dental2.ca (2), bramptonsmiles.com (2) |
| Markham | 2 | 27 | 24 | smiledentalartscentre.com (2), royalcrestdentistry.com (2), buroakdental.com (2) |
| Vaughan | 2 | 18 | 18 | marketplacedentistry.ca (1), dentistryonsteeles.ca (1), dfdentistry.ca (1) |

## Practice Websites Dominate — Directories Barely Feature

Of 183 citations captured, 159 (87%) pointed to a dental practice's own website. Only 24 went to directories, insurers, associations or aggregators. This is the opposite of traditional local SEO, where directory presence carries much of the weight. For AI Overviews in this vertical, the content on your own site is the lever — specifically pages that state real numbers, in Canadian dollars, for named procedures, in a named city.

| Source | Type | Citations |
| --- | --- | --- |
| hellodent.com | Directory | 4 |
| 123dentist.com | DSO network | 3 |
| realdentalcosts.com | Cost aggregator | 3 |
| google.com | Search engine redirect | 2 |
| sunlife.ca | Insurer | 2 |
| reddit.com | Community forum | 2 |
| paperio.ca | Aggregator | 1 |
| sq1healthgroup.com | Health group | 1 |
| policyme.com | Insurance comparison | 1 |
| odha.on.ca | Professional association | 1 |
| voltagerewards.com | Rewards / affiliate | 1 |
| ifinancecanada.com | Financing | 1 |
| invisalign.ca | Manufacturer | 1 |
| toronto.ca | Government | 1 |

_Reddit and the insurer or aggregator sites appear where the question touches cost comparison or coverage — the areas where practice websites are least likely to publish specifics._

## What We Asked, and What Each Topic Revealed

| Topic | What the data showed |
| --- | --- |
| Implant cost | Highest-value procedure. An AI Overview was present in every sub-market tested. |
| Invisalign cost | High-margin elective. Consistently generated answers naming specific practices. |
| Canadian Dental Care Plan participation | The largest new demand driver in Canadian dentistry. Answers here were the most source-heavy of any topic, citing up to 12 practices in a single response. |
| Routine cleaning cost | Entry-point query. Drew the widest source list of any topic measured. |
| Emergency dental cost | Urgent intent, and the only topic where a municipal government page was cited. |

## Method

1. Ran 21 patient-intent queries through Google with city-level location targeting across seven GTA sub-markets: Toronto (Downtown), North York, Scarborough, Mississauga, Brampton, Markham and Vaughan.
2. Captured the complete search result page for each query, including the AI Overview block, its generated text, and every source it cited.
3. Crawled on July 27, 2026 between 20:28–20:42 EDT, without personalisation.
4. De-duplicated citations per answer, so a practice cited twice within a single AI Overview counts once.
5. Classified each cited domain by hand as a dental practice's own website or as another source type — directory, insurer, association, aggregator or forum.

## Limitations

This is a single-point-in-time snapshot. AI Overviews are generated fresh per query and vary between runs, so exact citation lists will differ if re-run; trends require repeated sampling. Practice identification is by website domain, and where a group operates several sites each is counted separately.

AI Overviews reach the largest audience of any AI answer surface — no login, no app, shown to anyone searching Google — so this is the widest-reach measurement available. It is not the whole picture, and a practice performing well here may perform differently elsewhere.

Every figure here comes from search results captured on the date stated and can be independently checked by running the same queries yourself. We publish the method so the numbers can be tested, not taken on trust.

## Where Your Practice Sits

This report shows the market. It does not show your position in it — your citation count, which of these topics you are absent from, and which practices are being named in the answers your patients see instead. That analysis is specific to your domain, and we produce it individually.

The pattern in this data is unusually favourable for anyone willing to act now. With 84 of 111 cited practices appearing exactly once, and the ten strongest holding only 25% of citations between them, there is no established position to dislodge — only an open one to take.

The work that follows from this report is a fixed-price engagement: [the AI Visibility Accelerator](https://enginely.ai/services/ai-visibility-accelerator/dental/index.html.md). Thirteen weeks, a published price, and three separate measurements against these same queries after publication — because a single check would not survive the variance we document above.

## Questions about this report

### Why does this report only cover Google AI Overviews?

Because an AI Overview is rendered inside a public search results page, it can be retrieved directly, for a specific city, at a specific moment — which is how every figure here was captured. ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot do not publish their answers anywhere; those answers exist only when a user prompts the model, so measuring them requires running a fixed prompt set against each model repeatedly over time. That is a different instrument, and we report it separately rather than blending two methods into one number.

### Would you get the same numbers if you ran it again?

Not exactly. AI Overviews are generated fresh per query and vary between runs, so the exact citation list would differ. The structural findings — that the market is fragmented, that most practices appear once, that own-site cost pages dominate the sources — are stable enough to act on. Any specific practice's citation count is a snapshot, not a ranking position.

### Our practice is not in the table. What does that mean?

It means the practice was not cited in any of the 21 answers measured, in any of the seven sub-markets. It does not mean the practice is invisible in Google generally, or that it performs badly in the map pack — those are different surfaces measured differently. It does mean that for these specific cost and coverage questions, the answer a patient received named someone else.

### How were practices identified?

By website domain, exactly as it appeared in the AI Overview source list. Where a group operates several sites, each is counted separately, so a multi-location group may appear more than once under different domains. We did not consolidate them, because the citation was earned by a specific page on a specific domain.

### Can we be removed from the report?

Write to us and we will discuss it. The domains here appear because they were cited in publicly generated search results on the date stated, and the study would be less useful and less checkable without them — but we would rather have the conversation than not.

### Does being cited more often mean more patients?

We did not measure that, and we will not claim it. This study measures citations in generated answers, not clicks, calls or booked appointments. What it establishes is which practices are present in the answer a patient reads before choosing — presence is a precondition for being chosen, not a substitute for it.

## Full report as PDF

The same study, packaged: [download the PDF](https://enginely.ai/reports/enginely-gta-dental-ai-visibility-july-2026.pdf). Everything in it is on this page already.

## Legal note

This report is provided for information. Practice names and domains appear because they were cited in publicly generated search results on the date stated; inclusion or absence is not an assessment of clinical quality, of any practice’s standing, or a recommendation of any practice. Nothing here is dental or medical advice. Figures describe what Google’s systems returned on July 27, 2026 and may change.