DentistGridUSA

How we rank listings

Full transparency about what affects the order of results, how paid placements work, and how we handle ratings and corrections.

Ranking on DentistGrid is not a clinical judgment of a provider's quality of care. It is a practical ordering designed to surface listings that best match the user's search and that we can verify against public records. Anyone can request a re-review of their placement through our corrections process.

What factors affect ranking

Within a given search (location, specialty, services, availability filters), listings are scored on:

  • Relevance. How closely the listing matches the requested location (city, ZIP, state), specialty/taxonomy, and any patient-friendly filters the user selected.
  • Data quality. Listings with a current NPPES record, an active state-board license link, a working phone number, and a verifiable practice address rank above listings with stale or missing fields.
  • Claimed-profile completeness. When a provider has claimed their listing and added verified information (hours, accepted insurance, services, languages, accessibility), that listing scores higher because users can act on it.
  • Recency of verification. When the listing was last cross-checked against NPPES and the state dental board (see data refresh schedule).
  • Featured placement. Paid placements appear in clearly labeled slots — see below.

We do not use unverified ratings, scraped reviews, or third-party star averages as a ranking signal. We do not accept payment to remove a competing listing, change a competitor's order, or hide a legitimate complaint.

What paid placement means

A small number of slots on DentistGrid are available to claimed providers as paid featured placements. Featured placements buy visibility — a labeled slot at the top of, or alongside, a result list — not a higher position in the organic ranking that follows.

  • Featured placements are sold only to providers who have completed our claim verification process.
  • Featured placement does not improve a provider's organic score and does not suppress any other provider.
  • We cap the number of featured slots per result page so organic results remain the primary experience.
  • See our advertising disclosure for the business relationship and our featured-listing disclosure for labeling details.

How featured listings are labeled

Every paid placement is identified on screen so a reader can tell it apart from organic results:

  • A visible "Featured" or "Sponsored" badge on the card itself.
  • A distinct background or border treatment in the result list.
  • A tooltip or footnote link to our advertising disclosure.
  • In structured data, featured cards are not emitted as part of organic ItemList rankings.

Can paid listings rank above organic listings?

A featured slot can appear above organic results on the page, but it is presented in a separately labeled section — it is not inserted into the organic ranking. The organic list below the featured slot is ordered by the relevance and data-quality factors above, with no paid influence. If we ever change this — for example, by introducing a bid-influenced organic position — we will say so on this page before launch.

How ratings are collected

Until a listing has verified reviews, we display "No verified reviews yet" and emit no aggregate star rating. We do not import ratings from third parties.

  • Reviews are accepted only from verified patients (relationship to the practice confirmed by our team) or from the claimed provider with appropriate labeling.
  • Every submission starts in pending status and is moderated before publication.
  • Reviews are not used as a ranking signal until a listing has multiple verified, approved reviews — and even then they are one factor among many, never the sole driver.
  • Full details: review & moderation policy.

How incorrect data is corrected

  • Anyone can flag a listing through Report an incorrect listing.
  • Verified providers can submit edits through their claimed profile; substantive changes are re-verified against NPPES and the state board before publication.
  • We log every correction with a timestamp and the source of truth used (NPPES, state board, provider attestation).
  • Full process: corrections policy.

How unclaimed profiles are handled

  • Unclaimed listings are built from public NPPES data and the appropriate state dental board record. They never display unverified ratings or business hours.
  • Unclaimed listings can rank organically based on relevance and NPPES data quality, but they cannot purchase featured placement.
  • Every unclaimed listing shows a "Source: CMS NPPES" label, the last-checked date, and a "Claim this listing" link for the rightful provider.
  • The named provider can request removal or correction at any time through Update or remove a listing; we honor verified removal requests promptly.

Changes to this policy

We update this page whenever ranking factors change in a material way. Editorial standards for this and every policy page are documented in our editorial policy.