Our New Schema Upgrade: Your Website Just Got Smarter Behind the Scenes

Every website on our platform has always included schema, the behind-the-scenes information that helps Google understand your practice. Search engines and AI tools keep changing how they read it, so we've upgraded ours to match today's best practices.

Your site will look exactly the same to patients. Behind the scenes, though, it's now sharing more complete and accurate information with Google and AI search tools.

The short version: Your website already shares key facts about your practice with search engines. Now it shares them in more detail. Most of this happened automatically, and there are a few optional details you can add to get even more out of it.

First, what is schema?

Schema, also called structured data, is like a digital business card tucked inside your website. Patients never see it, but search engines and AI tools read it every time they visit your site. Here is an example: 

Your web pages are written for people. Structured data is written for search engines and AI. It spells out the key facts about your practice in a format that Google, and AI assistants like ChatGPT and Google's AI Overviews, can read instantly: your name, address, phone number, hours, the services you offer, the dentists on your team, and more.

When search tools clearly understand those facts, they can describe your practice more accurately in search results, on maps, and in AI-generated answers. That makes it easier for the right patients to find you.

What's new in this update

This update adds new details to your digital business card and cleans up a few existing ones. Here is what changed, in plain terms.

• Languages spoken. The languages your team speaks are now built right into your site's code, so Google and AI search tools get a clear, direct signal.
• Areas you serve. Your site can now list up to five nearby neighborhoods or cities you serve, not just the town on your address.
• Services you offer. Search tools can now more easily discover the procedures available at your practice, such as Invisalign, dental implants, or sedation dentistry. This is pulled automatically from the services already on your website.
• Your specialty. Specialty offices, such as orthodontists, oral surgeons, periodontists, and pediatric dentists can now add their specific specialty. You can update this info in the contact page under Additional Information for SEO.
• Faq Structured data has been updated and improved to show all faqs together on one page.

What this means for you

Most of this update happens automatically. Your services, dentist profiles, FAQs, and fixes are already in place as of today.

Three new details depend on information only you can give us. Both live on your Contact page, in the Additional Information for SEO section:

1. Languages Spoken: list any languages your team speaks with patients.
2. Areas Served: list up to five nearby neighborhoods or cities where your patients come from.
3. Payments Accepted: list the main forms of payment that are accepted at your office.

If you would like these added, you can fill them in yourself or send them to your Marketing Coach or our Support team and we can get it taken care of.

As with any improvement to your website, results in search are not instant. Google updates its understanding of your site over time as it revisits your pages.

Questions?

We are always working behind the scenes to keep your website in step with how search engines work today. If you have questions about this update, reach out to your Marketing Coach or Support at any time.

Got an AI audit saying your schema is missing?

Many AI tools can't actually see schema, because it lives in your site's code and not on the page itself. So they guess, and they often guess wrong.

If you'd like to check for yourself, paste any page from your site into Google's free Structured Data Tests. Your schema will show up right there.