📝Executive Summary
New Horizons Dental Care scores 68/100 (Grade C) — a practice with remarkable credentials and local authority that isn't fully leveraging its digital infrastructure. Established in 1978 with 4 dentists and 70+ years combined experience, Dr. Guy Gross's 20+ years of implant surgery and teaching credentials are exactly the kind of E-E-A-T signals AI systems value — but they're not structured for machine consumption.
The technical foundation is solid thanks to Rank Math SEO: proper canonical tags, OG/Twitter tags, robots.txt, sitemap, and even Organization schema with sameAs and GeoCoordinates. But the schema uses Organization instead of Dentist, the Person schema belongs to an admin author rather than the actual doctors, and despite 178 FAQ content markers in the HTML, there's zero FAQPage schema.
The AEO score of 11/25 reflects a practice that has the raw materials for AI visibility but hasn't assembled them. The implant specialization (hundreds per year, Dr. Gross teaches courses) is exactly the kind of citation-worthy content that ChatGPT and Perplexity would reference — if it were structured as direct answers rather than marketing copy. When users ask AI systems for "best dentist Salina KS for implants," New Horizons appears in organic results but not in AI-generated answer panels.
Priority path: Change Organization→Dentist schema type (10 min) → Add FAQPage schema (30 min) → Add Person schemas for 4 doctors (1 hour) → Add aggregateRating (10 min) → Fix H1 count (15 min). These 5 fixes could push the score from 68 to 82+ (Grade A) and begin appearing in AI-generated dental recommendations for Salina within weeks. The foundation is stronger than most practices — it just needs the structured data layer to unlock it.
🤖AISO — AI Search Optimization Breakdown (11/25)
How well this site performs when ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, or Google AI Overviews answer "dentist in Salina KS" queries.
3/5
Entity Clarity
Who/what/where clearly stated
1/5
Answer-Format Content
FAQ, Q&A, direct answers
3/5
E-E-A-T Signals
Doctor bios, credentials, trust
2/5
LLM-Friendly Structure
Lists, tables, definitions
2/5
Citation-Worthy Content
Original data, stats, research
AISO Verdict: New Horizons Dental Care has the building blocks for AI visibility but hasn't connected them. The Organization schema with sameAs and GeoCoordinates shows Rank Math is configured — but the @type is Organization instead of Dentist, and Person schema belongs to admin author "Trish Takacs" rather than the 4 actual dentists. There are 178 FAQ-related content markers in the HTML but zero FAQPage schema — a massive missed opportunity. Dr. Guy Gross's implant teaching credentials ("taught courses since 2014," "hundreds per year") are exactly what AI systems cite, but they're buried in marketing copy rather than structured as citable data. The practice appears at #8 for implant queries in organic results but is absent from AI answer panels. Competitors like Salina Dental Arts appear because they have properly typed schema that New Horizons could add in under 2 hours.
🔍AI Visibility Report — Live Query Testing
We tested real queries across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and Claude to see if New Horizons Dental Care is mentioned, cited, or recommended.
"dentist Salina KS best"
NOT IN TOP RESULTS. AI systems recommended Salina Dental Arts, Discover Dental, and Dental Care of Salina instead. New Horizons Dental Care was absent from AI-generated answer panels despite having the longest history (est. 1978) and the most dentists (4) in the market.
ChatGPT: absent
Perplexity: absent
Google AI: absent
"best dentist Salina Kansas dental implants"
PARTIAL — #8 in organic only. New Horizons appeared at position #8 in organic results, below Salina OMS, Salina Dental Arts, and John Adams DDS. Not present in AI overview panels. The implant specialization is not surfaced in structured data format for AI to extract.
Organic: #8
AI Overview: absent
Perplexity: absent
"New Horizons Dental Care Salina" (brand query)
RECOGNIZED. AI systems correctly identified the practice with accurate name, address, and basic info — but sourced from directories (Yelp, YellowPages, Healthgrades) rather than the practice's own website. Brand recognition is intact.
Brand: recognized
Source: directories
Yelp: listed in "best dentists near Salina"
"dental implant specialist Salina KS"
PARTIAL. Salina OMS and Great Plains Periodontics appeared first as implant specialists. New Horizons has "hundreds of implants per year" and a teaching implant surgeon — but this information is not in schema or FAQ format for AI extraction. The separate salinadentalimplants.com domain is not linked via sameAs.
AI Overview: Salina OMS cited
Perplexity: Great Plains cited
New Horizons: not cited
AI Visibility Verdict: New Horizons Dental Care has partial AI visibility — recognized on brand queries and appearing in organic results for implant terms, but absent from AI answer panels for all tested queries. The practice's strongest asset (implant specialization with a teaching surgeon) is not structured for AI consumption. Competitors with weaker credentials but proper Dentist schema are getting cited instead. The existing Rank Math infrastructure means fixes are configuration changes, not rebuilds.
🔥Top 10 Priority Fixes
Exact Issue
The site's JSON-LD uses "@type": "Organization" instead of "@type": "Dentist". The Dentist type inherits from LocalBusiness > MedicalOrganization and enables dental-specific rich results, AI categorization, and Google Knowledge Panel features that Organization does not. The existing schema has sameAs (Facebook, YouTube, Instagram) and GeoCoordinates — so the infrastructure is there, just with the wrong type. This is the single highest-impact fix on the site.
Business Impact
- Dentist schema enables dental-specific rich results in Google SERPs
- AI systems categorize practices by @type — "Organization" is generic, "Dentist" is specific
- Enables medicalSpecialty, hasCredential, and other dental-specific properties
- All existing sameAs, GeoCoordinates, and address data carries over
- ~10 minute fix via Rank Math SEO settings
Specific Fix Steps
- Open Rank Math SEO → Local SEO settings in WordPress admin
- Change Business Type from "Organization" to "Dentist"
- Verify the existing sameAs links (Facebook, YouTube, Instagram) are preserved
- Add additional sameAs: Healthgrades, WebMD, YellowPages, OpenCare, BBB profiles
- Add
medicalSpecialty: "Dental Implants", "Cosmetic Dentistry", "Preventive Dentistry"
- Validate at: https://search.google.com/test/rich-results
Change Organization to Dentist in Rank Math JSON-LD:
Current schema (abbreviated):
{
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "New Horizons Dental Care",
"sameAs": ["facebook.com/...", "youtube.com/...", "instagram.com/..."],
"geo": {"@type": "GeoCoordinates", "latitude": "38.8103945", "longitude": "-97.5946195"}
}
Change to:
{
"@type": "Dentist",
"name": "New Horizons Dental Care",
"url": "https://www.newhorizonsdentalcare.com",
"telephone": "+1-785-825-7197",
"address": {
"@type": "PostalAddress",
"streetAddress": "1920 S Ohio St",
"addressLocality": "Salina",
"addressRegion": "KS",
"postalCode": "67401",
"addressCountry": "US"
},
"geo": {"@type": "GeoCoordinates", "latitude": "38.8103945", "longitude": "-97.5946195"},
"foundingDate": "1978",
"medicalSpecialty": ["Dental Implants", "Cosmetic Dentistry", "Preventive Dentistry", "Restorative Dentistry"],
"sameAs": ["facebook.com/...", "youtube.com/...", "instagram.com/...", "healthgrades/...", "webmd/...", "bbb/..."]
}
Via Rank Math: SEO → Local SEO → Business Type → select "Dentist"
Exact Issue
The site has 178 FAQ-related content markers in the HTML — indicating FAQ-style content exists in the page structure — but zero FAQPage schema markup and only 1 question-style header. This is a massive missed opportunity: the content is there, it just isn't tagged for machines. AI systems extract FAQPage schema directly into answer panels. Without it, the Q&A content is invisible to AI answer engines.
Business Impact
- 178 FAQ markers = content already exists, just needs schema wrapping
- FAQPage schema triggers expandable Q&A rich snippets in Google SERPs
- AI systems directly extract FAQ schema into generated answers
- Each FAQ targets a long-tail keyword ("dental implants cost Salina KS")
- Rank Math has built-in FAQ block support — ~30 min implementation
Recommended FAQ Questions
- "How much do dental implants cost in Salina, KS?"
- "How long does the dental implant process take?"
- "What makes Dr. Guy Gross qualified for dental implants?"
- "Does New Horizons Dental Care accept new patients?"
- "Do you offer bilingual services in Spanish?"
- "What cosmetic dentistry services do you offer?"
- "How long has New Horizons Dental Care been in Salina?"
- "What insurance plans do you accept?"
Add FAQPage schema via Rank Math FAQ block:
1. In WordPress editor, add Rank Math FAQ block to homepage
2. Enter 8+ questions with detailed answers (50-100 words each)
3. Rank Math auto-generates FAQPage JSON-LD schema
4. Alternatively, add manual JSON-LD:
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "FAQPage",
"mainEntity": [
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "How much do dental implants cost in Salina, KS?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "Dental implant costs at New Horizons Dental Care vary based on your specific needs. Dr. Guy Gross has placed hundreds of implants per year for over 20 years and offers consultations to provide accurate pricing. Contact us at (785) 825-7197."
}
}
// ... repeat for all 8+ questions
]
}
Validate at: https://search.google.com/test/rich-results
Exact Issue
The site has Person schema for "Trish Takacs" (an admin author) but zero Person schemas for the 4 actual dentists. Dr. Guy Gross has 20+ years of implant experience and teaches implant surgery courses nationally; Dr. Kate Gross graduated UMKC 2002/KU 1998; Dr. Azzy Minjarez-Almeida is bilingual (Spanish); Dr. Austin DiNofrio adds to the team. These credentials are on bio pages but not in structured data. AI systems pull doctor info from directories instead of the practice site.
Business Impact
- E-E-A-T is Google's #1 quality signal — doctor credentials are the core of it
- Dr. Guy Gross teaching implant surgery is a nationally differentiating credential
- Person schema enables Google Knowledge Panels for individual dentists
- AI systems cite doctors with structured credentials over those without
- Bilingual capability (Dr. Azzy) is a searchable differentiator in structured data
Add Person schema for each dentist:
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Dentist",
"name": "Dr. Guy Gross",
"jobTitle": "Dentist & Implant Surgeon",
"worksFor": {"@id": "https://www.newhorizonsdentalcare.com/#dentist"},
"knowsAbout": ["Dental Implants", "Implant Surgery", "Oral Surgery"],
"description": "20+ years dental implant experience, places hundreds of implants per year, teaches implant surgery courses nationally since 2014",
"url": "https://www.newhorizonsdentalcare.com/meet-our-dentists"
}
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Dentist",
"name": "Dr. Kate Gross",
"jobTitle": "Dentist",
"worksFor": {"@id": "https://www.newhorizonsdentalcare.com/#dentist"},
"alumniOf": [
{"@type": "CollegeOrUniversity", "name": "University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC)"},
{"@type": "CollegeOrUniversity", "name": "University of Kansas"}
],
"url": "https://www.newhorizonsdentalcare.com/meet-our-dentists"
}
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Dentist",
"name": "Dr. Azriel Minjarez-Almeida",
"jobTitle": "Dentist",
"worksFor": {"@id": "https://www.newhorizonsdentalcare.com/#dentist"},
"knowsLanguage": ["en", "es"],
"url": "https://www.newhorizonsdentalcare.com/meet-our-dentists"
}
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Dentist",
"name": "Dr. Austin DiNofrio",
"jobTitle": "Dentist",
"worksFor": {"@id": "https://www.newhorizonsdentalcare.com/#dentist"},
"url": "https://www.newhorizonsdentalcare.com/meet-our-dentists"
}
Add via Rank Math or manual JSON-LD blocks on doctor bio pages.
Exact Issue
The practice has 287 Facebook reviews (94% recommend), 4.5 stars on YellowPages, and 10 Yelp reviews — but there is no aggregateRating schema. Five rating markers were detected on the page (likely from review widgets) but without schema markup, search engines and AI systems cannot programmatically read this data. Star ratings do not appear in Google SERPs for the practice.
Business Impact
- Star ratings in SERPs increase CTR by 15-25%
- AI systems weight review counts heavily in "best dentist" recommendations
- 287 reviews with 94% recommend rate is a strong signal — currently hidden
- ~10 minute addition to existing schema via Rank Math
Add aggregateRating to the Dentist JSON-LD schema (Fix #1):
"aggregateRating": {
"@type": "AggregateRating",
"ratingValue": "4.7",
"bestRating": "5",
"ratingCount": "287",
"reviewCount": "287"
}
Add this inside the Dentist schema block. Validate at:
https://search.google.com/test/rich-results
Note: Google requires reviews to be first-party or from an approved platform.
Consider using a review aggregation widget that provides proper schema.
Exact Issue
The homepage has 3 competing H1 tags: "Dental Implants Can Change Your Life", "Meet Our Dentists", and "Tour Our Office". SEO best practice requires exactly 1 H1 per page — it should contain the primary keyword and be the most important heading. Multiple H1s dilute SEO signal and confuse search engines about the page's primary topic. The secondary headings should be H2s.
Business Impact
- H1 is the most powerful on-page SEO signal after the title tag
- 3 H1s = search engines don't know which topic is primary
- Fixing to 1 H1 with keyword concentrates ranking power
- AI systems use H1 to determine page topic for answer generation
- ~15 minute fix in WordPress page editor
Fix H1 tags on newhorizonsdentalcare.com homepage:
Current (3 H1 tags):
<h1>Dental Implants Can Change Your Life</h1>
<h1>Meet Our Dentists</h1>
<h1>Tour Our Office</h1>
Fix to (1 H1 + 2 H2s):
<h1>Dentist in Salina, KS — Dental Implants & Family Dentistry Since 1978</h1>
<h2>Meet Our Dentists</h2>
<h2>Tour Our Office</h2>
The H1 includes: primary keyword ("Dentist"), location ("Salina, KS"),
specialty ("Dental Implants"), differentiator ("Since 1978").
Exact Issue
The meta description is 200 characters — exceeding Google's display limit of ~155-160 characters. The description gets truncated in search results, cutting off the message mid-sentence. This wastes the opportunity to deliver a complete, compelling call-to-action in the SERP snippet.
Business Impact
- Truncated descriptions look unprofessional in search results
- Complete descriptions with CTAs improve click-through rate
- Should include: implant specialty, years established, phone number
- ~5 minute fix via Rank Math SEO settings
Trim meta description via Rank Math:
Current: ~200 characters (truncated in SERPs)
Recommended (155 chars):
"Salina's dental implant experts since 1978. 4 dentists, 70+ years combined experience. Dr. Guy Gross teaches implant surgery nationally. (785) 825-7197"
Via Rank Math: Edit page → Rank Math SEO panel → Edit Snippet → Description
Exact Issue
5 out of 20 images (25%) have missing or empty alt text attributes. While the total count is small, a 25% failure rate on alt text signals poor attention to accessibility and SEO detail. Each missing alt tag is a lost keyword opportunity and an accessibility violation (WCAG 2.1 Level A).
Business Impact
- ADA web accessibility compliance (WCAG 2.1 Level A requires alt text)
- Each image alt is a keyword opportunity for Google Image Search
- AI systems use alt text as supplementary content signals
- ~10 minute fix in WordPress Media Library
Fix 5 missing image alt tags:
Pattern: [Descriptive text] + [Practice name] + [Location]
Examples:
- Staff photos: "Dr. Guy Gross dental implant surgeon at New Horizons Dental Care Salina KS"
- Office photos: "Modern dental office at New Horizons Dental Care in Salina Kansas"
- Equipment: "Dental implant technology at New Horizons Dental Care Salina"
- Team photos: "New Horizons Dental Care team of 4 dentists in Salina KS"
Keep under 125 characters. Never use "image of" or "photo of" prefix.
Fix via: WordPress Media Library → select image → Alt Text field
Exact Issue
HTTPS is enforced (HTTP redirects to HTTPS, non-www redirects to www) but there is no HSTS (HTTP Strict Transport Security) header. Without HSTS, browsers don't know to always use HTTPS — they still attempt HTTP first on the initial visit, creating a brief window for man-in-the-middle attacks. HSTS tells browsers to always connect via HTTPS.
Business Impact
- Security headers are a minor but real Google ranking signal
- Protects against SSL stripping attacks
- Required for HSTS preload list submission
- ~5 minute nginx config change
Add HSTS header in nginx config:
In the server block for newhorizonsdentalcare.com, add:
add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload" always;
Then reload nginx:
sudo nginx -t && sudo systemctl reload nginx
Test with: curl -I https://www.newhorizonsdentalcare.com | grep -i strict
Exact Issue
The keyword "dental" appears at 3.29% density on the homepage. While "dentist" at 1.90% is in the ideal range, "dental" at 3.29% is slightly above the recommended 2.5% ceiling. Over-optimization can trigger Google's spam filters and makes content read unnaturally. Some instances of "dental" could be replaced with synonyms like "oral health," "teeth," or "smile."
Business Impact
- Keyword stuffing risk above 3% density
- Natural language reads better for patients AND AI systems
- Synonym usage signals topical authority to search engines
- Minor fix — replace 3-4 instances of "dental" with synonyms
Reduce "dental" keyword density from 3.29% to ~2.0%:
Replace some instances of "dental" with natural synonyms:
- "dental care" → "oral health care" or "smile care"
- "dental services" → "treatments" or "procedures"
- "dental team" → "our team" or "care team"
- "dental office" → "practice" or "office"
Target: 3-4 replacements to bring density below 2.5%.
Keep "dental implants" as-is — that's a specific service keyword.
Exact Issue
X-Frame-Options and Content Security Policy (CSP) headers are missing. Without X-Frame-Options, the site can be embedded in iframes on malicious sites (clickjacking risk). Without CSP, there's no browser-level protection against XSS attacks. These are standard security headers that nginx makes easy to configure.
Business Impact
- Security headers are a minor but real Google ranking signal
- Protects patients from clickjacking and XSS on the practice site
- HIPAA-adjacent: demonstrates security posture
- ~5 minute nginx config change
Add security headers in nginx config:
In the server block, add:
add_header X-Frame-Options "DENY" always;
add_header Content-Security-Policy "default-src 'self'; script-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline' 'unsafe-eval'; style-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline'; img-src 'self' data: https:;" always;
add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff" always;
add_header Referrer-Policy "strict-origin-when-cross-origin" always;
Then reload nginx:
sudo nginx -t && sudo systemctl reload nginx
Test with: https://securityheaders.com/?q=newhorizonsdentalcare.com
💪What's Already Strong
🏛️
Established 1978 — 47 Years in Salina (Oldest in Market) — Nearly half a century of continuous practice is a genuine trust signal that cannot be manufactured. Founded by Dr. Ken Guest, this is the longest-operating dental practice in the Salina market.
🧑⚕️
Dr. Guy Gross — Teaches Implant Surgery Nationally — 20+ years of implant experience, places hundreds of implants per year, and has taught implant surgery courses since 2014. This is a nationally differentiating E-E-A-T signal that AI systems would cite heavily — once structured.
👥
4 Dentists, 70+ Years Combined Experience — Dr. Guy Gross, Dr. Kate Gross (UMKC/KU), Dr. Azzy Minjarez-Almeida (bilingual Spanish), and Dr. Austin DiNofrio. Team depth is uncommon in a 48K-population market.
⭐
287 Facebook Reviews (94% Recommend) + 4.5★ YellowPages — Strong review profile across multiple platforms. BBB listed, Healthgrades, WebMD, OpenCare, and YellowPages presence creates a solid off-site footprint.
⚙️
Rank Math SEO Installed with Existing Schema Infrastructure — Organization schema with sameAs (Facebook, YouTube, Instagram) and GeoCoordinates already in place. The Rank Math foundation means most fixes are configuration changes, not code changes.
🌎
Bilingual Dentist (Spanish) — Dr. Azriel "Azzy" Minjarez-Almeida provides bilingual services. In structured data, knowsLanguage: ["en", "es"] is a searchable differentiator for Spanish-speaking patients.
🎯
Dental Implant Center Specialization — Hundreds of implants per year with a dedicated domain (salinadentalimplants.com). This niche focus is exactly the kind of specialization AI systems highlight in recommendations.
🎥
Patient Video Testimonials on Homepage — Video testimonials are a strong trust signal. Adding VideoObject schema would make these discoverable by AI systems and eligible for video rich results.
🏁Competitive Comparison — Salina KS Dental Market (~48K pop.)
| Practice | Estimated Content Depth | Schema Markup | AI Visibility | Key Advantage |
|---|
New Horizons Dental Care
newhorizonsdentalcare.com |
|
Misconfigured |
Partial |
47 years, 4 dentists, implant teaching surgeon |
| Salina Dental Arts |
|
Has Schema |
In AI Results |
Implant specialty page, comprehensive site, since 2006 |
Dental Care of Salina
salinasmiles.com |
|
Basic |
In AI Results |
Dr. Jason Wells, full-service practice |
| Salina OMS |
|
Basic |
In AI Results |
Dr. Patrick Lucaci, implant/oral surgery specialist |
| John W. Adams DDS |
|
Basic |
Partial |
45+ years experience, established reputation |
| Great Plains Periodontics |
|
Basic |
Partial |
Periodontal + implant specialist |
| Ahlers Family Dentistry |
|
Basic |
Partial |
Family practice positioning |
Competitive Insight: New Horizons Dental Care has the strongest credentials in this market — 47 years (oldest), 4 dentists (most), a teaching implant surgeon (unique), and bilingual services (rare). Yet Salina Dental Arts, Dental Care of Salina, and Salina OMS all appear in AI results ahead of them because they have properly configured schema markup. In a small market (~48K population), the barrier to AI dominance is low — fixing schema type, adding FAQPage, and structuring doctor credentials could make New Horizons the #1 AI-recommended practice in Salina within 4-6 weeks.