What happens when a treatment coordinator at a startup Denver periodontist practice spends a decade helping grow it from one doctor and three team members to five periodontists, 20+ team members, and multiple locations—then starts writing a blog about social media for dentistry that takes off and leads to speaking internationally about Facebook when it was brand new? Rita Zamora is a dental social media expert, speaker, and author of “Get Found, Get Liked, Get Patients: Making the Most of Social Media,” and as founder of Connect90, she helps practices increase visibility, build trust, and influence which dentists get recommended in today’s AI-powered search environment. But here’s what most dental teams don’t know: Google started indexing public social media content as of July 2025, which means social media no longer lives in the silos of Facebook and Instagram where only followers see your content—now anyone using Google or Gemini can discover your posts, and that changes everything about how you should approach content strategy. The cookie-cutter stock photography posts that dental practices have been scheduling for $200/month? AI knows it’s stock photography, so you’re not helping AI understand who you are or what’s unique about your practice. The dancing videos and dental skits that went viral and got 10,000 views? If they’re reaching people nationally or globally through Instagram’s algorithm, how many of those viewers are actually going to drive to your practice? In this eye-opening conversation, Rita reveals why the old strategy of 80% social content and 20% dental content is being flipped to 80% strategic dental topics (what you want to be known for) and 20% human/social content, why alt text is a powerful backend signal that AI can read to understand your Invisalign expertise, and why the one word that matters most for dental marketing success is “habits”—creating consistent processes to capture photos and videos that tell your practice story. She shares how one dentist grew clear aligner therapy by consistently posting team members and patients holding aligner boxes (an “old idea” that works because it creates visual and textual patterns AI can recognize), why you need to think of social media as a publishing tool for overall Google visibility rather than just trying to win over platform algorithms, and why James Clear and Arthur Brooks are right that habits are the most powerful tool you have. If you’ve ever wondered why your social media manager keeps posting content that doesn’t convert patients, how to help AI tools answer “who’s a good dentist for me” with YOUR name, or what it really means to create content that connects with patients while signaling credibility to AI, this episode will completely transform how you think about social media strategy in the AI era.

Rita Zamora’s journey into dental social media began at a startup periodontist practice in Denver, Colorado, where she started as one of three team members alongside a solo periodontist. Over a decade, she watched the practice grow to five periodontists, over 20 team members, and multiple locations while she worked in various roles: front desk and admin, case presentation for big perio and implant cases (treatment coordinator was one of her favorite positions), then transitioning into marketing with referral marketing and direct-to-consumer strategies. When social media entered the picture, she started writing a blog about social media for dentistry that took off organically. She got invited to speak at local meetings about Facebook when it was brand new, which led to speaking engagements across the country and internationally. That momentum led her to start Connect90, her agency that now works with clients across the US, Canada, and Australia. But social media has changed dramatically, especially with the advent of AI, and Rita believes things have “kind of gone off the rails” for dental teams. There’s a tsunami of AI coming into the picture affecting online visibility for dentists, and most critically, there’s a massive change most dentists are unaware of: Google started indexing public social media content as of July 2025. Marketers have known this for months, but it’s a game changer because social media no longer lives in the silos of Facebook and Instagram where only followers see your content. Now anyone using Google or Gemini (Google’s AI tool) can discover your social posts, which means you have to think about social content in a completely different way.

The main reason dental practices spend time on social media is for marketing—converting patients, attracting patients, and letting AI know what your practice story is. As more people use Gemini and other AI tools to ask “who’s a good dentist for me?”, practices need to ensure AI systems understand who they are and what makes them unique. Rita’s three core action items: (1) Ditch cookie-cutter social media if you haven’t already, (2) Stop using stock photography because people don’t like it and AI knows it’s stock (so you’re not helping AI understand your uniqueness), and (3) Decide on the one or two things you want to be known for. Most dentists say dental implants and clear aligners are their top two. The critical shift is that you need to think about repeating content consistently instead of constantly creating different entertainment—skits, dancing, viral attempts. Practices have been lured by social media algorithms to entertain and chase visibility, but over the years, they’ve lost the ability to be found even in front of their own followers. The real mindset shift is thinking about social media’s value not just for discovery within platforms, but as a publishing tool for overall Google visibility. The majority of patients still use Google, and if you’re using Google, you’re using Gemini (Google’s AI tool) whether you know it or not. The opportunity is using Facebook and Instagram strategically as publishing tools to build your story for Google and AI visibility, not just trying to win over platform algorithms.

Rita tested this with a personal Instagram reel she created for fun about meeting a friend in their twenties (they worked together at the perio practice). It got 10,000 views and hundreds of likes not because it would help her dental marketing business, but because Instagram’s stated goal is getting content creators in front of new followers—nationally or globally. That raises the question: how many of those patients will actually drive to see you when your dental skit or dancing video goes viral? It’s a different mindset. If you’re doing social media to entertain or win algorithms, you’re missing the real value: letting Google and AI tools know who you are, what you specialize in, and what kind of patient is a good fit. For actionable tips that work for both patients and AI without isolating patients, Rita shares an example of a client who wanted to grow clear aligner treatments using Invisalign. The goal wasn’t just letting patients know what she offers, but helping AI understand the practice story through consistent repeated topics and content patterns—not posting once or twice monthly. They started having the dentist take pictures of team members or patients with the clear aligner box or holding an aligner. People might dismiss this as an “old idea,” but it works because it visually lets patients recognize the brand while signaling to AI. In the caption, you can mention clear aligners and the brand name, but you can also use alt text (created for vision-impaired people but readable by AI) as a backend way to say “young woman holding Invisalign box, Invisalign clear aligner.” Doing this consistently creates patterns AI can understand. Patients see your Instagram grid with dozens of photos (team, patients, video snippets explaining FAQs), creating a real pattern that both AI and patients recognize.

Rita works with practices in two ways through Connect90: a content calendar and scheduling tool that provides content suggestions based on what you want to promote (aligners, implants, whitening), where your responsibility is taking photos/videos and uploading them to the calendar to prepare for publishing. But many busy teams want done-for-you service, so they send photos and videos and Rita’s team handles everything while personalizing content for each practice’s personality and what they want to be known for—no cookie cutter approaches. Success stories include practices getting started or those who fell off and haven’t posted in years—sometimes they stay long-term, sometimes Rita gets them up and running and they take over internally. What’s most rewarding is continuing to evolve through all the different phases of social media, from when followers on Facebook and Instagram would see all your content to now where the strategy is flipping from the old recommendation of 80% social content and 20% dental content to 80% strategic dental topics (what you want to be known for) and 20% social/human content. A dentist told Rita just last week she was elated they wouldn’t focus on as many social topics: “I could talk about clear aligners or implants all day long.” Dentists are excited to talk about what they’re passionate about instead of worrying about algorithms, thinking of social as a publishing tool for overall visibility. Everyone has a different definition of “professional”—it doesn’t mean buttoned up wearing a white coat. But staying on theme and topics prevents AI from hallucinating and making up stories about your practice when you don’t have enough consistent information. Rita’s golden nugget is one word: habits. She’s a huge fan of James Clear and Arthur Brooks who talk extensively about habits. The most powerful tool dentists have—specifically for dental marketing and capturing photos/videos—is thinking in terms of habits and setting up a method to get consistent content. Brett shares an example from Revive Dental in Phoenix (Dr. Nate Farley and Kent Howell), his first dental client from 2014 who’s still working with Marketing 32. They have high-quality before/after transformation images all over their practice, and one of their operatories was converted into a photo shoot studio for testimonial videos and before/afters—not just phone photos, but professional quality. When an all-on-X patient finishes treatment, they walk them to that room, get the testimonial and shots. It’s a process that makes capturing content easy and consistent, which is exactly what creates the patterns and stories that help both patients and AI understand what you do and who you are.

This episode is brought to you by Marketing 32—the only dental marketing team with a performance guarantee that if you’re not growing your practice with our help, you don’t pay. It’s that simple. Marketing 32 doesn’t work with everybody—we look for practices that would be a great fit where we can really make an impact. As Rita powerfully illustrates in this episode, the landscape of dental marketing is changing dramatically with AI and Google indexing social media content as of July 2025. Your social media isn’t just about platform visibility anymore—it’s a publishing tool for overall Google visibility and helping AI understand your practice story. Marketing 32 specializes in paid advertising strategies (Facebook, Instagram, Google) that complement your organic social media efforts, but as Rita emphasizes, you need consistent content patterns and habits to tell your story effectively. If you think you need help and you’d be a good fit with us, head over to marketing32.com, set up a call, and we’ll have a quick conversation to see what your goals are and if we’d be a great fit to help you.