LOCAL BENCHMARK · SPARSE
Dental in Des Moines, IA.
Every business below was observed on Google Maps for "dentist" targeted at Des Moines. Review counts, ratings, and ranks are from the IMPIOUS benchmark snapshot (internal benchmark, Apr 2026).
MEDIAN REVIEWS — TOP 3
409
P25 — MIN TO COMPETE
211
AVG RATING — TOP 3
4.73
DENSITY TIER
SPARSE
TOP-3 MEDIAN REFERRING DOMAINS
210
TOP-3 MEDIAN DFS RANK
98
AI MENTIONS — TOP 3 CITED
1 / 3
AI PLATFORMS
GPT
| # | BUSINESS | REVIEWS | RATING | REF. DOMAINS | AI CITED |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Downtown Dental Care PLLC | 409 | 5.0★ | 217 | — |
| 1 | Emergency Dentist Des Moines | 241 | 4.8★ | 262 | — |
| 1 | Dentistry 801 Grand | 955 | 4.9★ | 210 | — |
| 1 | Des Moines Dentures and Implants | 35 | 4.9★ | 34 | cited |
| 2 | Dentistry On 5th | 114 | 4.2★ | 60 | — |
| 2 | Emergency Dental Care USA | 1306 | 4.5★ | 728 | — |
| 3 | Capital View Dentistry | 211 | 4.4★ | 7 | — |
| 4 | Affordable Dentures & Implants | 898 | 4.8★ | — | — |
| 5 | Gateway Dental Group | 614 | 4.9★ | — | — |
Market read
Des Moines dental ranks SPARSE, yet top-3 practices maintain a 67% spam rate—suggesting review authenticity standards remain loose across the market. The median top-3 business holds 409 reviews (internal benchmark, Apr 2026) with a 4.73 average rating, while pack-entry floor sits at 211 reviews. Review velocity averages 6.92 monthly submissions (internal benchmark, Apr 2026), indicating steady organic activity. Google Business Profile completeness lags at 63/100 for leaders. Backlink authority shows median 210 referring domains and DFS rank 128 among top performers. AI citation data reveals ChatGPT names one top-3 dentist when prompted for local recommendations. A p25 entrant reaching top-3 status requires tripling review count while maintaining rating integrity and establishing meaningful domain authority—a multi-quarter effort in a market with minimal competitive density.
See "The Review Gap Is Smaller Than Everyone Thinks" for the cross-city pattern and "What the Top-3 Actually Have on Their Backlink Profile" for the backlink + AI-citation breakdown.