SERP Dental, a division of AscendPoint AgencyFree book · The AI Patient EngineGet the free book

Free book for dental practice owners

The AI Patient Engine

How dental practices use AI to get found, fill the schedule, and build marketing that runs itself.

  • Why the “rank on Google, run some ads” playbook stopped working in the last 18 months
  • The SMILE System: the five-part operating system behind practices that keep growing
  • The Maturity Map to score your practice, and the 18-month plan to reach Stage 4
  • Exactly how to get ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI to recommend your practice
Get the free book268-page PDF · Instant download · No credit card

By Patrick Hounsell, Co-CEO of SERP Dental · Former President, Merkle Americas · Former CEO, Dentsu Canada

The AI Patient Engine by Patrick Hounsell, 3D book cover
30+ years in marketingFortune 500 digital strategy10 years focused on dental practicesSpeaker at DealCon, the dental M&A summit

Why free?

Why is a 30-year marketing veteran giving this away?

Because the practices Patrick talks to every week are losing, and not to better clinicians or bigger budgets. They’re losing to practices that understand how patients find, evaluate and choose a dentist in 2026: through AI assistants, reviews, maps and a phone that gets answered.

SERP Dental builds that engine for a small number of practices each year. The book is the full playbook, with nothing held back, because a practice owner who understands the system is the kind of partner we want to work with. Read it, score your practice, and if you want help, we’re here.

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Sound familiar?

What practice owners tell us every single week

We’re spending $8,000 a month on Google Ads and Facebook, and our consult calendar is empty.
We’re ranking #1 for ‘dental implants [city]’ but our phone isn’t ringing.
We’re getting leads, but they’re all price shoppers and no-shows. Where are the serious buyers?
My agency sends me reports, but I can’t connect any of it to actual revenue.

These are smart, capable owners who are investing in marketing. The game changed under them. The book shows what changed, and what to do about it.

What’s inside

The SMILE System

A five-part framework that covers the entire patient journey, from discovery to conversion to retention. Not theory: the exact system SERP Dental runs for its practices.

S

Stand Out

Positioning, brand, website and reputation. The foundation that makes everything else work.

M

Market Everywhere

AI search, SEO, content and paid ads. Being present where patients are actually looking.

I

Intelligent Conversion

AI phone assistants, online scheduling and automated nurture that turn leads into booked appointments.

L

Link Every Dollar

Call tracking, PMS integration and source-to-production reporting. Knowing exactly what works.

E

Engage and Remarket

Retargeting, reactivation, nurture and referral systems. Every lead and every patient, maximized.

17 chapters · 7 parts · 268 pages

Everything from the first AI search to the referral that follows

Part 1 · The New Reality

  1. The AI Revolution and the Death of Traditional Search
  2. The New Patient Journey
  3. Why Most Dental Marketing Fails

Part 2 · The SMILE System

  1. The SMILE System
  2. The Maturity Map: The Four Stages of Practice Marketing

Part 3 · Stand Out

  1. Building a Brand That Patients Choose
  2. Your Digital Foundation
  3. The Authority Engine

Part 4 · Market Everywhere

  1. AI Optimization: The New Frontier
  2. SEO: Dominating Local Search
  3. Paid Advertising: The AI-Powered Campaign System
  4. Social Media: Showing Up Where Patients Scroll
  5. Content Marketing: Fueling Every Channel

Part 5 · Intelligent Conversion

  1. Intelligent Conversions: Using AI to Break Down Barriers

Part 6 · Link Every Dollar

  1. Attribution and Dashboards: Knowing What Works

Part 7 · Engage and Remarket

  1. Email Marketing: Your Best Patients Are Your Current Patients
  2. Referral Systems: The Highest-Value Patient Source
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Look inside

Sample pages

Frameworks, scorecards and real numbers you can put to work the same week.

The SMILE System: five parts, one patient journey (Chapter 4)
The SMILE System: five parts, one patient journey (Chapter 4)
The Four Stages of Practice Marketing Maturity (Chapter 5)
The Four Stages of Practice Marketing Maturity (Chapter 5)
Early results: new patient leads via AI engines (Chapter 9)
Early results: new patient leads via AI engines (Chapter 9)
The 6 stages of the patient journey, with and without AI (Chapter 14)
The 6 stages of the patient journey, with and without AI (Chapter 14)
Anatomy of a “dentist near me” search (Chapter 10)
Anatomy of a “dentist near me” search (Chapter 10)
The 18-month journey from Foundation to Dominance (Conclusion)
The 18-month journey from Foundation to Dominance (Conclusion)
The AI Patient Engine open to the SMILE System and Maturity Map spread
Patrick Hounsell speaking on stage at DealCon, the dental M&A summit

About the author

Patrick Hounsell

Patrick has spent more than thirty years building marketing systems for some of the world’s largest brands, and for the local businesses that compete against them. His agency career included senior leadership at Razorfish and Avenue A, President of Merkle Americas, and CEO of Dentsu Canada and Global President of Dentsu B2B, leading digital strategy for Fortune 500 companies in banking, consumer goods, healthcare, e-commerce and financial services.

Today he is Co-CEO of SERP Dental, a division of AscendPoint Agency, where his team builds AI-powered patient growth systems for dental practices. He holds an MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business and a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University, and lives in Rye, New York.

Co-CEO, SERP DentalFormer President, Merkle AmericasFormer CEO, Dentsu CanadaDarden MBA

Watch

See the ideas in the book, live

Patrick and Sonia Hounsell, Co-CEOs of SERP Dental, walk dentists through two of the engines in the book on recent webinars.

How To Get ChatGPT To Recommend Your Dental PracticePatrick Hounsell, Co-CEO of SERP Dental, on AI search and the new patient journey (Chapters 1, 2 and 9 of the book).
How To Get More Reviews For Your Dental PracticeSonia Hounsell, Co-CEO of SERP Dental, on the reputation engine behind "Stand Out" (Chapters 6 and 8).
The AI Patient Engine on a tablet and in print

Get your copy

Score your practice. Then build the engine.

Tell us where to send the PDF. You’ll get the download link on the next page, a copy in your inbox, and the option to book a free Patient Growth Strategy Session with Patrick’s team.

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268 pages · PDF · Published by SERP Dental™