Absence Index, release 2026-09
Dental practice management software, measured across five AI engines
Practice owners and DSO operators ask ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode which dental practice management platforms to shortlist before they talk to sales. The engines answer from public material, and the named set shapes the first list a buyer sees. This page records who the engines named in the September 2026 Absence Index, the buyer questions, where the five engines disagree, the sources they cited and the rename facts that confuse retrieval.
Dental practice management software, observed 22 September 2026 (UTC)
Observed answers on stated dates, not a ranking. Every checked vendor on the Index
Who the engines named
Dentrix was named in 120 of 149 observed answers across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode, more often than any of the other 19 vendors the Index checked in this category. Dentrix on the Index.
4 of the 20 checked vendors were named in none of the 149 observed answers:
0 of the 10 buyer questions returned no checked vendor in any observed answer. This counts checked vendors only; an engine may still have named a vendor outside the checked set.
Also named often: Open Dental and Curve Dental. Every checked vendor's count and base is on the Index category page.
Answers were observed on 22 September 2026 (UTC) and released on 23 September 2026. These are observed answers on stated dates, not a ranking.
What buyers ask
The ten buyer questions, in the buyers' own words, exactly as each engine was asked them.
Shortlist
What is the best dental practice management software for a startup practice?
What is the best dental practice management software for a very small office?
What dental practice management software do most dentists recommend?
Alternatives
What are the best alternatives to Dentrix?
What are the best alternatives to Eaglesoft?
What are the best alternatives to Open Dental?
Buyer evaluation
Open Dental vs Dentrix, which is better?
Dentrix vs Eaglesoft, which is better for my practice?
What should I look for in dental practice management software?
Specific workflow
What is the best dental PMS for a DSO with multiple locations?
Where the five engines disagree
The engines split. ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews named Dentrix and Open Dental most often, level with each other; Claude named Dentrix most often; Perplexity named Open Dental most often; Google AI Mode named Curve Dental and Dentrix most often, level with each other. The per-engine counts are on the Index category page.
| Engine | Named most often |
|---|---|
| ChatGPT | Dentrix and Open Dental, level |
| Claude | Dentrix |
| Perplexity | Open Dental |
| Google AI Overviews | Dentrix and Open Dental, level |
| Google AI Mode | Curve Dental and Dentrix, level |
The sources the engines cited
The domains the engines cited most often in this category's observed answers, in the order the Index records them. Each domain's count and base is on the Index category page.
- medixdental.com
- thedentalapp.com
- curvedental.com
- capterra.com
- ekimit.com
- oryxdental.com
- practicesignal.com
- softwareadvice.com
- g2.com
- planetdds.com
Renames and ownership changes in dental practice management
When a dental practice management vendor is acquired, taken private or rebranded, directories, review sites and trade press often keep the old string for months. ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode, which most buyers call Gemini, retrieve that stale material. A retired product brand without a former-name bridge can still appear in answers, while the living brand is missing from the same shortlist.
| Old name | New name | Date | Owner or sponsor | Product brand | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patterson Companies Inc (public, Eaglesoft parent) | Patterson Companies (private) | 2025-04 (closed) | Patient Square Capital | Eaglesoft brand kept | Source, Patterson Companies Inc (public, Eaglesoft parent) Read 2026-09-22 |
| Planet DDS (Denticon) | Planet DDS (PE-backed, brand kept) | Not dated in source | Aquiline Capital Partners, Level Equity, Saratoga Partners | kept | Source, Planet DDS (Denticon) Read 2026-09-22 |
What changes the answer
Entity and structured data
Publish Organization and SoftwareApplication markup that states the current legal name, product name, former names and sameAs links to the profiles engines already cite. When a rename or acquisition happened, add a formerly-known-as bridge so the engines can connect the old string to the living brand.
Answer pages
Write pages that answer the buyer questions above in buyer language, with no brand name planted in the question wording itself. Publish them on the vendor domain the engines already try to cite.
Source placement
Place accurate product and ownership facts on the directories, review sites, trade press and forums the engines cite in this category, listed above.
Crawler access and review presence
Confirm robots rules, rendering and any bot filter still let AI crawlers reach the answer and entity pages, and keep listings current on the review sites for this category so the engines retrieve one consistent name, domain and category label.
Start with a measured baseline
Category Audit
Credits in full against the Diagnostic within 30 days.
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Questions
Which dental practice management software vendors did AI engines name most often in the September 2026 Absence Index?
Dentrix was named in 120 of 149 observed answers across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode. The next most named were Open Dental and Curve Dental. These are observed answers on stated dates, not a ranking; every checked vendor's count and base is on the Index category page.
Why does a rename change what AI engines say?
Engines retrieve public material that still carries retired product names, old legal entities and pre-acquisition domains. When those strings are not bridged to the current brand, the answer can name a name the company no longer uses, or skip the living brand entirely.
What should a dental practice management software vendor measure first?
Start with the ten buyer questions on this page. Record, for each question and each of the five engines, whether the brand was named and whether the brand domain was cited. Keep the wording frozen between runs so the comparison stays valid.
How is Broadcastwell related to the vendors in this category?
Broadcastwell measures AI search visibility for B2B software and publishes the Absence Index. It does not sell dental practice management software, and no vendor commissioned this category's measurement.
Industries in the Absence Index
- Dealership management
- Field service
- Radiology and imaging
- Dental practice
- Veterinary practice
- Legal practice
- Construction
- Residential property
- Insurance agency
- Loan origination
- Transportation
- Hotel property
Cite as: Broadcastwell, The Absence Index, release 2026-09, 23 September 2026, method v1.1. DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22907695. This category in release 2026-09 on the Index. Data license CC BY 4.0. Every figure comes from the published method, v1.1.