01Your questionsThe short answers first.
You raised three things. Here is where each one landed.
What did each enquiry actually cost?
About $196 per unique Google Ads enquiry for this period, now verified against your GHL records. The new-versus-existing patient split is the one item still being finalised, so we are not quoting a cost per new patient.
See the verified figures →Where did the $87 click come from?
A search for “same day emergency dentist” at $87.64. A genuine emergency-intent search. Emergency searches were simply very expensive this period.
See the expensive clicks →Where did the reconciliation land?
Your GHL source records are now fully populated for both review periods, so unique Google Ads enquiries can be counted reliably. Platform conversion totals remain a separate measure.
See what we confirmed →02Where it wentEmergency against general.
Two thirds of the visible search-term spend sat in emergency searches.
Emergency General
Bars share one scale. Percentages are of the spend Google names, not of total account spend.
Emergency dental
47clicks
$1,707.64 spent · about $36 a click
General dental
38clicks
$812.14 spent · about $21 a click
Emergency clicks cost roughly 70% more than general ones, and that gap is the main driver behind the average click cost for the period. Emergency searches tend to attract stronger competition from advertisers, which can push click costs higher. The spend split shown above is based on visible search-term data, not total account spend.
03The $87 clickThe highest click costs of the period.
The six most expensive clicks of the period.
What these tell us
These are genuine emergency dental searches rather than obviously irrelevant traffic. “Part of my tooth broke off”, “same day emergency dentist”, “dentist 24 7”. What the review shows is that the issue was not primarily unrelated search intent, but the cost of competing for this type of search.
The key issue highlighted here is the cost. Your $87 click was “same day emergency dentist” at $87.64. The dearest was “dentist 24 7” at $97.15. Both were single clicks and neither recorded a Google Ads conversion. Six searches cost over $60 a click and between them took $513.76 from just seven clicks.
Emergency dental searches carried materially higher auction costs than general dental searches throughout the period. That cost profile is the reason this category is being assessed on its own before any restart is considered.
04Biggest spendWhere the budget concentrated.
Ten searches took over 60% of the visible spend.
| What was typed into Google | Type | Clicks | Spend | Per click | Recorded conversions |
|---|
These ten account for $1,578.43 between them.
05The reconciliationVerified against your GHL records on 6 October 2026.
What we can report with confidence, and what is still open.
Where the reconciliation has landed
We have now reconciled the Google Ads activity against the current records in GHL for both periods under review. Source attribution is fully populated: every record carries a source, with none left blank. That covers 58 records for 30 August to 28 September and 56 records for 16 August to 15 September.
Because the source data is complete, we can now identify the number of unique enquiries attributed to Google Ads with confidence. For 30 August to 28 September that is 16 unique enquiries. For 16 August to 15 September, the records show 19.
One clarification on the earlier figures. The Google Ads upload events previously recorded as booked and attended have been confirmed as repeat stage events against mostly existing patients. They represent movement through stages rather than distinct people, so they are not used as a patient count anywhere in this report.
30 August to 28 September 2026, verified against the current GHL records.
Based on $3,135.11 of spend across the period against those 16 enquiries.
A completed outcome in GHL linked to Google Ads activity. Not a count of new patients.
What “Ads-attributed completion” means. A completed outcome recorded in GHL that is linked to Google Ads activity. It is a useful measure of how far enquiries progressed, but it is not the same as a unique new patient and should not be read as one.
The one item still open
What is not yet settled is the split between genuinely new patients and existing patients making contact again. That classification needs to be complete before a cost per new patient means anything, so we are not presenting one at this stage. The enquiry and completion figures above can still be reported independently of that classification.
This also helps put the earlier $900 to $1,800 cost range into context. The current reconciliation gives us a clearer view of unique Google Ads enquiries, while the remaining new-versus-existing patient classification is still required before a genuine cost per new patient can be confirmed.
Why Google’s own conversion count is kept separate
Inside Google Ads, a “conversion” counts a tracked action rather than a person. The search “dentist prahran” shows 11 clicks against 11 recorded conversions, and “best dentist prahran” shows 2 clicks against 5 recorded conversions. A single visitor can trigger several tracked actions in one visit, which is why platform conversion totals are reported separately from enquiry counts throughout this report.
06Our planWhere the account stands today.
What happens from here.
As at 6 October 2026, the first two steps are complete and we are working through the patient classification in step 3. The remaining steps follow in order once that is settled.
We handle thisWe need your teamYour decision
All 13 campaigns remain paused
We handle thisNo spend is running. No changes were made to the live setup during the verification, which was carried out on a read-only basis.
Hold the source attribution standard in place
We handle thisSource tagging is now complete across both review periods. Keeping that standard in place will give future reporting a consistent attribution base.
Complete the new-versus-existing patient classification
We need your teamThe remaining piece of work, and the one place we will need a hand from your side. Your practice records are the only reliable way to tell a first-time patient from someone returning, so we will work with your team to confirm the remaining classifications against those records. Once that is complete, a genuine cost per new patient can be reported.
Assess Emergency Dental separately
We handle thisIts cost per click profile is materially different from general dental, so it needs reviewing on its own terms rather than inside a combined average.
Review the conversion setup
We handle thisSo that bidding and reporting prioritise meaningful patient outcomes rather than treating every tracked action as equivalent.
Use the verified figures to inform the restart decision
We handle thisThe enquiry and completion data gives a defensible basis for deciding structure and budget, rather than adjusting what was previously in place.
Provide a clear recommendation before any paid activity resumes
We handle thisYou will have our recommendation in writing, with the reasoning behind it, before anything is switched back on.
Decide whether paid search resumes
Your decisionAny decision to resume paid search will be made with your approval, once we have completed the remaining review and provided a clear recommendation. Nothing resumes automatically.
07Search termsSearch terms Google made visible for the period.
The 152 search terms Google made visible.
Exactly as Google reported them. These represent 80.4% of total spend for the period, with the remainder sitting below Google’s search-term reporting thresholds. Type in the box to find a particular search, or click any column heading to sort. Many of these showed your ad without anyone clicking, so a number of rows show no spend.
| What was typed into Google | Type | Times shown | Clicks | Spend | Per click | Recorded conversions |
|---|