# Chapter 0 · Start here: clinic advertising is strictly regulated, so which pages can you build?

> GEO Playbook · Dental & Aesthetics v1.0 · Canlah AI · CC BY 4.0 · Web page: https://canlah.ai/playbook/dental/start/
> Markdown edition for AI assistants, same content as the web page. Figures are code blocks (wireframe / mermaid / bars / steps / split); "→" links open the matching section on the web, and the same URL with .md is its Markdown edition.

## 0.1 How to use this book: it only covers where dental differs from the General Edition

**What you'll do in this section**: know which General Edition sections to read first for each chapter, and the only things the dental edition adds; lay out the calendar in the 90-day order; remember the values already decided for dental's ten axes, so you do not have to judge them yourself again; know what each of the two legs (ChatGPT and AI Mode) cites in dental and what to feed each one.

The dental edition does not rewrite the mechanisms, methods or general writing rules; it only gives dental's values, bans, replacement wording and local lists. At the start of each chapter, first read the General Edition sections it links to:

| Dental chapter | Read in the General Edition first | Dental adds |
|---|---|---|
| Chapter 1: non-negotiable writing rules | 0.4, 5.2–5.3 | What the three labels mean in dental; the dental wording for price, testimonials, comparisons and outbound links |
| Chapter 2: week one | 2.1–2.9, 4.1–4.4 | Language ratios in the question pool; check the WAF before fixing the door |
| Chapter 3: identity | 3.2–3.4 | Write doctor pages only from the register; align to the official register lookup page as the source |
| Chapter 4: picking targets | 4.5–4.7 | Dental's five buyer groups; where dental questions lead |
| Chapter 5: writing pages | 5.4–5.10 and each page-type card | Which page types you can build (see 0.3); the dental wording for each type |
| Chapter 6: off-site | 6.2–6.7 | Only send letters once authorisation is on file; the dental source list; reviews are not requested |
| Chapter 7: retest | 7.1–7.4 | Review counts are logged only, never judged; settlement is measured from the split day |

```steps Figure: Dental's 90 days: measure first, then change; the first page is the price guide page
Week one | Measure first, then change | Read-only audit → freeze questions and baseline → fix the door, record the split day
W1–W2 | Identity | /facts, one page per doctor, the five business profiles
W2 | Picking targets | Buyer groups, the four states, this quarter's slots
W2–W6 | Writing pages | Price guide page goes up first in English and Chinese, then write by slot
W3–W8 | Off-site | Once authorisation is on file: registers, locators, contributions, video
Monthly · W13 | Retest and settlement | Same ruler, an honest before-and-after
```

Why the order cannot be swapped: freezing the baseline after the door is already fixed freezes a shelf you have already changed yourself, so before and after cannot be compared; for the mechanism, see （→ 通用版 0.1 全书一句话与 90 天翻书顺序）. For the day-by-day plan for week one, see 2.1. The day you fix the door is recorded as the split day: W1 counts from that day, and the before-and-after comparison at the week 13 settlement also uses it as the dividing line.

```split Figure: The ten axes the General Edition has you judge yourself, already decided for dental
General Edition axis || Dental's value
Shelf page-type mix || Articles 54%, list pages 0%
Control of citation containers || Mostly third-party, but a self-built page can take a share
Entity anchor layer || Mainly the doctor, the organisation second
Side and switches || Strict: agency liability (HCSA s 31)
Question-shape mix || High share of spec type (price questions)
Decision-makers || One person over several weeks; the page does not need separate segments
Capacity and work unit || Practitioner-chair count · one patient type
Attribution channels || Phone + in-person visit + form
Content half-life || Medium to long; driven by procedures and regulation
Language fork || A difference set often exists (medical tourism)
```

For how to judge the ten axes and why each one moves rankings, see （→ 通用版 8.3 十个轴（一）：页型、容器、锚点、监管、问法） and （→ 通用版 8.4 十个轴（二）：决策人数、产能、归因、半衰期、语言）. These values hold only for dental and aesthetics. Page-type mix is an industry variable, so do not apply another industry's values here; the shelf shares come from deltaV's page-type statistics by industry (the healthcare row).


Three things the figure cannot show: the main front is off-site work plus self-built price pages, and the first page to build is the tiered itemised fixed-price page; dental's one net advantage is that the official registration number gives you the strongest anchor for free; the step where you get stuck most often is "are you on the few pages AI fetched this time?" A site self-built on a traditional CMS gets stuck here most easily; acceptance is measured as "on the list and cited X/20".

```split Figure: What each leg cites in dental, and what to feed each
ChatGPT leg || AI Mode leg
Cites government and public-sector pages (MOH benchmark, CPF, SMC) || Cites peer clinics' price pages
Feed it: your own final-price sentence + a separate section for the official benchmark || Feed it: your own all-products price guide page
"Who's best" questions: public specialist doctor pages, treatment pages || "Who's best" questions: Google cards, booking product pages
```

The two legs' citation shares have different denominators — read only "who cites what", not which number is bigger. The "who's best" row rests on a sample of just 1 question, so treat it as directional only. For the mechanism behind the two legs, see （→ 通用版 1.2 两条腿：ChatGPT 找源头，AI Mode 找二手）. Why the official benchmark must sit in a section of its own, with no mention of your own price inside it, falls under the non-negotiable writing rules — see 1.3.


"Consumer" in this book refers only to content form, never to a regulatory side: cross-industry research finds that professional services win on educational content, while consumer services win on review volume; dental and aesthetics fall under the consumer form (the research did not include Singapore; 75% confidence; evidence in （→ 通用版 A.2 选点、写页、站外与复测的证据）). But in dental, the review-volume finding cannot be turned into "go and ask for reviews": the main effort goes into price pages, facts about devices and processes, and the completeness of the five business profiles — reviews are only recorded as a passive observation.

## 0.2 You are on the strict side: the three essentials, the switches and three start gates

**What you'll do in this section**: on the day you start, fill in the three essentials — the regulator, the advertising regulations, the official register lookup — in full, and go through the six switches one by one, ticking each one that applies; ask the three start-gate questions face to face (side, fixed price, letter of appointment), and if any one fails, downgrade or do not take the job.
```mermaid id=side-check Figure: four questions decide which side you're on; question 4 alone decides switch E
flowchart LR
  q1{"Need licence or registration to open or practise"} -->|No| free["Provisionally unregulated side"]
  q1 -->|Yes| q2{"Can price be written as a range"}
  q2 -->|Cannot| strict["Strictly regulated side"]:::warn
  q2 -->|Can| q3{"Testimonials or peer comparison banned outright"}
  q3 -->|Banned outright| strict
  q3 -->|Limited| mid["Lightly regulated side"]:::hl
  q3 -->|Neither limited| free
  free -->|All three sides also ask| q4{"Is peer comparison banned"}
  strict --> q4
  mid --> q4
  q4 -->|Yes, incl. anonymous ranges| swE["Switch E on: peer comparison banned"]:::warn
  q4 -->|No| noE["Switch E off: no peer-comparison ban"]
```
Dental and aesthetic clinics need to hold an MOH healthcare services licence, and prices can only be written as a fixed final price, never as a range — by the second question in the figure above, that already puts you on the strictly regulated side (the strict side); on the fourth question, peer comparison is banned, so switch E (peer comparison banned) is on as well. Checking against the three criteria in （→ 通用版 8.2 判侧五步与三条判据） gives the same result: there is a dedicated advertising regulation, the rule text spells out penalties, and the rule text names the party publishing on the client's behalf as a liable party. All three are met. Going tactic by tactic through （→ 通用版 8.6 七项弹药：受监管与不受监管差在哪、凭什么动名次）, dental and aesthetics has four tactics ruled out — the most of any industry. Wherever you are unsure, default to the strict side.

```split Figure: The three essentials and switches to fill in before you start, dental's answers
What to fill in || What dental fills in
Regulator || MOH (HCSA), SDC, SMC
Advertising regulations || HCS (Advertisement) Regulations + MOH FAQ (2023-10)
Ethical code || SDC ECEG (dentists), SMC ECEG (doctors)
Official register lookup || The HCI Directory, MOH healthcare professionals search, the SMC and SDC registers
Switch A: agency liability || On: the publishing party and the licensee are jointly liable (penalties below)
Switch B: legally required fields || No such rule found for dental — not ticked
Switch C: regulated products || On when the clinic also sells supplements, medicines, devices or cosmetics
Switch D: spans two sides || Even with an unregulated sideline, treat the whole site as strict
Switch E: peer comparison banned || On; already covered by the strict-side base layer, no extra action needed
Switch F: referral commissions banned || By default, do not use platforms priced per lead or by commission (6.2)
```

The exact URLs of the SDC and SMC registers are still to be verified — check and fill them in on the spot the first time you use them (3.4).

The consequence of switch A (agency liability) being on: only the licensee or a person it authorises may advertise a healthcare service; when we publish on the client's behalf, we become that authorised person and are jointly liable with the clinic — none of the clinic's own liability is reduced. The penalty is a fine of up to S$20,000, up to 12 months' imprisonment, or both, plus up to S$1,000 a day for a continuing offence (Statute text, HCSA s 31(2), 31(3); see Appendix A.1). So without a letter of appointment, no material goes out under any name — that is the third gate below.

Why compliance is our job, in one sentence: compliance decides the boxes themselves — whether the price table has a "range" column, whether the page has a box for a promotions banner; and the penalty also falls on whoever publishes on the client's behalf, so we cannot dodge it. It is not because we understand dental better than the clinic does.

Switch C (regulated products) is only on when the clinic also sells supplements, medicines, medical devices or cosmetics (including skincare): copy for these products falls under HSA (**Statute text**, MOH FAQ; see Appendix A.3), must not claim to prevent, relieve or cure a regulated disease (Conservative line (not statute text); see Appendix A.3), and false advertising carries a fine of up to S$5,000 or up to 2 years' imprisonment (Original text not obtained; see Appendix A.3). Write the product page as the product detail page from （→ 通用版 5.20 实体锚点页：三个子型与商品详情页（pt09））; the whole site is still run on the strict side.

Switch B (legally required fields) is not ticked: no rule was found for dental saying "a missing field is presumed a breach". The items that still need to be written in full — what's included in the price, the byline on medical pages — are given page by page in 1.2 and 5.2. Switch E (peer comparison banned) is on but needs no extra action, because the strict-side base layer already bans all peer numbers and peer comparisons (**Statute text**; see Appendix A.1, A.2).

```mermaid Figure: The three start gates — fail any one and you downgrade or do not take the job
flowchart LR
  q1{"Regulated by the HCSA?"} -->|Yes| q2{"Can you give tiered fixed final prices?"}
  q1 -->|Unclear| s1["Stop; escalate to compliance officer"]:::warn
  q2 -->|Can| q3{"Sign letter of appointment + sign-off sheet?"}
  q2 -->|Cannot, or will only write 'From'| s2["Downgrade: audit + monitoring only"]:::warn
  q3 -->|Signs| go["Start; the price page goes first"]:::hl
  q3 -->|Does not sign| s3["Decline the job; no downgrade path"]:::warn
```

The three gates are questions 2, 3 and 4 of the twelve pre-start questions, asked face to face; the other nine are asked in 2.1. The second gate asks "can you give a fixed final price", not "are you willing to publish a price range" — a range is simply not compliant on this side, and using "willing to publish a range" as the threshold would wrongly screen out a client who is actually compliant but just cannot write prices in the old template. If they can give one, the price page goes first, because price questions have the highest AI coverage of any question type.

## 0.3 Which of the 46 page types dental can build

**What you'll do in this section**: check your own build list against this four-tier table, circle what you can build directly first, then give every page type you cannot build a stand-in of the same intent; do not start work straight from the General Edition's table of 46 types — dental has its own four tiers.

| Tier | Page types | How to handle |
|---|---|---|
| Open to self-build (31 types) | ①②④⑥⑦⑧⑨⑩⑪⑫⑬⑭⑯⑰⑱⑲㉑㉒㉓㉖㉗㉚㉛㉞㉟㊳㊴㊵㊸㊹㊺ | Build directly; use the table below to find the matching section |
| Cannot self-build, but must be aligned item by item (1 type) | ㉜ Device and product regulatory documents | Do not build this page; align the clinic's own side-effects section to it item by item (5.15) |
| Cannot self-build, off-site or citation only (4 types) | ⑮ Legislation text page, ⑳ Register / approved list page, ㉕ Sentiment, forum and news pages, ㉝ Third-party directory listing | For ⑳㉝, go to 6.3 and fill in your own row completely, with information matching your website; ⑮ is cited as a source only; for ㉕ see the figure below |
| Do not build (10 types) | ③⑤㉔㉘㉙㊱㊲㊶㊷㊻ | Replace with the stand-ins in the figure below |

Where the 31 open-to-self-build types go:

| Which section | Page types |
|---|---|
| 3.1, 3.2 | ⑨ Organisation facts page, doctor page (build the product detail page only when switch C (regulated products) is on; see 0.2) |
| 5.4 | ② Price guide page: the first page, no peer price ranges |
| 5.5 | ① Single-service price page |
| 5.6 | ⑰ Subsidy and limit rules page, ㉗ Parameter and rate basis page, ㊳ Calculator page (process estimates only) |
| 5.7 | ④ Comparison page (compare procedures only, never clinics) |
| 5.8 | ㊸ Criteria-based selection guide, ㊹ Concept pillar page |
| 5.9–5.11 | ⑥ One question, one page, ⑦ Eligibility and process page, ⑧ Remedy and second-opinion page |
| 5.12–5.14 | ⑫ Definition page, ⑬ Step-by-step procedure page, ⑭ Preparation and bring-list page, ⑯ Schedule and deadline page, ㉒ Collected FAQ page |
| 5.16–5.17 | ⑪ Store / branch page, ㉚ Verification and lookup page, ㊴ Licence wall |
| 5.18 | ㉛ Visit process how-to page, ㉟ Partners page, ㉑ Privacy policy page |
| 5.19 | ⑩ Regulation summary page, ㉓ Official reply restatement page, ㉖ Policy hub page, ㉞ Change notice page, ㊵ Misconception page, ㊺ Policy explainer page |
| 5.20 | ⑲ Own clinical data page, ⑱ Compliance long-form PDF |

Of these, 8 types do not look, at first glance, like something a clinic could build: ⑩ ⑱ ⑲ ㉑ ㉓ ㉖ ㉛ ㉟. They are still open, just with narrower wording — ⑩ ㉓ ㉖ are built only as downstream pages of "verbatim quote + link back + check date"; ⑲ is built only when you have your own clinical data; ㉑ ㉛ ㉟ appear as equivalents (privacy policy page, visit process how-to page, partners page). Write the subsidy and limit rules page (⑰) as two sections: one is the clinic's own final tax-inclusive price, the other is the official limit as a separate fact — different tables, not adjacent (5.6).

```split Figure: The page types dental does not build all have a stand-in of the same intent
Do not build || Build instead
Official pricing page (bundle cards) || Single-service price page, a line-item price list
Time-limited promotion page || Standing bundle-price page
List page || Criteria-based selection guide; if a third-party list includes the clinic, request removal
Third-party single-business review, review aggregate page || Supply third parties with checkable facts; keep the listed information consistent with your own site
Self-built reputation and credentials page || Credentials limited to register fields only
Verdict-first page || Procedure comparison, with a separate section on who it does not suit
Case-law page || Regulatory document alignment page
Category list page || The clinic's own services are already all on the price guide page
Market observation page || Not scheduled: no first-party market data
Sentiment, forum and news pages (cannot self-build) || Only supply checkable facts; do not respond to comparisons and do not use testimonials to counter them
```

Why each one is not built, in one sentence each:

- ③ Official pricing page: no bundle cards or recommended ranking [Conservative line (not statute text)] — write prices instead as ① item by item (5.5).
- ⑤ List page: cannot be self-built [Conservative line (not statute text); ranking is itself comparison, hitting the Statute text of SDC 5.4.2/5.4.6(g), so no sign-off can release a publishable version]; the clinic's own pages never quote any ranking or rating [Statute text, Reg 13, Reg 14; for these and the rules above, see Appendix A.1, A.2], and we neither contribute to a list nor pay for a spot on it.
- ㉔ Third-party single-business review: the reviewer's verdict is itself a comparison of organisations [Conservative line (not statute text)].
- ㉘ Review aggregate page: a rating is itself a testimonial [Statute text, SDC 5.4.6(f), Reg 14; see Appendix A.1, A.2].
- ㉙ Self-built reputation and credentials page: do not write a success rate [Conservative line (not statute text)] or superlatives, and do not post testimonials or star ratings [Statute text, SDC 5.4.6(f); see Appendix A.2; the HCSA regulations themselves conditionally allow reviews that patients give directly to the clinic (Reg 14(2)), but for dental clinics we follow SDC's stricter rule].
- ㊱ Case-law page: there is no case law in healthcare; the equivalent is ㉜ the regulatory documents page.
- ㊲ Category list page: do not list peers or lay out categories side by side [Conservative line (not statute text)]; the clinic's own services are instead covered by its own service catalogue and the price guide page.
- ㊶ Verdict-first page: a verdict is itself comparison and recommendation, and cross-channel price comparison also counts as price advertising in healthcare [Conservative line (not statute text)].
- ㊷ Time-limited promotion page: a discounted price with an expiry date is a breach [Statute text, SDC 5.4.6(e), Reg 5(1)(g); see Appendix A.1, A.2].
- ㊻ Market observation page: the clinic has no market data, so writing one would be empty theorising that easily slides into promotion.

```mermaid Figure: In dental, "who's best" is not won by writing list pages
flowchart LR
  q["Asks who's best"] -->|ChatGPT| a["Public specialist doctor pages, treatment pages"]
  q -->|AI Mode| b["Google cards, booking product pages"]
  a -->|Feed it| f["/facts and doctor pages"]:::hl
  b -->|Feed it| g["GBP and booking-platform product data"]:::hl
  q -->|Self-built Best page| x["Self-praise is comparison — banned"]:::warn
  q -->|Third-party Best page| c["If we are listed, request removal"]
```

This figure rests on a sample of just 1 question, so treat it as directional only.


## 0.4 What to tell the client: say up front what you will not do

**What you'll do in this section**: on the day you start, tell the client "we do not ask for reviews, do not buy list spots, do not write a 'from' price" and why the price page has no range; and separate which materials and numbers are internal only and must never go into any external material.

```split Figure: Say this to the client, not that
Do not say || Say instead
"Not asking for reviews or buying list spots is an efficiency call" || Doing any of these three is a breach; this is an explanation, not a release from liability
"We chose not to put a range on the price page" || The regulator only allows a single fixed figure
"Compliance has weakened the content" || What was cut was self-praise that was never going to be copied anyway
"No one is doing this", "competition is near zero" || We count exactly who gets named, on the spot, in the baseline
Reporting a percentage or count from a one-off scouting run || Internal ordering only; never goes into any external material
Sending out comparison material that names peers || This kind of material stays internal
```

Say the first line in full: "I have chosen not to do these three things (not actively requesting reviews, not buying Best / Top N list spots, not writing a 'from' price), because doing them would be a breach." Then add one more sentence: this is an explanation, not a release from liability — the liability was never transferable in the first place.

The price sentence: the first line you say to the client — even if you don't publish a price, AI quotes one for you anyway — is in （→ 通用版 B.2 口径句与话术）. Dental follows with a second sentence: "The regulator only allows one fixed figure, so the price page will have no range and no 'from'." (**Statute text**; see Appendix A.1). Stop there — add no third sentence.

The reason behind the "weakened" row: a number with a denominator, a year and a stated basis is both what the strict-side rules require and the form AI is most willing to copy.

Use this exact script overall: "We didn't set these rules — the HCSA and SDC ECEG 5.4.6 did. We just translate them into a layout: which box can exist, and what can go inside it. Your compliance officer crosses out what should not appear; we do the other half — filling that box back in with whatever Statute text allows. A page that only deletes and never fills back in is safe, but it will bring you nothing. The final call is always your compliance officer's; we only guarantee that the draft they receive is not a blank page." The final call belongs to the compliance officer, but a written sign-off resolves only the three stop-and-escalate situations; it never turns something banned as Statute text into something publishable (see 1.1).

Two kinds of material stay internal. The first is comparison material that contains peer names or counts about peers: under the HCSA, this runs into the advertising regulations' provisions on comparison and disparagement, and the bar for a named peer to complain in Singapore is low, so every example in the main text is anonymised ("a certain clinic"), and real names and URLs never go out with the deliverables. The second is scouting numbers: figures from a one-off run on a generic search API, with the region not locked and a single engine. These are used only to order your own build sequence and must never be stated externally as the client's current position; to use them externally, first lock the region and retest against your own frozen question pool, mark the retest date and engine, and cite only your own post-retest numbers — if any one condition is missing, treat it as banned.