Online reviews influence where your business appears in Google Maps and the local pack, and they strongly influence whether searchers choose you. Review count, average rating, recency and the words customers use are all part of local SEO.
How reviews affect SEO
- Prominence: Google uses review count and rating as signals of how well known and trusted a business is.
- Relevance: keywords in reviews (“best gluten-free bakery in Brighton”) can help your listing match searches.
- Click-through rate: star ratings in results draw attention.
- Trust: reviews on third-party sites support the trust element of E-E-A-T.
How to get more reviews
- Ask at the right moment: straight after a successful job, delivery or appointment.
- Make it easy: send a direct review link from your Google Business Profile, by email, text or QR code.
- Ask everyone: do not filter only happy customers (“review gating”), which breaks Google’s policies.
- Build it into routine: automated follow-up emails, invoice footers, receipts.
- Mention specifics: asking customers to mention the service they used encourages detailed reviews.
What not to do
- Never offer discounts or gifts in exchange for Google reviews.
- Never write fake reviews or pay for them. UK law now treats fake reviews as an unfair commercial practice.
- Do not set up review stations in your shop on a single device; many reviews from one IP may be filtered.
How to reply to reviews
Reply to every review. Thank positive reviewers by name and mention what they enjoyed. For negative reviews, respond calmly, apologise for the experience, avoid sharing private details and offer to resolve it offline. Future customers judge you by your replies as much as by the complaint.
Fake or malicious reviews
If a review breaks Google’s policies (spam, conflict of interest, offensive content), report it through your Business Profile. Removal is not guaranteed, so a calm public reply is still worth posting.
Which platforms matter?
Google reviews matter most for local search. Depending on your industry, Trustpilot, Facebook, Tripadvisor, Checkatrade, Feefo or Doctify may also influence buyers. Keep the details on all platforms consistent; see NAP citations.
Reviews on your website
Show genuine testimonials on service and product pages. Product pages can carry review schema markup for star ratings, but Google does not allow self-serving review stars for LocalBusiness or Organization markup on your own site.
Frequently asked questions
How many reviews do I need?
More than your nearest competitors in the map pack, with a steady flow of new ones.
Do review replies help rankings?
Google encourages them. Their main value is trust and conversions.
Related terms
See off-page SEO, SEO KPIs and the SEO encyclopedia.
Mr. SEO
Mr. SEO is the webmaster at SEO TT - SEO tips and tricks, a publication about all things SEO related.