IMPACT

Do Google Reviews Affect SEO and Local Rankings?

Reviews are one of the signals Google uses to decide which local businesses to show. They also decide whether people click once they see you.

What Google says

Google lists relevance, distance, and prominence as the main factors in local results. Review count and rating feed into prominence.

Rating shapes clicks

Even when you appear in results, people compare stars. A lower rating than nearby competitors means fewer clicks, calls, and direction requests.

Recency matters to customers

Customers pay attention to how recent reviews are. A profile with no new reviews for months looks less active.

What to do about it

• Ask happy customers for reviews regularly.
• Respond to reviews, positive and negative.
• Remove reviews that break policy so they don’t drag your average down.