The essentials
- Impact on ranking: number, rating, freshness, content (keywords) and responses are prominence signals for the local pack.
- Impact on customers: most consumers read reviews; below 4 out of 5, many rule the business out.
- Benchmarks: aim for 4.5 and above, a steady flow (a few reviews a month), 100% responded to.
- The rules: no reviews in exchange for rewards, no fake reviews, no filtering which customers you ask; abusive reviews can be reported.
The Google reviews are the comments and ratings customers leave on a Google Business Profilelisting. They serve two mutually reinforcing purposes: they influence the listing's ranking in the local pack (Google counts them among the prominence signals), and they decide the click once the listing is shown. A business at 4.7 with 120 recent reviews wins on both counts against a competitor at 3.9 with 15 reviews two years old.
What Google does with reviews
| Signal | Effect | What you can do |
|---|---|---|
| Number of reviews | Prominence: more reviews, more trust | Ask systematically |
| Average rating | Ranking and click-through rate; Google sometimes filters below 4 stars (the "rating 4.0 and above" filter) | Service quality, dealing with unhappy customers before the review |
| Freshness | Recent reviews signal an active business | A steady flow rather than a one-off campaign |
| The content of the reviews | The words used (services, products, neighbourhood) strengthen relevance on those queries | Ask for detailed reviews ("what did you appreciate?") |
| Owner responses | A signal of engagement; it reassures readers | Respond to 100% of reviews |
| Reviews with photos | More weight and more clicks | Encourage photos |
What customers do with them
- The vast majority of consumers read reviews before contacting a local business, and many also read the owner's responses.
- A rating below 4 loses a significant share of prospects; above 4.5 the marginal effect diminishes, and it is then number and recency that count.
- Recent reviews weigh more than old ones: a customer wants to know what the business is like today.
- A negative review handled well often reassures more than a perfect rating, which is judged suspicious.
Collecting reviews: the method that works
- Create the direct link to the review form (from the listing: "Ask for reviews") and shorten it or turn it into a QR code.
- Ask at the right moment : just after the job, the delivery or the visit, while the satisfaction is fresh.
- Automate : an email or an SMS sent 24 to 48 hours later, with the link. Till, booking and invoicing software often allows this.
- Ask every customer, not only the satisfied ones: filtering ("gating") is forbidden by Google.
- Guide without dictating : "do say which service you used and what you liked" produces more useful reviews.
- Train the team : asking in person, by whoever served the customer, is the most effective.
The detail, with message templates, is in what strategy to adopt for collecting quality Google reviews.
Responding to reviews
Respond to all of them, positive ones included, within 48 hours. For a positive review: thank them, personalise it, mention the service. For a negative review: thank them, acknowledge the problem without lengthy justification, offer a solution and a direct contact, stay courteous. Readers judge your response as much as the review. The method and examples are in how to respond effectively to reviews.
The rules to respect
| Practice | Status | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Asking every customer for a review | Allowed and recommended | — |
| Offering a discount or a gift in exchange for a review | Forbidden by Google | Reviews deleted, listing suspended |
| Only asking satisfied customers | Forbidden by Google (gating) | Reviews deleted |
| Writing or buying fake reviews | Illegal in France (a misleading commercial practice) | Regulatory penalties, deletion, suspension |
| Reporting an abusive, off-topic or non-customer review | Allowed | Google reviews it; no guarantee of removal |
| Deleting a genuine negative review | Impossible | Only a response is possible |
Tracking your reviews
Turn on the listing's notifications, and for a network of several locations, use a tool that centralises reviews and responses (see tools for monitoring reviews). Reviews are among the local SEO KPIs to track each month, listed in which KPIs to track in local SEO, and they feed your online reputation well beyond Google: AI assistants read them to answer "what is this business like?".
How GreenRed helps
Rather than juggling several tools, GreenRed's Google Business Profile module brings these metrics together in a single dashboard, compares them over time and tells you which actions come first. You can try it free, with no card, from the Pricing.
Frequently asked questions
Do Google reviews really influence ranking?
Yes. Google cites reviews among the prominence signals that, along with relevance and distance, determine the order of the local pack. Number, rating, recency, content and responses all count. They also influence the click-through rate once the listing is shown, which reinforces the effect.
How many Google reviews do you need?
More than your direct competitors in the local pack, with a steady flow. The threshold depends on the area and the business: 20 recent reviews are enough in a small town, several hundred are needed for a city-centre restaurant. Regularity (a few reviews a month) counts more than the total.
Can you delete a negative review on Google?
Only if it breaks Google's rules: abuse, off-topic content, a conflict of interest, a review from someone who isn't a customer, spam. Report it from the listing; Google reviews it with no guarantee. A genuine negative review can't be removed; the only response is a public, courteous reply.
Is it legal to reward a review?
No. Google forbids any consideration (a discount, a gift, a prize draw) in exchange for a review, and French law penalises misleading reviews. You may ask every customer for a review, make it easy and thank them afterwards, but not make a benefit conditional on writing one.