Yes, for local search. Google's own help page says that "more reviews and positive ratings can help your business's local ranking". That's the map results at the top of a search like "plumber in Bristol". Reviews are one input among several, and nobody outside Google can tell you the weighting.
How Google ranks local results
Google says local results are ranked mainly on three factors: relevance, distance and prominence.
- Relevance is how well your profile matches the search.
- Distance is how far you are from the person searching, or from the area they named.
- Prominence is how well known you are. Google says this draws on information it has about you across the web, including links and the number of reviews you have.
You can't change distance. You can improve relevance by filling in your profile properly, covered in our Google Business Profile guide. Reviews sit in prominence, which is the part a busy tradesman can move by doing the job well and then asking.
What reviews probably don't do
Google's page is about local ranking. It doesn't say reviews push your website up the normal results, and you'll find plenty of confident claims online about review keywords and rankings that nobody has verified. We would rather say it plainly: for your website's ordinary position in search, we don't know, and a person selling you a guarantee doesn't either. A new review isn't a trick to rank a page.
What the evidence does support is simpler. Reviews help people choose between the businesses Google already shows them.
Reviews help you win the click
Take two plumbers in the map results, both within a mile of the searcher. One shows 4.8 stars from 60 reviews, with the latest from last week and a friendly reply from the owner. The other shows 4.1 stars from 9 reviews, the newest from 2023. Whatever the ranking algorithm decides, the customer's finger goes to one of them. This is an illustration, not data.
So the benefit comes in two parts. Reviews can help you appear, and they help you get picked once you appear. The second part is on you alone and it's worth chasing even if the first were zero.
What a review needs to help
- They need to be genuine. Google bans fake engagement and incentivised reviews, and it removes them. In the UK, buying them also risks breaking consumer law. See why buying Google reviews backfires.
- They need to keep coming. One burst two years ago looks stale. A few a month looks like a firm that's working.
- They need a reply. You read them before booking a restaurant. Your customers read yours the same way. A short, specific reply shows you're there. Wording is in positive review responses.
How to get more reviews, in short
- Ask every customer, soon after the job.
- Send a direct link so it takes ten seconds. The free review link generator gives you the link and a QR code.
- Make it easy to do on a phone.
- Don't offer anything in return.
The full method is in our guide to getting more Google reviews. If you want the exact words, how to ask for a Google review has texts and scripts to copy.
A plain review request text
Texting customers brings in the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) and UK GDPR, so keep a record that the customer agreed to be contacted. This is general information, not legal advice.
Tip: Don't count reviews in a spreadsheet
Check how many new reviews you got last month and how many jobs you did. If the first number is much smaller than the second, the ask is the gap, not the work.
Plan: On the Local plan
Send in a finished job and, with the consent tick in place, Mitch texts the customer your review link 24 to 72 hours on. When the review lands it drafts a reply for you to approve. Local is £149 a month and the first 14 days are free. See [review requests](/uk/platform/reviews).
Sources
- Google Business Profile Help: Improve your local ranking on Google
- Google Maps contributor policy
- ICO: guide to PECR
- ICO: UK GDPR guidance and resources
More reviews without the awkward ask
Send the job in and Mitch handles the review text. Try it for 14 days, no card.