Online review statistics (2026)

This page collects 93 online review statistics, each linked to the survey, study, platform report or regulator it comes from, with its year and sample. The newest data (2025 and 2026) leads each section. Older studies that are still widely cited, such as Spiegel Research Center (2017) and Harvard Business School's Yelp study, follow with their year. For Google-only figures, see our Google review statistics.

Rank.ai data: reviews of the businesses AI recommends

We asked ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity to recommend plumbers in 5 US cities with 3 prompts each: 60 answers, 460 picks and 226 distinct businesses, each checked against Google Maps through DataForSEO. The businesses AI recommends have far more reviews than most consumers ask for. You can see whether AI names your business with the free Rank.ai AI grade.

• 4.76 to 4.83stars is the average Google rating of AI-picked plumbers, by engine.loc.ai local AI index2026
• 1,097is the median Google review count of plumbers Claude picks, and 1,055 for Perplexity.loc.ai local AI index2026
• 713is the median Google review count of plumbers ChatGPT picks, and 736 for Gemini.loc.ai local AI index2026
• 12%of AI picks rank in the Google Maps top 10 for the same search.loc.ai local AI index2026
• 1 in 18AI picks (25 of 460) had no matching Google Maps listing. Claude had none, ChatGPT 7.7%.loc.ai local AI index2026
• 151of 226 recommended businesses were named by one engine only, and 13 by all four.loc.ai local AI index2026

How many people read online reviews

BrightLocal's 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey asked 1,002 US adults. PowerReviews surveyed 6,538 US online shoppers, and Yelp commissioned YouGov to survey 2,352 US review readers in January 2025.

• 97%of consumers read reviews for local businesses.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey2026
• 41%always read reviews when choosing a local business, up from 29% the year before.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey2026
• 6review sites are used on average when choosing a business.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey2026
• 72%of US review readers say they read more online reviews than ever.Yelp and YouGov, consumer trust survey2025
• 4%of consumers say they never read online business reviews.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 20252025
• 75%always or regularly read reviews for local businesses (76% in 2023).BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 20242024
• 99.9%of online shoppers read reviews at least sometimes, up from 95% in 2014.PowerReviews, The Ever-Growing Power of Reviews2021
• 86%won't buy online without reading reviews, up from 70% in 2018.PowerReviews, The Ever-Growing Power of Reviews2021
• 57%of shoppers also read reviews on their phone while in a store, including 63% of millennials.PowerReviews, The Ever-Growing Power of Reviews2021

Trust in online reviews

Around half of consumers trust reviews from strangers as much as advice from people they know. Written reviews carry more weight than a bare star rating.

• 49%trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey2026
• 42%trusted reviews as much as personal recommendations in 2025, down from 79% in 2020.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 20252025
• 88%of US review readers are more likely to trust reviews with written text than star ratings alone.Yelp and YouGov, consumer trust survey2025
• 71%of review readers don't consider a star rating with no text to be a review.Yelp and YouGov, consumer trust survey2025
• 56%say a review backed by others with similar sentiment is the factor that matters most, the top answer.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey2026
• 52%of online shoppers don't trust star ratings that have no written reviews.PowerReviews, The Ever-Growing Power of Reviews2021

Star rating thresholds

Expectations rose sharply in 2026. Two in three consumers now set a 4 star floor, and a perfect score makes many shoppers suspicious.

• 92%of consumers care about star ratings.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey2026
• 68%will only use a business with 4 stars or more, up from 55% in 2025.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey2026
• 31%will only use a business rated 4.5 stars or higher, up from 17% in 2025.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey2026
• 10%will only use a business with a perfect 5 star rating.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey2026
• 71%would not consider a business averaging below 3 stars.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 20242024
• 38%required a minimum of 4 stars in 2023, and 87% ruled out businesses below 3 stars.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 20232023
• 77%of online shoppers look at the average star rating before buying.PowerReviews, The Ever-Growing Power of Reviews2021
• 46%are suspicious of a perfect 5 star average, rising to 53% of Gen Z.PowerReviews, The Ever-Growing Power of Reviews2021
• 4.0 to 4.7stars is where purchase likelihood typically peaks, before it falls as ratings approach 5.0.Spiegel Research Center, How online reviews influence sales2017

Review count and recency

Consumers want enough reviews to trust the average, and they want them to be recent. Most ignore anything older than three months.

• 47%won't use a business with fewer than 20 reviews, and 9% would use one with five or fewer.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey2026
• 74%only care about reviews written in the last three months.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey2026
• 32%look for reviews from the last two weeks, up from 20% the year before.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey2026
• 18%are only swayed by reviews from the last week.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey2026
• 37%of local searchers look at the number of reviews while researching, and 38% at the star rating.BrightLocal, Consumer search behavior: decisions2026
• 59%expect 20 to 99 reviews before they trust a business's average rating.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 20242024
• 51%of online shoppers are less likely to buy if all of a product's reviews are over a year old.PowerReviews, The Ever-Growing Power of Reviews2021
• 68%say the ideal number of reviews for a product is more than 25.PowerReviews, The Ever-Growing Power of Reviews2021
• 270%higher purchase likelihood for a product with five reviews than for one with none, with smaller gains after the first five.Spiegel Research Center, How online reviews influence sales2017

How reviews affect sales and revenue

Survey data shows reviews push people to buy. Academic studies using real revenue and booking data put a number on what a better rating is worth.

• 93%of consumers have made a purchase after reading online reviews.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey2026
• 85%are more likely to use a business after reading positive reviews, and negative reviews put off 77%.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey2026
• 27%have spent over $1,000 after reading reviews, and 13% over $5,000.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey2026
• 54%visit a business's website after reading positive reviews, up from 32% in 2019.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey2026
• 65%of local searchers were put off contacting a business for at least one review reason, led by negative reviews (33%).BrightLocal, Consumer search behavior: decisions2026
• 380%higher conversion for a higher-priced product when reviews are displayed, against 190% for a lower-priced one.Spiegel Research Center, How online reviews influence sales2017
• 15%better odds of purchase come with a "verified buyer" badge on a review.Spiegel Research Center, How online reviews influence sales2017
• 5% to 9%more revenue follows a one-star rise in Yelp rating for independent Seattle restaurants. Chain restaurants saw no effect.Michael Luca, Harvard Business School, Reviews, Reputation, and Revenue2016
• 19%more likely to sell out at peak dining times after a half-star rise on Yelp, across 328 San Francisco restaurants.UC Berkeley, Yelp reviews boost restaurant business2012

Review replies and requests

Consumers expect owners to answer reviews within days. Most people will leave a review when a business asks.

• 89%of consumers expect businesses to respond to reviews.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey2026
• 80%are likely to use a business that responds to all reviews, and 42% are unlikely to use one that never replies.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey2026
• 19%expect a reply on the same day, up from 6%, and 81% expect one within a week.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey2026
• 50%are put off by generic or templated replies.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey2026
• 78%were asked to write a review in the last 12 months, and 65% wrote one after being asked.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey2026
• 28%will always write a review when asked, up from 16% in 2025.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey2026
• 42%of review responses are now written with AI or automation, across over 150,000 businesses.Birdeye, State of Online Reviews2025
• 11 million+owner responses to reviews were posted on Tripadvisor in 2024.Tripadvisor, 2025 Transparency Report2025
• 58%preferred an AI-written review response in a blind test.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 20242024

Fake reviews and the FTC rule

The FTC's final rule on fake reviews was announced in August 2024 after a 5-0 vote. Platforms now publish how many fake reviews they remove each year.

• 10companies received FTC warning letters in December 2025 for possible breaches of the Consumer Review Rule.FTC, warning letters press release2025
• $53,088is the maximum civil penalty per violation of the FTC's Consumer Review Rule.FTC, warning letters press release2025
• 6practices are banned by the FTC rule, including fake or AI-generated reviews, buying reviews for a set sentiment, undisclosed insider reviews and review suppression.FTC, final rule banning fake reviews2024
• 97%of consumers think businesses should be punished for fake reviews, and 57% want them banned from review platforms.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey2026
• 292 million+policy-violating reviews were blocked or removed from Google Maps in 2025, up from 240 million in 2024.Google, Protecting businesses on Maps2026
• ~500,000suspected AI-generated reviews were filtered out by Yelp in 2025.Yelp, 2025 Trust & Safety Report2026
• 70%of the roughly 22 million reviews posted to Yelp in 2025 were recommended. 17% were not recommended and 11% were removed.Yelp, 2025 Trust & Safety Report press release2026
• 4.5 millionfake reviews were removed by Trustpilot in 2024, 7.4% of reviews submitted, up from 6.1% in 2023.Trustpilot, Trust Report 20252025
• 3.4 millionof the fake reviews Trustpilot removed in 2024 were 5 star reviews, against 627,000 1 star reviews.Trustpilot, Trust Report 20252025
• 2.7 millionfraudulent reviews were stopped by Tripadvisor in 2024, and 54% of the fraud was businesses boosting their own ratings.Tripadvisor, 2025 Transparency Report2025
• 214,000AI-generated reviews were flagged and removed by Tripadvisor in 2024.Tripadvisor, 2025 Transparency Report2025
• 250 million+suspected fake reviews were blocked by Amazon in 2023.Amazon, lawsuit with the Better Business Bureau2024
• 83%of US review readers would avoid a business found to have fake or paid reviews.Yelp and YouGov, consumer trust survey2025
• 40%would suspect a review is fake if it seemed written by AI, the top warning sign.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 20242024
• 54%felt confident they had seen fake reviews on Amazon, 50% on Google and 42% on Facebook.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 20232023

Review platforms and industries

Google still hosts most reviews, but Apple Maps and AI tools are growing fast. How much reviews matter, and how high ratings run, varies a lot by industry.

• 71%use Google to read reviews, down from 83% in 2025.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey2026
• 27%use Apple Maps for reviews, up from 14% in 2025.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey2026
• 45%wrote their reviews on Google, 34% on Facebook, 24% on Yelp and 17% on Apple Maps.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey2026
• 81%of all online reviews are posted on Google, and review volume grew 13% in a year.Birdeye, State of Online Reviews2025
• 61 millionreviews were written on Trustpilot in 2024, up 15%.Trustpilot, Trust Report 20252025
• 31.1 millionreviews were posted on Tripadvisor in 2024.Tripadvisor, 2025 Transparency Report2025
• 40%of people searching for professional services look at the number of reviews, and 35% at the star rating.BrightLocal, Consumer search behavior: decisions2026
• 87%used Google for local reviews in 2022, against 48% for Yelp, 46% for Facebook and 29% for Tripadvisor.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 20232023
• 81%say reviews are important when choosing a financial or legal business, 80% for care services and 76% for travel.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 20232023
• 3.06stars was the average Google rating in healthcare, the lowest of 18 industries, against 4.84 for moving and storage.SOCi, State of Google Reviews2022
• 242characters is the average healthcare review on Google, about 55% longer than the next industry.SOCi, State of Google Reviews2022
• 95%say reviews matter when buying electronics, against 42% for groceries.PowerReviews, The Ever-Growing Power of Reviews2021

Reviews in AI answers

ChatGPT and Google's AI features now summarise reviews and pull them in as sources. Consumers read those summaries, then often check the reviews themselves. Our AI search statistics and ChatGPT statistics cover the wider shift.

• 45%of consumers use AI tools for local business recommendations, up from 6% a year earlier.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey2026
• 82%read AI-generated review summaries, and 23% would rely on the summary alone.BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey2026
• 42%trust AI platforms as much as online reviews.BrightLocal, AI trust and local recommendations2026
• 97%of AI users sometimes double-check an AI recommendation against real reviews.BrightLocal, AI trust and local recommendations2026
• 37%of people who use AI tools for local search look at the number of reviews, and 36% at the star rating.BrightLocal, Consumer search behavior: decisions2026
• 28.6%of 1,967,762 AI citations for local businesses came from Google Business Profile, and 9.5% from Yelp.BrightLocal, Top sources for local AI search2026
• 99,281of ChatGPT's 162,966 local citations pointed to Yelp, its top source. Google Business Profile was not in ChatGPT's top 10.BrightLocal, Top sources for local AI search2026
• #5of 187 factors for AI search visibility is the authority of third-party sites with reviews.Whitespark, Local Search Ranking Factors2026
• #8for AI search visibility is a high Google rating of 4 to 5 stars.Whitespark, Local Search Ranking Factors2026

What this means for local businesses

• Ask every customer, every week. 65% of people write a review when asked, and 74% only read the last three months. A steady flow beats a one-off push. Our guide to getting more Google reviews covers the asks that work.
• Treat 4 stars and 20 reviews as the floor. 68% won't use a business below 4 stars and 47% skip those with fewer than 20 reviews. The plumbers AI recommends sit near 4.8 stars with hundreds of reviews.
• Reply to every review, in your own words. 89% expect a reply and 50% are put off by templates.
• Spread reviews beyond Google. ChatGPT leans on Yelp, and third-party review sites rank #5 for AI visibility. Keep your details consistent everywhere; see NAP consistency.
• Never buy or gate reviews. The FTC can seek up to $53,088 per violation, and platforms removed hundreds of millions of fakes in 2025. Healthcare practices can follow our reputation management guide.

More local data is in our local SEO statistics and Google review statistics.

Sources and method

We used consumer surveys with a stated sample (BrightLocal's Local Consumer Review Survey, 1,002 to 1,141 US adults a year; PowerReviews, 6,538 US shoppers; Yelp and YouGov, 2,352 review readers), academic studies (Spiegel Research Center, Harvard Business School, UC Berkeley), platform transparency reports (Google, Yelp, Trustpilot, Tripadvisor, Amazon), the FTC's own announcements and Whitespark's ranking factors survey. The Rank.ai figures come from the loc.ai local AI index, October 2026: 60 answers from 4 AI engines across 5 cities and 3 prompts about plumbers, with 460 picks checked against Google Maps via DataForSEO. Every figure and link was checked on 2026-10-16.