As a business owner, your reputation is being shaped by online reviews every single day. Customers are talking about your brand and leaving reviews on Google, Yelp, Facebook, and other platforms, thus influencing the decisions of many others.
And as businesses, it is important for you to track these customer conversations to know what they are saying and how their reviews are impacting your visibility and credibility. If this is something you relate to, you’re in the right place.
In this blog, we will discuss online customer review data and insights to help businesses like yours understand the social media landscape, monitor your brand mentions, and effectively manage your online reputation.
Whether you’re a small local business or a large enterprise, this data can be your breakthrough to effectively manage your online reputation.
General Online Review Statistics
Online reviews are more than just customer feedback; they can largely shape consumer behavior and business success. Additionally, online review management can help businesses build trust, drive sales, and maintain a strong reputation.
Let’s dive into the numbers to see just how influential these online reviews can be.
1. About 73% of consumers read online reviews “always” or “regularly” when researching businesses.
2. In a survey by Power Reviews, 96% of the consumers said that reviews and ratings were the most influential factors in their purchase decisions.
3. 80% of consumers search online for local businesses at least once a week, while 32% of people search every day (or multiple times a day).
4. If there are no reviews or ratings for a product, 80% of the people said that they are less likely to buy it.
5. 97% of the consumers consider review recency to be a “somewhat important” factor when considering to buy from a business.
6. 38% of consumers say they won’t buy a product if the only reviews available are three months old or older.
7. 62% of consumers say they won’t purchase a product when the only reviews available are at least a year old.
8. 37% of people require at least a 4-star rating (out of 5) to consider a business, while 40% say that they will consider a business with at least a 3-star rating.
9. While reviews still continue to influence people, there is a decline in the influence of “user reviews on retailer websites” from 47% in 2024 to 35% in 2025.
10. 89% of customers are more likely to shop from businesses that respond to all reviews – positive and negative.
11. Only 4% of consumers claim to never read online reviews.
12. 38% of online customers expect businesses to respond to negative reviews within 2-3 days of the review being left.
13. 36% of the customers are more likely to leave reviews for a business in exchange for a discount.
14. 74% of consumers check online reviews on at least two sites when researching a business.
15. Nearly 1 in 4 consumers (24%) now prefer discovering products on their own using GenAI, rather than relying on ads or recommendations.
16. Email remains one of the top formats to ask for reviews. Nearly 40% of consumers are more likely to leave an online review when asked via email.
17. 81% of consumers say they write reviews of local businesses at least occasionally.
Positive Online Review Statistics
While online feedback can be a double-edged sword, focusing on the positive reviews can yield significant benefits. These not only boost your online reputation but also drive sales and customer loyalty.
Let’s explore some key online review stats that highlight the power of positive feedback:
18. 53% of the people say that a positive experience written about a business makes them feel positive about using a business.
19. 42% of consumers say that they trust positive reviews as much as the personal recommendations made by their friends and family.
20. 71% of buyers only purchase from a business that has an average star rating of 3-star or above.
The below graph shows some factors that make customers feel positive about a written review.
21. A high volume of reviews directly impact conversions. There’s a 296.2% lift in conversions if shoppers are exposed to 5,000 or more reviews.
22. 33% of customers would not trust a business that has less than 20 reviews.
23. Also displaying positive reviews also impacts conversions. Products that display at least one review show a 76.7% increase in conversions.
24. 38% of consumers write about their positive experiences online while 25% of them write about both their positive and negative experiences in reviews.
Yelp Review Statistics
Yelp has solidified its position as a major player in the online review landscape. It’s a platform where consumers share their experiences, and businesses strive to maintain a strong online reputation.
To understand the true impact, let’s delve into some key Yelp review statistics that highlight its significance in today’s digital age.
25. Yelp had approximately 21 million reviews in 2024. The below graph shows the breakdown of Yelp reviews during the same year.
26. Approximately 44% of consumers in the US use Yelp to read online reviews about a business.
27. Yelp had 308 million cumulative reviews as of 2024 and 76 million visitors on desktop and mobile.
28. In 2024, Yelp removed over 23,000 reviews for policy violations and blocked more than 39,000 spam-linked business listings from being published. The below graph shows the distribution of reported reviews removed by Yelp.
29. Yelp closed more than 551,200 user accounts for violating their terms of service.
30. Their user operations team rejected more than 39,200 new business pages that showed spammy behaviors and removed 1040 existing business accounts linked to deceitful practices.
31. Of all the Yelp reviews in 2024, approximately 78% were “recommended” by Yelp’s automated recommendation software.
32. According to Yelp’s 2025 YouGov survey, which found that 88% of review readers believe AI-generated reviews shouldn’t be allowed on review platforms.
33. 72% of review readers on Yelp say that they now read more online reviews than ever before making purchase decisions.
34. 88% of Yelp users said that they are more likely to trust a review that has a written review and not just a star rating. 71% of the readers said that they don’t even consider reviews that have just the star rating.
35. Research from FTC Economist Devesh Raval found that only 2% of Yelp reviews had less than 100 characters and as of December 2024, the average length of reviews on Yelp is 447 characters.
36. 83% of review readers said that they are very likely to avoid a business that has fake or compensated reviews.
Google My Business Review Statistics
Most consumers check online reviews when they want to learn about a business. This helps them learn more about the quality of products and services it offers. Undoubtedly, customer reviews have become the most important factor in consumers’ decision-making.
Google reviews, in particular, extend beyond simply reflecting service quality; they play a pivotal role in shaping a business’s success in the competitive digital marketplace.
Here are some important Google review stats:
37. 92% of consumers are likely to research products on Google or other equivalent search engines before making a purchase.
38. Google Reviews is a top business review platform, and 83% of consumers are likely to check Google when looking for reviews about a business.
39. BrightLocal notes Google use dipped from 87% (2023) to 81% (2024) for finding reviews—then climbed again to 83% in 2025.
40. The following graph shows the online share of Google reviews for different industries.
Alt Text: Google’s share of online reviews for different industries
41. Google has nearly 80.8% of the total online reviews. Its dominance in reviews stems from its unmatched visibility in searches and Google Maps.
42. The median number of reviews on Google cumulatively across all categories is 14 and approximately 17% of listed businesses have zero reviews.
43. Google uses advanced machine learning algorithms to identify fake reviews. In 2024, they blocked or removed more than 240 million policy-violating reviews.
44. Additionally, Google blocked or removed more than 12 million fake business profiles and placed posting restrictions on over 900,000 accounts for repeated violation of their policies.
Facebook Review Statistics
Facebook, being an interactive platform, has a massive user base, and both online and offline purchase decisions are greatly influenced by Facebook reviews (now Facebook Recommendations).
Let’s explore how this social giant impacts small and big enterprises and why your brand can’t afford to ignore it.
45. Nearly 40% of people around the world use Facebook to find business reviews. However, this number has gone down from 48% in 2022 to 40% in 2025.
46. 34% of consumers in the USA named Facebook as their most trusted review platform.
47. Even Chatmeter’s survey ranks Facebook among the “most trustworthy platforms” for reviews. Its list of top 5 review platforms includes Google Reviews, Yelp, BBB, TripAdvisor, and Facebook.
48. Consumers rate online profiles on platforms like Google Maps and Facebook as helpful; nearly 99% of people say these tools are at least “moderately satisfactory.”
49. About 35% of people choose Facebook to write reviews about a local business.
Reputation Management Statistics
Reputation management is not just about keeping customers happy but also ensuring that your online reviews work for you.
Let’s explore some review statistics that highlight the power of customer feedback and its influence on consumer behavior:
50. In 2020, 79% of consumers trusted online reviews as much as personal recommendations, but in 2025, that number has significantly dropped to 42%.
51. Nearly 63% of people are likely to lose trust in a business if they see negative written reviews about it.
52. 60% of consumers say that negative reviews would discourage them from using a business.
53. The value of a positive online reputation can not be forgotten. About 91% of consumers say that online reviews impact their perception of a business.
54. Nearly 88% of customers are more likely to use a business that replies to all its customer feedback, positive and negative.
55. The online reputation management software market is projected to expand from $5.2 billion in 2024 to $14.02 billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 13.2% consumers read an average of 7 reviews before trusting a business.
56. About 38% of consumers would consider using a business with a minimum rating of 4 stars.
57. 7% of the consumers say that reading long and detailed reviews make them feel positive about using a business.
Industry-Specific Online Review Statistics
Let us now talk about industry-specific review stats for some popular industries like healthcare, hospitality, retail, and more.
The understanding of these trends can help businesses leverage reviews to attract more customers, improve services, and outshine competitors.
Let’s dive into how customer reviews shape success across various industries:
Review Statistics for Healthcare Businesses
58. Nearly 58% of the consumers turn to Google for healthcare provider reviews, followed by the provider’s own website (34%), WebMD (31%), and Facebook (16%).
59. 3 out of 4 people believe that online reviews are extremely or very important when looking for a healthcare provider.
60. More than 86% of consumers now read online patient reviews, and 73% of them expect a provider to have at least a 4-star rating before they’ll consider engaging.
61. 60% of patients trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.
62. 75% of the patients have changed their mind after reading negative reviews about a healthcare service.
63. Locations and providers that actively manage their online reputation can drive up to 40% more actions on their listings and gain an average 300-point annual lift in their Reputation Score.
64. Patient review volume in the healthcare industry has surged by 150% over the past five years, highlighting the growing influence of online feedback.
Review Statistics for Hospitality Businesses
65. Nearly 77% of the travelers are checking reviews before making a booking, reading about people’s feedback on cleanliness, service, and overall experience.
66. Online reputation of hotels directly affects their revenue, and hotels with higher ratings can charge up to 35% more per night without losing their demand.
67. About 72% of travelers frequently or always read reviews before deciding where to stay or what to do.
68. 76.6% of travellers read hotel reviews on Google, followed by Expedia, Booking.com and Trustpilot.
69. Around 88% of travellers avoid hotels with poor reviews.
70. Quick communication is crucial in the hospitality sector, with 89% of customers saying that they expect hotels to reply to their emails within an hour.
71. On the contrary, the average email response time for the hospitality sector is 12.5 hours.
72. Responding to more online reviews can help your business. Hotels that respond to around 40–45% of guest reviews generate twice the booking revenue compared to those that don’t respond at all.
73. The review response rates for hotels can reach 70–80% when customers are prompted via SMS or email immediately after service.
Review Statistics for Restaurant
74. 46% of consumers turn to Google Reviews for restaurant ratings, making it the most-used platform, followed by Yelp (23%), TripAdvisor (9%), and OpenTable (6%).
75. Nearly 1 in 5 people (18%) admit they don’t usually check reviews before choosing where to eat.
76. Only 10% of customers said that they write reviews for restaurants after their visit.
77. 43% of people won’t go to a restaurant if its rating is below 3–3.5 stars (26% draw the line below 3 stars, 17% below 3.5 stars).
78. 46% of consumers say they would not dine at a restaurant without reading reviews.
79. 30% of people said that they read restaurant reviews or look at photos while at the table deciding what to order.
80. 65% of diners say food quality is the #1 thing they look for in restaurant reviews.
Review Statistics for Software Products and B2B Services
81. The B2B services review platforms market—which includes software review and comparison sites—is estimated at about $377.7 billion in 2025, reflecting how central review platforms are for software evaluation.
82. 77% of buyers looked at user reviews when making a software purchase.
83. 31% of buyers say public product review websites are the most consulted information source when planning to purchase goods/services for their company.
84. 58% of software buyers read user reviews on third party review sites, while 46% read user reviews on vendor’s site.
85. 51% of buyers say independent software/service review sites are more valuable than analyst firms at the discovery stage.
86. 22% of people watch video reviews when buying a software product.
87. 54% of buyers speak with a user before they themselves purchase a SaaS tool. However, vendors estimate this number to be lower, at 38%.
88. Approximately 17% of buyers use Gen AI Chatbots and approximately 15% of buyers use software review sites to shortlist vendors.
89. 73% of software buyers say they regularly or sometimes see fake reviews online, which is exactly why trusted review platforms matter in software decisions.
90. When evaluating a software product on a review site, buyers prioritize review content (19%) and self-serve info like pricing/demos (19%) as the top decision factors.
Emerging Trends in Online Reviews
Online reviews greatly help people discover, evaluate, and choose brands they want to interact with, but how these reviews are created and consumed is changing rapidly.
Let us now discuss emerging trends transforming online reviews into powerful tools for connection and business success.
91. Reviews are becoming multi-platform by default. 36% of consumers use two review sites, and 41% use three or more when deciding on local businesses.
92. Social platforms are increasingly being used as “review platforms.” 34% of consumers use Instagram and 23% use TikTok as alternative local business review platforms.
93. Photos/videos inside reviews materially lift purchase likelihood. 61% of consumers are “very likely” to purchase when reviews include user-generated photos/videos.
94. AI is also entering the “review response” workflow. 58% of consumers preferred an AI-written review response when shown one written by a human vs. one generated with AI.
95. Platforms are explicitly filtering out “low-quality / AI-ish” reviews, not just removing “fake” ones. Approximately 18% of submitted reviews on Yelp were “not recommended” by its automated recommendation software.
96. Employee incentive programs are now a major review integrity problem. Tripadvisor removed 360,000 reviews in 2024 that were linked to employee incentive programs.
Why You Can’t Ignore Online Reviews
Customer reviews are essential because they greatly impact the success of your business. Reviews act like the digital word-of-mouth that helps customers gain deeper insights into a company.
The way you respond to or choose not to reply influences your online reputation. So, here are 5 reasons why you shouldn’t ignore any consumer review about your business.
- Building Trust and Credibility: Positive reviews build trust and credibility. They reassure potential customers that your business is reliable and delivers on its promises.
- Improve Search Engine Rankings: Search engines like Google often consider online reviews as a ranking factor. More positive reviews can improve your search engine visibility, attracting more organic traffic.
- Driving Sales and Conversions: Positive reviews can significantly impact your sales. Customers are more likely to choose a business with a strong online reputation.
- Identifying Areas for Improvement: Negative reviews can provide valuable insights into areas where your business needs to improve. By addressing these issues, you can enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty.
- Engaging with Your Customers: Engaging with your customers by responding to both positive and negative reviews demonstrates that you value their feedback and are actively involved in the conversation. In fact, 36% of consumers said a business could stand out by responding publicly to reviews, indicating they look for these interactions..
Why Online Reviews Are So Powerful
Online reviews have become a cornerstone of consumer decision-making, holding the power to build or break trust in an instant. This is why businesses must recognize the importance of customer reviews in shaping their reputation and long-term success.
Let’s explore four reasons why online reviews hold such immense power and how they shape the success of businesses.
Consumers trust reviews and want to buy from businesses that have good customer feedback. These reviews are your biggest source of social proof, and they have a clear impact on the buying decisions of your consumers.
2. Give you Visibility
Many shoppers read reviews on social media and platforms like Google, Facebook, Yelp, etc, to make better buying decisions. These review platforms have their own specific algorithms for ranking and displaying content. They prioritize original and unique content.
Positive reviews on these sites can help fuel these algorithms, making your brand more visible in search results and boosting its overall online presence.
3. Enhance your Trustworthiness
A stream of positive reviews will build people’s trust and credibility in your brand. Many buyers will hesitate to buy from you if you have negative reviews and ratings below three stars. This is a narrow window of opportunity for your competitors who have better reviews than you.
By consistently delivering excellent customer experiences and encouraging positive reviews, you can enhance your brand reputation and increase customer trust.
4. It Impacts Your Sales
Positive reviews are powerful drivers of revenue. They enhance your brand’s credibility, attract more customers, and boost repeat business. Even small improvements in ratings can positively impact your sales.
Simply put, when people like what they see, they’re more likely to choose your business.
What These Online Review Stats Mean for Your Business
Whether you are a small local shop or a global enterprise, your reviews determine how much trust people place in your brand and the sales you generate.
But managing these reviews manually across all platforms can be challenging. This is where tools like SocialPilot Reviews can help you collect, manage, and market your reviews and take charge of your business’s online reputation.
By managing these reviews well, you will also get an edge over your competitors, which is quite important in today’s competitive world.
Still in doubt? Try out the free plan of SocialPilot Reviews and experience the ease of review management.
