Google review statistics 2026

Checked: 2026-10-22. This page collects review figures from four publishers, each from the organisation that ran the survey. BrightLocal’s Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (1,002 US adult consumers, run through SurveyMonkey) supplies eight of them. PowerReviews and Pew Research Center surveyed US consumers and shoppers, mostly about products rather than local services, and Pew’s main review survey dates from 2016. Google’s figures come from its own posts. None are Australian.(1)

Key takeaways

• BrightLocal, 2026: 97% of consumers read reviews for local businesses. (1)
• PowerReviews, 2023: 99.75% of online shoppers read reviews at least sometimes, and 91% do so always or regularly. (2)
• BrightLocal, 2026: use of ChatGPT and other generative AI for local recommendations rose from 6% to 45%, the third most popular source. (1)
• BrightLocal, 2026: 47% of consumers won’t use a business with fewer than 20 reviews. (1)
• BrightLocal, 2026: 74% of consumers only care about reviews written in the last three months. (1)
• BrightLocal, 2026: 68% will only use a business with four or more stars. (1)
• PowerReviews, 2023: 82% of consumers trust ratings and reviews as much as (or more than) recommendations from family or friends. (2)
• BrightLocal, 2026: 80% of consumers are likely to use a business that responds to all of its reviews. (1)
• BrightLocal, 2026: 78% of consumers were asked to leave a review in the past 12 months, and 83% of those asked went on to leave one. (1)
• Google, 2023: over 115 million policy-violating reviews were blocked or removed in 2022, the majority caught before they were ever seen. (10)

How many people read reviews?

In its 2026 survey, BrightLocal found 41% of consumers “always” read reviews when browsing for businesses, up from 29% in 2025. Other surveys, mostly of product shoppers, point the same way.(1)

• PowerReviews, 2023: nearly half (45%) of consumers won’t purchase a product if there are no reviews available for it. (2)
• Pew Research Center, 2016: 82% of US adults at least sometimes read online customer ratings or reviews before buying something for the first time, including 40% who always or almost always do. (5)
• Pew Research Center, 2016: 32% of Americans said the ability to read ratings or reviews posted online is extremely important when buying something for the first time. (6)

Where do people read reviews?

Google Maps is a very large source on its own, and people also read reviews on social platforms and on their phones in store. None of these figures is specific to Australia.

• Google, 2022: more than 1 billion people turn to Google Maps every month to navigate and explore. (9)
• Google, 2023: over 300 million contributors share their experiences on Google Maps each year, helping people get information for more than 250 million places worldwide. (8)
• Pew Research Center, March 2024: 62% of US TikTok users said a reason they use it is to look at product reviews or recommendations, against 44% for Instagram, 37% for Facebook and 29% for X. (7)
• Pew Research Center, 2016: 45% of Americans had used their phones inside a store to look up online reviews or find a better price online. (6)

Stars, volume and recency

BrightLocal’s 2026 figures on review count, star rating and recency are in the key takeaways above. Surveys of product shoppers add more on recency.(1)

• PowerReviews, November 2021 (9,012 US consumers, product shopping): 38% would not purchase a product if its only reviews were three months old or more, and 62% would not if they were a year old or more. (3)
• PowerReviews, 2021: nearly half (44%) of consumers said that, ideally, they want to find reviews written within the past month. (3)
• PowerReviews, 2023: 56% of consumers don’t trust star ratings alone as much as star ratings accompanied by written reviews. (2)

Do people trust reviews?

PowerReviews’ 2023 trust figure is in the key takeaways above. Pew’s older survey shows the doubts people also have.(2)

• Pew Research Center, 2016: 51% of people who read online reviews say they generally give an accurate picture of quality, while 48% say it is often hard to tell if they are truthful and unbiased. (5)
• Pew Research Center, 2016: 54% of Americans who read online reviews pay more attention to extremely negative reviews, while 43% pay more attention to extremely positive ones. (5)
• Pew Research Center, 2016: 46% of Americans feel customer ratings and reviews help a lot to make consumers feel confident about purchases, against 25% for government regulations. (5)

Do owner responses matter?

BrightLocal’s 2026 figure on owner responses is in the key takeaways above.(1)

AI recommendations

BrightLocal’s 2026 figure on generative AI for local recommendations is in the key takeaways above.(1)

Fake reviews and what Google blocks

Google says machines are its first line of defence for reviews and the vast majority of fake and fraudulent content is removed before anyone actually sees it.(9)

• Google, March 2023: it took down over 20% more fake reviews than in 2021. (10)
• Google, March 2023: it stopped 20 million attempts to create fake Business Profiles, 8 million more than in 2021. (10)
• Google, March 2023: it blocked or removed over 200 million photos and 7 million videos that were low quality or violated its content policies. (10)
• Google, November 2023: over 20 million reviews, photos, business hour updates and other contributions are added to Google Maps each day. (8)
• PowerReviews, 2023: most (65%) consumers say incentives don’t affect what they write in a review. (4)

How many people write reviews, and how do you ask?

BrightLocal’s 2026 figures on being asked for a review are in the key takeaways above. Other surveys add more.(1)

• PowerReviews, 2023: 42% of consumers said they only need to be asked once before they leave a review, down from 68% the year before. (4)
• Pew Research Center, 2016: 39% of US adults had shared their experiences or feelings about companies or products on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter. (5)

Australia: what applies here

Every consumer figure here comes from US adults or shoppers; none are Australian, and we found no Australian review survey to add. We have not checked the ACCC’s guidance on fake or incentivised reviews, so we state nothing about Australian rules. Before you offer anything in return for a review, read the ACCC’s guidance yourself.

WebsLead’s own prices

These are WebsLead’s published prices, not survey figures, in AUD. Our review system costs $900 to set up and $49 a month once activated. Setup is included in the Growth website at $3,800.

Google review system for small business: how requests, private feedback and reporting work →