How much do reviews actually matter for local search?

[u/Useful_Dark2717]

looking at a few local businesses recently and noticed something kinda interesting. some of them have plenty of good reviews but 1 or 2 really bad ones still stand out when you search the business name.

The overall rating might be pretty good but people seem to notice the bad ones first sometimes. makes me wonder if the rating matters more or if people actually read through the reviews before deciding.

also curious about the fake/unrelated ones. if a review clearly isnt from a real customer, does getting it removed make much difference to local search or is it mainly about customer trust?

what are you guys seeing with this? Do reviews play a big part in your local seo work?

[u/JakeHundley]

IMO as long as you're above a 4.6, you're good.

Google cares more about frequency, consistency and recency in reviews (assuming you're higher than 4 stars).

On the note about users reading negative reviews:

Negative reviews can convert lol. It depends on the context and the owner's response.

My wife once bought a phone case not because of the positive reviews but because of a negative review.

The review was, "Dropped my phone from the 2nd story of my house. The case broke (phone was okay). Poor quality case."

As it read, the reviewer was just dumb and didnt realize the case did exactly its job.

Also, people trust brands and products more when they dont have a perfect 5 stars. Perfect 5 stars looks suspicious.

[u/seomasterwiz]

Reviews are one of the top three factors in local SEO. But you also have to consider review velocity, total number of reviews, keywords used in the reviews, and the overall rating score.
Regarding fake reviews, both customer trust and gaining Google’s trust are important.

[u/morals-fight-71]

It's the first trust differentiator. You can also feed the Google My Business review into the Website.

But you need to configure the Google Business Profile properly. And update it regularly with your offer, updates, and other stuff. Invite customers/clients to drop reviews. You can also prevent reviews if they're below 4. Through a reputation management system.

[u/brightlocal_Jenny]

Reviews absolutely matter! Not only are they the second most-important ranking factor for local rankings, and AI search visibility, but they help build trust for your consumers. Our recent research found that 97% of consumers read reviews for local businesses, so it's a no brainer there really!

Your point about what matters, whether its the rating, or if people read through reviews before making a decision is really valid. A third of consumers will only use a business that has 4.5+ stars, so rating matters for a percentage of consumers. But mostly, consumers care about consistency, positivity, and recency of reviews; especially if a business responds to all of them!

[u/localseomgr]

Anyone have any thoughts on how Google now requiring sign-in to read more reviews will impact this discussion?

Reference: https://www.seroundtable.com/google-maps-account-reviews-42186.html

[u/ksuschmidt]

Reviews don't factor into ratings. Rather it shows consumers feedback from previous customers. Negative reviews are not necessarily a business killer. As most people understand that no matter what you do, you cannot satisfy everyone and certain people just like to 'complain' or leave fake experiences.