32 review and rating statistics, every one dated.

97% of people read reviews for local businesses, and 41% say they always read them while browsing, up from 29% a year earlier. Those come from BrightLocal’s 2026 survey of 1,002 US adults. They are self-reported, so treat them as what people say they do rather than logged behaviour.

68% will only use a business rated 4 stars or higher, up from 55% in 2025, and 31% will only use one rated 4.5 or higher, up from 17%. The practical target is 4.5 or above. Going for a perfect 5.0 is not worth it, because purchase likelihood peaks between 4.0 and 4.7 and a flawless score reads as suspicious.

47% will not use a business with fewer than 20 reviews and only 9% would use one with 5 or fewer, so 20 is the working floor. The research on purchase likelihood points the same way. Most of the lift arrives inside the first 5 to 10 reviews, so moving a weak location from 2 reviews to 10 is worth more than adding 20 to a location that already has 80.

About 3 months. 74% of people say they only care about reviews written in the last 3 months. A high average that stopped 2 years ago reads like a business that may have closed, which is why a steady trickle of new reviews beats an old burst.

It is the clearest effect in the data. 80% are likely to use a business that replies to all of its reviews, against 45% for one that replies only to positive reviews and 47% for one that replies only to negative ones. 42% say they are unlikely to use a business that never replies, and 89% expect a reply at all.

81% expect a reply within a week. 19% now expect one the same day, which tripled from 6% a year earlier. Inside a week is the standard to hold, and the expectation is getting tighter each year.

Both, for now. 45% used ChatGPT or another generative AI tool to find local recommendations, up from 6% a year earlier, and 82% read the AI written summary that sits above the reviews. But 23% decide on the summary alone, while 97% of AI users still check real reviews at least sometimes and 42% always do.

On Trustpilot, 10% of reviews submitted in the first half of 2026 were found to be fake, up from 8% a year earlier, 7.4% in 2024 and 6.1% in 2023. Trustpilot removed 7.8 million in 2025 and caught 91% of them automatically. In home, legal and medical services specifically, one study found nearly 14% of reviews were likely fake.

Yes. The FTC rule on consumer reviews took effect on 21 October 2024. It bans fake and AI written reviews, buying positive or negative reviews, undisclosed reviews from insiders and their close family, and suppressing honest negative reviews. Penalties run to $53,088 per violation for knowing violations, the FTC sent warning letters to 10 companies in December 2025, and the first penalties landed in 2026. This is general information, not legal advice.

The honest answer is that the good studies are old. A Harvard Business School paper found a 1 star rise on Yelp raised restaurant revenue 5 to 9%, but that used 2003 to 2009 data and the effect held for independent restaurants rather than chains. Womply found businesses with more than 9 fresh reviews earned 52% above average, using 2018 data. They point in a consistent direction, which is why they are still quoted, but none of them is a 2026 measurement.

Google is still the biggest single source at 71%, though that fell from 83% in a year. Facebook rose to 49% from 40%. Generative AI tools reached 45% from 6%. People use an average of 6 review sites before deciding, so being strong only on Google is not enough.

Nobody outside Google knows exactly. Google says local results are based mainly on relevance, distance and popularity, and it does not publish percentage weights. The percentages you see quoted come from a survey of local SEO practitioners, whose most recent edition puts review signals at about 20% of what drives the local pack. Treat that as informed opinion rather than fact.