By Aijaz Alam
How many stars and reviews do customers expect before choosing a local business?
68% of US consumers will only use a local business rated four stars or higher, up from 55% a year earlier, in BrightLocal's 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey of 1,002 US adults. 31% want 4.5 stars or more, 47% won't use a business with fewer than 20 reviews, and 74% look for reviews from the last three months.
- 68%Will only use a business rated four stars or moreBrightLocal, 2026, up from 55%
- 31%Will only use a business rated 4.5 stars or moreBrightLocal, 2026, up from 17%
- 47%Won't use a business with fewer than 20 reviewsBrightLocal, 2026
- 74%Look for reviews from the last three monthsBrightLocal, 2026
- 45%Use ChatGPT or other AI tools for local recommendationsBrightLocal, 2026, up from 6%
The numbers
The full breakdown
Star ratings US consumers require from a local business
| Requirement | 2026 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Will only use a business rated 4 stars or more | 68% | 55% |
| Will only use a business rated 4.5 stars or more | 31% | 17% |
| Will only use a business rated 5 stars | 10% | Not reported |
| Care about star ratings when choosing a business | 92% | Not reported |
The thresholds overlap: people who require 4.5 or 5 stars are also in the 68%. All local business types, not one industry.
How many reviews, and how recent
| Expectation | 2026 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Won't use a business with fewer than 20 reviews | 47% | Not reported |
| Willing to use a business with five or fewer reviews | 9% | Not reported |
| Look for reviews written in the last three months | 74% | Not reported |
| Look for reviews written in the last two weeks | 32% | 20% |
| Only swayed by reviews written in the last week | 18% | Not reported |
Where US consumers read reviews and find local recommendations
| Source | 2026 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| 71% | 83% | |
| ChatGPT and other AI tools | 45% | 6% |
| Local news sites | 29% | 48% |
| Apple Maps | 27% | 14% |
Share of consumers using each source. The average consumer used six review sites. BrightLocal publishes the shares for Facebook, Yelp, Tripadvisor and other sites only in a chart.
How reviews shape the choice of a local business
| Measure | 2026 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Read reviews for local businesses | 97% | Not reported |
| Always read reviews when browsing for businesses | 41% | 29% |
| More likely to use a business after reading positive reviews | 85% | Not reported |
| Put off by negative reviews | 77% | Not reported |
| Likely to use a business that responds to all of its reviews | 80% | Not reported |
| Trust reviews as much as personal recommendations | 49% | Not reported |
Fake reviews: what consumers want and what Google removes
| Measure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Consumers who think businesses should be punished for fake reviews | 97% (2026) | BrightLocal |
| Think a business caught using fake reviews should be banned from review platforms | 57% (2026) | BrightLocal |
| Think review platforms should be responsible for detecting fake reviews | 63% (2026) | BrightLocal |
| Policy-violating reviews Google blocked or removed from Maps | Over 292 million (2025) | |
| Fake Business Profiles Google removed | Over 13 million (2025) |
Google counts reviews that broke its policies, which includes fake reviews but also other violations. It published more than 1 billion reviews in the same year.
Why sources differ
Same question, different answers
| Number | When | Who measured | Why it differs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 68% | 2026 | BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey | Share of 1,002 US adults who will only use a business rated four stars or more |
| 55% | 2025 | BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey | The same question a year earlier, panel of 1,026 US adults |
| 49% | 2026 | BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey | Trust reviews as much as recommendations from people they know |
| 88% | 2014 | BrightLocal, often misquoted | Had read reviews to judge a local business; widely repeated as a trust figure |
Review statistics differ mostly because of the question asked and the year it was asked. The star-rating figures here come from one annual vendor survey, BrightLocal's, of about 1,000 US adults, and they move a lot: the share who insist on four stars or more rose from 55% to 68% in one year, and the 4.5-star group from 17% to 31%. BrightLocal has also changed its questions. Its 2024 survey asked a different question and reported, for example, that 71% would not consider a business rated below three stars, so older figures do not line up with the 2026 ones. The most quoted review statistic, that 88% of people trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, is a misreading of BrightLocal's 2014 survey: the 88% had read reviews, and the trust figure in the 2013 survey was 79%. In 2026, 49% say they trust reviews as much as recommendations from people they know. Quote the question and the year with the number, and say it is a survey of US adults about all kinds of local businesses.
What it means
How to use these numbers
For a local business, the bar has moved up fast. Two in three US consumers now say they will only use a business rated four stars or more, and almost one in three wants 4.5 or more. Perfection is not required: only 10% insist on five stars.
Volume and freshness matter as much as the score. Almost half (47%) will not use a business with fewer than 20 reviews, and 74% look for reviews from the last three months, so a strong rating built years ago does little on its own. Asking is what works: 78% of consumers were asked to write a review in the past year, and 65% wrote one after being asked.
Where people read reviews is changing too. Google is still the main source (71%), but 45% now use ChatGPT or other AI tools for local recommendations, up from 6% a year earlier.
Replies count as well. 80% say they are likely to use a business that responds to all of its reviews, so answer the critical ones as well as the kind ones.
Method and sources
How it was measured
Method
- Publisher
- BrightLocal: Local Consumer Review Survey 2026
- Sample
- Representative panel of 1,002 US adults via SurveyMonkey (vendor survey). The 2025 survey had 1,026.
- Definition
- Consumers' stated rules for choosing a local business of any type, not one industry: minimum star rating, number and age of reviews, and the sites they use.
- Released
- 11 February 2026
- Checked at source
- 31 October 2026, on brightlocal.com; Google's removal figures on blog.google
- Next release
- BrightLocal publishes the survey every year in February; the next is expected in February 2027
- Last changed
- 30 Oct 2026
- Data files
- CSV · JSON (stable links)
Sources
- Local Consumer Review Survey, BrightLocal Vendor data
- Google and Alphabet official announcements (I/O keynote, earnings call remarks), Google / Alphabet Vendor data
Cite this page
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FAQ
More questions people ask
How many reviews does a business need?
There is no fixed number, but 20 is the line for about half of customers: 47% of US consumers in BrightLocal's 2026 survey won't use a business with fewer than 20 reviews, and only 9% would use one with five or fewer.
What star rating do customers expect?
Four stars for most. 68% will only use a business rated 4.0 or higher, up from 55% in 2025; 31% want 4.5 or more and 10% only use five-star businesses.
Do people trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations?
About half do: 49% in BrightLocal's 2026 survey. The often-quoted 88% comes from a 2014 BrightLocal survey and measured reading reviews, not trust.
How many fake reviews does Google remove?
Google says it blocked or removed over 292 million policy-violating reviews from Maps in 2025 and removed over 13 million fake Business Profiles. The review count covers all policy breaches, not only fake reviews.
Every number on this page was checked at its original source (BrightLocal, Google / Alphabet). Free to cite with a link to this page.