{
    "question": "How many stars and reviews do customers expect before choosing a local business?",
    "answer": "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.",
    "period": "2026",
    "key_numbers": [
        {
            "value": "68%",
            "label": "Will only use a business rated four stars or more",
            "note": "BrightLocal, 2026, up from 55%",
            "stat": "dental-marketing/consumers-require-4-stars"
        },
        {
            "value": "31%",
            "label": "Will only use a business rated 4.5 stars or more",
            "note": "BrightLocal, 2026, up from 17%",
            "stat": "dental-marketing/consumers-require-4-5-stars"
        },
        {
            "value": "47%",
            "label": "Won't use a business with fewer than 20 reviews",
            "note": "BrightLocal, 2026",
            "stat": "home-services-marketing/consumers-min-20-reviews"
        },
        {
            "value": "74%",
            "label": "Look for reviews from the last three months",
            "note": "BrightLocal, 2026",
            "stat": "home-services-marketing/consumers-want-recent-reviews"
        },
        {
            "value": "45%",
            "label": "Use ChatGPT or other AI tools for local recommendations",
            "note": "BrightLocal, 2026, up from 6%",
            "stat": "dental-marketing/consumers-ai-local-recommendations"
        }
    ],
    "tables": [
        {
            "id": "star-ratings",
            "title": "Star ratings US consumers require from a local business",
            "columns": [
                "Requirement",
                "2026",
                "2025"
            ],
            "rows": [
                [
                    "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"
                ]
            ],
            "row_ids": [
                "stars-4",
                "stars-4-5",
                "stars-5",
                "stars-care"
            ],
            "note": "The thresholds overlap: people who require 4.5 or 5 stars are also in the 68%. All local business types, not one industry.",
            "source": "brightlocal"
        },
        {
            "id": "review-count-recency",
            "title": "How many reviews, and how recent",
            "columns": [
                "Expectation",
                "2026",
                "2025"
            ],
            "rows": [
                [
                    "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"
                ]
            ],
            "row_ids": [
                "min-20-reviews",
                "max-5-reviews",
                "recent-3-months",
                "recent-2-weeks",
                "recent-week"
            ],
            "source": "brightlocal"
        },
        {
            "id": "review-sources",
            "title": "Where US consumers read reviews and find local recommendations",
            "columns": [
                "Source",
                "2026",
                "2025"
            ],
            "rows": [
                [
                    "Google",
                    "71%",
                    "83%"
                ],
                [
                    "ChatGPT and other AI tools",
                    "45%",
                    "6%"
                ],
                [
                    "Local news sites",
                    "29%",
                    "48%"
                ],
                [
                    "Apple Maps",
                    "27%",
                    "14%"
                ]
            ],
            "row_ids": [
                "google",
                "ai-tools",
                "local-news",
                "apple-maps"
            ],
            "note": "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.",
            "source": "brightlocal"
        },
        {
            "id": "review-behaviour",
            "title": "How reviews shape the choice of a local business",
            "columns": [
                "Measure",
                "2026",
                "2025"
            ],
            "rows": [
                [
                    "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"
                ]
            ],
            "row_ids": [
                "read-reviews",
                "always-read",
                "positive-reviews",
                "negative-reviews",
                "respond-all",
                "trust-reviews"
            ],
            "source": "brightlocal"
        },
        {
            "id": "fake-reviews",
            "title": "Fake reviews: what consumers want and what Google removes",
            "columns": [
                "Measure",
                "Value",
                "Source"
            ],
            "rows": [
                [
                    "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)",
                    "Google"
                ],
                [
                    "Fake Business Profiles Google removed",
                    "Over 13 million (2025)",
                    "Google"
                ]
            ],
            "row_ids": [
                "fake-punish",
                "fake-ban",
                "fake-platforms",
                "google-reviews-removed",
                "google-profiles-removed"
            ],
            "note": "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."
        }
    ],
    "sources": [
        {
            "name": "Local Consumer Review Survey",
            "publisher": "BrightLocal",
            "type": "vendor",
            "url": "https://www.brightlocal.com/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Google and Alphabet official announcements (I/O keynote, earnings call remarks)",
            "publisher": "Google / Alphabet",
            "type": "vendor",
            "url": "https://blog.google/"
        }
    ],
    "content_changed_on": "2026-10-30",
    "page_url": "https://digitaltreed.com/statistics/marketing/online-review-statistics",
    "csv_url": "https://digitaltreed.com/statistics/marketing/online-review-statistics.csv"
}