Do Google reviews affect your local ranking?

Yes, reviews count. Google says the number of reviews you have and your ratings feed into how it ranks local results on Maps and Search. But reviews are one part of one factor, and the other parts are worth understanding before you put all your effort into collecting more stars.

What Google actually says

Google explains local ranking on a single help page, Tips to improve your local ranking on Google. As of September 2026, its summary line reads: "Local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and popularity." The three sections underneath are still headed Relevance, Distance and Prominence, so Google appears to use popularity and prominence for the same idea.

Two points on that page matter, and so does one thing it leaves out:

• You can't buy a better position. Google says there is no way to request or pay for a higher local ranking.
• The details are private. Google says it tries to keep its algorithm details confidential. Taken with the first point, any promise of a guaranteed ranking is a red flag.
• There is no magic number. The page gives no review count that unlocks a higher position, so be wary of anyone who quotes one.

Here is how the three factors break down for a venue.

Relevance: your profile has to match the search

Relevance is about whether your Business Profile matches what the guest typed. Google's advice is simple: the more complete and accurate your profile, the better your chance of showing up. It names the basics, which are your full address, your opening hours including special hours, your business category, and attributes such as parking or Wi-Fi.

Google's guidelines for representing your business add detail that trips up hospitality venues:

• Categories. Pick the fewest, most specific categories that describe your core business. A category should say what the business is, not what it has, and it shouldn't be used as a keyword.
• Restaurant hours. List the hours when guests can eat in. Fall back to takeaway hours only if you don't offer dine-in.
• Hotel hours. Google lists hotels among the businesses that shouldn't give opening hours at all.
• Restaurants and bars inside hotels. A restaurant, café or bar inside a hotel should have its own profile, under a different name from the hotel.
• One profile per location. Duplicate profiles cause display problems on Maps and Search.

Google also lists photos and videos as a way to improve local ranking, so keep pictures of the menu, dining room and bedrooms current.

Distance: the factor you can't change

Distance is the gap between your venue and the person searching. When someone doesn't share their location, Google works from what it already knows about where they are.

You can't move the building, but you can make sure Google has it in the right place:

• Use your precise street address. PO boxes and virtual offices aren't allowed.
• If Google can't find your address, you can pin the location on the map yourself.
• Don't put keywords or website addresses into the address lines.

Distance also explains something that confuses many owners. Your position for "brunch" or "hotel" is not one fixed number. A guest searching from the next street can see a different list from a guest across town. Checking your ranking from one desk tells you about that desk only.

Prominence: where reviews come in

Google defines prominence as how well known a business is, and says better-known places are more likely to be shown. It gives two examples of what feeds into it: how many websites link to your business, and how many reviews you have. It adds that having more reviews and better ratings can help.

Volume and rating both count. The practical route is to ask every guest, not only the ones who look happy. Google's own tips to get more reviews suggest sharing a review link or QR code, and note that readers tend to trust a profile more when it shows honest reviews, good and bad.

The score updates slowly. Your star score is the mean of every rating published on Google, and Google says a new review can take up to two weeks to be reflected in it. Don't judge a change in approach from one week's numbers.

Replies: a clear benefit for readers, an unclear one for ranking. Responding to reviews is on Google's list of ways to improve local ranking, but Google doesn't say how much it counts. The benefit it spells out is about guests: replying shows you value their feedback, and positive reviews and helpful replies can help a business stand out. Reply because future guests read what you write, and treat any ranking effect as a bonus of unknown size.

Links are about being known. Google doesn't say which links count most. Genuine mentions are the sensible target, such as local listings, tourism and event pages, and press coverage.

What helps (and what gets profiles suspended)

For a hospitality venue, Google's list of what helps is short (a fifth item, in-store products, is for retailers only):

1. Verify your business.
2. Keep your information complete and up to date.
3. Respond to reviews.
4. Add photos and videos.

What hurts is more specific, and some of it can wipe out the review signal altogether.

Stuffing the business name

Your profile name should match the name on your signage and website. Adding marketing taglines, opening hours, phone numbers or service descriptions isn't permitted, and Google says it could lead to suspension. "The Harbour Kitchen" is fine. "The Harbour Kitchen, Best Sunday Roast in Town" is not.

Fake engagement and rating manipulation

Google's Maps content policy treats the following as fake engagement or rating manipulation when a business does them:

• offering incentives such as discounts, freebies or payment for a review, or for changing or removing a negative one
• discouraging negative reviews or asking only happy customers
• pressuring guests to review while they're on the premises, or asking for particular content
• setting staff targets for review numbers, or asking staff to gather reviews that mention a team member

For Fake Engagement violations such as incentivised reviews, Google says it may restrict a profile. It might stop the profile receiving new reviews for a set period, unpublish its existing reviews for a set period, or show guests a warning that fake reviews were removed. The first two cut straight into the reviews that feed prominence. Google emails owners before it applies a restriction, and there is an appeal route.

In the UK there is an extra layer. Under undertakings Google gave the CMA in January 2025, UK businesses found boosting their star ratings with fake reviews face warning alerts on their profiles and a switched-off review function. Repeat offenders can have all their reviews deleted for six months or more. Separately, fake reviews and concealed incentivised reviews have been banned under UK consumer law since 6 April 2025.

A monthly routine for local visibility

Set aside an hour on the first Monday of each month.

1. Check where you appear. Search your main terms on a phone, such as "restaurant", "cocktail bar" or "hotel" plus your area. Try from inside the venue and from a couple of nearby streets, and note your position each time.
2. Check the basics. Confirm the address, the map pin, phone number and website. For restaurants, bars and cafés, check the hours for the month ahead, including bank holidays and any private-hire closures. Hotels shouldn't list opening hours, but a hotel restaurant or bar with its own profile should.
3. Check the name and categories. Make sure nobody has added a tagline to the name, and that your primary category is still the most specific one that fits.
4. Read the month's reviews. Count new Google reviews against last month and note the average. Remember the score can lag by up to two weeks.
5. Reply where you have something useful to say. Google doesn't expect a public thank-you on every review. Prioritise negative and detailed reviews, keep replies short, and sign off with a name or initials.
6. Pull out the recurring issues. If three reviews mention slow breakfast service, that is an operations problem to fix, not a wording problem to reply to.
7. Check how you ask. Make sure every table card, stand and room card is still in place and that every guest gets the same request. Remove any staff targets for review numbers.
8. Add new photos. Add pictures of this season's menu, a refreshed room or the terrace once it opens.
9. Check your inbox for Google notices. Google announces restrictions by email, so make sure someone reads the inbox of the account that manages the profile.

Where Monty fits

Monty asks every guest for feedback through a branded review page opened from a QR code on table cards, stands or room cards, in 31 languages and with no app or login.

Its review inbox gathers your Google, Tripadvisor and Trustpilot reviews and drafts a reply to each in your venue's tone, which a person checks and posts. A Google Maps rank map is checked weekly, so you can track where you appear over time.