The 3 Most Important Review Sites for Businesses

by Lyn Wildwood | May 29, 2026 | Facebook Reviews, Google Reviews, Online Review Management, Uncategorized, Yelp Reviews | 0 comments

There are many review sites out there, but some are more important for businesses than others.

Google is the most important review site for local businesses by far, but Yelp, Facebook and Tripadvisor are crucial as well.

In this post, I explain why these review platforms are so important and share tips on additional platforms businesses should strive to have a presence on.

Which Review Sites are Most Important for Businesses?

The top three most important review sites, according to online review statistics, for businesses are:

Google – This platform is used by 83% of consumers

Yelp – 44%

Facebook – 40%

When BrightLocal asked consumers which review platforms they use the most, they discovered that these three platforms were far more preferred by consumers than others.

Tripadvisor came in fourth with 22% while the Better Business Bureau (BBB) came in fifth with 20%.

What Other Review Sites are Important for Businesses?

While they don’t receive as much traffic overall, these review sites are also checked by consumers:

Tripadvisor – A travel-style review platform consumers use to find local businesses, especially in places that aren’t familiar to them.

Better Business Bureau (BBB) – Although it’s not a government agency, the BBB has been around since 1912 and is designed to uphold the values of the consumer industry by giving consumers a way to voice complaints against businesses in an online forum businesses are expected to respond to.

Apple Maps – Like Google Maps but specifically for iOS devices.

Trustpilot – A platform for reviewing all kinds of businesses, even online businesses.

Glassdoor* – A platform employees can use to review their employers.

Indeed* – Primarily a job board directory, but it’s also a review platform for employees.

*Consumers check these sites to ensure they shop with ethical businesses.

What Review Sites are Important for Specific Niches?

Some review sites aren’t for all businesses. They cater to specific niches or types of businesses instead.

Here are the most popular examples of this type of review site:

Amazon – If you offer products, sell them on Amazon as many consumers read Amazon reviews for product research even if they purchase the product somewhere else.

Walmart – You can also sell your products on Walmart to boost reviews.

Angi – A review platform for service-based businesses in the home improvement industry.

G2 – A review platform for software-based companies and apps.

Why are Review Sites Important for Businesses?

Review sites are important for businesses because reviews themselves greatly impact the purchasing behaviors of consumers as well as a business’ ability to rank in local search.

Here are a few stats on online reviews that prove how important reviews and review sites are for businesses:

71% of consumers read online reviews regularly when researching online businesses. (BrightLocal)
40% of consumers read reviews from at least two locations before making a purchase. (BrightLocal)
87% of Gen Z shoppers actively seek out websites that have online reviews. (Power Reviews)
- Note: Gen Z’s age range is 14 to 29 in 2026.

Plus, according to Google Business Profile statistics from Localo, businesses that rank in one of the top three positions in the local pack have 240 reviews on Google on average.

It’s best to add your business to as many relevant review sites as possible. See which review sites your competitors are part of if you need a little guidance.

If you don’t have much time or money to dedicate to a review marketing strategy, focus on optimizing Google Business Profile and acquiring Google reviews above all else.

Key Platforms for Small Businesses

These are the top three review sites consumers check while researching online businesses:

Google – Checked by 83% of consumers

Yelp – Checked by 44% of consumers

Facebook – Checked by 40% of consumers

It’s important for your business to have a presence on each of these platforms because of this.

Start by creating a profile on each of them or claiming yours if it already exists. You can then work on optimizing each platform.

Google Reviews

Google reviews are reviews customers leave for businesses on Google and Google Maps.

If you enter a local search term in Google, you’ll see them pop up in the local pack and localized search results.

When users open your business profile on Google, they’ll see a review summary section and three featured reviews, which are picked automatically by Google’s algorithm.

This summary has your overall review rating and a visual representation of how many reviews you’ve received for each individual rating.

If users click to see more reviews, they’ll see filter options, including common keywords customers have used in their reviews.

Any business can receive a review on Google even if the owner has never intentionally created a profile on the platform. That’s why I highly recommend checking to see if you already have a profile on Google before creating one yourself. You’ll need to claim it if so.

How to Optimize Google Reviews

Start by optimizing Google Business Profile, then work on getting more reviews.

Because reviews are so impactful for local SEO, it’s important that you not only receive as many four and five-star reviews as you can but also as many reviews as you can in general.

You should also work on receiving reviews on a regular basis as Google likes to see businesses receive reviews consistently rather than short bursts here and there.

Related: How to Get More Google Reviews

To get more Google reviews, consider creating a Google review link and sharing it in key places, including on product packaging and handouts you give to customers, your website, and your email email signature.

For physical links, use a QR code generator to turn your review link into a scannable URL.

More importantly, create a review funnel that asks every customer you receive to leave a review for your business on Google.

Be sure to perform review management tasks as well by:

Responding to reviews
Taking responsibility for negative reviews
Weaving customer feedback from reviews into your business strategy and future development
Removing fake reviews

Yelp Reviews

Yelp is a dedicated review platform that launched in 2004. It also acts as a directory, allowing users to search for local businesses wherever they’re located.

When a user enters a local search term in Yelp, they’re given a list of relevant businesses related to that term. This list is sorted based on factors like “search terms, distance and ratings.”

On the results page, each business has a card that features their name, a preview image, their overall rating, the number of reviews they’ve received and a snippet from a featured review.

The review section of a Yelp business page is featured toward the bottom.

This section is sorted with “Yelp Sort” by default. According to Yelp themselves, Yelp Sort’s sorting order is “determined by recency, user voting, and other review quality factors.”

For this reason, older reviews will sometimes appear before newer ones. If a user is logged in, they’ll see friends’ reviews before other reviews as well.

Other sorting options include newest first, oldest first, highest rated, lowest rated and “Elites,” which are reviews written by members of Yelp’s Elite Squad community.

Users can also filter by rating and search for reviews using specific keywords.

How to Optimize Yelp Reviews

Unlike Google, Yelp doesn’t allow businesses to ask customers for reviews or solicit them in any way.

Instead, Yelp recommends business owners to improve their services so customers will want to leave reviews. They also recommend business owners to improve the visual presentation of their business so customers will want to take photos as well.

Responding to reviews is important, too, as it encourages other customers to write their own reviews.

What you can do, and this is mentioned in Yelp’s own article on getting more reviews on the platform without asking, is make customers aware of your Yelp business page.

Include Yelp’s logo in marketing materials with a call to action like “We’re On Yelp!” Use signage to remind customers to check in on Yelp. Use a Yelp badge to link to your business page from your website.

Also, optimize your Yelp listing by choosing a relevant business category, adding relevant services, filling out your “From This Business” section, adding photos, and making sure your business details (including your address and service hours) are correct and up to date.

Facebook

Facebook doesn’t have a typical review system for business pages, but it does have a way for customers to rate your business: they can either recommend or not recommend your business to other customers.

When they go to the Reviews tab of your business page on Facebook, they’re presented with a simple question: “Do you recommend [business name]? Yes or No.”

On the front page, this rating system leads to a simple calculation of the number of customers who recommend your business.

It reads as “96% recommend (466) reviews,” as an example.

How to Optimize Facebook Recommendations

Optimizing your Facebook recommendations is as simple as improving the quality of your products and services and asking customers to leave feedback on Facebook.