Google Review Count
How many Google reviews your Business Profile has, shown next to your star rating everywhere your listing appears.
What it means
Your review count is the number of reviews customers have left on your Google Business Profile. It appears in brackets next to your star rating in the map results, on your profile, and in Google Maps, so a customer comparing three businesses sees at a glance that one has 12 reviews and another has 340.
The number can go down as well as up. Google removes reviews it decides break its policies, sometimes in batches, and a review disappears if the customer deletes it or their account.
Why it matters
Google says its local results weigh three things: relevance, distance and prominence. Prominence is how well known a business is, and Google names review count and rating as part of it: more reviews and good ratings can help a business rank. Customers read the number too. A business with a handful of reviews looks new or quiet next to one with hundreds, even when the star ratings match.
What counts as "a lot" depends on your trade and your town. Forty reviews can put a lawyer ahead of most local competitors and leave a busy plumber behind them, so the useful comparison is with the businesses showing up for the same searches, not with a national figure.
ask datanephew
How does my review count compare with the businesses around me?
datanephew reads your Google reviews and review count for free. A Maps rank check (Premium Research) adds the other side: for a search you name, it returns the businesses showing up at each spot you choose, with each one's rating and review count, so you can see where yours sits among them.
Can datanephew get me more reviews?
Not directly. It doesn't send review requests. It can tell you how your count has moved over time, and help you set up an email to customers that includes your review link.