What is a bad website costing you?
Estimate the enquiries a weak website loses you every month, in pounds.
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How many reviews to overtake them?
Reviews decide who gets the call from the map results. Put in your count and rating, your goal and your nearest competitor, and see exactly how many reviews you need and how long they will take.
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Your reviews, your goal
How it works
How the sums work
Your total stars
Your number of reviews × your average rating. Every new review adds its stars to this total and one to the count.
Reaching a rating
The number of new reviews, at the average you expect, that brings total stars ÷ total reviews up to your target. If new reviews average less than the target, the target can never be reached.
Overtaking on volume
Their review count minus yours, plus one. Volume matters because people trust a 4.7 from 120 reviews over a 5.0 from three.
Beating their rating
The fewest new reviews that take your average strictly above theirs, at the rating you expect new reviews to average.
How long it takes
Reviews needed ÷ (customers you ask each month × the share who leave one). Asking every customer is the only lever that is both effective and allowed.
Asking for reviews the right way (UK law and Google’s rules)
- Ask every customer, not just the happy ones. The CMA’s fake reviews guidance (CMA208) treats inviting only satisfied customers as a way of cherry-picking reviews. Send the same link to everyone, with no “happy? review us, unhappy? tell us privately” filter.
- Never pay or reward for reviews. No discounts, prize draws or freebies for a Google review. Google bans it, and hidden incentives are unlawful in the UK.
- No fake reviews. Don’t write reviews for customers or ask family and friends to. Fake reviews are a banned practice under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024.
- Don’t pressure or bargain. Never make a refund or a fix conditional on changing or not leaving a bad review.
- Don’t stop and start asking to dodge a bad patch. Keep asking consistently.
- Reply to every review, especially the bad ones, calmly and without personal details.
This is general guidance, not legal advice.
Questions
Common questions
How many Google reviews do I need to get a 4.8 rating?
It depends on where you start. The sum is (4.8 × your current reviews − your total stars) ÷ (the average of your new reviews − 4.8). If new reviews average 5.0, a business on 4.5 from 20 reviews needs 30 more. If new reviews average 4.8 or less, 4.8 can never be reached, which is why the calculator asks for that figure.
Does Google round my star rating?
Google shows your average rating to one decimal place, so the number people see can move with a small change in the true average. Plan to a figure slightly above the one you want to show, so a single lower review does not knock it down.
Is it better to have more reviews or a higher rating?
Both matter, and people read them together. A strong rating from very few reviews looks thin, and a large number at a low rating puts people off. The best signal is a steady flow of recent, genuine reviews, which comes from asking every customer after every job.
Can I offer a discount for a Google review?
No. Google’s policies prohibit offering incentives for reviews, and in the UK concealed incentivised reviews are a banned practice under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. Ask every customer, make it easy with a direct link, and leave it there. This is general guidance, not legal advice.
How do I get more Google reviews without breaking the rules?
Ask every customer at the moment they are happiest, usually when the job is finished, and give them a direct link to your review form by text or email. Put the link on your invoices and website too. The more consistently you ask, the faster reviews arrive.
Turn more reviews into more calls.
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