How to get more Google reviews, and how many you need

The short answer

To get more Google reviews, ask every customer soon after the job. Send them your review link, so leaving one takes a tap. Then reply to every review you get. Don’t offer anything in return or ask only the happy customers: Google removes those reviews, and fake reviews are illegal in Ireland.

What is a Google review?

A Google review is a star rating from 1 to 5, usually with a comment, that a customer leaves on a business’s Google Business Profile. Reviews show on Google Search and Google Maps, next to your name, opening hours and phone number.

No profile yet? Our guide to getting your business on Google Maps takes you through it, and you can start collecting reviews the day it’s verified.

Why Google reviews matter

Reviews do two jobs. They help you show up, and they help you get picked once you do.

They help you rank on the map

Google ranks local results on three things: relevance, distance and prominence. Prominence is how well known a business is, and Google says it’s based partly on how many reviews you have. In Google’s own words, “more reviews and positive ratings can help your business’s local ranking.” Our guide to ranking higher on Google Maps covers the other two.

They help you get chosen

When three businesses sit side by side on the map, people compare the stars, the number of reviews and how recent they are. In BrightLocal’s 2026 survey of 1,002 US adults:

We couldn’t find a recent Irish survey like it, but Irish customers search the same Google.

They feed AI answers too

The same survey found 45% of people had used ChatGPT or another AI tool to find a local business. And 82% read AI-written summaries of reviews. Those tools read your reviews the way customers do, so a steady stream of honest reviews helps there as well. Our local SEO guide shows what Google’s AI answers look like for Irish searches.

How many Google reviews do you need?

Roughly as many as the businesses already in the top three for your search, and that number varies a lot. On 21 October 2026 we checked the top three on Google’s map for 12 everyday Irish searches. The middle business had anywhere from 6 reviews (painters in Waterford) to 974 (window cleaners in Dublin).

Most reviews in that search. Counts and ratings as Google’s Irish results showed them on 21 October 2026, smallest market first. We’ve left out the business names. Results change from day to day and depend on where the searcher is.

What the numbers show

• The most reviews didn’t always winThe business with the most reviews was first in only 4 of 12 searches. Relevance and distance count too, so a closer business with fewer reviews can sit above a busier one.
• Small numbers can be enough in smaller marketsIn 3 of the 12 searches, a business with fewer than 10 reviews made the top three. They were painters in Waterford, accountants in Limerick and carpet cleaners in Cork. Our town studies found the same: the middle accountant on the map had 2 reviews in Tullamore and 4 in Longford. See SEO in Tullamore and SEO in Longford.
• Dublin needs hundredsThe smallest count in either Dublin top three was 222. In a city, reviews take longer to match.
• Stars didn’t separate anyone35 of the 36 businesses were rated 4.7 or higher, and 15 had a perfect 5.0. A high rating was normal, so the number and freshness of reviews stood out more.

You don’t need a perfect 5.0 either. Northwestern University’s Spiegel Research Center found online shoppers were most likely to buy at 4.0 to 4.7 stars. That’s because perfect scores can look too good to be true. A few honest four-star reviews won’t hurt you.

Work out your own target

Our 12 searches are a sample. Your number comes from the search your own customers type, and it takes two minutes to find:

1. Open a private or incognito window, so your own browsing doesn’t change the results.

2. Search like a customer: your main service and your town, like “electrician Navan”.

3. Note the review counts of the three businesses on the map. The middle one is a fair first target.

4. Check how recent their reviews are. Open each profile, select Reviews and sort by Newest.

Then put your numbers in to see roughly how long catching up would take.

What Google allows, and what it doesn’t

These come from Google’s policy for content on Maps and its tips for getting reviews. Reviews that break them are removed, and the whole profile can be restricted.

Watch out for review funnels

Some review software asks customers how happy they are first, then sends the happy ones to Google and the rest to a private form. It’s sold as protecting your rating, but Google’s policy says businesses mustn’t “selectively solicit positive reviews from customers”. If your software does this, turn that step off and send everyone the same link.

Fake reviews are illegal in Ireland

Since 29 November 2022, the Consumer Rights Act 2022 has banned businesses in Ireland from writing fake reviews. It also bans paying others to write them, and claiming reviews come from real customers without reasonable checks. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) enforces it, and businesses can face court fines.

The ban sits in section 55 of the Consumer Protection Act 2007, alongside the other banned sales practices (CCPC announcement). It’s on top of Google’s own rules, and Google is catching more fake reviews every year.

What Google does when it finds them

In 2025 Google blocked or removed more than 292 million reviews that broke its policies. It also took down over 13 million fake business profiles (Google, April 2026). When it finds fake reviews on a profile, it can go further than deleting them (Google’s restrictions):

• New reviews blockedThe profile can’t collect new reviews or ratings for a set period.
• Existing reviews hiddenYour current reviews and rating are unpublished for a set period.
• A warning to customersThe profile shows a notice saying fake reviews were removed.

So a pack of bought reviews can cost you the reviews you earned honestly, as well as breaking the law.

If someone floods you with fake bad reviews

That’s the reverse problem, and Google added protection for it in 2026. When a profile gets a sudden spike of spam reviews, Google removes them and pauses new reviews for a while. It also tells the owner, and shows customers a banner explaining why. If someone demands money to stop or remove bad reviews, it’s an extortion scam: don’t pay, and use Google’s review extortion report form.

Why a steady flow beats a burst

Thirty reviews spread over a year and thirty in one weekend add up to the same number. They don’t look the same.

To Google, a sudden spike is a warning sign. Its policy names “unusual volumes or patterns of review contributions” as a sign of manipulation, and its systems now watch for spikes. Twenty reviews in a weekend after two years of silence can look suspicious even when every one is genuine.

To customers, recent reviews show you’re open and busy. In BrightLocal’s 2026 survey, 74% of people only paid attention to reviews from the last three months. And 32% looked for reviews from the last two weeks. A profile whose newest review is from last year looks quiet, whatever its rating.

The fix works for both: ask every customer, every time, as part of finishing the job. Your reviews then arrive at the same pace as your work.

Reply to every review

Replies are the part of your reviews you control. In BrightLocal’s 2026 survey, 80% of people said they’re likely to use a business that replies to all its reviews. And half were put off by generic, copy-and-paste replies. Most expected a reply within a week.

• Good reviewsThank them by name in a line or two, and vary the wording. If you’re a clinic, solicitor or accountant, never confirm that someone is a client or mention their case.
• Bad reviewsStay calm, own what went wrong, say what you’ve changed and take it offline. Our guide to replying to a bad Google review has a worked example.
• Reviews that break the rulesReport them rather than argue: open the review on your profile, select Report and pick the reason.

The review guides

Step by step, Irish, and inside Google’s rules.

• Asking for reviews

  When to ask, how to make your review link, and messages you can copy that follow Google's rules.

  Read the guide →

• Replying to bad reviews

  How to reply to fair, unfair and fake reviews, and when to report one instead.

  Read the guide →

• Fake reviews

  Get fake Google reviews taken down, step by step

  Read the guide →

Where to start

• You have few or no reviewsStart with how to ask for a Google review: your link, when to ask and messages you can copy.
• You’re behind the top threeWork out your target above, then ask every customer until you’ve closed the gap.
• A bad review has just landedRead how to reply to a bad Google review before you type anything.
• You think a review is fakeReport it from your profile: open Read reviews, select Report next to the review, and pick the reason. Google only removes reviews that break its policies. Our guide on how to remove fake Google reviews takes you through it, appeal included.
• Someone wants money to stop or remove bad reviewsThat’s an extortion scam. Don’t pay. Report it with Google’s review extortion form.

When to get help

Every SEO plan on our pricing page includes a review system. You get your review link, a QR code, request messages that follow Google’s rules, and a reply to every review. It’s also part of our Google Business Profile management. If you only want the link, QR code and messages set up, they come with our Google profile fix-up. That’s a one-off €149 plus VAT.

Questions people ask

Something else on your mind? Email info@leadsireland.com.