There is no target number. The useful answer is relative: enough to be credible against the businesses currently ranking where you want to be, and arriving steadily rather than in bursts.
Work it out from your competitors
Search the term you want to rank for, from a location where your customers would search, and look at the three businesses in the map pack.
- Note their review counts and average ratings.
- Note how recent the most recent reviews are.
- Compare with yours.
That gives you a real target for your market. A trade in a quiet suburb may need a dozen; a competitive category in a metro may need hundreds. A single national figure would be meaningless across both.
What matters besides the count
Recency
Forty reviews from three years ago read as a business that has gone quiet. A steady recent flow signals an operating business, and it carries more weight than a large historical total.
Rate of accumulation
A handful each month beats an annual burst. Bursts also look engineered, which is the opposite of the intended effect.
Rating, within reason
A perfect five across a large volume reads as implausible to people. Somewhere in the high fours with a few critical reviews is more convincing, and businesses with a small number of flawless reviews often convert worse than those with more and slightly lower.
Content
Reviews mentioning the specific service reinforce relevance for it. You cannot script this, and asking customers what they were pleased with tends to produce it naturally.
Responses
Replying — particularly to critical reviews — is visible evidence of an attended profile, to both people and Google.
Getting them
- Ask at the point the customer is most satisfied, which is usually right after the work is done.
- Make it one tap. Use the profile’s short review link.
- Ask consistently rather than in campaigns.
- Never incentivise. It violates the guidelines and produces reviews that read as bought.
- Never gate — asking only happy customers is against the rules and detectable.
See Google reviews SEO.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a minimum to appear in the map pack?
No. Profiles with no reviews can appear, particularly where proximity is strong. Reviews influence position among businesses already considered relevant. See why a profile is not ranking.
Do bad reviews hurt rankings?
A few among many are normal and make the rest credible. A pattern of unanswered complaints affects whether people choose you, which matters more.
Should I buy reviews?
No. It risks the profile, and suspension costs far more than the reviews were worth. See suspended profiles.
How fast is too fast?
A sudden jump from a handful to dozens looks engineered. Steady growth proportionate to your trading volume is the aim.
Consulting CTA
For a review of where you stand against local competitors, book an SEO consultation.