According to our 2024 Reputation Benchmarks analysis, looking at 15,000 locations across various industries, insurance and restaurants are leading the way in review growth — here’s what that tells us about visibility, trust, and what really moves the needle in local search.
For years, local businesses have focused on earning five-star reviews as the ultimate goal of reputation management. After all, a 5.0 average looks like success.
But a new local ranking study from Andrew Shotland at Local SEO Guide (LSG) in partnership with SemRush reveals something that might surprise you. Big thank you to our friends at NearMedia for sharing their thoughts about it in their excellent newsletter.
What their study reveals is shocking but not surprising:
⭐ Star ratings don’t influence Google’s Local Pack rankings.
📣 Review volume and recency do.
In LSG’s analysis of 6 million local search results across 10 industries, businesses with higher review counts consistently outranked those with better star averages — all other things being equal.
This aligns with what we’re seeing on the ground.
The Real-World Review Surge: Insurance and Restaurants
In our just-released 2025 Reputation Industry Benchmarks, we analyzed tens of thousands of local businesses to track the impact of proactive review strategies.
Two standout industries this year? Insurance and Restaurants — both saw a major surge in third-party review volume:
- Insurance: Third-party reviews grew from 11 to 32 year-over-year — a 3X increase.
- Restaurants: From 63 to 137 — more than double the previous year.
These businesses didn’t just get lucky. They asked.
They proactively requested reviews — through a mix of SMS, email, and in-person reminders — and built a flywheel of public feedback that fuels both search visibility and customer trust.
But Wait — Don’t Count Out Star Ratings Just Yet
While Google may not reward higher ratings directly in its ranking algorithm, consumers definitely care.
In our recent Beyond the Stars survey of 1,200+ U.S. consumers, analysing how they use reviews to engage with local businesses:
- 77% said they won’t even consider a business with fewer than 4 stars.
- Only 3% said they’d be okay choosing a business with less than 3 stars.
- 90% said they read three or more reviews before forming an opinion about local businesses.
So even if Google isn’t paying attention to your star average, your future customers absolutely are.
What This Means for Local Businesses
If you’re in a competitive, high-intent industry like insurance, restaurants, or healthcare, the new playbook is clear:
✅ Review volume + recency = visibility
✅ Ratings = conversion
To win both, local businesses need to:
- Request reviews consistently – especially via SMS + email
- Ask quickly – 66% of consumers prefer to be asked the same day as service
- Follow up on third-party platforms – public review responses drive more reviews
- Track both quantity and quality – they work together to improve outcomes
The Bottom Line
We may be entering a new era of local search — one where the volume of voices matters more than the perfection of your score.
But consumers still read, compare, and judge. They trust recency. They trust volume. And yes, they trust businesses with 4.0 stars or better.
Visibility gets you seen. Ratings help you close.
Are you keeping up?
Read the full 2025 Reputation Industry Benchmarks report to explore trends by industry
