Online reviews are the most essential source of truth for customers to understand your business. Customers read between two to five reviews before making a purchase decision. With Google commanding a massive 79% share of online reviews, it’s crucial to dominate this space. That’s where Google review calculators come in, empowering you to outrank your competitors, reach your target star rating, and attract more customers.

With this blog, we answer the most pressing questions like:

• How does Google calculate review star ratings?
• How many positive reviews do they need to increase their Google star rating? 
• How many positive reviews can help them to beat the industry benchmark?
• How many 5-star reviews can boost their Google star rating?

So, let’s dive in, put these amazing Google review calculators to work, and supercharge your online reputation strategy. 

Understanding the Google review rating calculation process

Do you manage multiple Google Business Profiles but still struggle to understand how Google review ratings are calculated? Many businesses feel that while seeing a steady stream of Google reviews, the ratings are not budging. To understand this, let us look at how Google calculates review ratings. 

How are Google ratings/reviews calculated? 

The Google rating of a business is an arithmetic mean of the total ratings on the Google Business Profile. This means you can get the average Google star rating by dividing the sum of all ratings by the total number of ratings (reviews). 

Example of a Google reviews calculation

Suppose a landscaping business in Texas has received 30 reviews to date. The breakdown of those Google reviews and ratings is as follows:

Twenty 5-star reviews
Seven 4-star reviews
One 3-star reviews
One 2-star review
Two 1-star reviews

Let’s now calculate this business’s overall/average Google star rating. 

Google star rating = (20*5+7*4+1*3+1*2+2*1)/30 = 4.5

And that’s what Google shows it to be, too. 

Important points of inference from this Google review calculation are:

• If you generate a higher volume of positive reviews, your star rating will go up faster. This is because the overall rating sum goes up faster.
• If you generate a mix of positive and negative reviews, you may not see an apparent change in star rating. This is because the mean stays close to the original. 
• A sudden influx of negative reviews can adversely affect the star rating quickly. 

Note: It may take up to two weeks for your Google star rating to refresh. So, don’t panic if reviews come in, but the ratings don’t go up immediately. Google will verify the validity and authenticity of these reviews and update the rating within two weeks. 

The power of Google review calculators

While the math seems relatively simple, it can pose a significant challenge for multi-location businesses. You need more straightforward tools to understand your reputation management strategies’ next steps and goals. 

Google review calculators can help them work backward or understand how many reviews are needed to meet their targets. 

With Google review calculators, businesses can:

• Calculate the Google reviews volume they must target to improve their overall rating on the platform 
• Understand the power of positive and negative reviews on the Google review rating calculation 
• Know how to reach the Google review rating benchmark for their industry 
• Launch how to plan their review generation and customer experience strategy to generate the required positive review volume 
• Develop a comprehensive online reputation management plan to boost the business presence on Google 

Customized Google review calculators for your business

Generic Google review rating calculators fail to provide actionable insights that you can use to transform the online reputation of your business.

Here are the custom Google reviews calculators for your business to understand:

• How many 5-star reviews do you need
• How many positive reviews do you need 
• How many positive reviews to reach the benchmark

Google 5-Star review calculator: How many to target 

Use our Google 5-star review calculator to know how many 5-star reviews you need to increase your star rating on the platform. 

Step-by-step guide to calculating 5-star reviews needed

1. Enter the total number of Google Reviews on your Google Business Profile. If you manage multiple listings, please run the calculator for one listing at a time. 
2. Next, enter your current and target Google star ratings for your business. 
3. Click on calculate. 
4. Note down the review volume mentioned in the results. 

Importance of 5-star reviews and their impact on the overall rating

5-star Google reviews can significantly boost your online reputation and improve your ranking on Google local search. 5-star Google reviews can:

• Instantly boost your average star rating on Google 
• Showcase the positive aspects of your business to potential customers, increasing your conversion rates on the platform 
• Counter any negative Google reviews on your profile 
• Help you rank higher by showcasing your brand as a relevant search result for a local business query

Note: Bland 5-star reviews may move the needle on the star rating but don't do much to prove your mettle to Google. Encourage customers to leave detailed and factual feedback with photos (if applicable). This way, Google users are likelier to believe the 5-star review and engage with your business. 

Positive Google reviews calculator: How many to target 

The positive Google reviews calculator helps you understand how positive (4 and 5-star reviews) can improve your star rating. 

Step-by-step guide for calculating positive reviews needed 

1. Start by entering the total number of Google reviews you have on a Google Business Profile. 
2. Next, enter your business’s current star rating. 
3. Now, choose a target and enter that in the calculator. 
4. Click on calculate. 

You will now see the result as the number of positive reviews you need to increase your star rating as desired. 

Significance of positive (4 and 5-star) reviews

With a mix of 4-star and 5-star positive reviews, Google classifies your location-based business as a trustworthy, relevant, and useful search result. It also averages your star rating above 4, helping your local search ranking. 

Some of the other significant advantages of aiming for a mix of 4-star and 5-star reviews are: 

• They prove the authenticity of customer reviews on your Google Business Profile to potential customers. They are likelier to trust a combination of 4—and 5-star reviews with details than just 5-star reviews. 
• Positive reviews are easier to generate, and you can reach your Google star rating target faster. 

Wondering how to get customers to write great positive reviews for your business? Share our handy guide on positive review examples with them now! 

Google reviews calculator: How to meet or exceed industry benchmarks 

The previous Google review calculators allow you to set a target for your business and determine the review volume needed to meet that target. However, Google reviews play a vital role in local search rankings, which doesn’t work in isolation.

For your Google Business Profile to rank in the Google local map pack (top three results), you must match or outperform your competitors. And that begins with knowing what the benchmarks are. 

This Google review calculator helps you determine your Google review targets based on your industry type and its review volume benchmarks. 

Calculating positive reviews needed to outperform industry peers

To know how many positive reviews you need to meet/exceed your competitors: 

1. Choose a relevant industry from the drop-down. 
2. Enter your current Google review volume in the calculator. 
3. The calculator already has the industry benchmark for star ratings. 
4. Now, click calculate to know how many reviews you need to match your peers. 

You will see how many Google reviews would take for your business to compete with the industry. 

Importance of benchmarking against industry standards

Google is one of the highest traffic and footfall generators for location-based businesses. That is, if you have a strong Google presence and consistently rank in the top three search results for local queries. 

By knowing the industry benchmarks for Google average star rating and working towards it, businesses can:

• Develop a data-driven reputation management strategy that positively impacts their revenue. 
• Boost the public trust in their business. When existing and potential customers see you as the top result for a category, they trust and engage with your brand more. 
• Turn Google into a revenue-generating channel without any significant advertising investment. 

Developing online reputation management strategies 

Using a Google review calculator is the first step in getting a hold of your online reputation. Businesses must use these results as the stepping stone to a full-fledged reputation management strategy. 

Here are a few ways to improve your online reputation on Google and other vital platforms:

• Invest in an automated review generation process so every customer gets a prompt to write a Google review. We saw how the star rating is essentially about the volume, and the more you generate, the higher it goes. 
• Monitor and manage online reviews on popular platforms like Google, Apple, Facebook, Bing, and other industry-specific websites. 
• Make sure you respond to every customer review – positive and negative. 
• Flag and act on negative reviews to resolve customer issues. If it goes well, you can also request customers to remove or edit the negative content of the original review (without pressure). This will play a massive role in improving your overall star rating. 
• Report fake or spam reviews so that they don’t impact your Google review rating. 
• Use review calculators to understand your reputation goals. However, to derive a holistic approach, invest in credit and affordable reputation management services or tools like Birdeye. 

Google review calculators – A good way to begin 

Google review calculators are an excellent way to begin online reputation management. They can be handy for local businesses, large franchises, and even professionals looking for personal reputation management. 

However, customized Google review calculators provide actionable insights, making incorporating them into your online reputation management plan easier. Work with the results of these tools and focus on generating high-volume Google reviews to boost your business’s standing in the market. 

FAQs on google review calculator

Transform your Google presence with Birdeye 

Google can be a challenging summit to climb, especially for multi-location businesses with multiple Google Business Profiles. Using review calculators to set targets for each location and working on review generation sounds exhausting. However, it is crucial to grow your business in a competitive industry. 

That is why Birdeye steps in to simplify this process. With Birdeye’s top-rated review management tools, businesses start seeing an increase in review volume, star rating, and local search ranking in weeks. 

Birdeye empowers businesses to:

• Automate review generation and collect reviews via SMS, email, website, and social media channels 
• Monitor and manage multiple review sites from a centralized dashboard 
• Send reminders and follow-up messages to ensure customers leave a message easily 

Specifically, Birdeye is also a premier Google partner and ensures that your Google reviews go live faster than other methods. 

Rank higher on Google with an improved online reputation today! Watch a free demo to learn more about Birdeye!