State of online reviews 2025: Key trends and insights your business needs to know

There was a time when asking a friend for advice was the go-to way to choose a restaurant or pick a service. Well, times are quickly changing. Now, people prefer to scroll through online reviews before making a decision. It’s like having thousands of friends giving their honest opinions 24/7.

Birdeye’s latest State of Online Reviews 2025 report, based on data from over 150,000 businesses, reveals that consumer choices now live and die by what others say online. Simply put, customers no longer check prices when choosing between two pizza places or a phone repair shop. They read experiences.

This year’s findings paint a clear picture: review volumes are skyrocketing, Google’s grip on the market is tightening, and businesses are stepping up their game when it comes to both requesting and responding to reviews. Let’s take a look at the key online review trends.

Key trends at a glance

• More people are leaving reviews online: Review numbers went up by 13% in 2024. That means more customers are sharing their experiences to help others decide what to buy or where to go.
• Google is leading the way: Google now gets 81% of all online reviews (up from 79% in 2023). It’s clearly the top place people go to write and read reviews.
• Businesses are asking for more reviews: In just one year, review requests jumped by 25%. Companies know that getting more reviews helps build trust with customers.
• SMS still works—but not as well as before: Texts (SMS) are still a good way to ask for reviews, but the number of people clicking on review links dropped from 8% to 6%. Email is more stable and still works well.
• More businesses are replying to reviews: The number of replies to reviews went up by 15%. In 2023, 63% of reviews got a response—now it’s 73%. More businesses are also writing personal replies instead of using automated ones.
• Customers need more reminders: On average, companies had to send more reminders (up by 9%) to get people to leave a review. One message isn’t enough anymore.
• Reviews are more useful now: More reviews now include written comments—up from 79% to 81%. These comments give better insight into what customers really think.

Why reviews are rising and why that’s good (and challenging) for you

Birdeye’s annual report revealed that online reviews have become the ultimate deciding factor for customers. According to the report, the year 2024 saw a 13% jump in reviews, representing a massive shift in how people shop and choose services today. It’s a sign of a maturing digital consumer mindset that prefers social proof, transparency, and real experiences from real customers before booking a service, visiting a location, or making a purchase.

This upward trend is especially evident in trust-heavy industries like home services, which saw a 9% increase in review volume in 2024. The takeaway? In businesses where personal recommendations once ruled, public reviews have taken their place.

However, for multi-location businesses, this growth in reviews can be both positive and a bit tricky. On the one hand, more reviews mean more visibility and trust. On the other hand, the pressure to manage online reviews across different locations at the same time can be challenging.

If you’re running a multi-location business and dealing with lots of reviews at once, you need smart tools to request, respond to, and analyze reviews at scale, without compromising on the customer experience.

Birdeye Reviews AI can help you streamline this process by:

✅ Collecting reviews automatically across multiple locations
✅ Responding quickly and personally to customer feedback
✅ Analyzing review trends to improve products and services

Google strengthens its dominance

When it comes to online reviews, Google is growing stronger every day. Its share of total reviews jumped from 79% in 2023 to 81% in 2024. This small 2% increase may seem incremental, but it reinforces Google’s position as the world’s largest review platform.

Below is the distribution of online reviews across different platforms, with Google dominating the majority share. Here’s a quick breakdown:

• Google leads with a massive 80.8% of all reviews
• Others account for 16.0%, which could include smaller or niche platforms
• Yelp, Trustpilot, and Facebook have minimal shares at 1.4%, 1.0%, and 0.7%, respectively

In short, Google is the go-to platform for reviews, while others play a very minor role.

Why do Google reviews matter for your business?

Google reviews are not just comments anymore. They are your business’s first impressions. Here’s why Google reviews are crucial for the success of your local SEO efforts and overall business growth:

• They show up directly in search results and on Google Maps
• They help your business show up higher in local searches
• Customers trust them because they’re easy to find and read

In fact, businesses in industries like Retail and Automotive now get almost 90% of their reviews on Google. While specialized review sites still have their place in certain industries, one thing is clear—if you want to manage what people think about your business online, Google is where you need to focus.

How Google reviews dominate every industry

Our latest data from the State of Online Reviews 2025 report reveals that Google is the dominant platform for customer reviews across nearly every major industry. Here’s a quick overview:

• Retail tops the list with 90% of reviews on Google
• Automotive and Beauty & Wellness follow closely at 87% and 84% respectively
• Industries like Healthcare, Home Services, Legal, and Real Estate hover around 77–81%
• Finance has the lowest share among the listed sectors at 64%, but still a majority

The numbers indicate a clear trend: whether someone’s reviewing a haircut, doctor, or car purchase, they’re most likely doing it on Google. The platform has become the universal standard for customer feedback across nearly all consumer industries.

While Google leads, many customers also use industry-specific review sites to research businesses. Let’s explore why Google reviews don’t tell the whole story.

Where customers leave reviews: Google vs. industry-specific sites

Google is where reviews start, but rarely where they end. Most people leave star ratings after a quick interaction—a meal, an oil change, or a hotel stay. These snapshots matter, but they only paint a surface-level picture. The real story often lives somewhere else.

For big decisions, people dig deeper. A glowing Google review won’t convince someone to buy a used car if Carfax shows accidents. A lawyer’s perfect 5-star average means little if Avvo shows complaints. Niche sites attract customers who care enough to look beyond the surface, and their feedback carries extra weight.

Why does it matter to businesses?

Your Google reviews bring customers in the door—but your niche platform ratings determine whether they stay. Today’s consumers check multiple sources before committing, especially for high-value purchases or services. A single negative review on a specialized site like Yelp (for restaurants), DealerRater (for auto), or Healthgrades (for medical) can undo dozens of perfect Google ratings.

Therefore, you need to play both sides to win this trust game. In addition to collecting star ratings, you must actively manage your reputation on niche platforms where serious customers go to research a brand before making purchasing decisions.

Review platform breakdown for various industries

The following infographic shows how review traffic splits between platforms in various industries and reveals where businesses should focus their reputation management efforts.

Businesses are requesting more reviews, but customers need a nudge

Between 2023 and 2024, the number of review requests grew by 25%, and the average number of reminders per customer went up by 9%.

So, while businesses are clearly taking review generation seriously, customers won’t leave a review unless you ask—and often, you have to ask more than once.

Why customers are slow to respond to review requests

Despite businesses asking more than ever, customers are taking longer to leave reviews. In 2024, on average, companies had to send 9% more reminders to get people to leave a review. Here’s why:

• Inbox overload: With customers drowning in emails, texts, and notifications, review requests often get lost in the noise or deprioritized.
• Selective sharing: Customers only review businesses that truly impress. Mediocre service? They won’t bother.
• Waiting for the whole experience: Many customers want to ensure they’re satisfied with the products or services before sharing their reviews.
• Public sharing concerns: Some customers hesitate to share opinions publicly, fearing backlash or unwanted attention.
• Forgetfulness: Even happy customers may need multiple reminders to follow through.

This is where automation steps in. Businesses using AI-powered review request tools can optimize timing, channel (SMS vs. email), and frequency—so follow-ups are effective, not annoying.

Email is the top choice for review requests, but SMS wins on engagement

While email remains the most used channel for review requests, accounting for 60% of all requests, SMS continues to drive stronger engagement, even as click-through rates dipped from 8% to 6% in 2024.

That dip isn’t surprising. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), U.S. consumers received over 19 billion spam texts in 2024—a growing concern that makes people wary of unfamiliar links. And with AI-driven scams on the rise, trust is harder to earn in the inbox or the message thread.

Despite that, SMS still commands attention faster than email. Let’s take a look at the SMS vs. email face-off with some interesting stats from our State of Online Reviews 2025 report:

• 38% engagement rate for SMS, suggesting that texts cut through the noise for instance action
• 27% engagement rate for email, suggesting that it’s still useful, but easier to ignore
• 59% open rate for email, making it a reliable way to reach customers

While SMS is ideal for real-time prompts, email works better for nurturing long-term relationships. Businesses that blend both channels see stronger results across different customer types and touchpoints.

Review responses are up and more personalized

Today, customers don’t just read reviews—they also carefully watch how businesses respond. In 2024, 73% of customer reviews received a response, up from 63% in the previous year.

More importantly, manual responses grew from 58% to 61%, while automated responses declined from 42% to 39%. This trend signals a desire for more personalized and authentic interactions, especially in industries like healthcare and retail, where a generic AI-generated reply simply won’t meet customer expectations.

Here’s a breakdown of automated vs. manual review responses by industry:

• Finance: Finance businesses rely more on speed and scale, with 65% of review responses automated and 35% handled manually.
• Healthcare:  Because of the sensitive nature of reviews, healthcare providers lean slightly toward a personal touch—52% of responses are manual, while 48% are automated.
• Home Services: With high review volumes, home service businesses heavily automate replies, with 77% automated responses and only 23% manual ones.
• Hospitality: Hotels and restaurants use a mix of both approaches but still favor automation—66% of responses are automated, and 34% are manual.
• Legal: Law firms prefer consistency and speed, with 71% of review replies automated and 29% handled manually.
• Real Estate: To manage reviews across agents and properties, real estate companies automate 71% of responses, while 29% are written manually.
• Retail: Retailers prioritize personalization, making 56% of their review replies manual and 44% automated.

Customers are writing longer, more detailed reviews

The year 2024 saw a subtle but important shift: 81% of reviews in 2024 included written comments, up from 79% the year before. Meanwhile, reviews without comments declined from 21% to 19%.

The message is clear: customers are taking the time to leave more meaningful feedback. They’re describing experiences, not just giving a simple star rating. This qualitative insight helps businesses understand what’s working and where to improve.

Even the length of reviews—especially in industries like real estate, hospitality, and beauty and wellness—shows that people are willing to share in-depth feedback when the experience matters.

Why does review quality matter for your business?

When customers leave longer reviews with actual comments—not just star ratings—it can make a big difference for your business. These detailed reviews not only help other customers but also help you grow and improve.

Here’s why quality customer reviews matter:

• They help other customers decide: Detailed comments give people more context and confidence when choosing your business.
• They boot your SEO: Reviews with natural, keyword-rich language can improve your search performance and engagement.
• They offer real feedback: You get insights that can guide product changes, staff training, and service updates.
• They support your marketing: Positive quotes from customers can be used in emails, social posts, or your website.
• They create feedback loops: Teams can learn what’s working—and what’s not—by listening to customers’ words.

Your next steps for smarter online review management

Online reviews have become a strategic imperative for businesses aiming to have a strong online presence. They impact how customers discover you, how much they trust you, and whether they choose you over the competition.

With more platforms, more volume, and higher expectations, managing reviews extensively is necessary for businesses of all sizes. If yours operates across multiple locations, now is the time to rethink how you collect, engage with, and act on customer feedback.

Here’s what your next steps would look like:

1. Automate review requests: Use tools like Birdeye Reviews AI to send review requests automatically—through email, SMS, and more—and follow up at the right time to increase responses without bothering the customer.

2. Respond quickly, using a balance of AI and human replies: Reply fast using AI for simple responses, but also take the time to write personal replies when the feedback is sensitive or detailed.

3. Analyze trends in review sentiment: Track what customers are saying in each location to spot patterns—what’s working and what’s not—and make improvements where needed.

4. Benchmark performance across locations for consistency: Compare review scores and response rates across all your locations to make sure every store, office, or branch is delivering a similar high-quality experience.

Survey methodology

The primary goal of this report was to explore how businesses are managing online reviews in 2025—from volume and engagement trends to platform performance and response strategies.

This analysis is based on aggregated data from over 150,000 U.S.-based businesses using Birdeye’s platform. These businesses span a wide range of industries, including healthcare, retail, real estate, financial services, hospitality, and home services.

Data was collected between January 1 and December 31, 2024, and compiled at the industry level to ensure insights reflect broad trends rather than individual business behavior. No personally identifiable or proprietary information was used in this report.