Ready to grow?Short answer: Start with Google Business Profile. It is the review site that shows up in Google Search and Maps, it is the platform most people check, and it is the review data AI assistants pull from when someone asks for a business near them. Master it first, then add at most one more site if your type of business needs it.
You know the feeling. An email nudges you to claim your Yelp page. A customer mentions they left you a Facebook review. A competitor down the street has a Better Business Bureau badge on their van. A mailer says Trustpilot will change everything. It feels like you are supposed to be everywhere at once.
You are not. Being everywhere is how you end up looking quiet everywhere. The businesses that win reviews pick one place, do it properly, and only then think about a second. Here is the list, in the order that actually moves the needle.
Start with Google Business Profile, and treat the rest as optional
If you do one thing, do this. Google Business Profile is the free listing that puts your business in the local map pack, in the "near me" results, and in the little panel that appears when someone searches your name. Your Google reviews sit right there, next to your phone number and directions, at the exact moment a buyer is deciding who to call.
No other site is in that position. A 2026 BrightLocal survey found that the average consumer now uses six different review sites when choosing a business, and Google was the most common one they turned to. It is where the search starts and, most of the time, where it ends.
The reviews on your profile are not just social proof either. They feed the local rankings that decide whether you show up above the competition at all. If you want the mechanics of that, we cover it in how Google reviews affect your local rankings. For now, the takeaway is simple: fixing your Google profile does double duty. It wins the trust of the buyer reading it and it helps more buyers see you in the first place. Set the profile up right before you chase reviews anywhere, and follow the steps in our Google Business Profile checklist.
Pick a second site only if your business type demands it
Once Google is genuinely handled, and only then, you can consider adding one more. The rule is narrow: add the second site your customers already use, not the one an email told you to claim.
A restaurant or bar has a real reason to be on Yelp, where diners still browse. A clinic might add Healthgrades, where patients check doctors. A remodeler might add Houzz, where homeowners collect ideas and hire pros. A lawyer might add Avvo. These are examples, not a to-do list. The point is that each one only matters if the people you want are already there. If your customers never open Yelp, a polished Yelp page does nothing but soak up your attention.
That is the whole second-tier decision. One extra site, chosen because it fits, or none at all.
What is each major review site actually good for?
Here is the honest one-line version of the big names, so you can decide fast and move on:
- Google Business Profile: the default. Shows in Search and Maps, feeds AI answers, works for almost every local business. This is your number one.
- Yelp: strong for restaurants, bars, and some service categories. Yelp reported 330 million cumulative reviews as of the end of 2025, but that volume skews heavily toward food and drink. Great if you sell those, thin value if you do not.
- Facebook: useful if your customers already follow and message you there. Reviews live next to your posts, so it rewards businesses that are active on the page anyway.
- Better Business Bureau: helps in trades where trust and complaint history matter, like contracting or auto repair. Less relevant for a cafe or a boutique.
- Trustpilot: built for online and ecommerce brands collecting reviews at scale. Rarely the right fit for a one-location local business.
- Tripadvisor: essential for hotels, tours, and attractions. Close to irrelevant for a plumber or an accountant.
Notice the pattern. Every site after Google is a "yes, if" and never a "yes, always."
The plumber test: all-in on Google beats spread thin across six sites
Picture two plumbers in the same town. One asks every happy customer for a Google review, replies to each one in his own words, and builds up 60 reviews at 4.8 stars that show the moment anyone searches "plumber near me." The other spreads the same effort across Google, Yelp, Facebook, BBB, Trustpilot, and Tripadvisor, ends up with eight reviews on each, and clears the trust bar on none of them. Same hours of work. Wildly different result. The first one looks busy and trusted; the second looks quiet everywhere.
That gap is not made up. A 2026 BrightLocal survey found that 47% of consumers will not use a business with fewer than 20 reviews, and only 9% will use one with five or fewer. Eight thin reviews on six sites clears that bar nowhere. Sixty on one clears it with room to spare.
Working with owner-run businesses, this is the split we see most often. The owner who tries to be present on every platform ends up with a scatter of half-built profiles, none convincing, and no time left to ask for more. The owner who points every ounce of effort at one place looks established the first time a stranger checks. Attention is the scarce resource, not enthusiasm. Concentrate it.
Once you have picked Google, the next move is earning more reviews, and there is a right way to ask. We walk through it in how to get more Google reviews.
How many review sites should you actually maintain?
Fewer than you think. For most small businesses the honest answer is one, sometimes two. Rarely more.
Volume matters, but so does the score, and the bar for the score keeps rising. The same 2026 BrightLocal survey found that 31% of consumers now only use a business with 4.5 stars or higher, up from 17% the year before, and 68% will only use one rated four stars or more. You cannot hold a high average across six sites you barely tend. You can hold it on one you actually watch. Maintaining a review profile means reading new reviews, replying, and keeping the details current. That is real ongoing work, and it does not divide well by six.
Why reviews now decide what AI assistants recommend
Here is what changed, and it is the reason getting this right matters more than it did a couple of years ago. When someone asks ChatGPT or an AI assistant for "a good electrician near me," the assistant does not invent an answer. It leans on review data, and Google's is front and center.
The shift is not subtle. A 2026 BrightLocal survey found that use of ChatGPT and other AI tools to find local businesses jumped from 6% to 45% in a single year, making AI the third most popular way people find a business. Separately, 82% of consumers now read AI-generated summaries of reviews. Your reviews are no longer just read by humans. They are read, summarized, and quoted back by the tools people ask first.
Myles Anderson, co-founder and CEO of BrightLocal, put it plainly: "We've moved past the era where reviews were just a nice-to-have marketing tactic. They've become an essential piece of evidence that your business is active, reliable, worthy of prominent visibility and citation within traditional Google search and LLMs like ChatGPT, and AI search."
This is the strongest argument for concentration. A deep, active Google profile is exactly the kind of evidence an AI assistant trusts. Six shallow ones are not. We go deeper on that shift in how reviews shape AI recommendations.
Keep your name, address, and phone identical everywhere
If you do run a second profile, this small detail matters more than it looks. Write your business name, address, and phone number the exact same way on every site, down to "Street" versus "St." When those details match across the web, Google and other tools read the profiles as one consistent business and trust them more. When they clash, each listing quietly undercuts the others. It is boring, five-minute work with an outsized payoff, and it is the same discipline that keeps your listings consistent everywhere customers find you.
Respond to every review, in your own words
Whichever site you choose, reply to the reviews you get. All of them, including the unhappy ones, and never with a copy-paste line.
The expectation here is now near universal. A 2026 BrightLocal survey found that 89% of consumers expect business owners to respond to reviews, and generic or templated replies make 50% of them unlikely to choose you. A lazy reply reads worse than no reply. A real one, naming what the customer mentioned, tells every future reader that a person is paying attention. That is the whole point. If you want a simple structure for the tricky ones, especially the angry reviews, see how to respond to Google reviews.
Where this fits your wider get-found plan
Reviews are one piece of showing up when a local buyer searches. Your Google profile, your reviews, and your consistent business details work together, and the same "do one thing well" logic runs through all of it. Pick your platform first. Everything else, more reviews, better replies, wider reach, is a next step that only works once you know where your effort is going.
Frequently asked questions
Do I really only need Google reviews?
For most small businesses, yes, at least to start. Google Business Profile shows up in Search, Maps, and AI answers, and it is the site the most people check. Add a second platform only if your customers already use one, like Yelp for a restaurant or Healthgrades for a clinic. One profile done well beats six done badly.
Is Yelp worth it for my business?
It depends entirely on what you sell. Yelp is strong for restaurants, bars, and some service categories, and it passed 330 million cumulative reviews at the end of 2025. But that volume skews toward food and drink. If your customers never open Yelp to find a business like yours, a Yelp page will not earn back the time you put into it.
How many reviews do I actually need?
Enough to clear the trust bar, which keeps rising. A 2026 BrightLocal survey found that 47% of consumers will not use a business with fewer than 20 reviews. So 20 is a floor, not a goal. Keep asking happy customers, because volume and a fresh, recent stream both help you look active and reliable.
Do reviews affect whether AI tools recommend me?
Yes, increasingly. AI assistants pull from review data when they suggest a local business, and Google's is central. A 2026 BrightLocal survey found that using AI tools to find local businesses jumped from 6% to 45% in one year, and 82% of consumers now read AI-generated review summaries. A deep, active Google profile is the kind of evidence those tools trust.
Pick one place, do it properly, and the rest of your get-found plan has something solid to stand on. That one profile is what a buyer sees, what Google ranks, and what an AI assistant quotes back. Fonzy handles the ongoing part for owners who would rather run their business than manage six review sites: keeping your profile sharp, your details consistent, and your reviews working for you everywhere people are looking.
