State of local reviews 2026: how 1,652 local businesses handle their Google reviews

Key findings

• Replying is the norm: just over half of businesses (54%) reply to at least 9 in 10 of their newest reviews.
• Dentists reply least of the four trades: a median of 82%, and 1 in 5 reply to fewer than 1 in 10 reviews.
• UK dentists have the lowest median reply rate of any group we measured, at 74%.
• Almost every business is still collecting reviews: only 3% had no new review in the 90 days before we checked.
• In this sample, businesses that reply more don't have higher ratings: the median is 4.8 to 4.9 whatever the reply rate.

Reply rates by country

The gap is widest at the top: fewer than half of UK businesses reply to almost every review, against well over half in the US and Australia.

Reply rates by trade

Dentists get more reviews than most trades but reply to fewer of them. A short reply that confirms nothing about the patient is still possible; our guide to Google reviews covers how.

Country and trade together

Groups with fewer than 30 businesses are left out. UK plumbers are split: the median plumber replies to 88% of reviews, but more than 1 in 5 reply to almost none, the highest share of any group.

How fast new reviews arrive

By country, the median business gets 11 new reviews a month in the US, 9.7 in the UK and 8.7 in Australia. Only 3.2% of businesses had no new review in the 90 days before we checked; roofers were the most likely to have gone quiet (5.8%).

Ratings: recent reviews versus all-time

The median business has a 4.9 Google rating overall and 4.9 across its newest reviews. For 7.6% of businesses, the newest reviews average at least 0.3 stars below the all-time rating, an early sign that something has changed for customers.

We also compared ratings with reply rates. Businesses that reply to under 10% of reviews and those that reply to 90% or more have the same median rating, 4.9, so this data doesn't show replies raising ratings. Replies are for the next customer reading them, not the star average.

What this means for your business

• Reply to every review. Most of your competitors already do, so a page of unanswered reviews stands out. A reply generator gets a draft in seconds.
• Keep reviews coming every month. A business with no review for three months is rare, and customers notice.
• Watch your recent rating, not only the total. A drop in your newest reviews is the earliest warning you'll get.
• In healthcare, keep replies short and confirm nothing about the patient.

Method and limits

• Source: the Flexi Local business directory, which lists local businesses from their public Google listings in US, UK and Australian cities.
• Sample: 1,652 businesses after removing 53 duplicate listings: 1,053 in the US, 300 in Australia and 299 in the UK. Trades: dentists (588), plumbers (491), roofers (277), HVAC (257) and about 39 in smaller trades, which count in the overall figures only.
• Reviews: the newest Google reviews of each business, up to 50 (82,551 in total), checked on 26–27 October 2026. We kept counts, dates and ratings only, never review text or reviewer names.
• Reply rate: the share of those reviews with an owner reply on Google. Replies made elsewhere, or deleted, aren't counted.
• Review pace: new reviews a month, worked out from the dates of the newest reviews.
• Who's in it: established, well-reviewed businesses (median 656 Google reviews, median rating 4.9). It isn't a random sample of all local businesses, and smaller or newer businesses may reply less.
• Groups: figures by trade, country or both are only shown when they rest on at least 30 businesses. Medians are used so a few very large businesses don't skew the results.

Use this data

You're welcome to quote these figures, charts and tables. Please credit "Flexi Local, State of local reviews 2026" and link to this page. Journalists can email hello@flexilocal.com for a figure for a specific trade or country.