Yelp vs Google reviews: which matters more for a business?

What's the difference between Yelp and Google reviews?

The biggest difference is asking. Google encourages you to ask customers for reviews; Yelp tells you not to ask anyone. The rest follows from that:

If you're weighing up Yelp's paid options, our guide to what Yelp costs for businesses covers the ads and the Upgrade Package.

Which matters more for a local business, Yelp or Google?

Google, for almost every local business. More customers use it, it's where your business appears when someone searches for what you do nearby, and Google counts reviews among the things that decide who appears in local results.

Google's help page says more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking, so Google reviews can help you get found as well as trusted. Yelp is worth looking after when your customers already use it: check your Yelp page's views and leads for a few months. If people find you there, keep it complete and reply to every review; if not, a claimed, accurate page is enough.

Why are Yelp ratings lower than Google ratings?

Partly because Yelp reviews are longer and more critical, and partly because Google ratings run high across the board. A 2024 working paper by FTC economist Devesh Raval (his own views, not the FTC's) compared ratings for businesses across several review sites:

• 32% of Google reviews in the study had no text, while only 2% of Yelp reviews were under 100 characters. Longer reviews carried lower ratings on both sites.
• Going from no complaints to 25 or more, a business's rating fell about 1.9 stars on Yelp but about 1.2 on Google, so Yelp separated good and bad businesses more sharply.

So a 4.2 on Yelp and a 4.7 on Google can describe the same business. What matters is how you compare with competitors on the same site, above all on Google.

Can you ask customers for Yelp reviews?

No. Yelp's “Don't ask for reviews” policy says businesses shouldn't ask anyone to review them, including after a survey or contact form, and shouldn't offer freebies, discounts or payment. Yelp says its software tries to spot requested reviews and not recommend them, and it may put a pop-up alert on your page when it finds this kind of activity.

Google is the opposite. Its help page tells businesses to remind customers to leave reviews, with a Google link or QR code. Google's content policy bans incentives for reviews and selectively asking only happy customers; you may ask for genuine reviews as long as you don't try to influence the rating or content.

• Google: ask every customer, the same way, soon after the job or visit. Make your link with our free Google review link tool.
• Yelp: don't ask. Show Yelp's own “Find us on Yelp” signage and reply to the reviews you get.

Why do Yelp reviews disappear or show as “not recommended”?

Yelp's software decides which reviews to recommend. Not recommended reviews don't count towards your star rating, but people can still read them on a separate page. Yelp says this applies to reviews it thinks were requested, among others.

Google works differently. A review stays live unless it breaks Google's content policies. You can report a review from your Business Profile; Google says evaluation typically takes several days, and if it rejects your report you can submit a one-time appeal. Only report reviews that break the rules, not ones you simply disagree with.

How should you reply to reviews on Yelp and Google?

Reply to every review on both sites, briefly and politely. On Google you reply publicly from your Business Profile. On Yelp you can post a public comment under the review or send the reviewer a private direct message.

1. Thank the reviewer and mention one detail from what they wrote.
2. With criticism, reply publicly first and offer to put it right by phone or email; on Yelp, follow up by direct message, then add a public note once it's sorted.
3. Never share the customer's private details, and don't argue: your reply is for the next customer reading it.

Our guide to responding to Google reviews has ready-to-edit replies for good, bad and fake reviews.

Does Yelp matter in the UK and Australia?

Much less than in the US. Yelp itself pulled back outside North America in 2016: it cut international sales and marketing staff after failing to grow there. It said it would keep hosting its site in all 32 existing countries but stop selling advertising in those local markets.

In the UK and Australia, put Google first, then the one other review site your customers actually use, such as Trustpilot, Checkatrade or Facebook in the UK, or hipages or Facebook in Australia. Our list of review sites by country and industry shows which ones matter for your trade. If you have a Yelp page there, claim it and keep the details right, and check it now and then for reviews to reply to.

What do review laws in the US, UK and Australia say?

All three countries ban fake reviews and hiding genuine bad ones, whichever site the reviews are on:

Google's and Yelp's own rules are stricter than the law on incentives: neither allows them. Follow the site rules and you'll also be within the law on incentives in all three countries. The other rules, no fake reviews and no hiding bad ones, still apply to the reviews you show on your own website and in ads.

How do you manage Yelp and Google reviews together?

Ask for Google reviews, watch both sites and reply everywhere:

1. Claim and complete both pages, with the same name, address, phone number and hours.
2. After every job or visit, send each customer your Google review link. Don't send Yelp links.
3. Get alerts for new reviews on both sites, and reply within a day or two.

Flexi Local's review monitoring brings reviews from 65+ sites, including Google and Yelp, into one inbox. Its review requests only ever go to Google and other sites that allow asking, never to Yelp. The Reviews plan is $97 a month (plus $49 for each extra location) after a 14-day free trial: card needed, cancel before day 14 and you pay nothing.