Highlights. More than 99% of American consumers read online reviews before making purchases; reviews influence 93% of consumers’ purchasing decisions.
- 96% of consumers read online reviews of a local business before visiting.
- 83% of shoppers begin their consumer research with Google reviews.
- Consumers read an average of 10 online reviews before they will trust a business.
- 42% of consumers place as much trust in online reviews as they do in personal recommendations; among 18- to 34-year-olds, this share increases to 91%.
- 75% of shoppers who read online reviews are concerned about fakes.
Online Review Consumer Confidence
Consumers are becoming less receptive to online reviews.
- 76% of consumers are more likely to trust that reviews are genuine when they are mixed (as opposed to only 5-star reviews).
- At least 36% of 25- to 34-year-olds rely on consumer reviews for purchase decisions.
- 66% of shoppers report their purchasing decisions are “frequently” influenced by online reviews.
- 92% of consumers are hesitant to consider a product without online reviews.
- 54% of American consumers trust crowd-sourced review websites; 21% distrust online reviews.
- 24% of U.S. consumers are undecided about whether or not they trust online reviews.
- 49% of consumers find online customer reviews very helpful when making purchasing decisions.
Online Review Conversion Rate Statistics
A product’s conversion rate refers to the share of browsing shoppers who ultimately make a purchase.
- Conversion rates peak with a 4.9 out of 5 rating.
- In 2025, 25% of consumers find inspiration for new products through customer reviews.
- 70% of consumers rarely visit unfamiliar businesses without first checking online reviews.
- Studies show that displaying customer reviews can boost sales by 19.8%.
- Reviews from verified buyers increase conversion by 15%.
- Conversion rates increase 270% when online retailers display five (5) or more product reviews.
- Increased conversion rates are more dramatic for luxury (380%) than for low-priced items (190%) when retailers display reviews.
- The first five (5) reviews have the highest impact on conversion rates.
Online Review Consumer Engagement
Online reviews have become a primary point of consumer engagement as users write, read, and share ratings.
- Consumers spend an average of 13 minutes and 45 seconds reading reviews before they decide to trust a local business.
- 20% of consumers only read reviews written within the previous 2 weeks.
- The number of reviews a business has influences the purchasing decisions of 85% of consumers.
- 71% of consumers regularly read reviews for local businesses.
- 84% of consumers search for positive online reviews before making an in-store purchase.
- 30% of Americans read customer reviews to gather product information.
- 91.1% of consumers typically read at least one review before purchasing a product; 54.7% read at least four reviews.
- 74% of consumers refer to at least two review sites before making purchasing decisions.
Consumers Writing Online Reviews
81% of consumers are most likely to leave reviews for businesses that go above and beyond to provide an exceptional experience.
- In 2025, 36% of consumers were offered a discount for leaving a business review, down 20% year-over-year (YoY).
- 80% of consumers were prompted by a local business to leave a review in 2025.
- 69% of customers have left reviews after being prompted by the business.
- 40% of people report being likely to leave a review when requested by a business via email; 27% are likely to do so when requested in person.
- 35% of consumers only leave positive reviews for brick-and-mortar businesses; 6% only leave negative reviews.
- Only 4% of consumers never write online reviews.
- 29% of consumers are open to writing both positive and negative reviews.
- 52% of 25- to 34-year-olds post reviews online.
- 47% of 16- to 24-year-olds and 45% of 35- to 44-year-olds post online reviews.
Online Review Consumer Expectations
Online reviews with written text are considered more trustworthy than a star rating alone, with 88% of consumers agreeing.
- 88% of consumers who use online review platforms are against AI-generated reviews.
- 88% of shoppers who rely on online reviews prefer using platforms with multiple reviews over individual opinions on social media.
- 44% of consumers expect to find reviews left within one month; 77% expect reviews to have been left within three months.
- 65% of shoppers prefer online reviews that include a customer image of the product.
- 59% of review readers prefer longer, more descriptive reviews.
Online Review Business Replies
89% of consumers are likely to choose a business that replies to all reviews, a 102% higher rate than businesses that do not respond to reviews.
- 81% of shoppers believe that businesses should respond to customer reviews within one week.
- 55% of consumers are likely to use a business that only responds to negative reviews; 53% will use businesses that only respond to positive reviews.
- 66% of consumers are more likely to use a business that responds to online reviews.
- 54% of consumers do not trust reviews from businesses that ask their customers for reviews.
Online Review Rating Statistics
Most review sites use a 5-point scale with averages expressed to the first decimal point.
- Local businesses average 39 reviews and 4.4 stars (out of 5).
- 85% of consumers consider a business’s star rating to be the most important aspect of their online reviews.
- Only 20% of consumers would consider choosing a business with an average rating of 3 stars or lower.
- 55% of consumers only consider businesses with an average rating of 4 stars or higher.
- The average verified buyer leaves a 4.34 out of 5 rating, which is 13.9% higher than the average rating among anonymous reviewers (3.89 out of 5).
- A 1.0-point (out of 5) rating increase boosts a restaurant’s revenue between 5% and 9% and raises a hotel’s room rates by 11%.
Online Review Fraud Statistics
Fraudulent online reviews are usually positive reviews that the product manufacturer or seller has purchased; for example, some retailers offer store credit in exchange for positive reviews.
- 46% of consumers suspect a review is fake when it reads like it was written by AI.
- 54% of consumers will not purchase a product if they find fake or fraudulent online reviews.
- Discovering fake or compensated reviews influence 83% of review readers to avoid a business.
- Consumers browsing online reviews are 514% more likely to focus on negative as opposed to positive ratings.
- 44% of consumers are confident they have seen fake reviews on Amazon in 2025, down 10.2% from 2024.
- 40% of consumers found fake Google reviews in 2025, up 5.26% YoY.
- 37% of shoppers report seeing fake reviews on Facebook in 2025, down 7.5% YoY.
- 82% of shoppers look for negative reviews to establish credibility (studies indicate that consumers mistrust 5-star reviewed products as “too good to be true”).
Online Review Website Statistics
73% of all online reviews are Google reviews.
- 42% of consumers trust Google most for travel accommodation reviews; 31% prefer TripAdvisor.
- There are over 1 billion reviews on TripAdvisor as of 2024.
- 44% of consumers refer to Yelp for business reviews; 22% use TripAdvisor.
- As of 2024, there are over 308 million reviews on Yelp.
- Of the 132.9 million monthly visitors to Yelp.com, 74.6% access the site on their mobile devices or through the Yelp app.
- 6% of all social media users in the U.S. use the review website Yelp.
- In 2025, 40% of consumers read reviews on Facebook for local businesses; 20% use the Better Business Bureau.
These data and insights were compiled by the Capital One Shopping team based on publicly available data.
Sources
- Northwestern University Spiegel Research Center, How Online Reviews Influence Sales
- National Public Radio, Why We Usually Can’t Tell When a Review is Fake
- National Institute of Health Library of Medicine
- Uberall, Learning Hub
- Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, Bulletin 2022-05
- Yelp, Fast Facts
- Statista, Industry Overview
- BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey
- Invesp, The State of Fake Reviews
- Forbes, The Dark Side of Five-Star Reviews
- Power Reviews, The Complete Guide to Ratings & Reviews