Which review sites matter for your business, by trade

You searched your business name and found listings on a dozen review sites, some you never set up. A few have old phone numbers. One has a review you have not seen. You cannot keep up with all of them, and you should not try. The best review sites for small business owners are the ones where customers in your trade actually look before they call, and for a local business that starts with Google. After Google, one or two trade sites usually earn your time, and the rest can be claimed, checked now and then, and left alone. This post gives you that shortlist by trade, what each site says about claiming a listing and asking for reviews, and a routine that takes about ten minutes to start.

Which review sites should a small business start with?

Start with Google. Google's local ranking guidance says local results rely on relevance, distance and prominence, and that prominence can include review count and review score. Your Google Business Profile is also where a person who searches your name lands first, so a claimed, accurate profile comes before every other site on this list.

Then ask a second question: where do customers in your trade look when they are choosing? The answer changes by trade. BrightLocal's 2025 Local Consumer Review Survey of 1,000 U.S. adults supports a broad finding: Google leads and that Yelp, Facebook, Tripadvisor and industry directories matter unevenly from one category to the next. It does not give exact usage percentages for every trade, so treat the table below as a priority order for your time, not a ranking.

Which review sites matter for my trade?

Two details keep this table from turning into homework. First, "add" means one or two, not all of them. A remodeler who is active on Google and Houzz is in better shape than one with thin profiles on eight sites. Second, your own customers settle ties. Ask the next ten people who book where they looked, and let that answer outrank any list, including this one.

If you want the trade-specific details, we cover contractors, restaurants, doctors and dentists and auto repair shops separately. This post is for choosing between sites before you pick a trade-level plan.

What does each site say about claiming and asking for reviews?

The rules are not the same everywhere, and a request that is fine on one site can break the rules of another. Each site's own help pages say the following.

Sources for the table: Google's review policy and request guidance, Yelp's claimed business page and business guide, Facebook's Recommendations help, the BBB FAQ, Healthgrades patient reviews, and Tripadvisor's reputation guide. Terms and prices change, so confirm current fees and cancellation rules with a site before you pay.

Notice the Yelp row. If you want the detail on that one, read whether to ask customers for Yelp reviews before you send anyone a request.

Is claiming a listing the same as paying for it?

No. On Yelp, Healthgrades and Tripadvisor, claiming a profile is free and separate from advertising. Claiming gets you control: you can correct your name, address, phone number, hours and website, and reply to reviews. Buying a plan gets you promotion, and it is a separate decision.

That separation is where a lot of money gets wasted. A sales call from a directory often starts with "your profile is unclaimed" and ends with a monthly plan. Claim the profile first, fix the details, and then decide about the plan based on what the site sends you. Count calls, bookings, form submissions and visits from that site over a few months. If you cannot see them, cancel before the next renewal.

How do I decide which sites to manage and which to claim and monitor?

Use three tests. Manage a site actively if customers in your trade use it, if it shows up when someone searches for you or your service, and if you can respond or correct information there. That usually means Google plus one or two more.

Claim and monitor the rest when the listing is visible, when wrong information on it could cost you a job, or when the site matters in your trade. "Monitor" can be as simple as a calendar reminder to look once a quarter. SOCi's 2024 Consumer Behavior Index reported that Gen Z consumers use an average of 3.6 apps to find and choose a local business, which is a reason to keep your name, address and phone number consistent everywhere, not a reason to post on all of them.

Try this ten-minute audit today:

1. Search your exact business name plus "reviews."
2. List every review profile on page one, including sites with wrong information.
3. Mark each as an active customer source, trade-relevant but quiet, a duplicate or wrong listing, irrelevant, or a paid offer to evaluate separately.
4. Claim the active and trade-relevant ones and correct name, address, phone, hours, website, category and services.
5. Set a quarterly reminder and a rule for who replies to new reviews.

That is usually enough. If you would rather see how much outside help costs for the same work, what reputation management costs lays out the ranges, and what reputation management includes lists the monthly work.

What rules apply when I ask customers for reviews?

Ask the way each site allows, and never pay for sentiment. The FTC's final rule on fake reviews, announced August 14, 2024, bans fake or false reviews, buying or selling reviews, incentives tied to positive or negative sentiment, undisclosed insider reviews, and certain forms of review suppression. Google also prohibits incentives for reviews.

So, a discount in exchange for a five-star review is out, and so is sending the happy customers to Google and the unhappy ones to a private form. Our posts on review gating and on offering a discount for a review cover those two cases in full. For a simple, allowed way to ask, a Google review QR code and how to get more reviews show the steps.

Should I do this myself or pay someone?

For one or two simple profiles, do it yourself. The ten-minute audit, a free claim on the right sites and a reply routine need no subscription. You may not need a large multi-site plan at all.

Help starts to pay off when the work grows: several locations, duplicate listings, a profile controlled by a former employee or vendor, policy disputes, review replies piling up, or no way to tell which site sends you customers. If you want to weigh that choice, see doing it yourself versus hiring help. Whoever you hire should recommend Google and your trade's one or two sites rather than every directory, list platform fees apart from their own fees, leave you as the owner of every account, and report calls and bookings, not only review counts.

Frequently Asked Questions About best review sites for small business

Do I need every review site?

No. Actively manage Google and the one or two sites your trade's customers use. Claim and check the rest once a quarter.

Do I need Yelp if I have Google reviews?

It depends on your trade. Yelp matters more for restaurants, auto repair and some home services. Claiming your Yelp page is free, and Yelp's business guidance says businesses should not ask customers to post reviews there.

Is claiming a listing the same as advertising?

No. Yelp, Healthgrades and Tripadvisor offer free claiming or profile options separate from paid promotion.

Can I offer a discount for a review?

No. The FTC prohibits incentives tied to positive or negative sentiment, and Google prohibits incentives for reviews.

Do I need a perfect rating?

No. Accurate information, steady reviews, recent customer experiences and professional replies work together, and a fair criticism can stay on your page.

Should I pay for Angi, Houzz, Avvo or Zocdoc?

Look at the real fees, the leads or bookings you can count, and the cancellation terms before you buy. Claiming a profile does not require a paid plan.

What This Means for You

Pick Google first, then one or two sites your trade's customers use, and treat the rest as listings to claim and check on a schedule. Know each site's rule on asking for reviews, never pay for sentiment, and keep claiming separate from buying a plan.

Start with the ten-minute audit. Sort what you find, claim the few that matter, fix the details, and set a quarterly reminder. If the audit turns up one or two simple profiles, you can handle it yourself. If it turns up duplicate listings, lost access or recurring policy problems, that is when help earns its fee.

If you want a second set of eyes, Web Leveling can sort your listings with you, and our online reputation service covers claims, replies and reporting. Send us your list and what you want fixed, and we will tell you which sites deserve your time and which do not. We work with small and medium businesses across the country and overseas.

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