Google reviews vs Yelp: where should a restaurant or tour company focus?
Put your effort into Google reviews first: they show on your Business Profile in Search and Maps, they count toward your local ranking, and Google lets you ask every customer for one. Keep your free Yelp page claimed and accurate, but never ask for Yelp reviews, because Yelp's software may hide reviews that look requested.
Key takeaways
- Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help a business's local ranking.
- Google lets you ask customers for reviews with a link or a QR code, and bans offering anything in return.
- Yelp asks businesses not to ask anyone for reviews, and its software may not recommend reviews that seem prompted.
- A Yelp page is free to claim, and Yelp says more than 74 million people visit it each month.
What is the difference between Google reviews and Yelp reviews?
- Google reviews
- Star ratings and comments people leave on your Google Business Profile. They show next to your profile in Google Search and Maps, and a reviewer needs a Google Account to post one.
- Yelp reviews
- Ratings and comments on your Yelp page, on Yelp's own site and app. Yelp's automated recommendation software decides which reviews are recommended, and it filters out ones that look solicited or biased, or come from users it knows little about.
| Google reviews | Yelp reviews | |
|---|---|---|
| Where they show | Your Business Profile in Google Search and Maps | Your page on Yelp's site and app |
| Can you ask customers? | Yes, with a review link or QR code | No, Yelp asks businesses not to ask anyone |
| Rewards for reviews | Prohibited | Prohibited |
| Named on Google's local ranking page | Yes: review count and ratings help prominence | No |
| What filters them | Google's policies on fake and misleading content | Yelp's automated recommendation software |
Source2
Do Google reviews help you rank on Google Maps?
Yes. Google's page on local ranking says prominence, how well known a business is, rests partly on how many reviews it has, and that more reviews and positive ratings can help its local ranking. So a café or a tour company should put its review effort into Google: the reviews sit on the same profile that has to win the local pack.1
Can you ask customers for Google reviews?
Yes, and Google suggests it: send customers a Google link or show a QR code at the till, on the menu or on the tour bus. You cannot offer free or discounted goods in exchange for a review, or reward someone for changing or removing one. Our free Google review link tool makes the link and a printable QR card from your listing.2
Why does Yelp say not to ask for reviews?
Yelp wants reviews from people who chose to write one on their own. Its support page says asking may hurt your Yelp rating, because the software may not recommend reviews that seem prompted, and it tells businesses not to ask customers, mailing lists, friends or family. Asking after a survey or a feedback form is against the policy too. Keep your review request card for Google.3
Why are some of my Yelp reviews not recommended?
Yelp's software leaves out reviews it judges less reliable: from users who are not very active, from the same IP address, from someone close to the owner, or ones that read like an unhelpful rant. Yelp says the software is fully automated, no employee can override it, and it treats advertisers and non-advertisers the same. Buying Yelp ads does not change which reviews show.5
Is Yelp still worth claiming?
Yes. A Yelp page is free, and Yelp says more than 74 million people visit each month. Claim it, keep your hours, menu link and photos the same as on Google (our NAP consistency entry lists what to match), and reply to the reviews that come in. Then let them arrive on their own.6
How seriously does Google take fake reviews?
Seriously enough that buying them is a real risk. Google says it blocked or removed over 292 million policy-violating reviews on Maps in 2025. Ask every customer the same way, through the same link, and never pick only the happy ones. Our online review statistics show how many customers read reviews before they choose.7
Questions
Which is more important, Google reviews or Yelp?
For most restaurants, cafés, tours and stays, Google reviews. They show on your Business Profile in Search and Maps and help your local ranking, and Google lets you ask for them. Keep a claimed, accurate Yelp page as well.
Can I ask customers to review me on Yelp?
No. Yelp asks businesses not to ask anyone for reviews, and its recommendation software may not recommend reviews that look requested. You can ask for Google reviews.
Why did my Yelp reviews disappear?
Yelp's automated software has probably moved them to the not recommended section. It leaves out reviews from less active users and ones that look biased or solicited, and Yelp says no employee can override it.
Do Yelp reviews affect my Google ranking?
Google's page on local ranking talks about the reviews on your Business Profile and does not mention Yelp. Keep your Yelp details matching Google's anyway, so customers see the same hours everywhere.
Can I offer a discount for a Google review?
No. Google treats rewards for posting, changing or removing reviews as fake and misleading content and prohibits them. Yelp prohibits them too.
Sources
- Google Business Profile Help, Tips to improve your local ranking on Google · read
- Google Business Profile Help, Tips to get more reviews · read
- Yelp Support Center, Don't Ask for Reviews · read
- Yelp Support Center, What is Yelp's recommendation software? · read
- Yelp Support Center, Why would a review not be recommended? · read
- Yelp for Business, Free and paid advertising solutions · read
- Google, New ways we're protecting businesses on Maps (2025 Trust & Safety highlights) · read
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