Showing Google Reviews on Your Website: Options and Rules

Three ways to show Google reviews on a website

Google Business Profile does not offer an official reviews widget for websites. In practice you choose between linking out, pulling reviews through Google's API, or using a third-party widget that does the API work for you.

You can also embed a Google Map of your location, which shows your rating when people open the place card. Google says the Maps Embed API is free with unlimited requests.

Using the Google Places API: limits, costs and attribution

If you or your developer build it directly, Google's Places API reference says the reviews field returns a list sorted by relevance, with a maximum of 5 reviews. You cannot choose to show all 120 of your reviews this way.

These rules come from Google's Places API policies. Most reputable widget providers follow them for you; ask before you subscribe.

Why review stars will not appear in Google search

Many widget sellers promise star ratings in Google results. For a local business showing its own reviews, that is not how it works. Google announced in 2019 that self-serving reviews aren't allowed for LocalBusiness and Organization: when reviews about a business are placed on that business's own website, directly in markup or through an embedded widget, Google does not show review rich results for them.

Google's current review snippet documentation keeps the same rule. You can still add LocalBusiness structured data for your name, address, hours and contact details, which helps Google understand your business; our local business schema guide shows how. Just do not add AggregateRating markup about yourself expecting stars.

Speed: keep widgets from slowing your site

Review widgets usually load JavaScript, fonts and images from another server. On a phone that can add noticeable delay and push other content around as it loads, which hurts Core Web Vitals.

1. 1

   Measure before and after

   Run the page through PageSpeed Insights on mobile before adding a widget, then again after. Compare the LCP and CLS numbers.

2. 2

   Place it below the fold

   Put reviews lower on the page, not in the hero section, so they do not delay the first thing people see.

3. 3

   Load it lazily

   Load the widget only when it scrolls into view, if the provider supports it, or ask your developer to.

4. 4

   Reserve space

   Give the widget container a fixed height so the page does not jump when reviews appear.

5. 5

   Use it on a few pages

   Home, a reviews page and key service pages are enough. It does not need to be on every blog post.

If your site is already slow, fix that first. Our Speed & SEO Fix (S$390) includes script clean-up and a before and after PageSpeed report.

Singapore rules: fake, edited and selective reviews

CCS's guidance on dark patterns names two review practices: businesses posing as customers to give themselves 5-star reviews, and deleting negative reviews from genuine customers. On your own website, the same logic applies to how you present reviews:

• Never write, buy or AI-generate reviews, or ask staff and family to post them.
• Do not edit review text, except for clearly marked trimming that does not change the meaning.
• Do not present a hand-picked set of 5-star quotes as your average rating.
• Show your real overall rating and review count if you show a rating at all.
• Disclose any incentive if you offered one for leaving a review.

Asking happy customers for reviews is fine, and a good habit. Our guide to automating Google review requests shows how to do it without breaking Google's rules.

Clinics, law firms and other regulated businesses

Some professions have their own rules on patient or client endorsements that apply on top of consumer law. The Singapore Medical Council issued an advisory in November 2020 telling doctors to refrain from online platforms that use patient feedback and ratings, because the SMC considers such feedback a form of patient endorsement that its Ethical Code restricts.

For a medical or dental clinic, that means a Google reviews widget on the clinic website is risky. Stick to factual information: services, doctors' qualifications, opening hours and how to book. Law firms, financial advisers and other regulated professions should check their own publicity or advertising rules before featuring client reviews. Responding to reviews on Google itself has its own pitfalls; see our guide to AI replies to Google reviews.

Do it yourself or get help?

Adding a reviews link and a few genuine, attributed quotes takes ten minutes and has no downside. A widget is a short job too, but test the speed impact and read the provider's terms.

Our Business Website (S$1,490) includes a Google Business Profile link and map, and we can add a reviews section that loads without slowing the page.