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Try our Star Rating Google Review Calculator Now!
⭐ Google Reviews Calculator
Now that you’ve started learning about the importance of Google reviews for your business, you’re probably worried about getting the best ratings and feedback from your customers.
It’s understandable that in the early phase of your business, you might have missed out on certain aspects of customer satisfaction—leading to some not-so-great reviews on Google.
And now, you want to improve your ratings but don’t know how long it will take to reach your desired score?
This is where the Google Review Calculator comes into play. The calculator will tell you how many five-star ratings you need to reach your target, based on your current rating.
How to use this Google Review Calculator?
To use this calculator, you just need to enter:
- Your current rating
- Number of ratings
- Your desired rating
Using these details, the calculator will show you how many 5-star ratings you need to reach your desired Google Rating.
It works as a 5 star rating calculator for any average out of five, not only for Google. The arithmetic behind a Google star rating is the same one used by Amazon, Trustpilot, Yelp, Facebook and app store ratings, so you can use this star rating calculator for a review score on any of those platforms — enter the current average, the number of ratings, and the target.
The Google Review Calculator gives you a clear goal to work upon while helping you improve your products and services with customer satisfaction as your top priority.
Try it out before we dive deeper into understanding Google Reviews and Ratings.
How to Calculate Your Google Review Rating (the formula)
Your Google star rating is just an average. Google adds up every star rating you have received and divides by the number of ratings, then displays the result to one decimal place.
Current rating = (sum of all star ratings) ÷ (number of ratings)
So a business with four 5-star ratings and one 1-star rating sits at (5+5+5+5+1) ÷ 5 = 4.2.
To work out how many new 5-star ratings you need to reach a target, rearrange it. If C is your current rating, N is how many ratings you have, and T is the target:
5-star ratings needed = N × (T − C) ÷ (5 − T)
Round up, because you cannot leave a partial review.
The rounding shortcut, and why the calculator gives a smaller number
There is a wrinkle worth knowing. Google displays your rating to one decimal place, which means your profile shows 4.5 as soon as your true average passes 4.45 — you never have to reach a clean 4.5 for shoppers to see 4.5.
So if what you care about is the number on your profile rather than the number behind it, subtract 0.05 from your target:
5-star ratings needed (to display T) = N × (T − 0.05 − C) ÷ (5 − T + 0.05)
The calculator at the top of this page uses this version, because the displayed rating is what customers actually see.
A worked example
Say you are at 4.2 stars across 100 ratings and you want your profile to show 4.5:
100 × (4.45 − 4.2) ÷ (5 − 4.45) = 100 × 0.25 ÷ 0.55 = 45.45, so 46 five-star ratings
Check it: (4.2 × 100 + 5 × 46) ÷ 146 = 650 ÷ 146 = 4.452, which Google displays as 4.5.
If you want a true 4.5 rather than a displayed one, use the first formula: 100 × (4.5 − 4.2) ÷ (5 − 4.5) = 60 five-star ratings. The gap between 46 and 60 is the rounding doing the work.
A second one: 3.8 stars across 50 ratings, targeting a displayed 4.5:
50 × (4.45 − 3.8) ÷ (5 − 4.45) = 50 × 0.65 ÷ 0.55 = 59.1, so 60 five-star ratings
Two things the formula tells you immediately
- A perfect 5.0 is mathematically unreachable once you have even one rating below 5. Look at the denominator: as T approaches 5, (5 − T) approaches zero and the number of ratings needed runs away to infinity. If you are chasing 5.0, you are chasing something arithmetic will not give you.
- The more ratings you already have, the harder each move gets. N multiplies the whole result, so a business with 1,000 ratings needs ten times as many 5-star reviews to move the same distance as one with 100. Fixing a low rating is far cheaper early than late.
The calculator above does this arithmetic for you — enter your numbers and it returns the figure without the algebra.
How Many Google Reviews Do You Need?
Two different questions hide inside this one, and they have different answers.
To look credible at all, you need enough ratings that the average means something. A 5.0 from three people reads as thin; a 4.6 from 80 reads as real. Volume is itself a trust signal, separate from the score.
To hit a specific rating, use the formula above — the number depends entirely on where you are now and how many ratings you already carry.
There is also a recency effect worth knowing: reviews carry more weight with readers when they are recent. A steady trickle of new ratings does more for you than a burst followed by two years of silence, which is why the collection process below matters more than any one campaign.
How will this Google Review Calculator help you build online reputation?
Done trying it out?
So, how many 5-star ratings do you need to reach your target?
200? 500?
Whatever that number is, that’s your next goal to build a strong online presence for your business.
You need to look into every aspect of your business before launching this campaign.
First, you need to see if there is any issue in the products or services you are offering. If it’s an ecommerce business, you need to see if your customers are receiving the products in a damaged state. In that case you need to fix your delivery process, or change the delivery partners.
Once you fix your product related issues, you need to set up a review and ratings collection process that is foolproof.
According to helpscout.com, only 36% customers share their reviews, but more than 85% read online reviews before going ahead with a purchase. Yes, the numbers feel a bit one-sided.
This is why getting reviews is one of the most challenging aspects of building online reputation. Reviews are only one part of it — what people find when they search your brand name matters just as much, and if you would rather hand that work to a specialist, our roundup of the best online reputation management companies compares who does what.
For getting most reviews and ratings from your customers you need to make it easy for your customers to give reviews.
Ways to Collect Google Reviews Easily
Ratings also feed local search. Google uses review signals as one input into local rankings, so a review program is doing double duty — building trust with the people who read it, and supporting visibility in the map pack. If you are working on the wider picture, our guide to the types of SEO services covers where local and reputation work sit alongside the rest, and our SEO services page covers how we run it.
Telling your customers face-to-face to leave a Google review (with a warm smile on your face) is great, but not always effective.
Most customers either forget or skip it, especially if they weren’t entirely happy, and, even if they smiled back.
That’s where other channels come in, to help you collect reviews more effectively.
Here are different ways to collect reviews,
Review Request Link
This works best for online businesses where you have collected a contact number from your customer. You can create a link to your Google Business page and send it across through Whatsapp or SMS to your customers requesting a review. If you can personalize it, it will work the best!
QR Code
You can either place a QR code at your offline store, display it on your website, product packaging bags, event banners, brochures, or any physical marketing material you are sharing with your customer. Scanning a QR code and sharing a review is friction-free for customers.
Third Party Tools
Different tools are available on subscription basis that can automate the process of review collection and follow-ups for you. Some popular tools are Hubspot, Mailchimp, Sendinblue (now known as Brevo), Square POS, and Fresha. They share the review links and follow up at regular time intervals that you have set.
Offer Incentives
Offer incentives to your customers like a discount on their next purchase, or an entry in a lucky draw, for an honest review. This is commonly done by new brands who are looking for a loyal customer base who can make repeat purchases.
Telecalling
One of the most traditional methods that still works for small businesses. You can directly call your customers after a few days of their purchase and try to know their experience. Ask them open-ended questions trying to know their pulse. You can share the review request link over the call.
We recommend using a combination of these ways to collect Google reviews in the best way.
For ecommerce businesses, review collection works best when it is wired into the post-purchase flow rather than run as a separate campaign — our guide to proven ways to increase ecommerce sales covers where that fits, and our digital marketing services cover running it as an ongoing program.
Tips To Make Review Process Easy
Keep Minimum Steps
Having a complicated review submission process is one of the major reasons why only a small part of customers shares their reviews. Keep the process simple, limiting it to 1-2 steps.
Don’t ask too early
Asking a review too early can make you sound pushy and can lead to losing credibility. Wait for some time till your customer has actually used your product. This will help you get better reviews and improve your product quality as well. You can also learn about how to get positive reviews through surveys here.
FAQs
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Is this google review calculator free to use?
Yes, this calculator is free and unlimited to use.
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Is it possible to remove low ratings and bad reviews from Google?
Yes, but only if the reviews or ratings go against Google’s policy guidelines. If it is a genuine customer who was not happy with your service, you can’t remove those ratings. It is suggested to improve your services.
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How many Google reviews do you need to have a good online presence?
For your customers to perceive your business as trustworthy, it is better to have at least 20 positive online reviews.
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What is the best way to ask customers for reviews?
You can send a review request link, place a QR code at your store, or even have a face to face conversation with your customers.
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Can I fake 5-star reviews to improve my rating?
No. It is not recommended to add fake reviews to your Google Business profile. It is unethical and can result in your profile getting deleted. Google can find fake reviews.
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What is the benefit of this Google Review Calculator?
This calculator helps you set a clear goal and set up a process to collect 5 star ratings from your customers.
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How is a Google star rating calculated?
Google adds up every star rating a business has received and divides by the number of ratings, then shows the result to one decimal place. To reach a target as a true average, use N × (T − C) ÷ (5 − T). Because the displayed figure is rounded, your profile shows the target as soon as the average passes T − 0.05, so to change what customers see use N × (T − 0.05 − C) ÷ (5 − T + 0.05). Round up either way.
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Can I get back to a 5.0 rating on Google?
Not once you have a single rating below 5 stars. In the formula, the divisor is (5 − target), so as the target approaches 5.0 the number of new 5-star ratings required grows without limit. A realistic target is 4.7 to 4.9.
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Can I use this as a 5 star rating calculator for other platforms?
Yes. Any rating displayed as an average out of five — Amazon, Trustpilot, Yelp, Facebook, app store ratings — uses the same arithmetic. Enter your current average, your number of ratings and your target.
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Why does my rating move so slowly now?
Because the number of existing ratings multiplies everything. The formula scales with N, so a business with 1,000 ratings needs roughly ten times as many new 5-star reviews to move the same distance as one with 100. Rating problems are much cheaper to fix early.
