Google reviews and Checkatrade reviews support different customer journeys. Google reviews appear with a Business Profile in Search and Maps. Checkatrade reviews help people assess a member within Checkatrade's marketplace and can be reused only under the platform's current terms.
There is no universal evidence that one review channel gets every tradesperson more work. Keep both when they contribute suitable, profitable enquiries. If time is limited, choose the next request using your real enquiry sources, contract and customer journey rather than arbitrary review-count targets.
What Google reviews can do
Reviews appear beside an eligible Google Business Profile in Maps and Search, giving searchers recent feedback while they assess local options. Google's public local-ranking guidance says results are mainly based on relevance, distance and prominence. It says more reviews and positive ratings can help local ranking.
That does not mean each new review moves a business up a fixed number of places. Google publishes no threshold at 30, 50 or 100 reviews, and distance and relevance can produce a different order for different searchers. A competitor with fewer reviews may rank above a business with more.
Reviews can also help a customer understand the service. Specific, genuine accounts of punctuality, communication or workmanship may answer practical questions, but the business must not dictate the wording or publish invented feedback.
A Google review is hosted on Google's platform. Do not describe it as an asset the business owns permanently. Profile access, eligibility, moderation and display remain subject to Google's systems and policies. Keep independent records of the underlying customer relationship and permission for any separate case study you create.
What Checkatrade reviews can do
Checkatrade reviews help customers compare tradespeople using its directory, profiles and marketplace features. Their value depends on whether the business has a current profile, whether customers in its area use the platform, and whether those enquiries fit the work it wants.
The ownership point is often misstated. Checkatrade's current Master Service Terms say the user who posts a review retains ownership. The user gives Checkatrade rights to use it, and Checkatrade may allow an approved tradesperson to reproduce it in business materials when it is fair, accurate, attributed to Checkatrade and linked back to the listing online.
Those reproduction rights cease after the member's agreement ends, when the reviews must be removed from its business materials under the terms. This does not mean Checkatrade owns the review, and it does mean a member should not assume that copied platform reviews can remain on its website forever.
Read the current agreement and the review-widget conditions before displaying a Checkatrade score or review outside the platform.
Which channel should you ask for?
Start with where the customer found and assessed the business.
- If a customer discovered the business through Google or direct search, a Google review can help future searchers in that journey.
- If Checkatrade supplied the enquiry and the business is maintaining the membership, follow Checkatrade's review process and terms.
- If both channels matter, give the customer a simple choice rather than repeatedly pressuring them to post twice.
The best allocation can change. A roofer may find Checkatrade useful for a particular postcode while Google supplies more direct enquiries elsewhere. Record the source, suitability, quote, win and contribution so review effort supports the channels that are actually working.
Do not use a review request to turn a complaint into a condition. Resolve service issues through the proper customer process and welcome honest feedback.
Follow Google's review rules
Google allows businesses to ask customers for reviews using a review link or QR code, but the contribution must reflect a genuine experience. Its policy prohibits:
- payment, discounts, free goods or services in exchange for a review;
- incentives to change or remove a negative review;
- selectively asking only customers expected to leave positive feedback;
- discouraging or prohibiting negative reviews;
- reviews affected by personal or professional conflicts of interest.
Ask consistently at a sensible point after completed work. Keep the message neutral and make participation optional. For example:
Thanks for choosing us. If you would like to share an honest review of the work, you can use this link: [review link].
Do not offer a prize draw, future discount or gift. Do not ask the customer to mention keywords, a town or a five-star score.
Apply the current Checkatrade process and terms separately when seeking a Checkatrade review. Compliance on one platform does not automatically satisfy the other.
How many reviews are enough?
There is no defensible universal target. Compare the business with real alternatives in the same service area and category, then focus on a steady, honest process after eligible jobs.
Raw count and average rating need context. Look at:
- whether the profile information is complete and accurate;
- whether reviews describe the services the business currently provides;
- whether recent customers receive the same neutral opportunity to respond;
- whether the business replies helpfully without disclosing private information;
- whether calls and enquiries are suitable and turn into profitable work.
A sudden batch is not inherently better than a smaller natural flow. Never manufacture activity to satisfy a cadence target.
Respond without creating a new problem
Replying to reviews can show that feedback is read. Keep the response factual and proportionate. Thank positive reviewers without revealing extra details about the job. For criticism, acknowledge the concern, avoid an argument and move account-specific resolution to a private channel.
Checkatrade's terms require review responses to come from someone personally engaged in the work and to be accurate, professional, reasonable and lawful. Google also applies its content policies to owner responses.
If you cannot identify the reviewer, do not accuse them publicly of being fake. Use the platform's reporting route and write a calm response that does not disclose customer records.
Displaying reviews on your website
Reviews can support service and project evidence on a website, but use an authorised integration or the rights provided by the platform. Keep ratings and counts current, attribute the source accurately and avoid presenting a selected quote as representative of guaranteed outcomes.
For Checkatrade material, the current terms require attribution and an online link back when the member is permitted to reproduce it. For Google material, check the current API, widget or brand rules used by your implementation. A screenshot copied once can become misleading as the live rating or review status changes.
An independently written case study is a different asset. Obtain permission, make the scope clear and retain the evidence supporting factual claims.
Measure enquiries by source
Review activity is useful only if the business can connect visibility to commercial outcomes. For Google, inspect Business Profile and website performance while recognising that a click or call is not automatically a new lead. For Checkatrade, reconcile the platform's enquiries with the business's own job records.
Track the same funnel for each channel:
received enquiry → suitable enquiry → quote → won job → contribution
Compare the full membership, advertising and management cost against won work over a representative period. Reviews may also support trust for people who first heard about the business elsewhere, so attribution will never be perfect. State that limit rather than inventing a precise return.
If you want help checking the public profiles and measurement currently in place, request a free visibility audit. The audit can identify evidence and gaps; it cannot promise a ranking, review total or number of jobs.
Official sources checked
- Google Business Profile Help: tips to improve local ranking — accessed 8 September 2026
- Google Business Profile Help: tips to get more reviews — accessed 8 September 2026
- Google Maps policy: incentivised or biased reviews — accessed 8 September 2026
- Google Business Profile Help: prohibited and restricted content — accessed 8 September 2026
- Checkatrade Master Service Terms — clauses 50–53 on reviews; accessed 8 September 2026