LocalCitationPro
Free tool · Reviews

Google review score calculator.

Work out exactly how many 5-star reviews it takes to lift your rating — and what a single bad one really costs you.

To go from 4.2 to 4.5

22

more 5-star reviews

That would put you on 4.451 — which Google displays as 4.5.

If you keep going

Your rating after more 5-star reviews

+5 reviews4.3(4.28)
+10 reviews4.3(4.34)
+25 reviews4.5(4.47)
+50 reviews4.6(4.61)
+100 reviews4.7(4.74)

What one bad review costs

A single 1-star review, from where you are now

It would take you to 4.135, shown as 4.1 — a visible drop on your listing.

Undoing it takes 1 more 5-star review just to get back to 4.2.

How this is calculated

Google shows one decimal place, so these figures are for the number that actually appears on your listing. A true average of 4.45 displays as 4.5, which means you reach the milestone slightly sooner than a plain average would suggest — we've accounted for that rather than overstating the work.

Never buy reviews or incentivise them — Google filters fakes and can strip a profile entirely. Ask real customers, at the moment they're happiest, with a direct link.

Reviews lift your rating. Citations lift your reach.

A great rating only helps if people find you. We list your business consistently across 150+ directories so they do.

See citation packages Check your map rankings

How your Google review score actually works

Short answer

Your Google rating is the average of every review you've ever received, which is why it moves so slowly: a business with 200 reviews needs roughly 25 new 5-star reviews to climb from 4.3 to 4.4. This calculator does that arithmetic for you — enter your current rating and review count, set a target, and it tells you exactly how many 5-star reviews the climb requires and what one new 1-star review would cost you.

Why does my rating barely move when I get new reviews?
Averages are heavy. Every historical review anchors the number, so the more reviews you have, the more new ones it takes to shift the displayed rating. That is also the good news in reverse: an established rating is equally hard to drag down with one bad review.
Do Google reviews affect map rankings?
Yes — review count, rating and recency all feed prominence, one of Google's three local ranking factors. Google's own documentation confirms that high-quality, positive reviews can improve local ranking. They also decide clicks: between two listings in the map pack, the 4.7 with 300 reviews wins the call.
What rating should I aim for?
4.5 to 4.9. Consumers filter at 4 stars, so anything below that loses traffic before quality is even considered — while a flawless 5.0 with many reviews can read as manufactured. A high-4 with steady, recent reviews is the most credible profile.
Can I pay to remove or bury bad reviews?
No — and be wary of anyone selling that. Google only removes reviews that violate its policies, which you can flag for free. The legitimate fix is volume: respond professionally to the bad review, then earn enough genuine 5-star reviews that the average recovers. We never sell fake reviews; the calculator exists to show what honest recovery takes.

Reviews are one of the three local ranking factors — citations and listings are the other groundwork: run the free audit to see where you stand on all of them.