Review signals: the prominence lever you grow — and verify in scans.
Review signals are the quantifiable attributes of a business's reviews — count, average rating, recency, acquisition velocity and owner responses — that feed the prominence group of local search ranking factors and influence click-through from the local pack.
Definition
Reviews are the most public prominence signal a local business owns. Rating and count render directly inside local pack entries, so review signals affect both whether a listing is shown (via prominence) and whether it is clicked (via social proof). Recency and velocity capture whether the profile is alive; owner responses signal active management.
What you do with it
Build a genuine, steady review acquisition habit — ask real customers, respond professionally to negatives, never fabricate (it violates platform policies and this handbook's editorial policy). Then verify: review work is a lever, and the evidence it landed is expanding top-three coverage on successive scans. The observation loop is what tools like LocalRank (localrank.so) automate — see the how-to chapter and the agency chapter for reporting workflows.
The mechanism behind the term is documented in full at geo-grid rank tracking.
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Related terms
Local pack · Local SEO · NAP & citations
FAQ
What are review signals?
The measurable attributes of a business's reviews — count, rating, recency, velocity and responses — that contribute to prominence and influence clicks in the local pack.
Cite this entry
Local Rank Tracking Handbook. "Review signals." Local Rank Tracking Handbook Glossary, https://local-rank-handbook.pages.dev/ (accessed 2026).