By Elavenil Elangovan · Last checked: October 20, 2026

You don’t need to be on every review site. You need Google, plus the one or two sites your customers actually check before they call you.

This guide compares the best review sites for small business in the US and the UK, side by side, by industry. You’ll get one table to find your row, short platform notes, what we know about which sites AI tools cite, and a 4-step way to pick.

Prices come only from each platform’s own pages, checked October 20, 2026. Where evidence is thin, I’ll say so.

If you want the how-to for asking and replying, I covered that in how AI reads your reviews.

Start with Google, then add one or two more

If you have a shopfront or a service area, Google Business Profile comes first. That’s true in both countries, and it costs nothing. Google says “creating a Business Profile and listing your business on Google is free” (Google Business Profile).

Reviews also feed how you show up locally. On its page about how Google ranks local businesses, Google says prominence is based partly on how many reviews you have, and “More reviews and positive ratings can help your business’s local ranking.”

In BrightLocal’s 2026 consumer survey of 1,002 US adults, Google was the top site for reading reviews (71%) and for writing them (45%). It’s a vendor’s US survey, so UK readers should treat it as a direction.

That 71% is down from 83% the year before. People now use an average of six review sites, and use grew for Facebook, Tripadvisor, BBB, Apple Maps, Trustpilot, Healthgrades, Yellow Pages and Angi.

So Google is step one: the review site your customers check while pretending they aren’t checking. It’s rarely the only one. (How Google’s AI uses those reviews is covered in how AI reads your reviews.)

The best review sites for small business, by industry

Google comes first in every row. The table shows what to add next.

Industry	US: start here (after Google)	UK: start here (after Google)	Seen in AI answers?	Notes
Restaurants and cafes	Yelp, Tripadvisor	Tripadvisor	Yelp licenses content to ChatGPT (news report). Indirect data only	Yelp says don’t ask for reviews
Hotels and attractions	Tripadvisor	Tripadvisor	No data	Tripadvisor bans review gating
Trades and home services	Angi, BBB (Thumbtack optional)	Checkatrade, TrustATrader, Which? Trusted Traders, Yell	US: Angi, BBB, Thumbtack (vendor study). UK: Checkatrade, TrustATrader (small study)	Checkatrade and TrustATrader vet traders and check reviews
Healthcare and dental	Healthgrades	NHS website (NHS services in England)	US: no data. UK: nhs.uk cited (small study)	No medical claims in replies
Online shops and national brands	Trustpilot	Trustpilot	Yes, in a brand study promoted by Trustpilot	Free plan has a monthly invite limit
Professional services	BBB, plus your trade body’s directory	Yell, plus your trade body’s directory	No data	Check your trade body’s site
B2B software and agencies	G2, Clutch	G2, Clutch	AI Mode cites G2 more often (brand study)	G2 allows disclosed, capped incentives

Last checked: October 20, 2026. Sources are linked in the sections below.

Restaurants, cafes and hotels

In the US, Yelp and Tripadvisor sit next to Google. Yelp’s rule surprises most owners: “Don’t ask anyone to review your business,” and its software “may not recommend reviews that seem to be prompted” (Yelp’s rule against asking for reviews). So, Yelp vs Google reviews? Ask for Google reviews, and keep your Yelp page complete so Yelp reviews can arrive on their own.

In the UK, Tripadvisor is the clearer second pick. Yelp only offers advertising, and phone or chat support for businesses, in the US and Canada (Yelp’s support outside the US and Canada). That says nothing about how many UK diners use it.

Tripadvisor vs Google reviews for hotels? Do both. Tripadvisor says asking guests is fine (“Absolutely!”) as long as you offer no incentives (Tripadvisor’s owner FAQ), and the way guests leave positive and negative reviews “must be identical” (Tripadvisor’s review guidelines).

Trades and home services

This is where the two countries really part ways.

In the US, Angi gives you a free profile, and pros pay to advertise (Angi FAQ). Angi wants you to ask: “You should ask homeowners for reviews early and often” (Angi’s reviews FAQ).

BBB publishes free profiles for accredited and non-accredited businesses alike. Accreditation is optional, needs six months of trading and a B rating or better, and costs a fee “based on several factors, including the size of business” (BBB accreditation standards). Customer reviews don’t count toward the BBB rating, and BBB rejects incentivized reviews (BBB reviews FAQ). It’s a US and Canada pick.

Thumbtack is optional. There’s “no charge to join, no annual fees and no membership fees”, and pros pay for leads (Thumbtack for pros). I couldn’t open its review rules.

In the UK, the trade platforms check traders and reviews more closely.

• Checkatrade runs “up to 12 checks” on traders and asks customers to verify reviews by SMS or phone call (the Checkatrade Standard). There’s a free £0 profile, Approved at £30 a month and Growth from £59 a month, on 12-month memberships (Checkatrade pricing).
• TrustATrader validates 50% of positive reviews and investigates reviews under 3 stars before publishing them (how TrustATrader checks reviews). It charges a yearly fee but doesn’t publish the price (TrustATrader FAQ).
• Which? Trusted Traders charges a £248 assessment fee, then from £69 a month for up to 3 employees, and its moderators check every review (Which? Trusted Traders).
• Yell asks you to request reviews “from a broad range of customers,” with no incentives or pressure (Yell’s review guidance).

Pick the one your customers mention and claim the rest.

Healthcare and dental

In the US, Healthgrades lets providers claim a free profile, and Healthgrades checks replies to reviews before they go live (Healthgrades claim page, replying on Healthgrades). I couldn’t open Zocdoc’s pages to confirm how its reviews work.

In England, the NHS website’s ratings and reviews service lets people give feedback on health and care providers, and “allows providers to respond” (NHS ratings and reviews). Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own NHS sites. For private practices, Doctify appeared in one small UK study of AI answers, but I couldn’t open its own pages to check its rules.

Online shops and national brands

Trustpilot is the main pick in both countries. Is Trustpilot free for business? There’s a free plan with 50 automated invitations a month (Trustpilot UK pricing). Paid plans run on 12-month terms. UK Starter is from £119 a month per domain, billed annually, for new small businesses “up to $1M revenue” (yes, the UK page shows dollars). US Starter is from $99 a month, up to $5M revenue (Trustpilot US pricing).

Feefo is a paid, invite-only alternative, from £149 a month plus VAT in the UK (Feefo UK pricing) and $200 a month in the US (Feefo US pricing).

Professional services and B2B

For accountants, lawyers and consultants, Google comes first, then your professional body’s directory (I haven’t checked each one). BBB (US) and Yell (UK) are general options.

For B2B software, G2 plays by different rules. G2 itself offers reviewers nominal incentives such as gift cards, labels those reviews “Incentivized” and caps incentives at $100. Vendors can’t tie incentives to positive reviews or target only happy reviewers (G2’s community guidelines). Google and Trustpilot ban incentives outright, so don’t carry G2’s rules over.

I couldn’t open Capterra’s guidelines, so check them directly. For agencies, Clutch gives every company a free profile that can collect reviews (Clutch profile features).

Trustpilot, Yelp, Facebook and the rest: quick notes

Platform	Strongest in	Best for	Cost to start	Can you invite customers?
Google Business Profile	Both	Every local business	Free	Yes, fairly
Yelp	US and Canada	Restaurants, local services	Check site	No
Trustpilot	Both	Online shops, national brands	Free plan	Yes, fairly
Tripadvisor	Both	Hotels, restaurants, attractions	Check site	Yes, fairly
Facebook Recommendations	Both	Consumer brands, local	Check site	Not confirmed
BBB	US and Canada	Trades, services	Free profile	Not stated by BBB
Angi	US	Home services	Free profile	Yes
Checkatrade	UK	Trades	Free (£0)	Yes
TrustATrader	UK	Trades	Yearly fee, price not published	Yes
Which? Trusted Traders	UK	Home improvement, motor	£248 assessment + from £69/month	Not stated
Yell	UK	Local businesses	Check site	Yes, fairly
Apple Maps	Not every country	Any local business	Free (Apple Business)	Not addressed by Apple
G2	B2B software	Software companies	Check site	Yes, disclosed incentives allowed
Healthgrades	US	Doctors, providers	Free profile	Not stated
NHS website	England	NHS services	n/a	Not stated

Last checked: October 20, 2026. “Yes, fairly” means every customer, the same way, with no incentives.

Trustpilot. Invitations “must be fair, neutral, and unbiased with no incentives offered,” and you can’t steer unhappy customers to contact you instead (Trustpilot’s guidelines for businesses). Trustpilot vs Google reviews? Different jobs. Google helps you get found nearby. Trustpilot helps strangers trust you online.

Yelp. Don’t ask, as above. Since July 2026, ChatGPT can show Yelp reviews, ratings and photos under a licensing deal (Yelp’s deal with OpenAI, as reported by Axios). A neglected Yelp page now has a new reader.

Facebook. In BrightLocal’s US survey, Facebook was the second most-used site for writing reviews (34%). I couldn’t open Meta’s help pages on Recommendations, so I won’t describe the rules. Claim your Page, keep it accurate and reply.

Apple Maps. Ratings, not written reviews: thumbs up or down by category, and the feature “isn’t available in all countries or regions” (Apple’s ratings help page). Apple doesn’t list which, so I can’t confirm the UK. You manage your place card in Apple Business, which replaced Business Connect on April 14, 2026 (Apple Newsroom).

Bing Places. Available “in limited markets”, and Bing “might partner with third-party content providers, such as local restaurant review sites” (how Bing delivers results). Claim it, but don’t chase reviews there.

Which review sites show up in AI answers

AI tools lean on different sites. The evidence is mostly vendor or agency studies, so treat it as a pattern.

US and Canada, home services. Cheers, which sells AI visibility software, studied 34,742 AI answers to home-services questions from August 31 to September 20, 2026 (Cheers’ study of AI answers):

• ChatGPT cited Expertise.com in 32.1% of answers, Angi or HomeAdvisor in 29.4%, HomeStars in 16.0% and BBB in 14.5%. Yelp was cited in 0.6% and Google in 0.1%. Still, about a third of the rated business cards on ChatGPT’s map linked to Yelp.
• Google AI Mode cited Google’s own pages in 95.5% and Yelp in 19.7%.
• Perplexity cited BBB in 31.0%, Expertise.com in 30.9%, Angi or HomeAdvisor in 30.8%, Thumbtack in 20.0% and Yelp in 13.9%.

Cheers itself calls these associations, not a ranking formula.

Brands and ecommerce. Seer Interactive looked at 804,491 AI responses about 1,926 brands, mainly from March 2026. Trustpilot was the most-cited review site, by more than double. Brands with no Trustpilot profile had a median citation rate of 1%, against 53.5% for brands with even a small one (Seer Interactive’s study). Two labels matter. Trustpilot has promoted the study, and that “citation rate” counts answers that cite Trustpilot, so it partly measures itself.

The UK. Two small studies, and they disagree with each other:

• Whito’s study of 159 Google AI Mode answers across 20 UK towns found Checkatrade cited in 39% of answers, TrustATrader in 16% and Which? Trusted Traders in 9%. Trustpilot appeared in just 2 answers, and Yelp in none.
• CitedGEO’s study of 496 Perplexity answers for UK local businesses found Trustpilot was the most-cited domain (190 answers), followed by Yell (87) and Yelp (82). Checkatrade, Doctify, TrustATrader and nhs.uk also appeared. Only 3 of 40 repeated questions gave the same list of businesses.

Same country, two engines, very different sources. Check your own trade and town.

What we don’t know

• No AI engine publishes which review sites it trusts, or how much.
• The Cheers data covers US and Canadian home services only.
• The UK data is two small studies, one engine each.
• The Seer study covers brands, not local businesses.

So ask AI tools what your customers ask and note which sites they cite. I’ll cover the full method in how to get ChatGPT to recommend your business.

How to pick your platforms in 4 steps

1. Google first. If you have a location or service area, start with your Google Business Profile.
2. Add your industry’s site. Find your row in the table and add the platform your customers check.
3. Add the site AI tools cite, if it’s different. Ask three customer-style questions in two AI tools and note the sources. If one review site keeps appearing, that’s your third.
4. Claim and correct the rest. Name, address, phone, hours and category, accurate everywhere. Then leave them alone.

My rule of thumb: pick 2, not 11. BrightLocal found 74% of US consumers only care about reviews from the last three months (BrightLocal). In my view, spreading your asks across many sites leaves every profile looking quiet. Two busy profiles beat eleven sleepy ones.

Check the “Can you invite customers?” column before asking anywhere. For the asking itself, see how to ask for reviews without breaking the rules.

When to get help

Two platforms are easy to run alone. Several locations, or one profile causing real trouble, is a different job.

If you’d rather hand it off, my agency RankUp offers brand reputation management help across platforms.

FAQ

Your next step

Open the table, find your row and claim the two sites in it this week. Then claim the rest, fix any wrong details and leave them alone.

Not sure which row is yours? DM me on LinkedIn or X and I’ll point you in the right direction.

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