Three ways to show Google reviews on your site
There are three broad approaches. You can copy reviews by hand, you can use Google's own building blocks, or you can use a widget that reads official place data and displays it for you. Each one has trade offs.
| Method | Effort | Freshness | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copy by hand | High, repeated | Only when you update it | Any review you choose, with care for attribution |
| Google building blocks | Low | Live | A map, your place and rating, a link to all reviews |
| Widget on official place data | Low after setup | Refreshed on a schedule | Reviews the official data exposes, with attribution |
Adding Google reviews by hand
The simplest method is to read your reviews on your Business Profile and copy the strongest ones into your page as text. It costs nothing beyond time and gives you full control over layout.
If you go this way, keep the reviewer's exact words, show the reviewer's name as Google displays it, mark any trim with an ellipsis and link to your Google reviews so visitors can check. Note the date you copied each quote, because you will need to refresh them. The downside is maintenance: every new strong review means another manual edit, and old quotes quietly go stale.
- Exact words, name as displayed, trims marked
- A link to your reviews on Google next to the quotes
- A reminder to recheck and refresh regularly
Using Google's own building blocks
Google gives you a few simple tools. You can embed a map of your business location on a contact page, which shows your place and lets visitors open your profile. You can link to your reviews from your site with a button such as "Read our reviews on Google". And you can share your review link with customers to collect more reviews.
These options are reliable and stay within Google's terms, but they do not put the text of individual reviews on your page in a designed layout. They send visitors to Google instead of keeping the proof next to your call to action.
What official place data can and cannot do
Developers can read reviews through Google's official place data. This is the legitimate way for a widget to show Google review text, and it comes with real limits that every buyer should know.
- Each request returns only a handful of reviews for a place, typically up to five, sorted by relevance or by most recent
- It does not return your full review history, so a widget built on it will not show every review you have ever received
- Google's terms require attribution, both to Google and to each reviewer as displayed
- The terms also limit how long the content may be stored, so widgets refresh it rather than keeping a permanent copy
Owners with approved access to Google's Business Profile tools can read the reviews of their own verified locations, which is a different route meant for managing your profile.
Any tool that promises to pull thousands of Google reviews by scraping pages is asking you to take a risk with Google's terms. We cover that in more detail on our Google reviews scraper page, which explains what we collect and what we do not.
Adding Google reviews on popular site builders
The general pattern is the same everywhere: you get an embed code from your widget tool, or write the quotes by hand, then place that code in an HTML or embed block. Menu names change over time, so treat these as general steps.
WordPress
Use a Custom HTML block in the block editor to paste an embed code, or use a plugin that adds a shortcode or a block. Place it on the page, preview and publish. Our reviews plugin for WordPress page covers the shortcode and block options.
Webflow
Add an Embed element to the page or a symbol, paste the code and publish. Custom code is available on Webflow site plans that allow it. For collections of quotes, see our Webflow testimonials page.
Wix
Use the Embed Code element, choose the option to embed a widget or custom code, paste the code and position the frame. Check how it looks on the mobile layout, which Wix edits separately.
Squarespace
Add a Code block to a section, paste the embed code and save. Code blocks are available on Squarespace plans that support them. Check spacing on mobile, because embedded frames may need a set height.
Speed, mobile and design
A reviews widget should not slow your page. Prefer embeds that load after the main content and serve reviews from a cache instead of calling Google on every page view. Check the mobile layout, where long quotes and fixed heights often break. Match the widget's fonts and colors to your site so it looks like part of the page, not an ad.
- Loads after the main content
- Cached reviews, refreshed on a schedule
- Readable on a phone, with short quotes first
When a multi source widget helps
Google reviews are only part of your proof. A B2B software company usually has more detailed reviews on G2 and Capterra, an app has thousands of reviews on the App Store and Google Play, and an ecommerce brand may have many on Trustpilot. Showing only Google means showing only the reviews the official data happens to expose.
A multi source widget combines Google with those other sources, removes duplicates and lets you pick the strongest quote for each page. Our Google reviews widget shows Google reviews from official place data next to reviews from 12+ other sources, each with its author and a link back. Read how the review aggregator combines them, and our guide on website testimonials for where to place them.
Getting more Google reviews worth showing
A widget can only show what exists, and official place data exposes a handful of reviews at a time. The best way to get stronger quotes on your page is to have more recent, specific reviews on your profile.
- Share your review link right after a moment of success, such as a finished project or a solved support case
- Ask every satisfied customer the same way, instead of picking only the happiest ones, which Google's policies discourage
- Never offer discounts or gifts in exchange for reviews, and never write reviews for yourself or ask staff to do it
- Reply to reviews, both good and critical, because visitors read replies too
- Suggest what a helpful review covers, for example the problem you solved and how long it took, without telling customers what to say
Our article on requesting testimonials has timing tips and request templates you can adapt for Google reviews.
Rules to respect when showing Google reviews
- Show the reviewer's name as Google displays it, and the Google attribution
- Do not edit a review's meaning; trims only with a visible ellipsis
- Do not mark up third party reviews in structured data as if they were your own ratings
- Do not offer incentives for reviews in a way that breaks Google's policies or the FTC rules
For the legal side, read our article on using online reviews as testimonials.
Google reviews with TestimonialScraper
TestimonialScraper reads Google reviews through official place data, within its limits, and combines them with G2, Capterra, Trustpilot, app stores, Reddit, X, LinkedIn, YouTube and your own imports. Every quote keeps its author and source link, nothing is rewritten and your widget refreshes on its own. Paste your embed code into WordPress, Webflow, Wix, Squarespace or any HTML page. Compare plans on the pricing page.