Most contractors we talk to feel good about their reviews. The rating is high, the old customers were happy, and the profile looks fine at a glance. The problem is that homeowners in 2026 are not looking at a glance anymore, and what they check first is often not the stars.
Key takeaways
- 74% of homeowners look for reviews from the last three months, so a stale profile hurts even at 4.8 stars.
- 80% are more likely to hire a business that replies to every review, as long as the reply sounds human.
- A simple weekly habit of asking, replying and tracking keeps your reviews working for you.
Homeowners now check the date before the rating
BrightLocal’s Local Consumer Review Survey 2026, which polled 1,002 US adults in February, found that 74% of consumers look for reviews written in the last three months, and almost a third want to see reviews from the last two weeks. So when a homeowner in Boca Raton opens your profile and sees that your newest review is from March, a 4.8 rating starts to feel like old news.
74%
of consumers look for reviews written in the last three months.
BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026
The same survey shows that the bar keeps going up. 31% of consumers will only use a business rated 4.5 stars or higher, which is almost double the 17% from the year before, and 41% now say they always read reviews before choosing a business.
Your replies are part of your reputation
Reviews are no longer a one way street. According to the same BrightLocal data, 80% of consumers are more likely to use a business that replies to all of its reviews, while half of them are turned off by generic, copy and paste responses.
This is good news for contractors, because a thoughtful reply is something you control. A response that mentions the job, the neighborhood and the person who did the work shows the next homeowner that real people stand behind the company.
Three signs your reviews are quietly working against you
1. Your newest review is more than 30 days old
Even with a great rating, a long silence makes people wonder if you are still busy or still in business.
2. Half of your reviews have no reply
A homeowner reading a three star review with no answer will assume the worst, even if the issue was solved months ago.
3. Your replies all sound the same
“Thank you for your business!” pasted under every review tells people nobody is really reading.
A simple system any crew can run
You do not need a big tool to fix this. You need a habit that runs every week, whether the office is busy or not.
- Ask at the right moment. The best time to ask for a review is when the job is finished and the customer is still happy, usually on the last day on site. Send a text with your direct Google review link that same afternoon, because a request sent two weeks later rarely gets done.
- Make it easy. One link, one short message and the name of the crew lead who did the work. People are more likely to write something specific when you remind them who helped them.
- Reply within 48 hours. Thank the person by name, mention the type of job and the city, and keep it human. For a negative review, stay calm, own what you can and move the conversation to the phone.
- Track it. Write down how many reviews you get each month and how fast you reply. If the number drops, you will see it before your customers do.
Why this matters even more now
Reviews are not only read by people. When homeowners ask ChatGPT or Google’s AI Mode for “the best roofer near me,” those tools pull from review platforms and business profiles to decide who to recommend. A steady flow of recent, detailed reviews gives them more to work with, which means your profile helps you in places you cannot even see. That is a big part of how we approach local visibility for South Florida contractors.
Not sure where your reviews stand?
Our free 2-Minute Marketing Checkup looks at your Google presence, your reviews and your website, and shows you where you are losing calls. It takes less time than a coffee break, and you get a clear picture of what to fix first.