Review and AggregateRating basics
A Review is a single opinion with an author, rating and text. An AggregateRating summarizes many reviews with an average and a count. Both are structured data types that can describe a product, service or other item, as long as the reviews are actually about it and visible to users.
The self-serving rule
Google has said that reviews of a local business or organization that are placed on that same business's website are treated as self-serving, and star results for those are not shown. Adding aggregate ratings for your own company to your own site's markup is therefore unlikely to give you stars, and may be flagged. Check Google's current documentation, because the rules are updated from time to time.
Where review markup can make sense
It fits editorial reviews of products or media on a site that is independent of the item, or product pages for goods you sell where the reviews are from verified buyers and are shown on the page. For a service business, the clearer path is to collect reviews on your Google Business Profile, where ratings appear in the local results.
You can still display testimonials on your site for visitors. Just do not expect markup to turn them into stars.
Do not do these things
Do not mark up reviews that are not visible on the page. Do not invent ratings, copy reviews from other platforms without clear sourcing, or pay for fake feedback. Do not hide negative reviews while marking up only positive ones. Do not use an aggregate that does not reflect the real set of reviews. Fake or misleading markup can lead to penalties and, in some places, legal trouble under consumer protection rules.
If you are unsure about a particular use, ask a professional before publishing.
A healthier plan for reputation
Ask every happy customer for a review in the place that matters most, usually your Google profile. Reply politely to all reviews. Show a few real quotes on your pages with the reviewer's first name and the platform named. Keep screenshots or links so you can verify them.
Test any markup you add with the Rich Results Test, and review it when Google changes guidelines. Stars are a bonus. Trust built by real feedback is the goal.
Questions to ask before adding markup
Who wrote these reviews and where were they collected? Can a visitor see every one of them on this exact page? Is the item being reviewed clearly something other than my own company? Would I be comfortable if a search engine employee compared the markup to the page? If any answer is uncertain, skip the markup.
A page of honest testimonials without stars still persuades. A page with questionable markup puts your whole site's rich results at risk.
Policies on review markup change, so bookmark Google's structured data guidelines and revisit them once a year. If a plugin adds review markup automatically, check what it outputs and switch it off if it does not match the rules.
Common questions
Can I get star ratings on my service pages?
Usually not for your own business reviews on your own site, per Google's published guidance. Check the current rules.
Is it okay to show testimonials without markup?
Yes. They help visitors, and no markup is needed.
Can I copy Google reviews to my site?
Quote them accurately and attribute them, following the platform's terms. Do not mark them up as your own ratings.
This guide is general information. Search engines change how they work and their guidelines; check Google's current documentation for your situation. Nobody can guarantee a ranking.