A Google reviews widget puts your real, recent reviews on your own website, updated automatically, so a prospect does not have to leave your page to check you out. Put it where people decide, not only on the home page: on service pages, next to the booking form and on the contact page. Show reviews honestly, which means not quietly hiding the critical ones while implying the widget shows everything. This guide covers where a widget earns its place, which layout to use, the rules on selective display in the US and UK, how to use reviews in sales follow-up, and how to add a widget from the levelpartner.ai platform.
The view this guide takes
A widget is not decoration. It does one job: answer "can I trust these people?" at the moment the visitor is weighing whether to call or book. That means placement and freshness matter far more than design.
A wall of five-star quotes with no dates also does less than you might think. Prospects have learned to discount testimonials a business picked by hand. A live feed with names, dates and the occasional measured four-star review, each with a reply from you, reads as real. That is the point of pulling reviews from Google and Facebook rather than typing quotes into the page.
Where to place reviews on your site
Think about the pages where a visitor hesitates.
- Service pages. Someone reading about your mortgage advice or your website builds wants proof about that service. If your reviews mention the service, this is where they work hardest.
- Next to the booking form or calendar. A short strip of reviews beside the form answers the last doubt before someone commits to a call.
- The contact page. Visitors arrive here with intent; a few recent reviews reassure them they are in the right place.
- Landing pages for campaigns. Paid traffic arrives cold, and social proof matters more when the visitor has never heard of you.
- The home page, briefly. A compact badge or a short carousel is enough here.
Avoid putting a long, heavy widget at the very top of a page, above your headline and call to action. Reviews support the decision; they should not push the button below the fold on a phone.
Choosing a layout
The platform's widgets come in a few shapes. Pick by page, not by taste.
| Layout | Works best for |
|---|---|
| Carousel | Home pages and narrow spaces; one review at a time, little vertical space |
| Grid | A dedicated reviews or testimonials page, where visitors want to scan many |
| List | Service pages, where full review text and replies add context |
Whatever you pick, check it on a phone first. Many visitors to a service business site browse on a phone, and a widget that overflows the screen or loads slowly costs more than it gives. Keep it below the main content and make sure your page still reads well if the widget is slow to load.
The rules on showing reviews
Once you put reviews on your own site, you are presenting them as evidence. Regulators treat that seriously.
In the US, the FTC's rule on consumer reviews, in force since October 2024, makes it a violation to suggest that the reviews you display represent all or most of the reviews you received while you hide some because of their rating or negative tone. The rule allows you to leave out reviews for reasons that apply whatever the sentiment: abusive or defamatory content, someone else's personal information, reviews you reasonably believe are fake, or content unrelated to your business. The FTC's Endorsement Guides add that once you feature or repost a review, you have adopted it as part of your own marketing.
In the UK, the DMCC Act bans false or misleading review information from April 2025, and the CMA's guidance points to cherry-picking positive reviews and suppressing negative ones as examples. Relying on old reviews that no longer reflect your current service can mislead too.
In practice that gives you three habits:
- Show all reviews from a source, or say clearly what the widget shows, such as "a selection of recent Google reviews".
- Do not set a minimum star rating while labelling the widget "what our clients say", as if it were complete.
- Keep the feed recent. A widget that still leads with reviews from several years ago misrepresents the firm you are today.
Our guide to review gating and the review rules covers the same rules from the request side.
How to add a widget on the platform
- Open Reputation and check your Google and Facebook pages are connected.
- Open the Widgets tab and choose a carousel, grid or list layout.
- Choose which sources the widget shows and leave the rating filter open.
- Adjust colours and fonts so the widget matches your site.
- Preview the widget at phone width and at desktop width.
- Copy the widget code.
- On your website or landing page, add a custom HTML or code element where the widget should appear.
- Paste the code, save and publish the page.
- Open the live page on a phone and check that new reviews appear after they are posted.
If your site is built on the platform's own website or funnel builder, add the code with a custom code element on the page. On another website system, use whatever block that system offers for embedding HTML.
Imagine a consultancy with a home page, three service pages and a booking page. It might put a compact carousel under the home page introduction, a list widget near the bottom of each service page, and a short strip of three recent reviews beside the booking calendar. Nothing goes above the headline. If the firm only has reviews that mention one service, it would show the widget on that service page first and wait for more reviews before adding it to the others.
Filtering the widget to five stars only and calling it "our reviews". It looks polished, but in the US and UK it can be treated as misleading, and prospects who compare it with your Google profile notice the gap. Show the real mix, with your replies.
Using reviews in sales follow-up
Reviews are also useful after the first call, when a prospect is comparing you with others.
- Add a link to your Google reviews in the email that follows a discovery call. One link, not a pasted wall of quotes.
- In a proposal, quote one or two reviews from clients with a similar job, and say where each came from and when.
- Keep the wording exactly as the reviewer wrote it. Editing a review to make it sound better, or combining two into one, turns it into your words, not theirs.
- If you want to use a reviewer's name in a printed proposal or case page, ask them first.
In the UK, the advertising code expects marketers to be able to show that testimonials are genuine, so keep a record of where each quoted review came from. When a prospect replies to that follow-up, the conversation continues in the unified inbox with their earlier messages, so the salesperson sees the whole thread.
When a widget is not worth it
If you have only a handful of reviews, or none in the last year, a widget will make that obvious to every visitor. Fix the flow of reviews first with a steady request process, then add the widget. Our guide to writing a review request message is the place to start.
Troubleshooting
The widget shows nothing
The review source is often not connected, or the connection expired. Reconnect it in the platform and refresh the page.
The widget breaks the page layout on mobile
Try a different layout, usually the carousel or list, and place it in a full-width section rather than a narrow column.
A negative review appears at the top
That is what an honest feed does. Make sure your reply is visible and calm; see our guide on how to respond to negative reviews.
Frequently asked questions
Does a Google reviews widget help SEO?
It mainly helps the visitor who is already on your page. Treat any search benefit as a bonus, and focus on placing reviews where people make decisions.
Can we choose which reviews appear?
You can choose sources and layout. Leaving out abusive content or content unrelated to your business is reasonable. Hiding reviews because they are critical, while implying the widget is complete, can mislead under US and UK rules.
Should we show Facebook reviews as well as Google?
If you have recent Facebook recommendations, yes. More sources give a fuller picture, as long as the widget shows each source honestly.
Do we need permission to quote a public review?
To show a live widget from a public source, no. To quote a reviewer by name in a proposal or printed material, asking first is good practice and avoids surprises.