Review Schema Markup

Structured data (Schema.org Review and AggregateRating types) added to a webpage's HTML so search engines can display star ratings and reviewer information in search results — the 'rich snippet' stars.

Definition

Review schema markup is JSON-LD or Microdata added to your webpage's source so Google can parse review and rating data programmatically. The two main Schema.org types are Review (a single review with a reviewer, rating, and reviewBody) and AggregateRating (a summary: ratingValue, reviewCount). When implemented correctly, Google may display gold-star ratings beneath your search result, dramatically improving CTR. Google's guidelines are strict: the reviews must be genuine, visible on the page being marked up, and about the specific entity (the business, the product) being marked up — fake or self-referential reviews can result in manual penalties. Local businesses typically mark up their AggregateRating on their homepage or location pages using their first-party reviews; third-party Google reviews can't be marked up on your own site as if they were your own.

Example

A landscaping company embeds its 47 first-party reviews on its services page and adds AggregateRating schema with ratingValue: 4.8 and reviewCount: 47. In Google search, their result now shows '⭐ 4.8 (47)' beneath the title — a meaningful CTR lift compared to listings without rich snippets.

Related terms

  • First-Party Reviews →Reviews collected directly by the business and hosted on its own systems (or a tool acting on its behalf), as opposed to reviews left on third-party platforms like Google, Yelp, or Trustpilot.
  • Aggregate Rating →The Schema.org type (AggregateRating) used in structured data markup to declare a summary rating — a ratingValue (e.g., 4.7), a bestRating (typically 5), and a reviewCount — for a product, service, or business.
  • Review Embed →A specific implementation of a review widget — an HTML snippet (often a script tag or iframe) that a business pastes into its website to display reviews, typically with the styling controlled by the embed vendor.

Want to see this in practice?

ReviewDrop is the review funnel built around these concepts. Try it free for 7 days — no credit card.

Start Free Trial