Glossary

Every key term from this course, in plain English. No jargon left unexplained.

Review

A customer's public written feedback about your business, usually with a star rating. Reviews are both social proof and a search ranking factor.

Star rating

The 1–5 score attached to reviews. Your average rating is often the first thing potential customers see — and 4.2–4.8 converts better than a perfect 5.0, which looks fake.

Response

Your public reply to a review. Responding to positives builds loyalty; responding to negatives well can win back the reviewer and impresses everyone who reads it.

Review velocity

How many new reviews you get per month. Steady velocity signals a living business to both Google and customers; a burst followed by silence looks manipulated.

Sentiment

The overall tone of your reviews — what people praise and what they complain about. Mining sentiment reveals your actual strengths and weaknesses.

Google Business Profile

Your free Google listing — the box that appears in Maps and search. For local businesses, this is the most important review platform.

Verified review

A review Google (or the platform) believes came from a real customer. Unverified or suspicious reviews may be filtered out.

Testimonial

A positive customer statement you choose to feature — on your website, in ads, in proposals. Reviews you curate; testimonials you select.

Reputation

The sum of what the internet says about you. Your reputation is an asset that compounds — or a liability that does.

Review gating

Steering only happy customers to public reviews while diverting unhappy ones elsewhere. Against most platforms' policies — and this course teaches the honest alternative.

Ask timing

When you request the review. The golden window: right after a positive moment — the meal enjoyed, the project delivered, the problem solved.

Negative review

A 1–3 star review. Handled well publicly, it's an opportunity; ignored, it's a warning sign to every future customer who reads it.

Social proof

The principle that people copy others' choices. Reviews, ratings, and testimonials are social proof in its most direct form.

Review widget

An embeddable display of your reviews on your website. Puts your best social proof where purchase decisions happen.

Flagging

Reporting a review that violates platform policies (fake, spam, conflict of interest) for removal. Legitimate tool for fake reviews; not for honest criticism.