Rule Details

Review and AggregateRating schema markup allows Google to display star ratings directly in search results, creating a rich snippet that stands out from plain blue links.

Code Example

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Product",
  "name": "Wireless Noise-Cancelling Headphones",
  "image": "https://example.com/headphones.jpg",
  "description": "Premium headphones with 30-hour battery life.",
  "aggregateRating": {
    "@type": "AggregateRating",
    "ratingValue": "4.7",
    "reviewCount": "312",
    "bestRating": "5",
    "worstRating": "1"
  }
}
</script>

Why It Matters

Star ratings in search results increase click-through rates by up to 35%; incorrect or missing schema means competitors with valid markup capture that visibility advantage.

Individual Review Schema

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Review",
  "itemReviewed": {
    "@type": "Product",
    "name": "Wireless Headphones"
  },
  "author": {
    "@type": "Person",
    "name": "Jane Smith"
  },
  "datePublished": "2025-02-14",
  "reviewBody": "Excellent sound quality and very comfortable for long sessions.",
  "reviewRating": {
    "@type": "Rating",
    "ratingValue": "5",
    "bestRating": "5"
  }
}
</script>

Required Properties for Rich Results

AggregateRating (within a supported type)

Review

Supported Entity Types for Star Ratings

Google shows star ratings for reviews of: Product, Recipe, Movie, Book, Software, LocalBusiness, Course, Event.

❌ Policy Violations

• Self-authored reviews ("Review your own business")
• Reviews that don't reflect genuine user experiences
• AggregateRating with reviewCount: 0
• Markup on pages that don't display review content to users

Validation

Use Google's Rich Results Test (opens in new tab) to confirm:

1. Schema is detected without errors
2. The correct rich result type is eligible
3. All required properties are present

Exceptions

• Only add or enforce schema types that the page can truthfully support; irrelevant structured data is worse than no structured data.
• A technically valid schema block can still be misleading if the page content does not visibly back it up; audit rendered content and schema together.
• If indexability, canonical-url, or main content quality is wrong, fix that foundation before optimizing schema details.

Standards

• Use these references as the standard for the final search-facing HTML, metadata, and crawl behavior.
• Check the implementation against Google: Review snippet structured data before treating the rule as satisfied.
• Check the implementation against Schema.org: AggregateRating before treating the rule as satisfied.

Verification

Automated Checks

• Inspect rendered HTML and HTTP headers to confirm the expected metadata or crawlability signal is present.
• Test the affected URL with Google Search Console or equivalent tooling where relevant.
• Re-crawl a representative page set after deployment.

Manual Checks

• Confirm the change does not create conflicting canonical-url, robots, or structured-data signals.