How to Embed Google Reviews on Your Website: 5 Ways (2026)

Showing your Google reviews on your own website puts your strongest proof of trust where customers decide: on the page with your offer, your contact form or your booking. Technically, that is done quickly. The pitfalls lie elsewhere: in data protection, in a disclosure rule from German and EU consumer law, in Google's own rules and in a widespread SEO myth. This guide shows five ways, from a simple link to your own code, what each one displays, how to add the code in WordPress, Wix, Jimdo and IONOS, and which rules Google and lawmakers set. We tested the embedded Google map ourselves on 17 October 2026: what it shows and which servers it contacts while loading.

Short answer: five ways to show Google reviews on your website

Google does not offer a ready-made widget for the reviews in your Business Profile. There are five ways, and they differ in what visitors see and what you need to watch out for:

As soon as reviews appear on your site, three rules apply. First, load content from Google or a provider only after the visitor has consented. Second, if you sell to consumers in Germany, § 5b(3) UWG requires a notice on whether and how you ensure that the reviews come from customers who actually used your offer. Third, none of the ways brings stars into Google Search: Google explicitly excludes reviews that a business embeds about itself, widgets included.

Why do Google reviews belong on your own website?

Because many customers move straight from reviews to your website and expect the same picture there. In BrightLocal's Local Consumer Review Survey 2026, a poll of 1,002 adults in the US, 54 percent said they visit the business's website after reading positive reviews. In 2019 it was 32 percent. BrightLocal concludes that websites should be up to date, easy to navigate and aligned with customer reviews.

Your website is where interest turns into an inquiry, so that is where reviews work best: next to the contact form, on the page with services and prices, in the booking step. What matters is that they are recent. In the same survey, 74 percent look for reviews written in the last three months, and 32 percent even look at the last two weeks. A selection of quotes from last year therefore convinces less than a display that keeps showing the newest reviews.

Way 1: a link or button to your Google profile

The simplest way is a clearly visible link to your profile, for example a button saying "Our reviews on Google". It costs nothing, is always up to date and transfers no data until someone clicks. The downside: visitors only see the reviews on Google and leave your site to do so.

There are two possible targets for the link:

• For reading: the Maps link with your Place ID, https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=NAME&query_place_id=PLACE-ID. It opens your profile in Google Maps, where visitors can read all reviews.
• For writing: the review link from your Business Profile, which opens the review form directly. How to find this link and your Place ID is explained in our guide to the Google review link.

If you mention your rating next to the button, follow Google's brand guidelines for ratings and reviews. Google tells businesses to "Include an 'as of' date when sharing your overall rating or number of reviews" and to "Describe your rating as being 'on Google'", so it does not look as if Google itself rated you. For example: "4.8 out of 5 stars on Google, as of October 2026". On design, Google adds: "Don't add stars by the Google name or logos" and "Don't use any unofficial logos, badges, or lockups."

Way 2: embed the Google map with your listing

The embedded Google map is the only ready-made display from Google itself that brings your rating onto your website. It shows your average rating and the number of reviews, but no review texts. According to Google, you don't need permission to embed a map, and the Maps Embed API, which developers use to embed maps with their own key, is free with unlimited requests.

Here is how to get the code, following the Google Maps help:

1. Find your business. On your computer, open Google Maps and search for your business.
2. Open the menu. At the top left, click Menu, then "Share or embed map".
3. Copy the code. Click "Embed a map" and then "Copy HTML".
4. Paste it. Put the code into an HTML block on your website. Where that block sits in WordPress, Wix, Jimdo and IONOS is shown further down.

What the map shows: In our test on 17 October 2026, a place card appeared at the top left with name and address, the average rating with a star, the number of reviews as a link and an info icon, plus the buttons "Open in Maps" and directions. The info icon displays Google's own notice: "Reviews aren't verified by Google, but Google checks for and removes fake content when it's identified." The "Learn more" link leads to Google's Maps user-generated content policy.

What it does while loading: Without anyone clicking, the map loaded content from seven Google addresses in the same test, including fonts.googleapis.com and fonts.gstatic.com. Every visitor's IP address therefore goes to Google as soon as the page loads. That is why the map, too, belongs behind consent; more on this in the section on data protection.

Way 3: use a review widget

A widget shows individual reviews with text, stars and names and updates itself. This is what most businesses mean when they talk about embedding Google reviews. Widget providers supply embed code to copy or a WordPress plugin, partly free with limitations. Before choosing one, ask the provider five questions:

1. Where do the reviews come from? Through the public Places API, Google returns at most five reviews per place, sorted by relevance. All reviews of a location are only available through the Business Profile APIs, page by page with up to 50 reviews per request. For that, the provider needs access approved by Google and your authorization as owner or manager. Google's terms for Google Maps prohibit mass downloading of content and allow copying only within narrow limits. If a widget shows more than five reviews, ask which interface it uses.
2. When does it load? A good widget can be set up so that it only loads after the visitor has consented.
3. What does it filter? Common widgets can show only positive reviews or hide reviews containing certain keywords. If you filter, you need to say so; more on this in the section on disclosure.
4. How does it credit the source? For Places API content, Google prescribes the attribution precisely (see way 4). A reputable widget follows these rules.
5. How heavy is it? Widgets load additional scripts. Check display and loading time on a smartphone before the widget goes live.

Way 4: your own integration via the Places API

If you write your own code, you can fetch rating, count and up to five reviews through Google's Places API. That is flexible, but bound to rules that Google sets out in its policies for the Places API. These are the fields the API returns according to Google's documentation:

These rules apply when you display the data:

• Billing: Reviews and the AI summary belong to the "Place Details Enterprise + Atmosphere" SKU. Google lists the current prices in its pricing information.
• No caching: You must not pre-fetch, cache or store Places API content. The only exception is the Place ID, which you may store indefinitely. Your site therefore fetches the reviews fresh every time it displays them.
• Credit Google: Without a Google map next to it, the data needs the Google Maps logo, or the text "Google Maps" where space is limited.
• Credit the author: Avatar, name and profile link of the author, or at least the avatar where space is limited.
• Link to the source: Every review must be viewable on Google Maps via the link provided with it.
• Disclose the ordering: A clear notice describing how reviews are ordered and filtered. Google also recommends informing users of its review policy.
• Label the AI summary: If you show the review summary, Google requires a heading and the disclosure that it was created with AI.

Way 5: quote individual reviews

For your home page or an offer page, two or three well-chosen quotes are often enough. This is the most personal way, but it needs the authors' consent. Google is clear about this in its brand guidelines: "User reviews belong to the person who wrote them, even if they're written on your business's listing. You must get consent from the reviewer if you want to use customer reviews of your business for your own marketing purposes, such as on your website or in print or digital ads."

Here is how to go about it:

• Ask. Google suggests asking for permission by replying to the review, and notes that it can't provide additional contact information. With regular customers you can of course ask directly. Agree on how to name the author, for example by first name and initial.
• State the source. A quote comes with the date, the words "on Google" and a link to the review or profile.
• Text, not images. A screenshot needs the same permission, and its text is only accessible to search engines and screen readers through alt text. Set quotes as text.
• Rotate. Replace quotes with new ones regularly so the selection matches your current profile.

How to add the code in WordPress, Wix, Jimdo and IONOS

Whether map or widget: you paste the embed code into a block for custom HTML. This is what it is called in common systems, according to each provider's documentation:

At IONOS, the "Consent required" option is worth a look: with it, the code only runs after the visitor has consented. In WordPress, a consent plugin that blocks embedded content until consent does the same job. After adding the code, test the smartphone view as well. Fixed widths from an iFrame in particular tend to stick out beyond the edge there.

Trusted Shops and ProvenExpert: use the official widgets

Unlike Google, Trusted Shops and ProvenExpert offer their own widgets. Use them instead of home-made displays:

• Trusted Shops: The Trustbadge shows the average rating of your service reviews together with the Trusted Shops Trustmark. Further review widgets are available in your eTrusted account.
• ProvenExpert: Seals and widgets from your ProvenExpert account, for WordPress also via ProvenExpert's official plugin.

How to keep an eye on several platforms at once is covered in our guide to multi-channel reputation.

Data protection: ask for consent first, then load

A map or widget that loads content from Google or a provider when the page opens transfers your visitors' IP addresses to third-party servers. If your website has visitors in the EU, load such content only once the visitor has consented.

A well-known German ruling shows that this is no theoretical risk: the Munich Regional Court (LG München I) awarded a visitor 100 euros in damages because a website loaded fonts from Google's servers and transferred the visitor's IP address to Google without consent (judgment of 20 January 2022, case 3 O 17493/20). In our test, the embedded map contacted the very same service, fonts.googleapis.com. In Germany, Section 25 of the TDDDG adds a further rule: if a widget stores information on the visitor's device or reads it, such as cookies, it needs consent, unless this is strictly necessary for a service the user explicitly requested.

How to put it into practice:

1. Block until consent. Your consent tool only loads the map or widget after consent. At IONOS MyWebsite Now, the "Consent required" option in the HTML module does this.
2. Placeholder with a link. Until then, the page shows a placeholder with a button such as "Load reviews from Google" and, next to it, a normal link to your profile.
3. Update your privacy policy. Name the provider, the data transferred and the legal basis.
4. Check the contract. If the widget provider processes your visitors' data on your behalf, you need a data processing agreement. More on data protection around reviews is in our guide to GDPR-compliant review requests.

These notes are not legal advice. If in doubt, have your data protection officer or a law firm check your setup.

Disclosure under § 5b UWG: where the reviews come from

If you make customer reviews accessible on your website and sell to consumers in Germany, you have had to state since 28 May 2022 whether and how you ensure that they come from customers who actually used your offer. This also applies to embedded Google reviews. The rule came with the EU's Omnibus Directive; in German law it is § 5b(3) UWG, which reads in our translation:

Where a trader makes accessible reviews that consumers have made of goods or services, information on whether and how the trader ensures that the published reviews come from consumers who have actually used or purchased the goods or services is considered material.

What this means for embedded reviews is explained in the legal FAQ by Niklas Plutte, a German specialist lawyer for intellectual property and competition law (as of 23 June 2026):

• Widget yes, link no. If you embed external reviews visibly via a widget, the rule applies. According to the legislative reasoning, a plain link to reviews does not trigger it. The courts have not settled this yet.
• "No checks" is also a statement. The duty applies even if you don't check reviews at all. Then say exactly that.
• Close to the reviews. The notice belongs visibly near the reviews, for example as a link directly below them.
• Disclose your selection. You also need to say whether positive and negative reviews are treated the same way. If you only show positive ones, say so.
• Careful with "customer reviews". Without checks, Plutte says, you may not advertise the reviews as coming from your customers. A neutral heading such as "Reviews on Google" works better than "What our customers say".

A notice for a Google widget could read like this, adapted to your case:

The reviews shown come from our Google Business Profile. We do not check ourselves whether the authors used our services. How Google handles reviews is described in Google's Maps user-generated content policy. We show the newest reviews without filters.

Link to Google's policy instead of copying it: according to Plutte, adopted platform texts have to stay up to date, otherwise your notice will eventually contradict the source. If in doubt, have the final wording checked by a lawyer.

Do embedded reviews bring stars in Google Search?

No. Google does not show stars in search results for reviews that a business displays about itself on its own website. Its review snippet guidelines explicitly name embedded widgets with Google or Facebook reviews as an example.

The rules from Google's documentation, as of 8 September 2026:

• Self-serving reviews: "If the entity that's being reviewed controls the reviews about itself, their pages that use LocalBusiness or any other type of Organization structured data are ineligible for star review feature." Review markup for these types is only meant for sites that capture reviews about other businesses.
• No aggregation: "Don't aggregate reviews or ratings from other websites."
• Only what is visible: Markup may only describe what visitors can see on the page.

So don't add AggregateRating markup with your Google rating to your code, even if a plugin offers it as an SEO feature. If markup violates the guidelines, Google can issue a manual action. According to Google, the page then loses eligibility for rich results, while its ranking in web search is not affected.

Searchers still see stars: next to your listing in Google Maps and in local results, Google shows the rating from your Business Profile, without any help from your website. Online shops can also join the Google Customer Reviews program in Merchant Center. Its badge shows a store rating on your own website that only confirmed buyers can submit. Google explicitly distinguishes it from Business Profile reviews. How local visibility comes about overall is explained in our local SEO guide.

How reviews work on your website

Reviews convince when they are recent, properly credited and easy to read. Five points make the difference:

• Where decisions happen. Next to the contact form, the booking and your service pages, not only on a separate subpage.
• Newest first. With a date on every review, so visitors can see how current the picture is.
• The same rating as your profile. Show the overall rating from your profile with an "as of" date, not an average of the selected reviews. How the rating is calculated is shown in our star rating calculator.
• A way to all reviews. A link "All reviews on Google" below the widget shows that you have nothing to hide.
• Readable for everyone. Ratings also as text, such as "4.8 out of 5 stars", plus sufficient contrast and a layout that doesn't stick out beyond the edge on a smartphone.

Checklist before going live

1. Choose your way: link, map, widget, your own API solution or quotes.
2. Clarify the data source: Which interface does the widget use to get the reviews?
3. Set up consent: Load map and widget only after consent, with a placeholder and link before that.
4. Update your privacy policy and check whether you need a data processing agreement.
5. Place the § 5b UWG notice directly at the reviews, filters included.
6. Credit the source: platform, author, date and a link to the review.
7. Use quotes only with consent from their authors.
8. No star markup with your own Google rating.
9. Test on mobile: Check display and loading time on a smartphone.

Keep your reviews in shape before you show them: with RateGate

A widget only shows what is in your profiles. Whether that convinces depends on the care behind it: new reviews, answered criticism and a rating you know. In the BrightLocal survey, 37 percent count a response from the business owner among the most important factors of a review. RateGate does not embed reviews on websites itself. It takes care of what your widget shows afterwards:

• One inbox for all platforms: Reviews from Google, Trusted Shops and ProvenExpert in one place, filtered by location, star rating and status.
• No backlog of replies: From the Silver plan, you reply to reviews directly from RateGate, automatically if you wish, in the language of the review, in your tone of voice, from your minimum rating and within your time window. ProvenExpert reviews are answered in the ProvenExpert portal itself.
• Analytics: Average rating, reply rate, star distribution and history, for all locations or each one individually. That way you know in advance which rating your widget will show.

How the plans differ and what they cost is on the page for businesses. What else RateGate offers as review management for businesses is shown on the home page. What the daily routine behind it looks like is described in our guide to managing reviews.

Frequently asked questions

Can I embed Google reviews on my website for free?

Yes. A link to your profile and the embedded Google map cost nothing, although the map only shows your rating and the number of reviews. For review texts you need a widget, some of which are free with limitations, or your own solution via the Places API, which Google bills by request.

Is there an official Google widget for reviews?

Not for the reviews in your Business Profile. Google provides the map embed and the Places API. The Google Customer Reviews badge shows a store rating for online shops from Merchant Center, not the reviews in your Business Profile.

Do I need consent for a widget with Google reviews?

If your site has visitors in the EU and the map or widget loads content from Google or a provider when the page opens, you should obtain consent first. The visitor's IP address is transferred in the process, and the Munich Regional Court ruled this a violation for Google Fonts loaded without consent. A plain link needs no consent.

Do I have to say whether I check the reviews?

If you sell to consumers in Germany, yes, as soon as you embed reviews visibly. § 5b(3) UWG requires information on whether and how you ensure that the reviews come from customers who actually used your offer. If you don't check, say exactly that, ideally directly below the reviews.

Will embedded reviews get me stars in search results?

No. Google shows no stars for reviews that a business embeds about itself and explicitly names widgets with Google reviews as an example. Searchers see stars in Google Maps and local results, and those come directly from your Business Profile.

How many Google reviews can a widget display?

Through the public Places API, at most five, sorted by relevance. All reviews of a location are only available through the Business Profile APIs, with access approved by Google and your authorization as owner or manager.

May I put screenshots of Google reviews on my website?

Only with the authors' consent. Google states that reviews belong to the people who wrote them and requires their consent if you use reviews for your own marketing, for example on your website. A quote as text with date and source is also easier to read than an image.

May I show only positive reviews?

Only with a clear notice. Google requires a notice on ordering and filtering for Places API data, and according to the legal FAQ cited above, the § 5b UWG information also covers whether positive and negative reviews are treated the same way.

Conclusion

Google reviews belong where customers land after reading them: on your website. The quickest way is a link or the embedded Google map; review texts come via a widget or your own solution based on the Places API, and individual quotes need their authors' consent. As soon as reviews appear on your site, three rules apply: load content from Google and providers only after consent, explain right at the reviews where they come from and whether they are filtered, and don't expect stars in Google Search. Those come from your Business Profile, not from your website.

RateGate makes sure that profile convinces: all reviews in one inbox, answered and analyzed before they appear on your website.

Sources

• BrightLocal: Local Consumer Review Survey 2026, published on 11 February 2026, survey of a representative panel of 1,002 adults in the US.