Audit review markup that promises stars for your own business

Identify what is being reviewed

Open the page and inspect its structured data. Record the item type, business name, review source, and whether the reviewed organization controls the website. A business displaying feedback about itself is a different situation from an independent site reviewing other businesses. Do not assume a star-shaped design or a validator's syntax result establishes eligibility.

Source checks: Google Search Central: Review snippet structured data · Google Search Central: LocalBusiness structured data

Check what the widget actually outputs

A testimonial widget can add JSON-LD or microdata even when the owner did not type it manually. Ask the editor to inspect the rendered markup and find which plugin or embed produces review and aggregate-rating fields. Record whether the number shown comes from an external platform or from feedback collected directly. Do not publish a rating count you cannot explain.

Separate visitor value from search-feature claims

Useful genuine reviews may still help readers assess the business when displayed accurately with appropriate permission and context. The technical question here is whether the added markup fits Google's review rules. A review being real does not automatically make self-serving business stars eligible. Remove promises of stars from the scope or report if the feature conditions do not apply.

Repair the output at its source

Choose a targeted correction.

• Identify the plugin or template emitting unsupported self-serving review markup.
• Remove or disable that output through the supported configuration.
• Keep accurate business identity markup and legitimate permitted feedback display.
• Do not aggregate ratings copied from other websites into an invented total.
• Retest the delivered page and the structured-data validation result.
• Check a second page using the same widget or template.

Avoid changing the type merely to obtain stars

A local service business does not become a product or another eligible item because a plugin lets you change a label. Markup must describe the actual public content and entity. Do not add invented review dates, authors, ratings, or outcomes to make a test pass. Likewise, removing unsupported markup is not a request to remove genuine customer reviews from their original platform.

Document the corrected expectation

Save the original unsupported claim, the emitting component, and the corrected public output. Report the work as an accuracy and policy-alignment repair. It does not promise a new search decoration or higher position. Continue checking feedback for useful customer questions and service improvements separately from structured-data eligibility.

When replacing a widget later, include markup output in its acceptance test. A visually identical replacement can quietly reintroduce aggregate ratings. Ask the vendor whether schema generation can be disabled independently of display and document that setting in the website handoff, alongside the source of every visible review number.

Illustrative widget that marks up the business itself

An illustrative cleaning company displays a third-party review widget on its own site. The widget emits LocalBusiness with aggregateRating about that company. The editor disables unsupported star-oriented markup while preserving permitted genuine review display and accurate business information. Passing a syntax check had not established eligibility for self-serving business stars.

The widget inventory also records whether a replacement embed recreates the same aggregate-rating fields. This keeps the accuracy repair from being reversed during an unrelated visual redesign.

Questions about this task