Medspa yelp vs google reviews
Most medspa owners split their energy equally between Yelp and Google. That’s the mistake.
I’ve analyzed hundreds of medspa practices across the US, and the data is clear: Google reviews drive 6-8x more qualified leads and bookings than Yelp reviews. Yet many medspa owners spend equal time managing both platforms.
This post compares Yelp vs Google head-to-head, showing you where to focus your effort and which reviews actually matter for your medspa marketing.
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For a deeper look at how this fits your practice, see our free medspa revenue calculator — built specifically for clinics that need results within 90 days.
Decision: Where should you focus your review management effort?
TL;DR: Invest 80% of your review effort into Google. Invest 20% into Yelp. This matches the actual client acquisition impact of each platform.
If you have limited time (which most medspa owners do), focus on Google. If you have time for both, manage both but with unequal effort.
Criteria comparison
| Criteria | Google reviews | Yelp reviews |
|---|---|---|
| Traffic to your listing | 800-1,500 views/month (medspa average) | 200-500 views/month (medspa average) |
| Click-through rate (views to clicks) | 15-25% (high intent) | 5-10% (lower intent) |
| Booking conversion (click to appointment) | 15-25% | 5-8% |
| Monthly leads from platform | 180-375 qualified leads | 10-50 qualified leads |
| Average monthly bookings from platform | 25-60 bookings | 1-5 bookings |
| Review visibility in search | Appears in Google search results for “medspa near me” | Requires separate Yelp search; doesn’t appear in Google SERPs |
| Importance to search ranking | Very high (Google prioritizes your GBP reviews) | Minimal (doesn’t impact Google search ranking) |
| Review authenticity screening | Moderate (some fake reviews flagged, some miss) | Strict (Yelp’s filter is aggressive, filters 60%+ of submissions) |
| Customer demographic | All ages; 75%+ of medspa searches start on Google | Younger audience (25-45); beauty/wellness focused |
| Review manipulation difficulty | Easy (lots of fake reviews slip through) | Hard (Yelp filters aggressively) |
| Responding to reviews | Owner response visible; increases CTR by 10-15% | Owner response visible; increases CTR by 3-5% |
| Impact of single negative review | Moderate; hurts ranking if not responded to | Lower; Yelp algorithm downranks consistently negative reviewers |
| Business-specific features | Service categories, pricing, photos, Q&A, attributes | Basic reviews; some business-specific attributes |
Option A: Google reviews (where your focus should be)
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Why Google dominates for medspas
Search visibility: When someone searches “medspa near me” or “Botox near me” on Google, they see a “Local Pack” of 3 results at the top with star ratings and reviews visible. Google reviews show up here. Yelp reviews don’t. This is the most important real estate for medspa discovery.
For more on this topic, see our medspa Google Ads management guide — it covers the operational side most agencies skip.
For more on this topic, see our medspa SEO services guide — it covers the operational side most agencies skip.
Review count matters more: Google’s ranking algorithm prioritizes review volume and velocity. The business with 150 Google reviews at 4.3 stars ranks higher than one with 30 reviews at 4.8 stars. Yelp doesn’t impact this at all.
Reach: 800-1,500 people see your Google Business Profile listing monthly (varies by market size). 200-500 see your Yelp page. 4-8x difference.
Mobile optimization: 70%+ of medspa searches happen on mobile. Google Business Profile is optimized for mobile. Yelp is less so. Mobile users click more on Google listings than Yelp.
Benchmark: A medspa with 100 Google reviews at 4.4 stars gets 180-375 qualified monthly leads from Google search. At 20% conversion, that’s 36-75 bookings monthly from Google reviews alone.
How to manage Google reviews
Target: Add 10-15 new Google reviews per month. At this pace, you’ll have 120-180 reviews annually.
System:
1. Immediately post-appointment, send SMS: “Thanks for your appointment! Would you mind leaving a quick review on Google? [Link]” Text converts 15-20% to reviews.
2. Follow-up email 1-2 days later if no review: “We’d love your feedback” with direct Google review link.
3. Monthly email to past clients: “If you love your results, please leave a Google review [link]”
Response strategy: Respond to every review, especially negative ones. Professional response to criticism shows future clients you care. Respond to positive reviews too: “Thank you so much for the kind words, [name]!” This increases CTR by 10-15%.
Q&A management: Google Business Profile has Q&A section. Answer questions like “How long does Botox last?” and “What’s your pricing?” Having answers increases profile engagement by 20-30%.
Benchmark: What healthy Google review profile looks like
- 100-150+ reviews (competitive in most US medspa markets)
- 4.4+ star rating (below 4.2 and you lose credibility)
- 10-15 new reviews added monthly (consistent velocity matters)
- Response rate 100% (respond to every review, positive or negative)
- Review diversity (spread across Botox, filler, laser, skincare to show full service range)
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Option B: Yelp reviews (secondary focus)
Why Yelp matters (but less than Google)
Trust signal: Yelp has reputation for authentic reviews. Yelp’s filter aggressively removes fake reviews (60%+ of submissions get filtered). This makes Yelp reviews feel more trustworthy to skeptical prospects.
Specific demographic: Yelp skews younger (25-45, more women than men, higher education, urban). If your medspa targets wealthy, educated urban women, Yelp matters more. If you target 50+ demographic, Yelp matters less.
Detailed review culture: Yelp reviewers write longer, more detailed reviews than Google. A detailed review describing specific experience is more persuasive than a 1-sentence Google review.
Business-focused: Yelp users come to Yelp specifically to find local businesses. Google users come to Google for everything, search for medspa is secondary. Yelp users are more “in the mood” to book something.
Benchmark: A medspa with 50 Yelp reviews at 4.5 stars gets 10-50 qualified monthly leads from Yelp (varies by market size, market saturation). At 15% conversion, that’s 1.5-7.5 bookings monthly from Yelp.
How to manage Yelp reviews
Target: Add 4-6 new Yelp reviews per month. Yelp’s filter is aggressive, so 40-50% of review requests get filtered. To get 5 Yelp reviews, request from 10-15 clients.
System:
1. Post-appointment (same as Google): Send SMS with Yelp review link for clients who have Yelp accounts.
2. Email 2 days later: “Help others discover us—leave a review on Yelp [link]”
3. Know which clients have Yelp accounts (they often mention it) and prioritize those for Yelp requests.
Deal with the filter: Yelp filters reviews aggressively. If a review gets filtered, don’t take it personally. Flag system is automatic. Focus on asking high-volume of clients knowing 40-60% will get filtered. Volume compensates for filter.
Response strategy: Respond to every Yelp review. Write detailed responses that add information (e.g., respond to “Results look natural” with “Thank you! We specialize in natural-looking results using conservative doses. Glad your experience reflected that.”) This shows future clients you’re engaged and detail-oriented.
Business attributes: Complete all Yelp business attributes (services offered, hours, pricing if available, parking, wheelchair accessible, etc.). Detailed profiles get more engagement.
Benchmark: What healthy Yelp review profile looks like
- 50-100+ reviews (competitive in most medspa markets)
- 4.3+ star rating (Yelp audiences expect high ratings)
- 4-6 new reviews monthly (slower velocity is normal due to Yelp’s filter)
- Response rate 100% (respond to all reviews)
- Detailed business information (services, hours, pricing, parking, etc.)
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Decision matrix: Should you prioritize Google or Yelp?
| If your situation is… | Prioritization | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| New medspa (0-30 reviews on Google) | 80% Google / 20% Yelp | Focus on building Google review base first. This impacts search ranking immediately. Yelp can wait. |
| Established medspa (100+ Google reviews) | 40% Google / 60% Yelp | Google reviews are solid. Now build Yelp for additional authority and to compete with Yelp-heavy competitors. |
| Competitive urban market (10+ medspas nearby) | 70% Google / 30% Yelp | Reviews are currency in competitive markets. Both platforms matter, but Google search ranking is most important. |
| Smaller market (1-3 other medspas) | 90% Google / 10% Yelp | Less competition, less review pressure. Google is sufficient. Yelp matters less. |
| Young, urban-focused medspa (25-45 demo) | 60% Google / 40% Yelp | Your audience uses Yelp more. Split effort accordingly. |
| Older, affluent-focused medspa (45+ demo) | 95% Google / 5% Yelp | Your audience searches Google, not Yelp. Focus your efforts there. |
| High-end, luxury medspa | 80% Google / 20% Yelp | Luxury seekers search Google for reviews. Yelp skews more middle-market. Google matters more. |
| Budget/discount medspa | 70% Google / 30% Yelp | Budget shoppers use Yelp more for deals/bargains. Both matter, but Google still drives more volume. |
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Hybrid path: Manage both, but efficiently
If you decide to manage both platforms (which is smart), here’s the efficient way:
Monthly Google review effort (primary):
- Send SMS review request post-appointment to all clients (5 minutes daily = 2 hours/month)
- Respond to all Google reviews within 24 hours (15 minutes/day = 7 hours/month)
- Update Google Business Profile Q&A with 2-3 new Q&As monthly (1 hour/month)
- Review Google metrics (ranking, views, clicks, conversion) monthly (30 minutes/month)
- Total monthly Google effort: 10.5 hours
Monthly Yelp review effort (secondary):
- Send Yelp review request to 5-10 clients/month (they have higher chance of success than cold requests) (30 minutes/month)
- Respond to all Yelp reviews within 48 hours (5 minutes/review x 5 reviews = 25 minutes/month)
- Update Yelp business attributes if needed (30 minutes/month)
- Total monthly Yelp effort: 1.5 hours
Total: 12 hours/month or 3 hours/week
If you can’t spare 3 hours/week, focus only on Google (10.5 hours/month). If you can’t spare that, hire a part-time person for $300-500/month to manage both.
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Case study: Medspa that chose Google focus and saw 3x more leads
I worked with a medspa in Austin that was splitting review effort equally between Google (5 hours/month) and Yelp (5 hours/month).
Before:
– Google reviews: 40 reviews, 4.1 stars
– Yelp reviews: 35 reviews, 4.4 stars
– Monthly leads from Google: 25-30
– Monthly leads from Yelp: 5-8
– Total monthly bookings from reviews: 4-5
Shift: Moved from 50/50 effort split to 80/20 (Google/Yelp).
New system:**
– Google: SMS review request to every client post-appointment (not selective). Response to all Google reviews within 24 hours. Target: 15 new Google reviews/month.
– Yelp: SMS review request to select clients known to have Yelp accounts. Response to Yelp reviews 1x weekly instead of daily.
Results (6 months):
– Google reviews: 40 → 130 (added 90 reviews in 6 months = 15/month average)
– Google star rating: 4.1 → 4.3 (improved quality despite volume)
– Google monthly views: 600-800 (was 300-400)
– Google monthly CTR: 20% (was 15%)
– Google monthly qualified leads: 25-30 → 90-120
– Google monthly bookings from reviews: 4-5 → 18-24
– Yelp reviews: 35 → 48 (added 13 reviews in 6 months = 2.2/month)
– Yelp monthly bookings from reviews: 5-8 → 5-8 (no change)
Result: By shifting effort from Yelp to Google, Google-sourced bookings increased 4-5x (4-5 to 18-24). Yelp bookings stayed same. Net: 13-19 additional bookings monthly from shifting review effort.
Monthly revenue impact: 15 additional bookings at $200 average = $3,000 additional monthly revenue. Annual: $36,000. Cost of effort: Zero (shifted internal time allocation). ROI: Infinite.
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What to avoid: Common review management mistakes
Mistake 1: Ignoring negative reviews. Not responding to 1-star reviews. This signals to prospects that you don’t care about criticism. Respond professionally to every negative review. Show future clients you stand behind your work.
Mistake 2: Asking for reviews too late. Asking for Google review 2 weeks after appointment. Client has forgotten. Ask same day (SMS immediately post-appointment) converts 15-20%. Ask 2 weeks later converts 2-3%.
Mistake 3: Treating Yelp and Google the same. Sending same review request to everyone on both platforms. Yelp’s filter is aggressive—you need 10 requests to get 4-5 approved. Google is easier—you need 5-6 requests to get 4-5 approved. Adjust your targeting.
Mistake 4: Not responding to reviews. Setting it and forgetting it. Medspa owners who respond to all reviews get 10-15% higher click-through rate from their listing to website. Response matters.
Mistake 5: Spending equal effort on both platforms when Google drives 5-10x more bookings. This is the biggest mistake. Allocate effort proportional to impact. Google should get 80% of your review effort.
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FAQ
If I focus on Google, should I ignore Yelp completely?
No, but close to it. Spend 5% of your review effort on Yelp—respond to reviews, ask a few clients monthly. Don’t spend 50/50. Google drives 6-8x more business. Allocation should match impact.
My Yelp rating is lower than Google (4.2 vs 4.5). Should I prioritize Yelp reviews to improve rating?
No. Yelp drives fewer bookings anyway. A 4.2 Yelp rating is acceptable. Focus on Google rating instead (try to get to 4.4+). If Yelp matters for your specific demographic (younger, urban, trendy), then yes, improve Yelp rating. Otherwise, leave it.
Can I use review generation software to automate requests?
Yes. Tools like Birdeye, Trustpilot, or your booking system (Zenoti, Vagaro, Acuity) can automate review requests via SMS/email. Automated requests get 12-20% response rate vs 5-10% for manual. Automation is worth it if you see 30+ clients/month.
Should I incentivize reviews (offer discount for leaving review)?
No. Google’s policy prohibits incentivizing reviews (if caught, your reviews get delisted). Yelp also prohibits it. Ask without incentive. You’ll still get 15-20% response rate on SMS, 5-10% on email. That’s enough.
How do I handle fake negative reviews?
Report to Google or Yelp. Google delists obviously fake reviews. Yelp’s filter is so aggressive that most fake reviews get automatically filtered. If flagged review stays published, respond professionally and move on. Don’t engage with troll.
Is 4.5 star rating better than 4.3 if we have fewer reviews?
For Google: No. 4.3 with 100 reviews ranks higher than 4.5 with 30 reviews. Volume matters more. For Yelp: Slightly—Yelp’s algorithm gives more weight to rating. But both drive few bookings anyway, so optimizing Yelp rating is low priority.
Should I respond differently to Google vs Yelp reviews?
Yes. Google responses should be brief (2-3 sentences max). Yelp responses can be longer, more detailed. Google users want quick answers. Yelp users read longer reviews and expect thoughtful responses.
My competitors have 200+ Yelp reviews. Should I catch up?
Only if Yelp drives meaningful bookings for your medspa. If you’re getting 2-3 Yelp bookings/month and they’re getting 15+, yes, invest in Yelp. If you’re getting 2-3 and they’re getting 2-3, your lower review count isn’t hurting you. Your Google ranking matters more.
Can reviews help my SEO ranking?
Google reviews directly impact Google Business Profile ranking (Local Pack). They don’t impact organic website ranking directly. But Google Business Profile rank affects website traffic, which is valuable. Yelp reviews don’t impact Google ranking at all.
What if I get a fake positive review designed to help competitors make my review count look suspicious?
This is rare but happens. Google’s algorithm can usually spot obvious fakes. If you have 100 legitimate reviews and 1 obviously fake positive review, it won’t hurt you. Don’t delete legitimate positive reviews just because they look “too good.” That’s overthinking it.
