What do consumers do after reading a positive local-business review?
After reading positive reviews, 54% of consumers in BrightLocal's 2026 survey selected checking the business's website as a likely action. The same multiple-selection question reports further research, reading more reviews, social-media visits, business-location visits, contacts, appointments, and a combined buy-or-booking category.1
BrightLocal asked respondents which actions they were likely to take after reading positive reviews. Respondents could select multiple actions. BrightLocal describes the study as a representative panel of 1,002 US adult consumers via SurveyMonkey. It does not separately state the valid-response denominator or fieldwork window for this question. The survey page was published on February 11, 2026.1
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By Sergey Sulimko, Founder · ·
Compiled from 1 source
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- Oct 19, 2026
Which actions did consumers say they were likely to take after reading positive reviews?
BrightLocal's grouping reports that 66% of consumers did further research and 34% were ready to buy or make a booking. The table preserves the individual action responses without treating them as exclusive stages.
| Action consumers were likely to take after reading positive reviews | BrightLocal's reported share | What the finding describes |
|---|---|---|
| Selected doing further research, grouped as “Research” | 66%1 | A grouped research step, not a mutually exclusive stage |
| Selected checking the business's website as a likely action | 54%1 | A reported website-check response |
| Selected reading more reviews as a likely action | 37%1 | A reported additional-research response |
| Were ready to buy or make a booking, grouped as “Purchase” | 34%1 | A combined purchase-or-booking response; BrightLocal does not split the two |
| Selected visiting the business location as a likely action | 31%1 | A reported visit response |
| Selected visiting the business's social media channels as a likely action | 24%1 | A reported additional-information response |
| Selected contacting the business as a likely action | 20%1 | A reported contact response |
| Selected making an appointment as a likely action | 20%1 | A separate appointment response, not a separate booking rate |
Show all 8 rows
These percentages come from BrightLocal's post-positive-review action question.1 BrightLocal names a representative panel of 1,002 US adult consumers, but does not separately disclose an item-level denominator or fieldwork window. They are reported survey responses about likely actions, not analytics from businesses named by respondents.
For the wider set of review-reading and review-choice findings, see Google review statistics for local businesses. The table above adds the post-positive-review action question that the broader page does not carry.
Do these percentages describe one consumer journey?
No. The percentages can overlap because respondents could select multiple actions, so they should not be added into a 100% funnel or read as a fixed sequence.
The grouped 66% research figure and 34% purchase figure describe how BrightLocal grouped the selectable actions. A respondent could select both a research action and a purchase-ready action. The source does not say which action happened first.
Can the 34% be split into people who bought and people who booked?
No. BrightLocal reports 34% as the combined share ready to “buy or make a booking,” not as separate buy and booking percentages.
BrightLocal separately reports that 20% of respondents selected making an appointment. That is a distinct selectable response, not a booking-rate estimate that can be subtracted from or combined with the 34% figure. The answer on how many reviews customers need before considering a business covers a different question about review volume and customer preferences.
Who was surveyed, and when was the survey conducted?
BrightLocal says its 2026 survey used a representative panel of 1,002 US adult consumers through SurveyMonkey and was published on February 11, 2026.1 BrightLocal does not state a separate fieldwork window or item-level valid-response denominator for the post-positive-review question.
The publication date is not a fieldwork date. The available source supports the named study population, method and publication date, but not a more precise date range for the responses used in this action question.1
What this does not show
What do these statistics not tell you?
These statistics do not show that a positive review caused an action or that respondents completed a visit, contact, appointment, booking or purchase.
The figures describe what respondents said they were likely to do after reading positive reviews. They do not track clickstream, foot traffic, calls, bookings or sales. The survey is a BrightLocal vendor-published study of US adults, so it should not be treated as a universal rate for every country, industry or local business.
BrightLocal's page has one conflicting chart alt text: it says 68% need more research, while the page's key takeaway and explanatory text report 66%. This page uses the repeated 66% prose figure.1
Read the full section
Use the rows as context for what a customer may inspect next, not as a conversion forecast or a required review target. A business can check that its website, contact path and appointment information match what a visitor sees after reading its public reviews.
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Sources
All read Oct 19, 2026
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Maps Agent, "What do consumers do after reading a positive local-business review?", updated Oct 25, 2026, maps-agent.com/