Published by Reputaro | Trustpilot Growth & Reputation Management
If you run a local business — a restaurant, a dental practice, a solicitor's office, a plumbing company, a hair salon — you are probably already aware that you exist on two major review platforms simultaneously. Google Business Profile (GBP, formerly Google My Business) shows your star rating in Google Maps and local search results. Trustpilot shows your rating in organic search and on your own website.
Both platforms are free. Both are publicly visible. Both affect whether local customers choose you over a competitor. And most local business owners, when asked which one matters more, give the same answer: Google, obviously.
That answer is usually correct — but it is incomplete in ways that cost local businesses real money. The relationship between GBP and Trustpilot is more nuanced than a simple ranking, and understanding the specific role each plays will help you allocate your reputation management effort far more effectively.
For most local businesses, Google Business Profile is the primary reputation platform for a simple and compelling reason: it is where customers look when they are actively searching for a local service.
When someone types "emergency plumber Manchester" or "best Italian restaurant Leeds" into Google, the results they see first are the Local Pack — the map with three or four highlighted businesses, each showing their star rating, review count, and distance. This is the highest-visibility real estate in local search, and the star rating displayed there comes entirely from Google Business Profile reviews.
Customers at this stage of their search — actively looking for a local service right now — are high-intent buyers. They are ready to call, book, or visit. The GBP rating they see in that moment is often the deciding factor between your business and the one listed next to you.
For local businesses that depend on walk-in or phone-in customers, the Google Business Profile rating has an immediate, direct, and measurable impact on how many enquiries you receive. It is the most visible front door to your local reputation.
If GBP is where customers find you in local search, Trustpilot is where they validate you after finding you.
The typical local customer discovery journey for a considered purchase — a solicitor, a private clinic, a home improvement contractor, a financial adviser — does not end at the Local Pack. After the customer has identified two or three potential options from local search, they open each business's website. They look for trust signals. They search the business name directly in Google.
That direct name search is where your Trustpilot profile becomes highly relevant. Search "[Your Business Name] reviews" and see what comes up. For most businesses, Trustpilot ranks on page one for branded review searches — often above other review platforms and sometimes even above the business's own website.
If a potential customer is at the decision stage — comparing you against a local competitor — your Trustpilot profile is frequently the last thing they read before deciding who to call. At this moment, the Trustpilot rating carries weight that is comparable to, and in some cases greater than, the GBP rating.
Trustpilot pages rank. This is a practical and often underappreciated benefit for local businesses.
A well-reviewed Trustpilot profile for a local solicitor's firm, for example, will typically rank on page one of Google for searches like "[Firm Name] reviews" and "[Firm Name] Trustpilot." For a business in a trust-sensitive category, having a strong, positive page occupying that ranked position is a meaningful commercial asset.
This is the opposite of how most local businesses think about Trustpilot — they see it as a risk (a place where bad reviews live) rather than an asset (a high-ranking page that tells your story on your terms). A proactively managed Trustpilot profile with 4.5+ stars and thoughtful responses is a page you want ranking prominently for your brand name.
For most local businesses, the right answer is GBP first, Trustpilot second — but with the distance between them shrinking as the purchase consideration level rises and as your Google Ads investment grows.
A concrete framework:
Prioritise GBP if: your customers primarily find you through local search, your purchase values are low to medium, and you don't currently run Google Ads.
Prioritise Trustpilot equally if: you offer professional, higher-consideration services, you run Google Ads campaigns, or you have found that customers regularly search your business name before calling.
Prioritise both equally from day one if: you are a new local business building reputation from scratch — having parallel strength on both platforms from the beginning is significantly easier than trying to rebuild a neglected one later.
The businesses that treat GBP and Trustpilot as competing priorities tend to be strong on one and weak on the other. The businesses that treat them as complementary layers of the same trust infrastructure tend to outperform their local market across every channel.
Find out how your Trustpilot profile compares to your GBP rating — run a free Audit at reputaro.io/audit
