Our Rating Methodology
RecentRatings shows how a business is performing right now — not just historically. Here is exactly how we calculate every score on this site.
The Problem with All-Time Averages
Most review platforms show a single all-time average. A restaurant with a rocky first year and an excellent last two years still looks mediocre, because those early bad reviews drag the average down forever.
This creates a persistent problem: businesses that have genuinely improved get penalized by history, and businesses that have declined still coast on a strong all-time average built years ago.
RecentRatings solves this with time-bucketed scoring — separate averages for the last 90 days, last 12 months, and all-time. Each window tells you something different. Together, they tell you whether a business is on the way up, holding steady, or declining.
The Three Time Windows
Last 90 Days
The freshest signal. This score reflects only reviews from the past three months. It is the best indicator of current quality — staffing, management, product consistency right now. We require at least 20 reviews in this window before displaying the score.
Last 12 Months
Seasonal context. One year captures a full cycle — busy season, slow season, any major changes in the business. It smooths out short-term spikes without going so far back that history dominates. Requires at least 20 reviews.
All-Time
The full picture. Every review ever collected for this business, averaged together. This is the most stable score and the hardest to move. It is displayed whenever data exists, with no minimum review threshold.
What Counts as a Verified Buyer Review
Not all reviews are equal. RecentRatings distinguishes between verified buyer reviews — attached to a confirmed purchase transaction — and aggregate ratings from general-public review platforms.
Verified buyer reviews come from post-purchase platforms where a customer must provide an order ID before leaving a review. RecentRatings currently imports from:
- Yotpo — the most widely used post-purchase review platform for ecommerce
- Judge.me — popular with Shopify merchants
- Stamped — used across Shopify and BigCommerce
Businesses cannot edit, delete, or selectively display these reviews. The verification happens at the source platform, not at RecentRatings. Our role is aggregation and display — we are a neutral third party, not a collection platform.
How We Use Google and Yelp Data
RecentRatings displays aggregate ratings from Google and Yelp as secondary context — for example, ★4.4 from 312 Google reviews. We link to the original source so users can read individual reviews there.
We do not display individual Google or Yelp review text or reviewer names on RecentRatings pages, consistent with their platform terms of service. The aggregate number tells you the signal level; the link takes you to the detail.
Verified buyer scores from Yotpo and similar platforms are always the primary signal. Google and Yelp aggregates are shown as supporting data, clearly attributed.
Why Some Scores Are Hidden
A score from 4 reviews is not meaningful. A single outlier review — positive or negative — can move that average by an entire star. Displaying it would mislead users.
RecentRatings requires a minimum of 20 reviewswithin a time window before displaying that window's score. If a business has 8 reviews in the last 90 days, the 90-day pill is not shown. The 12-month or all-time score is shown if those windows meet the threshold.
Scores are always displayed to two decimal places — 4.97, not 4.9. We do not round up. Rounding masks real differences between businesses.
What We Never Do
- We do not accept reviews submitted directly to RecentRatings
- We do not allow businesses to edit or remove reviews that appear on their profile
- We do not fabricate scores, interpolate missing data, or fill gaps with estimates
- We do not sell favorable ranking placement — certified listings are noted as such
- We do not display time-window scores that do not meet the 20-review minimum
Common Questions
How does RecentRatings calculate its scores?
RecentRatings calculates scores in three time windows: last 90 days, last 12 months, and all-time. Each window is a straight average of all verified buyer reviews that fall within that period. We display whichever windows have at least 20 reviews so that scores are statistically meaningful — a 5.00 from 3 reviews is hidden because it would be misleading.
What counts as a verified buyer review?
A verified buyer review is one attached to a confirmed purchase transaction. RecentRatings imports verified buyer reviews from Yotpo, Judge.me, and Stamped — post-purchase review platforms that require an order ID before a customer can leave a review. These reviews cannot be left by the general public and are not editable by the business. They are the most trustworthy signal in the review ecosystem.
What is a time-bucketed rating and why does it matter?
A time-bucketed rating shows a business's average score within a specific time window — such as the last 90 days — rather than a single all-time average that may include reviews from years ago. This matters because businesses change. A restaurant that had a rough patch two years ago but has since improved will show a low all-time average, even though recent customers love it. Time-bucketed scores let the current performance speak for itself.
How does RecentRatings use Google and Yelp ratings?
RecentRatings displays aggregate ratings from Google and Yelp (e.g., ★4.4 from 312 Google reviews) as secondary context alongside verified buyer scores. We display the aggregate number and link to the source — we do not display individual review text or author names from Google or Yelp, consistent with their terms of service. Verified buyer reviews from Yotpo and similar platforms are always the primary signal.
Why does RecentRatings hide scores with fewer than 20 reviews?
A rating based on fewer than 20 reviews has high variance — a single unusual experience can swing the average by half a star or more. To prevent misleading scores, RecentRatings hides time-window scores (90-day, 1-year) that do not yet have at least 20 reviews in that window. The all-time score is shown whenever data exists. This threshold may be adjusted as our dataset grows.
How often are scores updated?
Scores are recalculated as new reviews are ingested. RecentRatings runs automated collection pipelines for supported platforms multiple times per day. For businesses on the Pro plan, review ingestion runs on a priority schedule. For the general database of 400,000+ places, updates happen on a rolling basis as our pipeline processes each source.
Can a business manipulate its RecentRatings score?
No. RecentRatings does not accept reviews submitted directly on our platform. All scores come from third-party verified sources — Yotpo, Judge.me, Stamped, Google, and Yelp — where the business has no ability to edit, delete, or selectively show reviews. Our role is aggregation and display, not collection. This makes RecentRatings a neutral third party, not a platform that businesses can game.
See It in Action
Search any restaurant or business to see time-bucketed scores live.
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