# Google Reviews connector

> Show your real Google Business reviews and star rating on your site — author, rating, date and your total review count.

Source: https://support.estage.com/connectors-google-reviews
Part of the ESTAGE Support help center (https://support.estage.com). Full knowledge base: https://support.estage.com/llms-full.txt

---

Show **real** customer reviews from your Google Business Profile and your star rating, instead of
invented testimonials. Genesis pulls the review text, author, rating and your total review count
from Google and builds the section in your site's design.

## Setup

In **Settings → Connectors → Google Reviews**:

| Field | What to enter |
| --- | --- |
| **Google API key** *(secret)* | A Google Cloud API key with the **Places API (New)** enabled (starts `AIza`). |
| **Place ID** | The Google Place ID of your business, usually starting with `ChIJ`. |

To get the API key:

1. In the Google Cloud console, open **APIs & Services → Credentials** and create an API key.
2. Enable **Places API (New)** for the same Google Cloud project.
3. Restrict the key to the Places API so it can't be used for anything else.

To find your Place ID, search for your business in Google's **Place ID Finder** and copy the ID.

Your key is encrypted on the server and never appears in your site.

## Example prompts

Describe it in chat — no special syntax needed:

- *"show my real Google reviews and star rating on the home page"*
- *"add my Google star rating and review count under the hero"*
- *"add a testimonials section with my Google reviews"*

## Use cases

- A **testimonials section** with verified reviews.
- A **rating badge** near your call to action.
- A **link to your Google profile** so visitors can read more or leave a review.

## Things worth knowing

- **Up to 5 reviews.** Google returns at most 5 reviews for a place, so the section shows up to 5,
  plus your average rating and the total number of reviews on Google.
- **Reviews are shown as written**, with the author's name and photo and a link to your Google
  profile — Genesis doesn't edit, shorten or translate them.
- **Requests use your Google Cloud project.** Usage counts against your own Google Cloud account
  and its billing settings.
- Republish your site after configuring so the live site picks up the connector.