97% of people read reviews before they choose a local business. REKommend gets you more recent 5-star Google reviews, automatically and compliantly, so you win the map pack and get recommended by AI.
Best pizza in town and the service was so friendly. Already telling everyone!
Google Business Profile & the map pack
When someone searches “near me,” Google ranks businesses on relevance, distance, and prominence — and reviews are a huge part of prominence. Industry analysis puts reviews at roughly a fifth of your total local ranking weight2. The three businesses in the map pack get the calls. Everyone else gets scrolled past.
More reviews and a higher star average push you up the local pack and build the trust that turns a search into a call.
A steady stream of fresh reviews signals an active, relevant business. 200 reviews from 2021 lose to 150 with 20 added last month.
The words in your reviews and timely owner responses are ranking signals too. REKommend drafts replies for you in seconds.
The new front door: AI search
People don't just Google anymore. They ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews “who's the best plumber near me?” These tools answer by reading reviews, ratings, sentiment, and how recent it all is. If your reviews are thin or stale, you're invisible in the answer.
6% → 45%1
jump in one year in consumers using AI tools like ChatGPT for local recommendations.
100%3
of Perplexity local answers reference reviews. ChatGPT references them in 58%.
Recent > old4
AI in 2026 heavily favors recent reviews over historical pile-ups. Velocity wins.
Up to 30×4
harder to get recommended by AI than to rank on Google. Early movers win the spot.
The businesses that win the next few years won't be the ones with the most reviews. They'll be the ones with the most recent reviews, flowing in consistently, on autopilot.
How REKommend works
Done for you by REK. You keep serving customers, we handle the reviews, the replies, and the proof on your site.
Automatic, personalized text and email invites go out right after great service, at the moment they're happiest.
A clean, branded page takes them straight to Google. Every customer gets the same fair, compliant path.
New reviews land in one dashboard with a ready-to-send AI-drafted reply. Approve and you're done.
Fresh reviews display right on the website we built you, boosting trust and feeding local SEO.
Plenty of tools quietly “gate” reviews, hiding the Google link from unhappy customers. Google bans it, and the FTC now fines review suppression up to $53,088 per violation, with the power to wipe your entire review history. REKommend invites everyone fairly and routes private concerns to you directly. You get more great reviews the safe way, and we take the compliance risk off your plate.
Why REK
We've ranked Orlando businesses in local search since 2003. REKommend is the system we built to do reputation right, wired into the custom website and SEO we already manage for you. One partner, one bill, one team that answers the phone.
22+ yrs
local SEO experience
180+
five-star reviews of our own
Custom-coded
sites, never templates
No contracts
month to month
We're setting up a small group of clients free to start. You get the full system, we get your feedback. Let's get your reviews growing before your competitors catch on.
REKommend Pro
Birdeye & Podium: $300–$600/mo
$195/month
We get you set up. The app runs your campaigns. No contracts.
Founding partners start free for 3 months.
Want us to run it for you end-to-end? See REK Managed at $385/mo →