When people search for a business today, they often see two very different trust signals:
- The Better Business Bureau (BBB) profile and rating
- Online reviews on Google, Yelp, Amazon, and other platforms
Both matter. Both shape how customers judge a company.
But they work in very different ways.
This article explains the main differences between BBB and online reviews in simple terms.
It uses information from the BBB, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and major review platforms.
It is educational only and not legal, marketing, or business advice.
1. What the BBB does (in simple language)
The BBB is a private nonprofit network that evaluates businesses and charities. It does three main things:
- Maintains business profiles and letter grades (A+ to F)
- Runs a complaint and dispute resolution system
- Offers accreditation to businesses that apply and meet its standards
A few key points:
- Any company can have a BBB rating, even if it never pays the BBB.
- BBB accreditation is a voluntary, paid program with extra requirements.
- Ratings and accreditation both rely on BBB’s Standards for Trust, which cover honesty, transparency, and responsiveness to complaints.
The BBB focuses on patterns of behavior over time, not just one customer’s opinion.
For a deeper dive into how accreditation works, see:
How BBB Accreditation Works for Small Businesses on saveurs.xyz.
2. What online review platforms do
Online review sites such as Google, Yelp, and Amazon work differently. They mainly:
- Host user-generated reviews and star ratings
- Use algorithms to filter or rank reviews
- Provide tools for businesses to claim profiles and respond
The FTC’s guidance on online reviews explains that platforms and businesses must avoid fake reviews, undisclosed paid endorsements, and “review gating” (selectively asking only happy customers to post).
Key traits of online review platforms:
- They focus on individual user experiences.
- They often show star ratings and “most recent” comments.
- Algorithms may recommend certain reviews as “helpful” or “most relevant.”
Unlike BBB, these platforms generally do not run a formal dispute-resolution process.
They may remove reviews that break their policies, but they do not usually mediate individual business–customer conflicts.
3. How BBB ratings are created vs online review scores
BBB ratings
BBB’s rating system uses a scoring model (up to 100 points) and then converts that to a letter grade. Factors include:
- Complaint volume and patterns
- How the business responds to complaints
- Time in business
- Transparency of business practices
- Licensing and government actions
A company with no reviews but a strong history of resolved complaints and proper licensing can still have an A or A+ rating.
Online review scores
Star ratings on Google, Yelp, and similar sites are usually simple averages of individual ratings, with some filters for spam and abuse. Platforms weigh:
- Number of reviews
- Star score (e.g., 4.2/5)
- Review recency
- Flags for policy violations (hate speech, spam, etc.)
A business with few but very positive reviews can show a high star rating even if it has a short track record.
Likewise, a single negative review can have an outsized effect on a young profile.
In short:
- BBB: score based on complaint handling, history, and transparency.
- Online reviews: score based on crowdsourced customer feedback and platform algorithms.
4. Complaint handling vs open comments
One of the biggest differences is how these systems treat problems.
BBB: structured dispute resolution
The BBB encourages customers to file complaints when something goes wrong. Businesses can respond within a structured workflow. If needed, BBB may offer mediation or arbitration in some cases.
Important traits:
- Complaints are logged and visible in the BBB profile.
- Businesses are evaluated on whether and how they respond.
- A pattern of unresolved complaints can affect the rating and accreditation.
Online reviews: open comment streams
On review platforms:
- Customers post public comments and star ratings.
- Businesses can usually respond in public, but there is no formal mediation.
- Platforms may remove reviews that break content rules, but they do not judge who is “right” in a dispute.
Complaints appear as negative reviews rather than formal cases.
The impact is reputational, not part of a structured complaint file.
5. Identity, verification, and trust signals
How BBB verifies businesses
BBB verifies business information, checks licensing (where relevant), and keeps contact details on record. Accreditation adds another layer of vetting, including a review of complaint history and adherence to the Standards for Trust.
This verification focuses on the business, not each individual reviewer.
How review platforms verify reviewers
Most review platforms:
- Require a user account (Google, Yelp, Amazon, etc.).
- Use automated systems to detect fake or abusive reviews.
- May mark reviews as “Verified Purchase” (Amazon) or connect them to a confirmed transaction in some verticals (for example, Google for hotels).
But they rarely verify the identity of each reviewer in a strong way.
The FTC has warned that fake and paid reviews are a real risk if businesses or marketers try to cheat.
So:
- BBB focuses on confirming business details and patterns.
- Review sites rely on a mix of user accounts, automation, and policies to keep review content credible.
6. How consumers actually use both
Consumer studies highlighted by BBB and independent research show a nuanced picture:
- Some customers, especially in home services, auto repair, and professional services, check BBB first.
- Many people—especially younger users—lean more on Google Maps, Yelp, and marketplace reviews.
In practice, consumers often:
- Search on Google and see the star rating and review count first.
- Click through, then notice whether BBB appears on the first page of results.
- Use both sources to build a picture: reviews for recent experiences, BBB for complaint history and dispute handling.
7. Limits of each reputation tool
Neither BBB nor online reviews tell the full story.
Limits of BBB
Business and consumer guides point out several limits:
- Not every satisfied or dissatisfied customer files a BBB complaint.
- Some industries or regions may be underrepresented.
- It is a private nonprofit, not a government regulator.
- Accreditation is voluntary and fee-based, so some good businesses simply never apply.
A clean BBB record does not prove perfection.
It shows that serious patterns of unresolved complaints have not emerged in that system.
Limits of online reviews
FTC and platform policies highlight familiar weaknesses:
- Reviews can be fake or manipulated if businesses or third parties break the rules.
- Star ratings can be skewed by small sample sizes.
- Very satisfied or very upset customers are more likely to post, which may overemphasize extremes.
- Algorithms that decide “most relevant” reviews are not fully transparent.
A high or low star rating can reflect many factors beyond overall service quality.
8. How regulators view online reputation
The FTC has issued detailed guidance on reviews and endorsements, aimed at both businesses and platforms:
Core principles include:
- Do not buy or write fake reviews.
- Do not hide or suppress honest negative reviews.
- Do not mislead people about whether reviews are independent or from real customers.
- Disclose any material connections (for example, when influencers are paid or get free products).
BBB’s approach to complaints and the FTC’s rules on reviews both push in the same direction: clear, honest, and transparent information about how a business treats its customers.
9. How businesses and consumers can think about both
From an educational standpoint, a helpful mental model is:
- BBB shows how the business handles problems over time.
- Online reviews show a wide range of individual experiences and impressions, both positive and negative.
For businesses:
- BBB can support formal complaint resolution and offer a structured trust signal.
- Online reviews show how daily customer experiences are perceived and described in real time.
For consumers:
- BBB can reveal whether a company resolves issues and responds to complaints.
- Reviews can capture how recent customers feel about service quality, speed, or communication.
Conclusion
BBB profiles and online reviews are two distinct reputation tools. BBB evaluates businesses based on complaint patterns, transparency, licensing, and responsiveness, and offers accreditation to companies that meet its Standards for Trust.
Online review platforms, guided by FTC rules on fair and honest reviews, aggregate user opinions into star ratings and comment streams that reflect recent experiences.
For beginners, the most useful approach is to see them as complementary: BBB gives a structured view of how a business handles issues over time, while online reviews offer many individual voices, filtered by platform rules and algorithms.
Understanding how each system works helps people read both types of signals with more nuance, instead of treating any single rating or review as the whole story.