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In today’s digital world, customer feedback is more public and influential than ever, with platforms like Google, Trustpilot, and social media shaping purchasing decisions. For small businesses, reviews aren’t just comments - they’re powerful assets that can make or break a reputation. Positive reviews help build trust, while negative feedback, when managed effectively, can provide valuable insights to refine and strengthen your business.
Our latest research used AI to collect over 14,000 Google reviews across 15 industries and 18 UK cities. This allowed us to conduct sentiment analysis to explore the locations and industries of businesses experiencing the most positive and negative reviews, as well as understand the language frequently used in customer feedback.
Jon Bartlett, Head of Customer Services at Capital on Tap shares expert insights on the impact of customer reviews and offers practical advice on how businesses can effectively manage and overcome negative feedback.
The most negatively reviewed industries
Using AI-driven sentiment analysis, we identified the proportion of positive and negative reviews across industries. Natural Language Processing (NLP) analysis was used to detect the most common words linked to each sentiment.
|
Category |
% Negative Reviews |
|
Women's Clothing Store |
53.80% |
|
Fast Food Restaurant |
34.30% |
|
Cafe |
30.24% |
|
Delivery Service |
21.76% |
|
Restaurant |
14.14% |
|
Bar |
12.93% |
|
Plumber |
9.52% |
|
Nail Salon |
7.82% |
|
Health Consultant |
6.97% |
|
Doctor |
6.87% |
When looking specifically at each industry, women's clothing stores receive the highest proportion of negative reviews, with over half (53.8%) of customer feedback being disapproving.
Beyond this, food and drink-related industries receive the largest number of negative reviews, with fast food restaurants (34.3%), cafes (30.2%), and restaurants (14.1%) all appearing within the top five most criticised. When looking at all of the negative reviews regardless of industry, “food” consistently appears as one of the most frequently mentioned words, ranking as the most common term in negative feedback for seven cities. London, in particular, scores poorly for food, with fast-food establishments holding the city’s lowest average review rating of just 2.5.
Jon adds, “There are a lot of factors that go into making a restaurant stand out, and people often hold high expectations for them. Whether this is the quality of food, portion size, cleanliness, or just living up to the hype they’ve seen online. And, with London being the most visited city by tourists, it is perhaps unsurprising that its businesses have some of the highest expectations placed on them.”
Although only 6.87% of reviews for doctors’ surgeries are negative, they still receive the lowest overall rating of 3.0 out of 5. In some cities, the situation is even more concerning - doctors in Swansea, London, and Sheffield receive between 63-70% negative reviews, meaning around two-thirds of all feedback is critical. On the other hand, 63.5% of doctor reviews express a positive opinion on average, meaning one-third remain neutral. Though neutral feedback may seem harmless, it often suggests a lack of standout experiences, signalling room for improvement.
The most positively reviewed industries
On the flip side, we analysed the proportion of positive reviews across each industry.
|
Category |
% Positive Reviews |
|
Moving and Storage Service |
95.25% |
|
Electrician |
94.07% |
|
Health Consultant |
92.81% |
|
Bar |
92.53% |
|
Plumber |
92.09% |
|
Nail Salon |
91.76% |
|
Gym |
91.70% |
|
Moving Company |
91.11% |
|
Cafe |
86.26% |
|
Men's Clothing Store |
85.07% |
We identified that electricians and moving and storage services stand out as the highest-rated industries, with average ratings reflecting this - both industries receive an impressive 4.8 out of 5 on average. Some businesses within these sectors even achieve flawless overall review ratings, with moving and storage companies in Manchester and Nottingham, as well as electricians in Leeds, Nottingham, and Newport boasting a perfect 5.0 score.
Given their high average ratings, it’s no surprise that moving and storage services receive overwhelmingly positive feedback, with a remarkable 95.3% of reviews expressing positive sentiment. Electricians follow closely behind with 94.1%, while health consultants round out the top three at 92.8%.
Plumbing, another highly rated industry, also receives strong customer feedback, with an average rating of 4.7 out of 5. Within these industries, words like “recommend” and “professional” frequently appear in positive reviews, reinforcing the importance of expertise in securing customer trust and satisfaction.
The most commonly used words in reviews
A Natural Language Processing analysis allowed us to uncover which words were used most commonly in reviews, separating them between sentiment, city, and industry.
Positive reviews:
Negative reviews:
Across both positive and negative reviews, “service” and “staff” consistently appear in positive feedback, with at least one of these terms mentioned in every industry analysed.
Jon adds, “It is clear that customers are paying the most attention to the service that staff deliver, regardless of whether their experience was good or bad, highlighting just how much customers value their experience. This makes customer service one of the most critical factors for any business - if customers are excited or upset about it, they’ll talk about it. And, with 37% of people admitting they wouldn’t buy something if a review mentioned poor customer service, avoiding these negative reviews is crucial.”
Another key trend is the frequent appearance of the word “recommend” in positive reviews. This suggests that online reviews serve as a modern-day word-of-mouth referral system, where customers actively endorse businesses to others on a much larger, more public scale - and they should be treated as just that. For businesses, building trust through positive recommendations is essential as they will not only attract new customers but also reinforce credibility and loyalty.
The impact of customer reviews
Jon Bartlett, Head of Customer Services at Capital on Tap says, “Customer reviews - both positive and negative - can have a significant impact on a business's success. Positive reviews help to build trust, attract new customers, and boost search rankings, while negative reviews, if ignored, can harm a brand’s reputation.
“However, negative feedback doesn’t have to be damaging - it can offer valuable insights for improvement. By responding promptly and working hard to understand the feedback, businesses can turn criticism into an opportunity to build trust and loyalty. Addressing concerns professionally and making meaningful changes not only strengthens your reputation but also demonstrates a commitment to customer satisfaction.
“The key is to be proactive, encouraging satisfied customers to share their experiences by making it easy for them to do so, providing excellent service, and personally requesting their feedback. Going the extra mile and delivering great value will naturally lead to more positive reviews. In fact, 65% of people say they would leave a positive review simply because a business asked them to.
“Managing your online reputation effectively isn’t just about damage control; it’s about building long-term credibility and trust.”
Methodology and sources
We scraped 14,083 reviews across 15 industries and 18 UK cities to determine which received the most positive and negative reviews.
ChatGPT was used to conduct a sentiment analysis on the reviews, determining how many reviews had a positive or negative sentiment. It was also used to conduct Natural Language Processing analysis to determine the most frequently occurring keywords in each city and industry, factoring in sentiment.
