A star figure on a Google listing is an average. An average built from a handful of reviews can move sharply when one more review arrives, and an average built from many reviews changes slowly. The number of reviews is the part most people skip, so this guide starts there. Before any agency is compared, the star figure, the review count, and the reply count go onto the check sheet as three separate lines.
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Labels used in this guide: lines marked LISTING come from the Google pull. Lines marked FILE come from the desk's public-record files. Lines marked EDITORIAL are the desk's own judgment about what the listing data can and cannot show. Keep those labels when you copy anything onto your own sheet, so you can tell later which line came from where.
Step one: write the three listing figures
Open the agency's Google listing on a computer or phone and write down the star figure, the total review count, and the number of replies the agency has posted. Do this for every agency on your list before you look at any review text. Keep the same wording for each agency so the lines can be compared side by side.
If the review count shows as a small number, mark that line on the sheet with the word LOW COUNT. This is a description of the data, not a verdict on the agency. The point is to remind yourself that the star figure is resting on little.
Step two: read the spread, not the average
Scroll through the reviews and sort them in your head into higher ratings and lower ratings. An average can hide a split: a listing with many strong reviews and a cluster of very low ones may show a middling figure that describes neither group well. Write down whether the low reviews describe the same problem, such as missed visits, late arrivals, a change of aide without notice, or trouble reaching the office. Repeated descriptions of one problem are worth a line on the sheet. Scattered complaints about different things are a different pattern and should be written differently.
Do not stop at a single review that makes you angry or pleased. One review is one person's account, and it may be from a relative with a dispute, a former worker, or a client whose situation has changed. Look for the pattern across the reviews.
Step three: check how the agency answers
Note whether the agency posts replies, how many of the reviews it answers, and whether the replies are specific or generic. A reply that names the concern and describes what was done is a different kind of record from a reply that thanks the reviewer and nothing more. Write both observations down in plain words. Also note whether any complaint in the reviews has no reply at all.
A listing reply is the agency speaking for itself. Treat it as a claim to be checked, not as proof that the complaint was handled.
Step four: match the listing to the public record
Reviews are self-reported and cannot confirm licensing, certification, screening, or the contract terms. Once the listing lines are on the sheet, check each agency against the desk's public-record files and the federal lookups. The step-by-step method is written out in How to check a provider yourself, in five lookups. Write the result of each lookup on its own FILE line, next to the LISTING lines, so the two sources stay separate.
If a review describes something the public record does not show, or the record shows something no review mentions, write both facts down and leave the conflict open. Do not resolve it by picking the source you like better.
What the stars cannot tell you
The star figure cannot tell you whether aides are screened, whether the agency is certified, what the written contract says about hours and changes, or how the agency handles a complaint once it is filed. Reviews may also come from family members of clients, former staff, or people with a grievance over a single event. None of this makes the reviews useless. It means they answer only a narrow question: what some people said about their experience, and how the agency responded in public.
EDITORIAL: a high star figure on a small count and a lower figure on a large count can both be read correctly only when the count is written down next to the stars.
Questions to ask the agency about its reviews
Ask the agency how it asks clients to leave reviews, and whether it asks its own staff to do the same. Ask who answers a complaint posted in public, and whether that person is the same one a family would call about a problem at home. Ask how a complaint that was posted publicly is followed up with the family in private. The answers go on the sheet in the agency's own words, and any answer that changes shape when asked a second time should be marked as vague.
Finish the sheet before you compare
Each agency gets one block on the sheet with the three LISTING figures, a line for the spread of the reviews, a line for the reply pattern, and one or more FILE lines from the public-record checks. Compare the same fields across agencies and nothing else. Do not add a rank, a score, or a summary label to the block. A star figure is the starting line for the check, not the finish.