Rich search results with reviews are important for your website's visibility and CTR. But what happens if those reviews are negative? We investigated the impact of low review scores on SEO performance.

We tested the effect of removing rich results for products with a review score lower than 3 stars. With A/B testing, we could precisely measure what this did to organic traffic. The hypothesis: low review stars lower the CTR. By omitting the structured data for these products, we placed less emphasis on negative reviews and encouraged users to click through. This gave them the chance to find more product information on the site—and possibly other relevant products.

Excluding the aggregateRating for products with a score lower than 3 stars led to a 21% increase in clicks. After just six days, this increase proved statistically significant at the 95% level. By using predictive models and control pages, we could exclude external influences and demonstrate the actual impact of the change. A powerful reminder that smart adjustments in structured data can have a direct effect on your organic performance.