Review Gap Check — The Review Data Behind AI Recommendations

When ChatGPT, Perplexity, or the Google local pack picks which business to recommend, review signals do heavy lifting — rating, and above all review volume. This Actor measures exactly where you stand: your Google rating and review count against the top same-category rivals nearby, with the gap math done for you. One comparison costs $0.39 and returns in seconds.

It's a live Google Maps lookup at run time — a comparison and a verdict, not a pile of scraped rows.

What you get back (real run)

{
  "businessName": "Graeter's Ice Cream",
  "own": { "name": "Graeter's Ice Cream", "rating": 4.3, "reviewCount": 408 },
  "ownMatch": "category_listing",
  "competitors": [
    { "name": "Aglamesis Bro's Ice Cream & Chocolates", "rating": 4.7, "reviewCount": 1300 },
    { "name": "Hello Honey", "rating": 4.7, "reviewCount": 577 }
  ],
  "gap": {
    "leader": "Aglamesis Bro's Ice Cream & Chocolates",
    "ratingDelta": -0.4,
    "reviewCountRatio": 3.2,
    "verdict": "trailing"
  },
  "method": "Google Maps local results via live lookup at request time"
}

• gap.verdict — leading, rated_equal_or_better_but_outreviewed, or trailing. The middle one is the classic local-business trap: great rating, invisible review mass.
• reviewCountRatio — "the leader has 3.2× your reviews" is a number an owner acts on.
• ownMatch — how your listing was matched (exact, normalized, or category_listing). If it can't be confidently found, the result says so honestly instead of guessing.

Who uses this

• Agencies: a $0.39 pre-pitch fact — "your top rival has 3× your reviews" — for any prospect, in seconds.
• Owners: track whether the review push is actually closing the gap (schedule it weekly).
• AI agents: callable via the Apify MCP server; returns in seconds, well inside any tool-call window.

Input

{
  "businessName": "Graeter's Ice Cream",
  "location": "Cincinnati, OH",
  "businessType": "ice cream shop"
}

All three fields required — rivals are the top Google Maps results for the category near the location.

Pricing

One review-gap-check event ($0.39) per delivered comparison. Failed runs are never charged — if the lookup produces nothing, you pay nothing.

Not what this does

• It does not query ChatGPT or Perplexity — for live AI-answer checks, that's the AI Visibility Check ($0.79). This Actor measures the review signals those answers lean on.
• It does not scrape review text or authors — counts, ratings, and gap math only. For review contents, use a reviews scraper.
• It does not invent a reputation grade — real numbers from Google Maps, compared honestly.

Go deeper

The AI Visibility Report combines the AI-answer check with competitor research, up to a full graded research report with sources ($1.99 scan / $9.99 report). For service businesses, the Thumbtack Scraper adds the Thumbtack side of the review picture — ratings, review counts, and hires for the pros competing in your market.

The AI Fact-Check checks whether AI assistants have a business’s hours, address, and phone right.

For AI agents (MCP)

Agents can run this check directly: add Apify's MCP server as a connector — https://mcp.apify.com/?actors=moonlings/review-gap-check — and it appears as the moonlings--review-gap-check tool, metered through your Apify account like any other run. For chains, pass the optional address input so the comparison anchors to the right location.

Who this is for

Local SEO practitioners, marketing agencies, and owners doing Google reviews competitor analysis: reputation benchmarking against the local pack, review velocity gaps, and the review-count math that feeds both map rankings and AI assistant recommendations (AEO). Handy as a standing weekly check or a one-off audit line in a client report.

Works with AI agents

Agent-callable via the Apify API or MCP, and x402-payable — autonomous agents can run a review gap audit with no account. Structured JSON out.