Which count fields are required for EmployerAggregateRating?

Definition: EmployerAggregateRating describes an aggregate rating of an organization in its role as an employer. For Google's employer rating structured data, at least one of ratingCount or reviewCount is required.

Key facts

• Google requires at least one of ratingCount and reviewCount for EmployerAggregateRating structured data. Google Search Central's employer rating documentation lists both properties in its required-properties table.
• ratingCount is the total number of ratings for the organization on your site, according to the same Google documentation.
• reviewCount is the number of people who provided a review, whether or not the review includes a rating, according to Google.
• Schema.org defines ratingCount as the total number of ratings and reviewCount as the total number of reviews. Its EmployerAggregateRating type describes an aggregate rating of an organization related to its role as an employer.
• The count must reflect actual ratings that users provide, and the aggregate score must be derived accurately from those ratings.

Does Google require both count fields?

Google's employer rating page, last updated 8 September 2026, lists itemReviewed, ratingCount, ratingValue, and reviewCount among the required properties. Its requirement for the count is written as “At least one of ratingCount or reviewCount is required,” so a markup implementation needs one of the fields rather than a mandatory pair.

The required count is separate from ratingValue. Google defines ratingValue as the quality score for the item and allows a number, fraction, or percentage. The count field records how much submitted rating or review data supports that score.

What does each field count?

Google defines ratingCount as the total number of ratings of the organization on your site. A rating is therefore the unit counted by this field. Google defines reviewCount as the number of people who provided a review with or without an accompanying rating. A review can therefore be counted by reviewCount even when it has no rating value.

Schema.org's EmployerAggregateRating page lists both properties as inherited from AggregateRating, with Integer as the expected type. It describes ratingCount as “The count of total number of ratings” and reviewCount as “The count of total number of reviews.” The Google definition is more specific about a review that has no accompanying rating, so the field should follow the data that the page actually publishes.

How can the count appear in JSON-LD?

Google's example places ratingCount beside ratingValue and the rating scale fields in an EmployerAggregateRating object. The example uses one count field:

{
  "@context" : "https://schema.org/",
  "@type": "EmployerAggregateRating",
  "itemReviewed": {
    "@type": "Organization",
    "name" : "World's Best Coffee Shop",
    "sameAs" : "https://example.com"
  },
  "ratingValue": 91,
  "bestRating": 100,
  "worstRating": 1,
  "ratingCount" : "10561"
}

Use ratingCount when the value represents ratings. Use reviewCount when the value represents people who supplied reviews under Google's definition. Google also requires the ratings to be available to users on the page and says the number of ratings must reflect actual user ratings.

Related terms

• AggregateRating structured data
• Organization structured data
• Review structured data
• JSON-LD

FAQ

Is ratingCount mandatory by itself?

No. Google requires at least one of ratingCount or reviewCount. ratingCount is the appropriate field when the value counts ratings for the organization on your site.

Is reviewCount another name for ratingCount?

No. reviewCount counts people who provided reviews, including reviews without an accompanying rating. ratingCount counts ratings.

Can both fields appear?

Google's requirement is satisfied by at least one field. The employer rating page does not add a rule that both fields must be populated.

Sources

1. Google Search Central, "Employer Rating (EmployerAggregateRating) Structured Data", 8 September 2026
2. Schema.org, "EmployerAggregateRating", undated
3. Schema.org, "AggregateRating", undated

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