How do reviewCount and ratingCount differ in review markup?

Definition: In an AggregateRating, ratingCount counts the ratings for an item, while reviewCount counts people who supplied reviews, including reviews with or without a rating. Google requires at least one of these properties for an aggregate rating.

Key facts

• Google's Review snippet documentation defines ratingCount as the total number of ratings for the item on your site.
• The same documentation defines reviewCount as the number of people who provided a review with or without an accompanying rating.
• Schema.org describes AggregateRating as the average rating based on multiple ratings or reviews.
• Schema.org's ratingCount description says it is the count of the total number of ratings, while its reviewCount description says it is the count of the total number of reviews.
• Google requires at least one of ratingCount or reviewCount in the aggregate rating properties.

What does each property count?

Schema.org defines AggregateRating as an average rating based on multiple ratings or reviews. Its property descriptions separate the two populations: ratingCount is the total number of ratings, and reviewCount is the total number of reviews.

Google's definitions add the detail needed when the two populations overlap. A rating is an evaluation described on a numeric scale, such as 1 to 5. A person who supplies a review may supply it with or without an accompanying rating. A review that includes a numeric evaluation can therefore belong to both counts, while a review without a rating contributes to the review count. The resulting values can differ when the number of ratings and the number of reviews are different.

What does Google require in AggregateRating?

Google's required properties table states that at least one of ratingCount or reviewCount is required. The requirement applies to the aggregate rating object. Google also says that an aggregate review must supply the average rating for the rich snippet to display.

Google's nested aggregate rating example uses ratingCount:

"aggregateRating": {
  "@type": "AggregateRating",
  "ratingValue": 4.4,
  "ratingCount": 89
}

The count field in that example reports how many ratings the item has on the site. A markup implementation that reports the number of reviews uses reviewCount for that review population. The documentation's requirement is satisfied when at least one of the two count properties is present, alongside the aggregate rating data Google requires.

What should the page show?

Google's technical guidelines say that marked-up review content must be readily available to users on the page. When AggregateRating is used, users should be able to see that aggregate rating on the page.

The same guidelines cover a page with several individual reviews. They say to include an aggregate rating of those individual reviews. They also say not to aggregate reviews or ratings from other websites. The values in ratingCount and reviewCount therefore describe the review or rating data represented by the site for the specific item.

How can you check the markup?

Google's structured data workflow says to validate the code with the Rich Results Test and fix critical errors. It also recommends deploying a few pages with the markup and using the URL Inspection tool to test how Google sees the page.

For a count check, identify whether the site is reporting ratings, reviews, or both. Compare that choice with the property name in the AggregateRating object, then confirm that the aggregate rating is visible on the page. The required-properties table accepts either ratingCount or reviewCount as the count property.

Related terms

• Structured data
• JSON-LD
• Review structured data
• AggregateRating structured data
• Product structured data

FAQ

Can both reviewCount and ratingCount appear together?

Yes. Schema.org lists both properties for AggregateRating. Use each property for the population it names when the page has both kinds of count.

Can a reviewed item have different values for the two properties?

Yes. Google defines reviewCount to include people who provided a review with or without a rating, while ratingCount counts ratings. Those definitions allow different totals.

Is ratingCount required when reviewCount is present?

Google's requirement is at least one of the two properties. A markup object with reviewCount can meet that count-property requirement without also containing ratingCount.

Sources

1. Google Search Central, "Review Snippet (Review, AggregateRating) Structured Data", 8 September 2026
2. Schema.org, "AggregateRating", undated

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