How many testimonials should go on a page?

Three. A visitor reads three and skims a wall of ten, so three is what goes on, and you will be told to choose if you hand over more. Pick three that each answer a different worry - the price, the wait, the result - rather than three that all say the same nice thing. The rest belong on a case studies page. You see the three on a preview and approve them before anyone else does.

Can I show my star rating from Google or Etsy?

Yes, if you genuinely have one. Give your AI the real score, the exact number of reviews behind it and what they are about (your business, or the course or product), and both go into the markup search engines read. A rating is never worked out from the three quotes on the page, because three quotes you chose yourself are not an average of anything. You approve the page before it publishes.

Do I have to say if I gave someone something for their review?

Yes. If a discount, a freebie or a thank-you was attached, UK law wants that said where the reviews are shown, so tell your AI and a short line goes underneath them. It does not weaken the quotes: it is the difference between a review a reader believes and one they quietly discount. Check the wording on the preview and approve it.

My testimonials sit in a narrow column that does not line up with the rest of the page. Can that be fixed?

Yes. New testimonials take the width, side margins and heading size of the page they go on, and show the quotes side by side on a wide screen and one under another on a phone. Testimonials added before that keep their old layout until you ask: tell your AI to make the testimonials line up with the rest of the page. Only that section changes - the quotes and everything else on the page stay as they are - and you approve it on a preview first.

Make it better4 min read

Add reviews and testimonials

Nothing you say about your own work persuades like a few honest words from someone who bought it. Most makers have these - in emails, in Instagram replies, on a Google listing - and never put them on the site. You hand them to your AI and they go up, laid out to match the rest of your pages.

The prompt

“Here are some kind words from customers - [paste them, with who said each one and what they do]. Put the best three on my site, one for each different reason someone buys from me. Do not change anybody’s words. Show me where they sit before it goes live.”

Signed in, Get my prompt fills in your site for you. Otherwise press Copy and fill in the [bracketed] parts. First time? Connect your AI to bernard once: Use your own AI (opens in a new tab).

Laid out on your page’s own lines

The section takes the width and side margins your page already uses, and a heading the same size as your other section headings, so it lines up with what is above and below it. On a wide screen the three quotes sit side by side in columns; on a phone they stack one under another.

Testimonials added before this keep the layout they had, because a change you did not ask for should not appear on your site. If yours sit in a narrow column, ask your AI to make them line up with the rest of the page. Only that section changes, and you approve it first.

Three, each doing a different job

Ten glowing quotes read as one long blur and get skipped. Three get read. So three is what goes on the page, and if you hand over more you will be asked to choose.

Choose by the worry each one answers, not by how flattering it is. One about the price, one about how long it took, one about the result, and between them they have answered the three questions in a stranger’s head. Three quotes that all say “lovely to deal with” have answered one question three times. Anything that does not make the three still earns its keep further down the site, on a case studies or a projects page.

If you have a pile of them and no idea which three, hand the lot over and have them scored before you choose: Work out which reviews to use is that job.

Their words stay their words

What goes on the page is exactly what the customer wrote. Nothing is tidied, trimmed, shortened or given a capital letter it did not have. A quote that has been smoothed reads like marketing copy, which is the one thing a testimonial must never sound like, and in the UK editing a review into something the person did not say is not just bad taste.

Give the words, the person’s name, and one short line of who they are - trade and town, or the business they run. “Sarah Mills, ceramicist, Totnes” tells a reader far more than “Sarah M.” A photo is optional and small.

Search engines are told, when there is a star score

Reviews are one of the things search engines and AI assistants look for, but they only count the ones written down in a form machines can read. Google will only accept a review written down that way if it carries the stars the customer gave. So a quote that came with a star score (five stars on Google, say) is written down automatically, and a quote without one simply shows on the page. Nothing is ever given a score it did not come with. If you want to understand what is being written down, How do I make Google and AI search understand my pages? covers it.

Google is strict about one more thing: it does not show stars in its results for a business’s reviews of itself on its own website. It can for a course or a product, so reviews of one of those are worth putting on that course or product’s own page.

Two things are never written down: a review is never described as checked or confirmed by anybody, because nobody here has checked it, and a star rating is only ever the real one you supplied.

If you gave something in return

If the reviews came in after a discount, a free print or a thank-you of any kind, say so and a short line goes underneath them. Readers trust an admitted incentive far more than one they suspect.

How it works

Connect bernard to your AI (once). Log in to bernard, open your site, go to Use your own AI, and paste the setup prompt into your AI to connect it.
Hand over the quotes - ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, whichever you already use - with who said each one, or use the prompt below.
Approve. You see where the quotes sit and how they read. Check them, press Approve, and they are live.

They land at the foot of the page, which is a fine place for them and not always the best one. If you would rather they sat beside the prices, or just above the contact form, say so and ask for them to be moved. And keep the page around them readable, the same care you would give with Make my pages easy to skim.

Questions people ask

How many testimonials should go on a page?: Three. A visitor reads three and skims a wall of ten, so three is what goes on, and you will be told to choose if you hand over more. Pick three that each answer a different worry - the price, the wait, the result - rather than three that all say the same nice thing. The rest belong on a case studies page. You see the three on a preview and approve them before anyone else does.
Can I show my star rating from Google or Etsy?: Yes, if you genuinely have one. Give your AI the real score, the exact number of reviews behind it and what they are about (your business, or the course or product), and both go into the markup search engines read. A rating is never worked out from the three quotes on the page, because three quotes you chose yourself are not an average of anything. You approve the page before it publishes.
Do I have to say if I gave someone something for their review?: Yes. If a discount, a freebie or a thank-you was attached, UK law wants that said where the reviews are shown, so tell your AI and a short line goes underneath them. It does not weaken the quotes: it is the difference between a review a reader believes and one they quietly discount. Check the wording on the preview and approve it.
My testimonials sit in a narrow column that does not line up with the rest of the page. Can that be fixed?: Yes. New testimonials take the width, side margins and heading size of the page they go on, and show the quotes side by side on a wide screen and one under another on a phone. Testimonials added before that keep their old layout until you ask: tell your AI to make the testimonials line up with the rest of the page. Only that section changes - the quotes and everything else on the page stay as they are - and you approve it on a preview first.