More people than ever are turning to online reviews on sites such as Yelp, TripAdvisor and Healthgrades.com to make consumer choices for everything from restaurants to hotels, doctors and more.

Recent studies show in 2017 97 percent of those surveyed read online reviews, and 84 percent trust them as much as a personal recommendation from a friend.

“I read them diligently,” said Colleen Thomas, whom we spoke to at Ulele in Tampa. “I always research before I go to a new restaurant or a new area.”

Ulele is currently one of Tampa’s top restaurants. It earned that reputation thanks to eclectic food, a cosmopolitan vibe, and yes, thousands of online reviews.

“I’ll either get in the car and go or I won’t, depending on that review!” explained Kerri DeSalvia, another guest we spoke to at Ulele.

Businesses paying attention

With so many people depending on reviews, businesses are smart to pay close attention – to the good and the bad.

“We reach out and say, ‘What did we do wrong? How can we make it better,’” said Michael Kilgore, Ulele’s chief marketing officer.

Keep in mind, however, that not every review is genuine and trustworthy. As a consumer, you need to keep a keen eye out for fake reviews – be sure to compare several reviews on multiple sites.

“It goes by the trend,” said DeSalvia. “What’s the trend? Are there more good reviews than bad reviews?”

A great tool to help you analyze the trustworthiness of reviews is fakespot.com. Just plug in a URL and Fakespot analyzes the review of a product or restaurant, providing a final grade of A through F for the reliability of the reviews.

Power to the people

The greater the number of reviews, the more trust you can have in that overall number of stars. Kilgore calls it the “wisdom of crowds.”

“If you have 500 reviews, 4,000 reviews, you tend to put some more credence in those,” Kilgore explained. “If it’s 10 reviews or five reviews, buyer beware.”

One thing is clear: online reviews are giving power to the people.

“If you have a bad experience, you can make an impact and if you have a great experience you can make a positive impact,” said Thomas.

Whether it’s a restaurant, nail salon or any business these days, online reviews matter. So write them, read them and enjoy your influence as a customer!