How to Get More Podcast Reviews on Apple and Spotify
To get more podcast reviews, do three things: ask in every episode and explain why it helps, tell listeners the exact taps to get there, and hand them a deep-link that opens straight to the review box so they never have to hunt. The single biggest reason shows have few reviews is not that listeners dislike them, it is that the path from "I want to help" to a posted review is four taps long and easy to abandon.
There is a catch most guides bury, so here it is up front: Apple and Spotify do not work the same way. On Apple Podcasts a listener can leave a written review and a star rating. On Spotify there is no written review at all, only a 1-to-5 star rating (Castos). If you ask your whole audience to "leave a review on Spotify," a chunk of them will open the app, find no review box, and give up. Your ask has to match the platform. This guide gives you the precise steps for each, the deep-link trick that removes the friction, and the script for asking without sounding desperate.
Why podcast reviews are worth chasing
Reviews are social proof, not a ranking lever, and knowing the difference keeps you from wasting effort. A wall of recent, specific reviews makes a browsing stranger more likely to tap play. But Apple is explicit that ratings and reviews are not factored into the algorithm that ranks Top Shows and Top Episodes (Apple Podcasts for Creators). On Spotify, the average score only displays publicly once a show has at least ten ratings (Spotify Newsroom), so until you cross that line your number is invisible.
So the honest pitch is: reviews convert browsers and give you direct feedback, but they will not push you up the charts. Treat them as a conversion asset, the same way a product page treats its star rating, and remember that the bigger growth lever is still distribution. Clips drive 20–40% of new audience for video shows and can raise reach 2–5x (Podcast Studio Glasgow). Reviews close the new listeners that distribution sends you; they rarely create them on their own.
How do listeners leave a review on Apple Podcasts?
On an iPhone or iPad, open the Podcasts app, search for the show, tap it, scroll down to Ratings & Reviews, then tap a star to rate or tap Write a Review to add text and submit (Apple Support). On a Mac it is the same path inside the Podcasts app: open the show, scroll to Ratings & Reviews, click Write a Review, submit. The listener must be signed in to their Apple Account or the write option will not appear.
Three details change how you should ask:
- One review per show. A listener can edit their review later, but they cannot post a second one, so a "review every week" ask makes no sense. Ask once, then ask new listeners.
- Reviews are country-specific. A review posted from a Canadian Apple Account is only visible to other Canadian users (Apple Support). If your audience is global, your review counts are fragmented by storefront, which is normal and not a bug.
- You cannot review a single episode, only the show as a whole. Don't tell listeners to "review this episode."
How do listeners rate a podcast on Spotify?
On Spotify, open the mobile app, go to the show's main page (not an episode page), and tap the star icon under the description, or tap the More (…) menu and choose Rate show (Castos). There is no text box; it is stars only. Two constraints matter for your ask.
First, a listener must have actually played an episode before Spotify lets them rate (Castos). Try to rate without listening and the app returns: "Only listeners to this show can rate it. Check out a few episodes then come back and give your feedback" (AppleToolBox). That is anti-manipulation by design, and it means your Spotify ask only lands on people who already listen, which is exactly who you want rating you. Second, rating is mobile-app only; a desktop listener can't do it. So the Spotify line in your CTA should be short and specific: "If you're listening on the Spotify app, tap the star under the show name."
The deep-link trick most guides skip
The ?action=write-review parameter is a long-standing App Store deep-link convention: append it to a product URL and the link opens straight to the write-a-review screen (Airship). Podcasters have carried the same trick over to show URLs, appending it after the show's numeric ID: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/[show-name]/id[YOUR_ID]?action=write-review, where the ID is the number at the end of your show's Apple URL. On a device with the Podcasts app installed, the universal link is meant to open the app at the review box, skipping the search-tap-scroll dance. When it works, it's the single highest-payoff move here, because every tap you remove is a fraction of your audience that doesn't drop off.
Be honest with yourself about two things. Apple documents ?action=write-review for App Store apps, not for Podcasts shows, applying it to a show URL is an unofficial convention, so behavior can vary by OS version and may degrade to just opening the show page. Test your own link on a real iPhone before you read it on air, and if it only opens the show page, fall back to telling listeners the manual taps. Spotify has no equivalent write-review deep-link, because it has no review screen to deep-link to. Either way, the principle holds: give one short, memorable URL, not a paragraph of instructions.
The ask: where, when, and exactly what to say
Ask in every episode, but vary where it lands. The strongest pattern is to place the ask at three points, a quick mention near the start, one woven into the middle where engagement peaks, and a fuller version at the end where your most committed listeners still are (The Podcast Host). You will feel like a broken record. Your audience won't; your show is less central to their day than it is to yours, so repetition is what makes the action stick.
Make the ask specific and explain the payoff. Apple's own guidance is to tell listeners why a review helps, direct feedback, discovery for the show, an engaged audience that attracts new people (Apple Podcasts for Creators). "Please leave a review" is weak. A script that works:
"If this episode helped you, the single best way to support the show is a quick review on Apple Podcasts, it's the first thing a new listener sees. Just go to [your shortlink], it opens straight to the box. On Spotify, tap the star under the show name. Takes ten seconds and it genuinely moves the needle for an independent show like this one."
Notice what that script does. It gives a reason, names both platforms with the correct action for each, points to a deep-link instead of a path, and is short enough to remember while driving. Back it up in your show notes with the same link, because a listener at a red light can't tap a button, they need it written down where they can find it later (The Podcast Host).
Common mistakes that quietly cost you reviews
Most review problems are self-inflicted. These are the five that come up again and again.
- Asking the whole audience to "review on Spotify." Spotify has no review box, only stars. Split the ask: review on Apple, rate on Spotify.
- Reading a long URL on air. Nobody types
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/.... Use a short, branded redirect that carries the?action=write-reviewparameter underneath. - Asking once and giving up. New listeners arrive every week and weren't there for last month's ask. The ask is permanent, not a campaign.
- No reason attached. "Leave a review" with no "because it helps a new listener find us" converts far worse than a one-line why.
- Begging for five stars before you've earned them. Asking specifically for "5 stars" works once a show is good; early on, ask for honest feedback and let the rating follow. Gaming reviews, incentivizing or buying them, violates platform policy and is easy to spot.
Where reviews fit in your wider growth plan
Reviews are a closing tool, not an acquisition channel. Pair the ask with the systems that actually bring strangers in: a place to capture the most engaged ones, and a steady feed of clips that surface the show in the first place. If you don't yet own a direct line to listeners, start a podcast email list from zero and put a welcome email sequence behind it so a new reviewer becomes a subscriber. Give the most invested fans somewhere to gather, setting up a Discord for your listeners, and the review asks start coming unprompted.
The same logic scales by format. B2B shows that grow by booking guests first inherit each guest's audience, and a guest who loved the conversation is your most reliable reviewer. And sensitive genres earn reviews by trust as much as quality, see how to grow a true crime podcast without crossing ethical lines, where listener goodwill is the whole product. A podcast lead magnet that converts turns review-page traffic into a list you control.
FAQ
Do podcast reviews help your ranking on Apple or Spotify? No, not directly. Apple states ratings and reviews are not factored into Top Shows and Top Episodes rankings (Apple Podcasts for Creators). They are social proof that converts browsers into listeners, and they give you feedback, but follows, listening velocity, and completion are what move the charts.
Can people leave a written review on Spotify? No. Spotify supports a 1-to-5 star rating only, with no text review, and only inside the mobile app (Castos). For written reviews, point listeners to Apple Podcasts or a directory like Podchaser.
Why can't a listener rate my show on Spotify? Spotify requires a listener to have played at least one episode before they can rate, to limit manipulation (Castos). If they haven't listened, the app blocks the rating and shows an "only listeners to this show can rate it" message (AppleToolBox).
What is the Apple Podcasts review deep-link? Appending ?action=write-review to your show's Apple URL, https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/[name]/id[ID]?action=write-review, is meant to open the Podcasts app at the review box on a device that has it installed. The parameter is an App Store deep-link convention (Airship) that podcasters reuse on show URLs; Apple doesn't formally document it for Podcasts, so test it on a real device first.
How often should I ask for reviews? Every episode, varying placement across the start, the engaged middle, and the end. Repetition is necessary because new listeners weren't there for previous asks, and even regulars half-listen (The Podcast Host).