Among the tattoo studios someone searching in Albany, CA is shown, the median studio we read carries 83 Google reviews. The most-reviewed carries 2,050, and the next two carry 613 and 601. We read 20 tattoo studios for this section, and those review counts cover each listing's whole history, not any recent stretch.
The median rating among the tattoo studios we read is 4.8 stars. That is a single middle figure. It does not tell you how any one studio's rating looks, and it is measured over the same whole-listing history as the review counts above.
Replies are a separate and much shorter measure: how many of a studio's most recent 10 reviews carry an answer from the owner. Baron Art Tattoo & Piercing Studio answered 9 of its last 10. Its listing carries 567 reviews in total. Cleopatra INK Tattoo & Piercing Berkeley Studio answered 1 of its last 10. Its listing carries 613 reviews in total, which puts it among the three most-reviewed tattoo studios we read. Those are the two studios we can name as answering. We can't see how the other tattoo studios we read handled their recent reviews, so nothing here describes them. What it does establish is that tattoo studios in this search are not a trade where nobody answers.
The benchmark measured here is 70: a typical measured business answered 70% of its recent reviews. That figure comes from 44 businesses across all trades together, not tattoo studios alone, so it is a reference point rather than a tattoo-specific standard. Baron Art Tattoo & Piercing Studio's 9 of 10 is the tattoo-specific figure a studio owner can put beside it.
What to do about it
Start with your own Google listing: count how many of your last 10 reviews have your reply under them. That is the same measure behind every reply figure above, so you can set your own number directly beside Baron Art Tattoo & Piercing Studio's 9 of 10 and the benchmark measured here of 70.
If your count is low, the fix is simple and entirely in your hands: answer each new review as it comes in. Keep it short and specific to the piece or the session the customer describes, thank them by name where they gave one, and when someone raises a problem, acknowledge it plainly and offer a way to reach you directly. Of everything in that exchange, the reply is the only part you write. Then count your last 10 again after the next ten reviews have arrived, and treat that number as the one you are responsible for.
Tattoo studios
| # | Business | Answered | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baron Art Tattoo & Piercing Studio | 9 of 10 | 567 | 5 |
| 2 | Cleopatra INK Tattoo & Piercing Berkeley Studio | 1 of 10 | 613 | 4.8 |