When evaluating senior living communities online, one number tends to dominate the conversation: the Google star rating. It’s quick, visible, and familiar to senior living leaders at all levels. But as helpful as ratings are, they only tell part of the story. Two communities with the same rating can look very different once you dig into the patterns behind the reviews.
That’s exactly why we created the Senior Living Reputation (SLR) Score, a more complete, data-driven measure of how a community looks today in the eyes of prospective residents and families. The SLR ScoreTM incorporates not only the rating, but also the recency of the last positive review, the frequency at which positive reviews are coming in, and the trend of the last three reviews. In other words, it captures momentum, not just history.
A few weeks ago we explored how owners and operators can use it to objectively benchmark their online reputation. Today, we’re taking it a step further by showing what the score reveals when communities with identical Google ratings look dramatically different beneath the surface.
Below are two real-world examples from our latest analysis of 6,500+ senior living locations.
Both Vitalia Senior Residences Westlake and Westlake Pointe Senior Living share a 4.3 Google rating. At first glance one might assume they offer a similar experience, but the SLR Score tells a far more nuanced story.
SLR Score: 88.4 (Above average)
Vitalia’s rating is supported by strong underlying signals:
With great recency and frequency of positive reviews Vitalia Westlake demonstrates a consistent pattern of recent engagement and happy residents/families.
While there is certainly room for improvement, their already solid reputation will continue to strengthen if the positive momentum keeps pushing the rating upward.
SLR Score: 48.4 (Bottom 10%)
Despite the identical 4.3 rating, the reputation dynamics at Westlake Pointe are almost the opposite:
This is exactly the type of situation where a good rating masks an unhealthy reputation trend. The SLR Score reveals caution signs that may make prospects comparing communities in Westlake turn away from this community.
The Lafayette and Highgrove at Tates Creek both boast a strong 4.5 Google rating. Many communities would look at that number and feel confident. But again, the SLR Score helps us understand why two identical ratings may not mean identical experiences.
SLR Score: 90.9 (Strong)
The Lafayette earns its 4.5 rating with truly positive momentum:
This is the type of community where the rating aligns with the lived experience, and the SLR Score confirms it.
SLR Score: 58.9 (Bottom 10%)
In contrast, Highgrove’s SLR Score reveals serious reputation concerns:
Despite the same 4.5 rating, the reputation momentum here is clearly negative and likely to influence how seriously prospects consider the community.
The examples from Ohio and Kentucky highlight a truth our industry can’t ignore:
The Google rating is only the headline. The SLR Score is the story.
Senior living prospects aren’t just looking for communities with good history, they’re looking for communities that have current, consistent, and positive experiences from residents and families. Operators who rely solely on their rating may miss early warning signs or fail to capitalize on positive trends.
The SLR Score makes those insights visible.
If you’d like to understand how your communities look through the same objective lens, or explore the underlying data in your market, we’d love to talk.
* Community data as of December 12, 2025
Our December 2025 Senior Living Reputation Leaderboard introduces a new monthly benchmark, ranking the Top 10 brands based on portfolio-wide reputation performance and establishing a baseline for tracking consistency and momentum over time.
Our January 2026 Senior Living Reputation Leaderboard highlights the Top 10 brands based on portfolio-wide reputation performance, along with key month-over-month shifts that show where momentum is building — and why it matters.
