I do rely on online reviews for various things, but realize we probably just can't trust them. How do you figure it out?

I'm having a toe problem, and did a search for podiatrists in my area.........of which there are many. I read some good things about this one guy, so I made an appointment with him.
Now I'm reading some bad stuff about him. What do I believe? It goes for many other things..........online buying, searching for doctors, dentists, etc.

How do you sort through those reviews and how to do you which to believe and which not?

I guess there are always going to be varying opinions about things. I usually choose doctors based on mostly all good reviews, and the intelligence that seems to come through from the reviewer.

I guess some of the problem is what we want out of certain "service-type" people. A bunch of reviews might say that someone is very compassionate. Yeah, that's good, but I want them to be competent too.
Then again, I don't want competence if they are assholes.

Seems unfair that you can say untrue things about someone/business, etc., when it can have such a big impact on them. If I give an online opinion, I try to be very careful what I say.

Funny........I was looking up psychologists around the city near here, and none of them seemed to have the ability to review them. haha I suppose that's both good and bad.