If [gd_listings] always shows 5 listings whatever you set, check the parameter name. The number of listings is set with post_limit. The old post_number parameter is ignored, so the widget falls back to its default of 5.

[gd_listings post_type="gd_place" category="1,3" post_limit="4" layout="2"]

To get every parameter name right, build the shortcode with the shortcode builder or use the GD > Listings block, and open the advanced settings to see all options. The full list is in GD > Listings.

Change what each listing shows

Each listing in the list is drawn from the archive item template, the page selected at GeoDirectory > Settings > General > Pages > Archive item page. The default template has shortcodes for the image, badges, distance, rating, favorite button, business hours, extra fields and description. Edit that page and delete the parts you don’t want. For example, remove [gd_post_rating] for the stars and [gd_post_fav] for the favorite button.

That template is also used on your category and post type archive pages. To change only one GD > Listings, create a new page with just the elements you want. Then in the widget’s Card Design settings, set Archive Item Template Type to Page ID and pick your page in Archive Item Template Page. As a shortcode:

[gd_listings post_type="gd_place" post_limit="4" template_type="page" tmpl_page="123"]

Replace 123 with the ID of your template page.

Shorten the description

The description comes from [gd_post_content] in the archive item template. Its limit setting is a word count. For more options see Change the length of the text shown with GD Loop and GD Listings.

Turn off ratings for a post type

To remove star ratings everywhere for a post type, go to Places > Settings > General, click Show Advanced and tick Disable ratings. Disable comments, just above it, turns off reviews completely.