Stevie Wonder in the harmonica solo. Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune was unimpressed with their debut album, he considered the song's "G-funk synth" as simply part of "a compendium of slick secondhand urban pop". When comparing the song to "Wannabe", Billboards critic Larry Flick thought it was as "immediately infectious" but "not nearly as silly and novelty-driven". Barry Walters of The Village Voice also compared the two songs. He found "Say You'll Be There" to be "even catchier" than "Wannabe". Reviewing the single, David Browne of Entertainment Weekly rated it a B+, describing the melody as "delectably frothy", but was at the same time confused by the song's lyrical content. Ken Tucker from the same publication, was more negative calling its P-Funk production "a bid for street cred". Retrospective reviews from critics have been generally positive. Reviewing their debut album Spice, Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic was surprised at how the song's "sultry soul" was "more than just a guilty pleasure", while Brian Grosz from Albumism called it a "a great disco track". In a review of the group's 2007 compilation album Greatest Hits, the NME said that it is a "fine song in any age". Alexis Petridis of The Guardian felt it was more polished than "Wannabe" and described the melody as "instantly memorable". The Evening Standard reviewer Jessie Thompson deemed the song as one of the group's best, praising the song's lyrical content and the harmonica solo. Writing for Billboard, Jason Lipshutz complimented the song's production, calling the hook "enormously catchy" and the instrumental arrangement "smart-but-simple". Anne T. Donahue of Vulture.com depicted it as "the perfect middle-ground" between the group's slower ballads and their upbeat singles, she added that "over 20 years later, we still remember the words to 'Say You'll Be There'". On a 2018 ranking of the group's songs, the NME writer El Hunt placed it at the top of the group's whole catalog, and characterized it as the "essence of everything that girl power stood for". Q magazine ranked "Say You'll Be There" at number 93 in their 2003 list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever". Time Out placed the song at number 39 on their 2015 list of "The 50 best '90s songs". Laura Richards felt that the song epitomized the group's musical style of blending pop with R&B, considering it "pure genius". On Billboards 2017 list of the "100 Greatest Girl Group