According to Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine, the song employs "a catchy, cheerleader stomp a la Tony Basil's 'Mickey'", although Lavigne's "attempts at sounding irreverent ... just wind up sounding juvenile". Laura Snapes of "The Guardian" also compared "Girlfriend" to "Mickey", referring to the song as a "deadpan cheerleader banger". Also from "The Guardian", Alex Macpherson labeled the song as "brilliantly addictive". Tim O'Neil of "PopMatters" felt that the chorus of the song "blatantly rips the hook from Toni Basil's 'Mickey'", although he also stated that the song has a "torturous propensity to get stuck in your head". Joan Anderman of "The Boston Globe" praised the catchy hook of "Girlfriend", commenting that "It sounds great -- fizzy and snotty and unbelievable catchy". MuchMusic attributed the success of the song to the mix of various genres, stating: "[Lavigne] can succeed in punk, rock and pop with her bubblegum anthem 'Girlfriend'". At the Juno Awards of 2008, "Girlfriend" garnered Lavigne a nomination in the Single of the Year category. The song also garnered Lavigne two wins at the 2008 Japan Gold Disc Awards in the Mastertone of the Year and Single Track of the Year (Mobile) categories. The song was ranked at number 35 on "Rolling Stone" list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007. "MTV Asia" ranked the song as the 77th top song of 2007, while MTV Latin America listed "Girlfriend" as the number one song of 2007. "Billboard" ranked the song as the twelfth best song of 2007.