"Dance Like We're Making Love" is a midtempo pop song, with its instrumentation consisting of finger-snapping drum beats, sparse 808s and EDM synths, while Ciara delivers a breathy voice - which was compared to Janet Jackson's.

The song received generally positive reviews from the majority of music critics, who praised its sensual beats and the singer's vocals, while also highlighting its big hook and catchy chorus.

"[7] Caitlin White of Stereogum claimed that Ciara " returned to sex goddess mode" on the track, calling it "an icy, spare take on a hook-up anthem.

"[17] James Grebey of Spin praised the track, naming it "smooth, giving each note as much space as it needs and leaving lots of room for the listener's mind to wander in steamy ways.

"[24] Bianca Gracie of Idolator wrote the track is a "bedroom romp that finds the artist seducing her lover over a slinky, finger-snapping beat — which is all reminiscent of a young Janet Jackson.

"[21] Christina Lee of the same publication agreed, declaring that "[w]ith her soft, barely-there vocals taking center stage in 'Dance Like We're Making Love,' Ciara can be mistaken for Janet Jackson.

"[22] Anupa Mistry of Pitchfork named it "a gorgeous, sleek midtempo track, similar to Frank Ocean's 'Novacane' but with a bigger, airier hook,"[25] while John Kennedy of BET labeled it "the type of horny heater that might inspire some bad decisions in a dim nightclub given the right (or wrong?)

praised the "dynamic blend of finger-snapping drum beats and epic EDM synths," while noting that the track "got all the rhythmic properties of a classic Ciara hit, and a catchy (if repetitive) chorus to boot.

[32] Prior to its release, the singer posted a few teasers on her social media accounts, before it fully premiered on July 16, 2015 in New York City's Times Square.

"[34] The video "opens with the singer floating in a pool, [with] her ripped white T-shirt clinging to her body, [while s]he drips water on herself as she grooves to the music," as noticed by US Weekly's Madeline Boardman.

[35] As the video continues, "Ciara romances a male guest in a massive villa overlooking Los Angeles, dominating each room with sexual energy", Billboard's Colin Stutz noted,[36] "before she all but literally vanishes into thin air," completed Pop Crush's Erica Russell.

Inside the manor, as punctuated by Russell, "things only get hotter, [and] Ciara treats the luxe mansion like her own personal love-pad, writhing on the floor in one room while wearing nothing but periwinkle-hued lace lingerie, and seducing her love interest with a sensual dance—and a [...] black gown—in another.

"[37] The video is "wrapped up with a shot of Ciara walking down a hallway headed to the bedroom, tearing off her jewelry and dress along the way before turning and striking a 'come hither' pose, nude in the shadows," he concluded.

Stutz of Billboard called the whole production "pretty massive, [where] she shows off some of her best moves in high heels and revealing outfits, suggesting dancing with her might be almost just as good as the real deal.