Why your competitor ranks with fewer reviews

Does this drive you crazy? (No, not the snow.)

You've got 200 reviews. 4.8 stars. Solid.

Your competitor has 47 reviews. 4.6 stars. Objectively worse.

They're ranking above you in the local pack.

What gives? 🤬

Review velocity matters more than you think.

Google doesn't just count your reviews. It watches the pattern.

What are they watching?

When did they come in?
How consistently?
Are you still getting them, or did you peak in 2022?

A business with 47 reviews that got 12 of them in the last 30 days looks more alive than a business with 200 reviews that hasn't had a new one in 3 months.

Google interprets that as signal. Active business = good business.

Recency bias is real.

Same reason a restaurant with "recently updated" photos outranks one with better photos from 2022.

Google wants to show businesses that are clearly still operating, still serving customers, still in the game.

Your 200 reviews are social proof for humans. It’s a great feat.

But if your velocity in getting them has flatlined, they may not be doing much for the ranking algorithm.

What actually fixes this:

Build a review request system that runs automatically. Not "we ask sometimes." Every completed job triggers an ask. Maybe ask more than once.
Focus on consistency over campaigns. 4 reviews a week beats 20 reviews in one month then nothing for the next 11. Think slow drip vs firehose.
Respond to every review. Google sees engagement. Customers see you give a damn. Both matter. (You can automate this too.)
Watch your competitor's velocity, not just their count. If they're outpacing you month over month, don’t just stand there with a review card in hand, start asking!

Here's the uncomfortable part:

If you stopped asking for reviews because you felt like you had "enough," you're probably already sliding.

There's no number where you get to stop. The game is momentum, not accumulation.

Watch out for the banana peels 🫡

Talk soon, Garrett

P.S. — If you want advice on how to track your reviews and your competitors, drop a line and I can point you in the right direction.