Google Review Velocity for Contractors (Without Getting the Profile Banned)

Review count, recency, and replies all matter. A profile with 200 reviews from 2019 and three this year often loses to a shop with 40 reviews and a steady drip.

Part of the same cluster: Maps not showing, suspensions.

What to do on every completed job

1. Ask in person or by text the same day, while they still remember the tech.
2. Send the short review link from the Business Profile — not a five-step “find us on Google” scavenger hunt.
3. Reply to every review, including the one-star. Stay factual. Do not argue in public.

That is a habit, not a campaign.

What not to do

• Pay for reviews, run a “gift card for a star” promo, or review your own jobs from the office Wi-Fi.
• Dump 30 reviews in a weekend after months of silence. That looks like a drop, and Google filters it.
• Keyword-stuff the customer’s review (“best HVAC in [city]”). Ask them to describe the job.

Velocity means “ongoing,” not “viral”

Aim for a pace you can keep: a few honest reviews a month beats a blast. If volume is low because you do 8 jobs a week, the site and the profile still have to be complete. Reviews cannot rescue an empty listing or a wrong category.

We build the ask-into-the-job workflow as part of local SEO for home-service trades nationwide. Certified Online Solutions LLC. US-based. Frederick office.