Field guide · November 7, 2026
Review Velocity for Electricians: How Many Reviews a Month Keeps You Visible
Review velocity is how many new reviews arrive per month, and for a local electrician it matters more than the lifetime total. A steady 4 to 8 new reviews a month keeps the profile looking current, while a burst followed by months of silence reads as a one-time push and fades in the map pack.
Open any map pack for electricians in a mid-size city and the pattern jumps out. The shop at the top does not always have the most reviews. It has the freshest ones. A competitor with 180 reviews, the newest from four months ago, sits below a shop with 90 reviews and three from this week. The total count is a vanity number. The flow is the ranking signal.
That is review velocity: how many new reviews land per month, and how recently the last one arrived. Google weighs recency because customers do. A homeowner picking an electrician at 9pm wants to know the shop is still doing good work this week, not that it was good in 2023.
The number to aim for
For a one or two-van electrician doing 40 to 80 jobs a month, 4 to 8 new reviews a month is a realistic target, and it is enough. That is roughly one review for every ten jobs, which is what a simple post-job text sequence actually produces. Shops that ask every customer get there. Shops that ask nobody do not, and no amount of lifetime total fixes it.
Below two a month, the profile starts to look quiet. The last review drifts older, the recency advantage goes to whoever is still collecting, and the map pack reflects it within a few weeks. Above 15 a month from a small shop, Google and customers both get suspicious, because the volume does not match the size of the business. Steady beats spectacular here.
Where the ask happens matters more than the wording
The ask that works is a text, sent within a couple of hours of the job finishing, with the review link in it. Not an email the next day, not a card left on the counter, not a request at the invoice stage. The customer is happiest right after the power is back on, and the phone is already in their hand.
Never gate the ask. Do not ask satisfied customers for a review and route unhappy ones to a private form. That is review gating, it violates Google's policy, and it is the fastest way to lose the profile's review function entirely. Ask everyone the same way, and reply to the bad ones in public. A thoughtful reply to a two-star review does more for the next customer than ten five-star reviews with no replies.
What to do when reviews stop coming
First, check whether the ask actually went out. Most dry spells are not a customer problem, they are a process problem: the tech forgot, the text template broke, the new hire was never told. Audit the last 20 jobs and count how many got the text. If it is under half, the fix is the process, not the customers.
Second, reply to everything, including the old ones you skipped. Replies are a recency signal of their own, and a profile where the owner answers reviews looks alive even in a slow month. Set aside 15 minutes on Friday, clear the queue, and keep it clear. It is the cheapest visibility work a local electrician can do.
Related reading
Readers working through this topic often find these earlier guides useful as well: Your Google Service Area: 20 Cities, Two Hours, and the Rest Is Noise, Electrician Review Replies: The 48-Hour Habit That Moves the Map Pack.
Frequently asked questions
How many reviews a month should an electrician aim for?
For a small shop doing 40 to 80 jobs a month, 4 to 8 new reviews a month is realistic and enough. That is about one review per ten jobs, which a post-job text sequence can produce. Below two a month the profile starts to look quiet.
Do old reviews still count toward rankings?
Yes, but recency weighs heavily. A competitor with fewer total reviews and fresher ones can outrank a shop whose newest review is months old. The total count is a baseline; the flow is what keeps you visible.
When should I ask a customer for a review?
By text, within a couple of hours of the job finishing, with the review link in the message. The customer is happiest right after the work is done and the phone is already in their hand. An email the next day converts far worse.
Should I ask only happy customers for reviews?
No. Asking only satisfied customers and routing unhappy ones elsewhere is review gating, and it violates Google's policy. Ask everyone the same way, and reply to the bad reviews in public.