Benchmark Your Velocity: The 3-Month Review Analysis That Most Owners Never Do

Here's what most owners never do: they don't actually measure their review velocity.

They assume they're doing fine. They assume their competitors are doing worse. And then one day they're ranking third instead of first — and only then do they realise they've been losing quietly for months.

Put simply: if you're not measuring, you're flying blind.

So. Let's fix that in twenty minutes.

The 3-Month Analysis (Step by Step)

Open a spreadsheet — Google Sheets, Excel, whatever you use. You're going to do this once now, then monthly from here on out.

Step 1: Count Your Current Reviews

Go to Google My Business. Click Reviews. Write down your total review count at the top of the spreadsheet.

Now scroll through and count reviews from:

• Past 30 days: How many reviews did you get from [today] to [30 days ago]?
• Past 60 days: How many total reviews from [today] to [60 days ago]?
• Past 90 days: How many total reviews from [today] to [90 days ago]?

You're looking at three monthly buckets. Write those three numbers down.

Step 2: Calculate Weekly Averages

This matters more than monthly counts because velocity compounds weekly.

• Last 30 days ÷ 4 = your weekly rate
• Last 60 days ÷ 8 = your average weekly rate over two months
• Last 90 days ÷ 13 = your average weekly rate over three months

Example: If you got 12 reviews in the past 30 days, that's three reviews per week. If you got 18 reviews in the past 90 days, that's roughly 1.4 reviews per week.

Write those down. The trend matters. If your most recent month is higher than your 90-day average, you're accelerating. If it's lower, you're decelerating.

Step 3: Google Your Competition

Find your top three local competitors in Google Maps search results. The ones actually beating you. Or the ones you're worried about.

For each:

• Click on their business profile
• Scroll to Reviews
• Write down their total review count
• Scroll through their recent reviews and estimate their velocity. You don't need exact numbers — just count the reviews visible from the past month. Get a rough sense of whether they're getting reviews daily, weekly, or sporadically.

You want a rough velocity estimate. Don't spend more than two minutes per competitor.

Step 4: Create Your Benchmark Table

Build a simple table:

Now you can see where you stand.

What the Numbers Actually Mean

Now for the bit that matters: interpreting what you're seeing.

Under 2 reviews per week (under 8 per month) = Danger zone.

You're not collecting reviews systematically. You're hoping people review on their own. They won't. Not consistently. At this rate, you're losing momentum every month. If your competitors are at 3+ per week, they're compounding you.

Recovery timeline: 8-12 weeks to stabilise velocity. 4-6 months to regain ranking momentum.

3-5 reviews per week (12-20 per month) = Average.

You're doing the basics. You're getting reviews, but you're not aggressive about it. Most local businesses sit here. Which means most local businesses are beatable.

If you're here, look at your competition. If they're here too, great — you're in equilibrium. But if even one competitor is at 5+, they're pulling ahead. You'll notice ranking shifts within 6-8 weeks.

Upgrade path: add one systematic collection channel (email, SMS, or QR code). That single change often bumps you from 4 to 7 reviews per week.

5-10 reviews per week (20-40 per month) = Competitive.

You're winning. You're collecting reviews systematically, and it's paying off. You're likely ranking well in your local pack. Your competitors can see you're active. Maintain this.

Most businesses never get here because they get complacent at the "average" level.

10+ reviews per week (40+ per month) = Dominant.

You're collecting reviews obsessively and systematically. You're winning on velocity hard. You've built review collection into your business operations — it's not a side project, it's part of how you do business.

High-volume service businesses hit this naturally (cleaners, movers, lawn care). Lower-volume businesses need to work for it.

The Twist: Total Count Still Matters

Now — here's the nuance that catches people out.

Your total review count matters for credibility and average rating. But your velocity matters for ranking.

You can't win with velocity alone if you're starting from 10 total reviews. Google weights volume. But you can absolutely lose with 500 reviews and no velocity.

Think of it like this:

• Total reviews = credibility score
• Velocity = ranking signal
• Average rating = conversion factor

You need all three. But if you could only have one, pick velocity. Because velocity gets you to the page. Everything else is window dressing.

The Monthly Check-In (Five Minutes)

Once you've done this analysis, do it again next month. Same process.

• Count your new reviews from the past 30 days
• Calculate your weekly velocity
• Note whether you're up or down from last month
• Update your competitor estimates
• Plot the trend

After three months of data, you'll see the story. You'll know if you're accelerating or decelerating. You'll know if your competitor is catching you or you're pulling away.

That's the information most owners never have. And it's the information that lets you act before your ranking takes a hit.

Do this today. Spend twenty minutes. Build the spreadsheet. Get your baseline. And comment below — let me know what your velocity looks like. Are you above or below your competitors? Are you accelerating or sliding backwards? I'd genuinely like to know where you land.