Review Velocity

Review velocity is how fast new reviews are coming in. A restaurant that gets 8 reviews this week looks more active and prominent to Google than one that gets 1 review every two months, even if the second has more total reviews.

Velocity feeds prominence signals. Google appears to weight recent reviews more than old ones — a flurry of fresh 5-star reviews moves pack rank within weeks, while ancient 5-star reviews from 2018 contribute less. Both volume and recency matter.

Velocity is also the easiest review metric to influence. Asking customers to review at the right moment — at the end of a great meal, after a smooth takeout pickup — moves the rate substantially. The hard part is making asking systematic without making it feel desperate.

A healthy velocity for a busy independent restaurant is 4-12 new Google reviews per month. Below 1 per month and your prominence is decaying; above 20 per month sustained for a small place can sometimes trigger Google's spam filters, especially if reviews come from accounts with no other activity.

Review velocity is a leading indicator of pack rank. Restaurants who go from 0 reviews/month to 5 reviews/month for three months consecutive almost always see pack rank improve. It is also a useful health metric — a sudden drop in velocity often precedes a drop in foot traffic.