Why Your Competitors Are Outranking You on Google

If your competitors show up above you in local search results, chances are it comes down to one thing: reviews. Here's how to change that.

You do great work. Your customers love you. So why does your competitor—the one who's been in business half as long—show up above you when someone searches for your services?

The answer is almost always the same: reviews.

How Google Decides Who Ranks First

When someone searches for a local service, Google's goal is to show the most relevant, trustworthy results. To determine this, Google looks at several factors:

• Relevance: How well your business matches the search query
• Distance: How close you are to the searcher
• Prominence: How well-known and trusted your business is

Reviews are a major component of prominence. Google sees businesses with more reviews and higher ratings as more trustworthy and established—and rewards them with better rankings.

The Numbers Don't Lie

Let's look at a real example. When someone searches for "plumber in Boise," here's what the top results might look like:

Notice that you actually have the highest rating—but you're in third place. Why? Because Google weighs both quantity and quality. 47 reviews simply don't carry the same weight as 342.

The Review Gap Is Growing

Here's the really bad news: businesses that actively collect reviews create a compounding advantage. Every month, they pull further ahead while you stay static.

If your competitor adds 30 reviews per month and you add 5, the gap grows by 25 reviews every single month. In a year, that's a 300-review difference.

How to Close the Gap

1. Start Asking Every Customer

The businesses outranking you aren't necessarily better—they just ask for reviews more consistently. Make review requests a standard part of your process.

2. Reactivate Past Customers

You have years of happy customers who never left a review. Reach out to them. Many will be happy to help if you simply ask.

3. Make It Automatic

The only way to catch up—and stay ahead—is to make review collection automatic. When every job triggers a review request, you never miss an opportunity.

Level the Playing Field

Your competitors aren't better than you. They just have a system for collecting reviews. It's time you had one too.

Review Monster helps businesses close the review gap and start outranking competitors—automatically. Our clients typically see a 3-5x increase in monthly reviews within the first few months.