How Cannon Steels Got More Google Reviews in Five Months Than They Had in Years

The background

Cannon Steels is a London-based steel business that's been operating for decades. Like most established businesses, they had a solid reputation with their customers but almost nothing to show for it on Google. After years in business, they had just 23 Google reviews.

It wasn't that customers were unhappy. The work was good, the relationships were strong, and word of mouth kept things ticking over. But when it came to Google reviews, the numbers didn't reflect the reality. Max from Cannon Steels had tried asking customers in person for reviews, but it rarely translated into someone actually going home and leaving one.

The result: a business with decades of happy customers, sitting at 23 reviews while newer competitors were accumulating reviews faster.

The problem

23 Google reviews after decades in business tells Google very little. When potential customers searched for steel suppliers in London, Cannon Steels was competing against businesses that may have been around for a fraction of the time but had more reviews and more recent activity on their profile.

The challenge wasn't quality of service. It was the gap between customer satisfaction and public proof of that satisfaction. Happy customers weren't leaving reviews because nobody was asking them in a way that made it easy enough to actually do.

Max had tried asking in person, but the conversion from "yeah I'll leave you a review" to actually doing it was almost zero. People intend to, then they get in their car, drive home, and it's forgotten.

What they did

Max signed up to Grow Our Reviews and used the bulk upload feature to import a list of existing customers — people Cannon Steels had worked with over the years.

The setup took minutes. He uploaded a CSV of customer names and phone numbers, the system validated them, and 67 review requests were sent out automatically in small batches. Each customer received a friendly SMS asking if they'd be willing to leave a quick Google review, with a direct link that took them straight to the review page.

No phone calls. No awkward in-person asks. No chasing. Just an automated text that made it easy for happy customers to do something they were already willing to do.

The results after five months

The numbers speak for themselves:

It started with a bulk upload. Max imported his existing customer list and 67 review requests went out in small batches. After that, he kept adding new customers after each job — so the requests, and the reviews, kept coming.

65 new reviews received, 64 of them five stars. All but one of the reviews that came back were 5 stars, and the other was 4. No negative reviews came through — a testament to the quality of Cannon Steels' service.

Google rating improved from 4.7 to 4.9. A near-unbroken run of five-star reviews pushed their average rating up two tenths of a point. A 4.9-star rating with 88 reviews looks significantly more trustworthy than a 4.7 with 23.

Review count nearly quadrupled in five months. After decades of accumulating 23 reviews, they added 65 more in five months — a 283% increase. They're now just 12 reviews short of 100.

Zero effort after initial setup. Once the bulk upload was done, Max didn't need to do anything. The system sent the requests, the customers responded, and the reviews appeared on Google.

Why this matters

Sixty-five reviews might not sound like a lot in isolation. But context matters.

Going from 23 to 88 reviews is a 283% increase in five months. If Cannon Steels maintains this pace — even at a slower rate with new customers rather than a bulk upload — they'll pass 100 reviews before the year is out.

Every new five-star review strengthens their position in Google's local search results. Google rewards businesses with recent, consistent review activity. A business that went from zero new reviews in months to 65 in five months sends a strong signal to Google's algorithm that this is an active, trusted business. If you want the detail on how that ranking works, we cover it in our guide to how Google decides which businesses to show in local search.

The rating increase from 4.7 to 4.9 also matters. Above 4.5 stars, every tenth of a point builds customer confidence. A 4.9-star rating with 88 reviews looks significantly more credible than a 4.7 with 23.

The bigger picture

Cannon Steels' experience illustrates a pattern we see repeatedly. Established businesses with years of happy customers are sitting on a goldmine of potential reviews. Those customers were always willing to leave a review — they just needed to be asked in a way that was easy enough to actually follow through. Timing plays a part too, which is why we wrote about the best time to ask a customer for a Google review.

The bulk upload feature is particularly powerful for businesses in this position. Instead of waiting months to accumulate reviews one by one from new customers, you can reach out to your existing customer base straight away, with the requests sent out automatically in small batches. That initial boost in review count and recent activity gives your Google profile an early lift.

From there, the habit is simple: after every job, enter the customer's name and number. The system handles the rest.

What's next for Cannon Steels

With 88 reviews and a 4.9-star rating, Cannon Steels is now in a much stronger position for local search visibility. They're well past 50 reviews, and the next milestone is 100. If you're wondering where your own target should sit, our guide on how many Google reviews you need to rank locally breaks it down.

Max is now sending review requests to new customers after each job — a process that takes seconds. The bulk upload gave them the initial boost, and consistent requests will keep the momentum going.

Want results like Cannon Steels? Start collecting Google reviews automatically. It takes minutes to set up and your first new review could arrive within 48 hours.