More than the businesses Google ranks beside you, and recently enough that the listing reads as a going concern. We measure all three against your actual neighbours rather than against a round number, because a review count with nothing to compare it to is not a finding.
Volume is measured locally
The scan takes the businesses Google ranks near you and reports the typical count among them. That gap, rather than any absolute target, is one of the main reasons an AI asked to recommend somebody picks them instead of you.
Get your review link. In your Google Business Profile, use "Ask for reviews". It gives you a short link that opens the review box directly.
Message your last ten happy customers. A text saying "would you mind leaving us a Google review? it takes a minute" with the link is enough.
Ask as the job finishes, while they are pleased and you are standing in front of them. A week later is a different conversation and a much worse response rate.
Keep asking, steadily. A handful every month beats thirty in one week, which looks bought to Google and to anyone reading.
Rating moves by dilution
Your rating is judged against the local norm rather than against five stars. The reliable way up is not chasing removals, it is more good reviews, which move an average faster than one bad one drags it.
Read your lowest reviews and look for the complaint that appears twice. That is a process problem rather than bad luck. And do not chase perfection: a 4.7 with two hundred reviews reads as more trustworthy than a 5.0 with six.
Recency is its own finding
A listing whose newest review is over a year old reads as a business that has stopped trading, whatever the rating says. That is a hard impression to argue with and a handful of recent ones changes it quickly. Make the ask part of finishing a job rather than something you remember later, and it fixes itself permanently.