Yes. A sudden increase in plumbing reviews can directly change LSA performance.
For Positive Impact:
LSA ranking is heavily weighted on review count, average rating, and recency. A surge of new 5-star reviews can:
* Boost rank to top 3 "Google Screened" spots
* Lower Cost Per Lead
* Increase CTR and booking rate - customers trust recent "emergency plumber" reviews
* Improve dispute win rate
For Negative Impact / Risk:
* A sudden spike of 10-20 reviews in 2-3 days can trigger Google's spam filter and get reviews filtered or profile suspended temporarily.
* If reviews are solicited incorrectly or from same IP/devices, they get removed.
* A few 1-3 star reviews in the surge will drop average rating below 4.5, causing an immediate rank drop.
You need to check on review velocity, rating stability, keyword relevance [water heater, drain, emergency], and whether new reviews are sticking and improving lead volume and cost per booked job.