A Behind-the-Scenes Look at How Recent Reviews Drive Your Rating
If you’ve ever watched your TrustScore tick upward faster than you’d expect—and wondered why—this post is for you. We’ll break down exactly when your TrustScore moves and why recency matters more than your all-time average.
Prefer visuals? Watch the video version here:
Why TrustScore Isn’t a Straight Average
Trustpilot’s TrustScore isn’t calculated by averaging every review you’ve ever received. Instead, it focuses on:
• The number of reviews submitted in the last 12 months
• The average star rating of those same reviews
As older feedback ages out of that 12-month window, it gradually stops influencing your score. That’s why a fresh batch of positive reviews can lift your rating quickly—and why a lull or surge in lower-star feedback shows up fast.
How Star-Rating Labels Break Down
Trustpilot also groups weighted averages into labeled brackets. Here are the ranges where each label changes:
Crossing one of these thresholds switches your star color and wording, which can have an outsized impact on how potential customers perceive your brand.
A 30-Day Jump: Real-World Example
Here’s a simplified case study from one e-commerce brand:
Starting point:
• Reviews last 12 months: 300 @ 3.9 stars TrustScore ≈ 3.9 (Average)
In 30 days they:
• Collected 300 new reviews @ 4.3 stars
By matching their prior 12-month volume in a single month—and improving the average score of those reviews—they climbed from 3.9 to 4.1 in under 30 days.
We can estimate review impact by using the following formulas:
Essentially, you can think of the average over the last 12 months, with slightly more weight towards the last 3 months of the review score.
Seeing Your Own 90 Day Projection
To forecast how your TrustScore could change, try our calculator tool that:
• Retrieves your current 12-month review count and average
• Let's you model adding X reviews per month at Y stars
• Shows your projected TrustScore after 90 days
That single 90-day output makes it easy to set realistic collection targets and track your progress at a glance.
Conclusion
If you’d like to see similar 90-day projections for your Trustpilot profile—and plan exactly how many reviews at what star level you’ll need—try out StackTome for free, you can signup here - https://app.stacktome.com/plans. It’s the fastest way to get your TrustScore up
If you would like to get on a personalized demo to see how it can work specifically for your brand, then you can book it here: https://www.stacktome.com/book-a-demo
