Your rating is just an average
Your star rating is the mean of all your reviews, so every new review pulls it toward that review's score. With few reviews, each one swings the average a lot.
That's why a single one-star feels so painful early on — mathematically, it is.
The cost of one one-star
If you have five 5-star reviews (a perfect 5.0), one 1-star drops you to about 4.3. To climb back near 4.8 you'd need several more 5-stars. One bad review genuinely costs you multiple good ones.
The fewer reviews you have, the more dramatic the drop.
Volume is your stabilizer
With 200 reviews, a single one-star barely moves your average. Volume is the buffer: the more genuine reviews you have, the less any one review — good or bad — can swing you.
This is the strongest argument for asking consistently, not just reacting to bad reviews.
Recency and perception
Beyond the raw average, buyers and platforms weigh recent reviews heavily. A cluster of recent positives signals a currently-good business; a stale profile with one fresh negative reads worse than the math alone.
Keeping reviews flowing protects both the number and the perception.
What to do about it
Don't obsess over removing every bad review. Build volume with a steady stream of genuine reviews, respond professionally to negatives, and report only those that truly violate policy.
A healthy flow of real reviews is a far better defense than chasing each one-star.