To get more Google reviews, ask every customer right after you have done the work, send them the direct link to your review form, and reply to every review that comes in. Google gives every business that link and a QR code for free. Here is how to generate Google reviews week after week: where to find your link, how to ask for Google reviews at the right moment, how to respond to Google reviews, and the rules that get a business penalized.
Why do Google reviews matter so much?
Because they decide who appears and who gets chosen. Google says of its local results: "More reviews and positive ratings can help your business's local ranking" (Google Business Profile Help, Tips to improve your local ranking on Google). And people believe other customers: Northwestern University's Spiegel Research Center found that "the purchase likelihood for a product with five reviews is 270% greater" than for one with none, and that purchase likelihood typically peaks at ratings between 4.0 and 4.7, not at a perfect 5.0 (Spiegel Research Center, How Online Reviews Influence Sales, 2017). A steady flow of honest reviews does more than a perfect score.
Where do you find your Google review link?
In your Google Business Profile. Google's steps, on a computer: go to your Business Profile, select Read Reviews, then Get more reviews, and copy the link or save the QR code (Google Business Profile Help, Create a Google link or QR code to request reviews). Google notes that "reviews QR codes can only be generated on a computer browser, not on mobile devices." The link opens your review form directly, so a customer does not have to search for you. They do need to be signed in: Google says "customers must be signed into a Google Account to leave a review" (Google Business Profile Help, Tips to get more reviews).
When and how should you ask?
At the moment the customer is happiest with the result: the job finished, the order delivered, the appointment over. Ask in person, then send the link the same day in the channel they already use with you. Google suggests putting the link or QR code on receipts, in thank-you emails, at the end of a chat and on a printed display in your store. A message that works is short and personal:
Thanks for choosing us today. If you have a minute, a Google review helps other customers find us: [your review link]. Thank you.
Send it to every customer, in the same words. That is how to ask for Google reviews without breaking the rules, and it keeps your rating believable: a profile with only perfect scores reads as curated.
How to respond to Google reviews
Reply to every review, good and bad, within a few days. Google says that "when you reply to customer reviews, it shows that you value their feedback" (Google Business Profile Help). A good reply:
- Thanks the person and mentions what they bought or the work you did.
- Stays short: two or three sentences, written for the next customer reading it.
- Answers a complaint with a fix, and moves the details to a phone call or an email.
- Never shares private details about the customer or their case, which matters most for clinics, law firms and anyone bound by confidentiality.
What gets a business penalized?
Google's rules on reviews are strict, and the penalty falls on the business. Its policy for content on Maps does not allow a business to offer incentives such as "payment, discounts, free goods and/or services" for a review, to "discourage or prohibit negative reviews, or selectively solicit positive reviews from customers", to pressure customers into reviewing while they are on the premises, or to post reviews based on a conflict of interest, such as current or former employment (Google, Prohibited and restricted content on Maps). In the United States, the FTC's rule on consumer reviews also bans fake reviews, including ones written by AI, and rewards "conditioned expressly or by implication on, the writing or creation of consumer reviews expressing a particular sentiment, whether positive or negative" (16 CFR Part 465). Ask everyone, offer nothing in return, and never write a review for your own business.
How do you keep reviews coming every month?
Make asking part of finishing every job rather than an occasional campaign. Put the link in your thank-you message, the QR code at the counter and on invoices, and check new reviews each week so every one gets its reply. A steady flow also protects you: one complaint among dozens of recent, honest reviews says little. For a review that breaks Google's rules, here is how to remove Google reviews that Google will take down, and how to answer the ones it won't.
Can someone do this for you?
Yes. With our local SEO services, every customer is asked for a review automatically, within Google's rules, and your ratings on Google, Yelp, Trustpilot, Tripadvisor and Facebook are tracked in one place, beside the website we build and run for you. See what each plan includes, or start with a free proposal.
Common questions
- Can I offer a discount for a Google review?
- No. Google treats incentives such as free or discounted goods or services, in exchange for reviews, as fake engagement, and they are strictly prohibited. In the United States, the FTC's rule on reviews also bars rewards conditioned on a review saying something positive or negative.
- Can I ask only happy customers for a review?
- No. Google's policy does not allow a business to selectively solicit positive reviews from customers, or to discourage negative ones. Ask every customer the same way; a few honest four-star reviews also make a profile more believable.
- Should I reply to every Google review?
- Yes, to the good ones and the bad ones. Google says that when you reply to customer reviews, it shows that you value their feedback. Keep each reply short and specific, thank the person, and take a complaint to a phone call or an email rather than an argument in public.
- Do customers need a Google account to leave a review?
- Yes. Google says customers must be signed into a Google Account to leave a review, so a customer without one signs in or creates one first. Sending your direct review link saves them from searching for your business.