How to get more Google reviews for your business

Why Google reviews matter

Customers check Google before they visit, call, or book. Your reviews are often the first thing they read about you.

Reviews also affect whether you show up at all. Google's own guidance on local ranking says that more reviews and positive ratings can help a business rank in local results. So reviews do two jobs: they help people find you, and they help a stranger decide to choose you over the business listed next to you.

Step 1: Get your Google review link

Google gives every Business Profile a free review link and QR code.

1. On a computer, go to business.google.com and open your Business Profile.
2. Click "Read reviews", then "Get more reviews".
3. Copy the link. To keep the QR code, right-click it and save the image.

Two things to know: Google currently creates the QR code only on a computer, not on a phone. And your customers need a Google account to leave a review.

Save the link in your phone's notes so you can paste it into a text or email any time.

Step 2: Ask at the right moment

The best time to ask is right after you've delivered, while the experience is fresh.

• Restaurants and cafés: when you drop the check, or as the customer pays.
• Barbershops and salons: once they've seen the finished cut or style.
• Auto shops and contractors: at hand-off, when you walk them through the work.
• Clinics and offices: at checkout.

Ask every customer, not only the ones you expect to give five stars. Google's rules don't allow picking who you ask based on how happy they seem. That isn't a bad thing: Google's own tips note that a mix of positive and negative reviews often looks more trustworthy than a perfect score.

Step 3: Say it out loud

Most customers are willing to leave a review. The usual reason they don't is that nobody asked. Give your team one simple line so everyone asks the same way.

Keep it an invitation. Don't stand over a customer while they type, and don't tell them what to write or which rating to give. Google's rules say not to pressure customers into reviewing while they're at your business, and not to have staff ask for reviews that include specific wording.

Step 4: Make it take seconds

Every extra step loses people. Searching for your business, finding the review button, and signing in is three chances to give up. Put the link one tap away:

• Text or email the link after the visit. Free.
• Print the QR code. Put it on the counter, the receipt, the invoice, or a table tent. Free.
• Use a tap card. The customer taps their phone on the card and your review page opens. See our Google review cards.
• Add the link to your website and your email signature.

Step 5: Follow up once

Plenty of customers mean to leave a review and forget. One reminder a day or two later catches them.

Send one reminder, not three. And only text customers who gave you their number and agreed to hear from you.

Step 6: Reply to every review

Replying shows customers their feedback matters, and future customers read your replies as closely as the reviews. Keep replies short, specific, and free of sales pitches.

Don't argue in public, and never share a customer's private details. If the issue is complicated, take it to a phone call.

What Google doesn't allow

Reviews that break these rules get removed, and Google can restrict a profile that keeps breaking them.

• Paying for reviews in any form: cash, discounts, or free products or services.
• Offering something in exchange for changing or removing a negative review.
• Asking only happy customers, or discouraging unhappy ones from reviewing.
• Pressuring customers to review on the spot.
• Reviews from you, your employees, or anyone with a stake in the business.
• Fake reviews, or negative reviews of a competitor.
• Telling customers what their review should say.

In the U.S., the Federal Trade Commission also bans fake reviews and paying for reviews that must be positive.

What to do about a bad review

1. Reply calmly and promptly. Acknowledge the problem and offer a way to reach you directly.
2. Fix it offline. A customer whose problem gets solved will sometimes update the review on their own. Never offer anything in exchange for a change.
3. Flag it only if it breaks Google's rules, such as spam or a review meant for a different business. A review can't be removed just because it's negative.
4. Keep asking. A steady flow of new reviews is what moves your rating over time.

Common mistakes

• Asking in bursts instead of every day.
• Leaving it to "when we remember" instead of making it part of checkout.
• Making customers search for your business instead of handing them the link.
• Letting reviews sit with no reply.
• Offering a discount for a review.

A simple weekly routine

• Every customer gets asked at checkout.
• A card or QR code is visible at the counter.
• The link goes out by text or email after off-site jobs.
• New reviews get a reply twice a week.
• Once a month, compare your review count with the top 3 businesses that show up next to you.

Questions owners ask

Sources

• Google Business Profile Help: Tips to get more reviews
• Google Business Profile Help: Create a Google link or QR code to request reviews
• Google Maps user-contributed content policy: Prohibited and restricted content
• Google Business Profile Help: Tips to improve your local ranking

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