The short answer
To get more Google reviews, ask every customer soon after the job, in person or by text, and send a direct review link so leaving one takes a minute. Reply to every review. Never pay or offer discounts for them, and never ask only the customers you expect to be happy.
Why reviews are worth the trouble
Reviews do two jobs. Google says they're part of prominence, one of the three things behind local results, and that more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking. They also do the selling. A stranger choosing between three plumbers at 7am will read what the last few customers said.
Many customers who liked your work mean to say so and then forget. Getting more reviews mostly comes down to asking at the right moment and making it easy, every time.
Get your review link
A direct link opens the review box for your business, so the customer doesn't have to search for you. Google's own steps are short, and need a computer for the QR code:
- Go to your profile at business.google.com and sign in.
- Choose Read reviews, then Get more reviews.
- Copy the link. To save the QR code, right-click it and choose Save image as.
If you can't get to that screen, our free Google review link generator makes the same kind of link and a QR code from your Place ID. It runs in your browser, with no account.
Test the link on your own phone before you send it to anyone. Customers need to be signed in to a Google Account to leave a review, so one without an account won't be able to use it.
Ask everyone at the same moment
The best moment is when the customer has just seen the result and hasn't yet moved on. That moment depends on your trade.
| Business | A good moment | A good way |
|---|---|---|
| Plumber or electrician | The job's done and working | Text before you leave the driveway |
| Roofer or contractor | After the final walk-through | Email with a photo of the finished job |
| Dentist or clinic | After the visit | A general text or email, with no treatment details |
| Restaurant or coffee shop | With the check or receipt | QR code on the receipt or a table card |
| Salon or barber | At checkout, with the result in the mirror | Ask in person, then text the link |
| Cleaner or pest control | Later that day | Text |
Fix the moment and ask everyone at it. That's the honest way, and it's also the rule. Google's policy bars you from asking only the customers you expect to be pleased.
Say it in person first
If you see customers face to face, ask out loud, then send the link. A request from someone they've just met is harder to forget than a message from a business. Keep it light and let them say no.
We've enjoyed working on this. If you have a minute later, a Google review would really help us. I'll text you the link so it's easy.
Then send the text within the hour, while they still remember the conversation.
Messages you can copy
Change the names and the details. Keep them short, and keep them the same for every customer.
A text after the job:
Hi Maria, it's Dana from Northside Plumbing. Thanks for having us out today. If you have a minute, would you leave us a Google review? It helps other people in Dayton find us: [your review link]
An email:
Subject: How did we do?
Hi Maria,
Thanks for choosing Northside Plumbing to replace your water heater. If you have a minute, an honest review on Google helps other people decide who to call:
[your review link]
Dana
A card or receipt line with a QR code:
Tell us how we did. Scan to leave a Google review. Thank you for choosing Northside Plumbing.
One follow-up, a few days later, to anyone who hasn't left one:
Hi Maria, one last note from Northside Plumbing. If you get a minute this week, here's the review link: [your review link]. No worries if not, and thanks again.
Ask once, follow up once, then stop. If you can't tell who has left a review, skip the follow-up, since a second ask to someone who already did it reads as careless.
Don't add a step that sorts people first. A form that asks "how did we do?" and passes only the happy ones on to Google is called review gating, and it's the selective asking Google's policy rules out.
Make it someone's job
Asking for reviews falls apart when it's everyone's job. Make it one line on your job-closing routine, and give it to one person.
- Tie it to something that always happens. Sending the invoice, closing the ticket or taking the final payment are all good triggers.
- Save the message. Keep it as a text shortcut or an email template, so it takes seconds.
- Look once a week. Check that this week's customers were asked, and reply to what came in.
Be careful how you motivate staff. Google's policy says businesses shouldn't ask staff to collect a set number of reviews, or reviews that say particular things. Praise the good review when it comes, and leave the quota out of it.
You can automate the ask if you keep it fair. A ready-made workflow in Shingle asks for a review a day after a job is marked won, with an email you can edit. Don't add a condition that sends it only to customers who seemed happy, because that's the selective asking the rule bars.
What Google's rules forbid
All of this comes from Google's prohibited and restricted content policy for Maps. You may ask for genuine reviews. You may not do any of the following.
- Pay or reward. That covers money, discounts, free goods or services, in return for a review or for changing or removing one. Google's review link page calls it strictly prohibited.
- Ask selectively. Don't ask only happy customers, or discourage unhappy ones from reviewing.
- Pressure people on site. Don't require or press customers to review while they're on your premises. A sign or QR code is fine, and Google suggests displaying one in your store.
- Set staff quotas or scripts. Don't ask staff to get a set number, or specific words.
- Review yourself. Reviews from staff, family or anyone with a conflict of interest aren't allowed.
- Buy reviews or fake accounts. Paid reviews and several accounts run by one person both count as fake engagement.
- Attack a rival. Don't post on a competitor's listing to damage it.
Google removes content like this, and it says violations can cost an account its privileges, or the account itself.
There's a legal side too. In the US, the FTC's rule on consumer reviews took effect on October 21, 2024. It targets fake reviews, paying for reviews of a particular sentiment, and undisclosed reviews by insiders, and it lets courts impose civil penalties for knowing violations. Asking only happy customers isn't named in the rule, though the FTC says it could still break the FTC Act.
Reply to every review
Google suggests keeping replies professional, short and personal, and answering promptly. Replying also shows the next reader how you treat people. You need a verified profile to do it.
To a good review, thank them and mention something they said:
Thanks, Maria. Glad the new water heater is doing its job, and that we got it in before the weekend.
To a bad review, stay calm and short. Apologize where you should, say what you can do, and take the detail offline. Don't argue facts in public, or share anything private about the customer.
I'm sorry the visit ran late, James. That isn't how we like to work, and I've changed how we confirm arrival times. If you'd like to talk it through, my number is on this page. Dana
Don't use replies to advertise. Google asks that they stay conversational and carry no deals.
When a review breaks the rules
You can report a review from Read reviews on your profile, or through Google's Reviews Management Tool. Choose the reason, and send it. Evaluation typically takes several days.
Set your expectations low. Google removes only reviews that break its policies, such as fake ones, and asks you not to report a review because you dislike it. It also says it doesn't get involved in disputes between businesses and customers. If your report is turned down, you can appeal once through the same tool.
A fair reply often does more than a removal would. A mix of good and bad reviews can look more trustworthy than a wall of five stars, as Google itself notes.
Using reviews on your own site
Reviews make good proof on a website, and there are two things to watch.
Get permission. A review's words and photos belong to the person who shared them. Ask before you quote someone, or stick to a link to your listing. On Shingle, Google reviews and customers' photos appear on a site only if the owner chooses to include them.
Don't mark them up for stars. Google's rules make a business's own pages ineligible for star ratings in results when the business controls the reviews about itself. See local business schema for what to mark up instead.
Reviews sit third on our local SEO checklist, after a verified and complete Google Business Profile, so start there if you haven't.
