How to Get More Google Reviews the Right Way
Photo: Swello / UnsplashReviews are one of the few local ranking signals a business can influence directly, and they decide whether a searcher calls you or the next listing in the map pack. This guide covers how to get more Google reviews using only methods Google allows, so the reviews you earn stay up.
How to get more Google reviews without breaking the rules
To get more Google reviews, ask every customer, at the moment they are happiest, with a direct link that opens the review form. Make asking part of your normal process, not an occasional push. Do not offer incentives, do not ask only happy customers, and reply to every review. Consistency beats bursts.
That is the short version. The rest of this guide is how to turn it into a habit your team actually keeps.
Make asking part of the job
Most satisfied customers are happy to leave a review. They just do not think of it unless someone asks. The businesses with hundreds of reviews are rarely better than their competitors; they ask every time.
Ask at the right moment
- Home services: when the job is finished and the customer has seen it working
- Practices and clinics: at checkout or in a follow-up message the same day
- Retail and restaurants: at payment, with a card or QR code on the counter
- Professional services: when a matter closes or a milestone is delivered
Ask in person, then follow up
A spoken request from the person who did the work is the most effective ask there is. Follow it with a text or email the same day containing the link, because nobody remembers to search for your profile later. One polite reminder a few days later is reasonable; more than that becomes pestering.
Send a direct review link
Every extra step loses reviewers. Google gives you a short link that opens your review form directly.
- Sign in to the Google account that manages your Business Profile.
- Search for your business name on Google or open your profile in Google Maps.
- Find the option to ask for reviews, often labeled “Read reviews” and then “Get more reviews”.
- Copy the link and use it in texts, emails, invoices, receipts and a QR code.
Test the link on your own phone before sending it to customers. Keep the message short: thank them, one sentence asking for a review, the link.
What you cannot do: incentives and review gating
Google’s content policy prohibits offering anything in exchange for reviews and discourages selectively asking only for positive ones. Reviews that break these rules can be removed, and repeated violations can lead to restrictions on your profile. In the US, the FTC’s 2024 rule on fake reviews also targets buying reviews and suppressing negative ones.
- No incentives: no discounts, gift cards, entries into a drawing or free services in exchange for a review, even for “honest” reviews.
- No review gating: do not send a survey first and only send the Google link to people who score you highly. Ask everyone the same way.
- No reviews from staff, family or yourself.
- No review stations where customers post from a tablet on your premises, which can trigger spam filters because many reviews come from one device and location.
- No buying reviews or trading reviews with other businesses.
- Do not ask for specific wording or star ratings.
Reply to every review
Replies show future customers that someone is paying attention. For positive reviews, a short personal thank-you that mentions the service is enough. For negative ones, respond calmly, acknowledge the issue and offer a direct way to resolve it. If a review breaks Google’s policy, our guide on how to remove bad Google reviews explains the reporting process.
Replies also help new reviews come in. A profile where the owner answers every review signals that feedback is read, which makes the next customer more willing to leave one.
Turn reviews into a system
Review growth stalls when it depends on one person remembering. Build it into your process instead.
- Automate the follow-up: trigger a review request text from your booking, invoicing or job-management software when a job is marked complete.
- Assign ownership: one person checks new reviews and replies within a day or two.
- Track it weekly: new reviews, average rating and response rate. A steady flow of a few reviews a week beats twenty in one month and none for the next six.
- Train the team: give technicians and front-desk staff the exact words to use, so asking feels natural.
- Use the feedback: recurring complaints in reviews are free operational advice.
Recent reviews matter as much as the total. Customers notice when the newest review is a year old, and Google’s local results reward businesses that stay active.
Get help growing your Google reviews
If your review count is stuck, tell us about your business and a partner replies within one business day with what we would change first. Our Google Business Profile management covers your review link, request process, response rate and profile setup, with a compliant system for growing real reviews.
Getting more Google reviews: questions, answered
Can I offer a discount in exchange for a Google review?
No. Google’s policy prohibits offering incentives for reviews, including discounts, gifts and prize drawings, even when you ask for an honest review. Reviews collected that way can be removed, and repeated violations can lead to restrictions on your profile.
How many Google reviews does a business need?
There is no fixed number. Look at the businesses in your local map pack today: aim to match or pass their review count, keep your rating strong, and keep new reviews arriving every month. Recency matters as much as the total.
Do Google reviews help local SEO?
Yes. Google states that review count and review score factor into local search ranking as part of a business’s prominence. Reviews also decide whether a searcher chooses to call you, which matters as much as your position.
Is it okay to ask for reviews by text message?
Yes, as long as you ask every customer the same way and they have agreed to receive messages from you. A short text with a direct review link, sent the day the job is done, is one of the most effective methods there is.
Why did some of my Google reviews disappear?
Google’s spam filters remove reviews they suspect are not genuine, occasionally including real ones, such as several posted from the same location. Reviewers can also delete or edit their own reviews, and reviews that break policy may be removed after a report.
Spent years making the paid-social creative that sells physical products for direct-to-consumer brands before NextAds. Runs the strategy and the work: creative, ad accounts, landing pages and SEO.