How to get more Google reviews

How do I get more Google reviews?

Most customers are happy to leave a review. They just never get asked, or they get asked in a way that takes too much effort. So the work is not persuading anyone. The work is asking every customer, at a good moment, in a way that takes about ten seconds.

That comes down to five habits. Ask every customer. Ask soon after the job. Send a direct link to your review box so nobody has to search for you. Keep it a steady habit rather than a one-time push. And follow Google's rules, which are simple and easy to keep.

The rest of this guide goes through each habit, then gives you a 30 day plan. If you want wording to copy right now, jump to the 25 review request templates.

Why do Google reviews matter so much?

Two reasons. Customers read them, and Google weighs them.

On the customer side, BrightLocal's 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey found that 97% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses. The same survey found that 47% will not use a business with fewer than twenty reviews. So a business with a good reputation and only six reviews can lose people before they ever call.

Rating matters too. In that survey, 31% of consumers said they will only use a business rated four and a half stars or higher, up from 17% a year earlier. The number of reviews and the average rating both do work for you.

On the Google side, Whitespark's Local Search Ranking Factors 2026 puts 20% of map pack ranking weight on review signals, the second-largest group of factors. That is the opinion of the local SEO experts Whitespark surveys, not a number Google publishes, and nobody outside Google can promise what a given number of reviews will do for your rank. But reviews are clearly worth the effort.

Local SEO statistics for 2026

What are Google's rules on asking for reviews?

Google allows you to ask. Its own help page says businesses can remind customers to leave reviews by sharing a link or a QR code that opens the review form. You can read it at Google's page on asking for reviews.

That same page says that offering free or discounted goods or services in exchange for reviews counts as fake and misleading content, and that it is strictly prohibited. Reviews also have to reflect a real customer experience. So the rules boil down to two things you must not do: pay for reviews in any form, and post reviews that are not real.

There is a third practice Google and the FTC both frown on, which is review gating. We cover it in the next section, because it is the mistake most small businesses make without realizing.

Who should I ask for a review?

Everyone you served. That is the rule that keeps you clean, and it also gives you the most reviews.

Review gating means sorting customers by how happy they seem, and only sending the review link to the happy ones. Sometimes it is done with a "how did we do?" screen that routes unhappy people to a private form. Sometimes it is done by hand, with a staff member deciding who "seems pleased." Both versions are gating. Google's page above says reviews should reflect real customer experiences, and gating filters that reality out. The FTC's own guidance says selectively asking for reviews can be deceptive. You can read how the agency treats review practices in its consumer reviews rule questions and answers.

The same FTC page says a business cannot use threats, false accusations or baseless legal threats to stop someone posting a review. And it says that if you offer any incentive, you cannot require or hint that the review must be positive.

There is also a practical reason not to filter. A profile full of five-star reviews and nothing else looks suspicious, and shoppers say so. A few honest three and four-star reviews make the five-star ones believable. And a customer who is upset is going to tell someone anyway. You would rather they say it where you can reply.

• Send the same message to every customer who finished a job or a purchase.
• Do not add a satisfaction question before the link.
• If a customer tells you something went wrong, fix it in person. You can still send them the same request. Do not remove them from the list.
• Do not ask only the customers you like.

When a negative review does come in, it is not the end of the world. Our guide to responding to negative reviews has wording that works.

When is the best time to ask?

Soon after the customer felt the benefit. The good moment is when the job is finished and the memory is fresh, not three weeks later when they have forgotten your name.

The right timing depends on what you sell. A plumber can ask the same day. A restaurant can ask the next morning. A law firm or an accountant should wait until the matter is closed or the work is delivered, because asking in the middle of a case feels odd. A dentist can ask once the patient has left the chair and the numbness has worn off.

Here are some starting points. Adjust them to your own customers.

Wording for each of these moments

How do I make leaving a review easy?

Send a direct review link. A direct link opens your Google review box straight away, with the stars ready to tap. Without it, the customer has to search for your business, find the right listing, scroll to the reviews and hunt for the button. Many give up at that point.

You can get your link for free. Paste your business name into the tool below and it gives you the link, plus a QR code you can print. Customers need a Google account to post, and most people on a phone already have one.

The link is not a secret and it does not expire. Put it in every place a customer might see it: texts, email signatures, receipts, your website and the card you hand over at the counter.

What should the review request say?

Short, personal and specific. Use the customer's first name, mention the job, say thanks, and give one link. Do not write a paragraph about how much reviews help you.

A good text looks like this.

You will find 25 more in our review request templates, sorted by the moment you send them. It is fine to ask people to describe what they liked, but do not tell them what to write.

Should I ask by text, email or in person?

All three work, and they work better together. Texts get opened quickly and suit jobs where the customer is on their phone anyway. Email suits professional services and customers who prefer a paper trail. Asking in person is the warmest, but only if you follow it with a link, because people forget.

A printed QR code at the counter or on the receipt catches people who are standing in front of you. We cover where to put one in our Google review QR code guide.

Whatever channel you use, send the same request to everyone. That keeps you on the right side of the rules and keeps the numbers honest.

How do I make sure the ask never gets forgotten?

Tie it to something your business already records. This is where most owners get stuck. They plan to ask every customer, the week gets busy, and by Friday nobody has sent anything.

The fix is to stop relying on memory. If you use QuickBooks, a payment landing is already a record that a job is done. If you run a law practice on Clio, a closed matter is the same kind of signal. Reputant watches for those events and sends the review request on its own.

This is the clearest edge automation has over a reminder on someone's phone. A QuickBooks trigger fires when a payment is recorded, so the request follows the money. A Clio trigger fires when a matter closes, so the client is asked while the outcome is fresh. Nobody has to remember, and nobody decides who is "worth" asking, so there is no gating to worry about.

If you use neither, upload a spreadsheet of recent customers (a CSV) and send the request from there, or send one by hand. Reputant also tracks opens and clicks, so you can see which message and channel gets taps.

Reputant does not decide who to ask. Every customer on the list gets the same request, which is how Google wants it done.

How many reviews do I need, and how fast should they arrive?

There is no magic number. BrightLocal's survey above puts the floor for many shoppers at twenty reviews, so that is a sensible first goal. After that, your aim is a steady stream.

The word for this is review velocity: how often new reviews arrive. A trickle every week looks more genuine than fifty in one day followed by nothing for a year. It also means your profile always shows recent reviews, which readers care about.

A simple way to think about it. If you serve 40 customers a month and about one in five leaves a review, you get roughly eight reviews a month. That is an illustration, not a promise. Your own rate depends on your customers, the channel, and how easy the link is to use. Track your own rate for a couple of months and plan from there.

Nobody can guarantee a number of reviews. If anyone sells you that, be careful.

What mistakes should I avoid?

These are the ones that cause trouble, either with Google or with customers.

• Offering a discount, a free product or a prize for a review. Google prohibits it, and the FTC says you cannot tie any incentive to a positive review.
• Gating. Only sending the link to happy customers.
• Writing reviews yourself, or asking friends and family who never used the business, or having staff post reviews without saying they work for you.
• Asking someone to take down a negative review in exchange for something. If a review breaks Google's rules, there is a proper way to report it, covered in how to remove a Google review.
• Sending a long, pushy message, or sending reminders over and over. One request and one gentle follow-up is plenty.
• Ignoring the reviews you already have. Replies show future customers that someone is listening.

Do I need to reply to the reviews I get?

Yes. BrightLocal's 2026 survey found that 89% of consumers expect a business owner to reply to reviews. A short, warm reply also thanks the customer, and gives you a place to correct the record if something went wrong.

Replies do not have to be long. Thank them, mention one detail from their review, and sign off with a name. Our guide to replying to positive reviews has examples for every star rating, and the free AI review reply generator will draft one for you to edit.

Are there different rules in Canada?

The Google rules are the same. Two extra things apply if you are in Canada or message people there.

First, Canada's anti-spam law, known as CASL, asks you to get permission before sending commercial electronic messages. The government's own page on Canada's anti-spam legislation explains that. Whether a review request counts as a commercial message, and what counts as consent, can depend on your situation, so keep a record of when and how each customer agreed to hear from you. It is also good practice to name your business in every message and offer an easy way to opt out.

Second, the Competition Bureau treats fake reviews and reviews written in return for rewards as deceptive marketing. Its Deceptive Marketing Practices Digest notes that some companies give customers incentives to leave positive reviews, and that reviews from people with a hidden link to the business can mislead. So the same advice applies north of the border: no rewards, no fakes.

This is general information, not legal advice. If you are unsure, ask a lawyer.

What is a simple 30 day plan?

Do these in order. Most of it takes an afternoon.

1. Get your direct Google review link and test it on your own phone.
2. Decide the moment you will ask, using the table above.
3. Write one short message from the examples and put your link in it.
4. Send it to every customer from the last 30 days, by text or email. Do not skip anyone.
5. Set up the ask to run on its own, using a QuickBooks payment, a closed Clio matter, a CSV upload or a manual send.
6. Print a QR code for the counter, receipt or van, and check it scans before you print many.
7. Reply to every new review within a few days.
8. After a month, check how many requests went out, how many were opened and how many reviews arrived. Change the wording or timing if the numbers are low.