How to get more Google reviews.

Ask at the right moment

Ask when the customer is happiest: the day the job is signed off, the moment they say thank you, or as they pay at the counter. A week later the feeling has gone and so has the review.

Make it one tap

• Get your review link. Google gives every Business Profile a link and a QR code that open the review box directly. Find them in your profile under "Ask for reviews".
• Send it the same day, by text or email, with one line: thank them, ask if they would mind sharing how it went, add the link.
• Put the QR code where people wait: on the counter, on the invoice, on the back of a business card, on the van.
• Tell them they need a Google account. Google says it can be made with any email address, not only Gmail.

What Google bans

• Anything in return. Google says offering free or discounted goods or services for a review, or for changing or removing one, is strictly prohibited. That includes prize draws.
• Fake reviews, from friends posing as customers, from staff, or bought in bulk. Google removes them and can restrict the profile.
• Only asking the happy ones. Google's content policy rules out selectively asking for positive reviews. Sending unhappy customers somewhere else while sending happy ones to Google, known as review gating, is exactly that. Ask everyone.

Google also says honest, balanced reviews look more trustworthy. A 4.8 with a few real complaints and good replies reads better than a perfect 5.0.

Reply to every review

1. Reply promptly, to good and bad alike.
2. Use their name and sign off with yours. It shows a real person read it.
3. Keep it short and specific. Mention the job or the visit. Avoid the same pasted reply on every review.
4. Never sell in a reply. Google asks for replies that are conversational, not promotional.
5. For a bad review, stay polite, be honest, apologise where it is fair, and offer to sort it out privately. The reply is written for the next customer reading it, not just the one who wrote the review.
6. Report reviews that break the rules, such as spam or a review that is not about your business, from your profile.

Want it done for you?

Our Google plans send a review request after every job and draft a reply to every new review for you to post. From £345 a month, reported in calls and enquiries.

See Google plans

Sources: Google Business Profile Help, "Tips to get more reviews" (support.google.com/business/answer/3474122) and "Tips to improve your local ranking on Google" (support.google.com/business/answer/7091). Checked 23 October 2026.