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To get more Google reviews, ask every customer, at the moment the work is done, with a link that opens your Business Profile straight on the review form. No reward, no filtering out the unhappy ones, no wording you dictate. Those three limits come from Google's own policy, and in the EU, the UK and the US the law backs part of them.
This guide gives the link, the moment per type of business, three messages to copy, what the law and Google allow, and how to reply. You can also make the link and a QR code straight away with our Google review link generator. If your profile does not show up in Google at all, start with Google Business Profile not showing.
Where to find your Google review link
Google makes the link for you. Open your Business Profile, choose Read reviews and then Get more reviews. You get a link to copy and a QR code. The QR code is only available in a browser on a computer, not on a phone: right-click it and save the image.
Two details that remove friction:
- The customer needs a Google Account, but it can use any email address, not only Gmail. Say so if many of your customers are not Google users.
- List your services on the profile. For service businesses Google sometimes asks the reviewer which job you did, and picks from the services on your profile. The service ends up in the review without you asking for it, which you may not do anyway.
The moment: when the result is in front of them
Ask when the customer sees the result, not weeks later: a builder at handover, an accountant after the first filed return, a holiday rental the day after checkout, a webshop a few days after delivery. Ask everyone, including the customer where things went less smoothly: Google bans asking selectively for positive reviews. Remind once at most, and never stand over a customer at the counter while they type: Google bans pressure on the premises.
| Type of business | The moment | The channel |
|---|---|---|
| Contractor, installer | At handover, when the customer sees the result | Email the next day, QR code on the invoice |
| Accountant, payroll office | After the first completed filing or payroll run | Email with the link |
| Salon, garage, practice | At checkout | QR code at the desk, reminder by WhatsApp |
| Restaurant | After the visit, not at the table | QR code on the receipt |
| Online shop | A few days after delivery | Email with the link |
| Holiday home | On departure day | Message with the link, and in the thank-you email |
When to ask for a review
- QuoteToo early: nothing to judge yet
- The workThe customer sees it take shape
- HandoverThe result is thereEmailWhatsAppQR code
- InvoiceThe link under the totalOne reminder
- Weeks laterThe moment has passedToo late
Avoid
- A discount or gift
- Asking only happy customers
- Pressing at the counter
- Telling them what to write
Three messages you can copy
Replace what is in brackets. Each one asks for an honest opinion and leaves the content to the customer, as Google requires.
- By email, the day after the jobSubject: How did we do? Hi [name], thank you for choosing [company]. Would you tell other customers in a few words how it went? Your honest opinion helps them decide and helps us improve. This link takes you straight to our reviews: [link]. Best, [your name]
- On WhatsApp, after an appointmentHi [name], thanks for coming in today. If you have a minute: how was it? You can share it on Google here: [link]. Thank you, [your name]
- On the invoice, under the totalHappy or not? Tell others on Google: scan the code or go to [link]. We read every review.
Google's rules and the law in three markets
Google's policy applies wherever your profile is. The law depends on where you trade.
- Asking every customer
- Google's policyAllowed, without a reward and without steering the content
- The law in the EU, UK and USAllowed
- Asking only happy customers
- Google's policyBanned: selectively asking for positive reviews
- The law in the EU, UK and USBelgian guidance under EU law: ask all customers or a random, objective selection
- A discount or gift for a review
- Google's policyBanned in any form, including discounts and free goods or services
- The law in the EU, UK and USUS: banned when tied to a positive or negative review. UK: an incentivised review that hides it is banned
- Asking to mention something specific
- Google's policyBanned
- The law in the EU, UK and USBelgian guidance under EU law: the customer must be free to give an honest opinion
- Reviews by staff, family or yourself
- Google's policyBanned as a conflict of interest, also for former staff
- The law in the EU, UK and USEU: posing as a customer is banned. US: officers and managers must disclose their link
- Buying or faking reviews
- Google's policyBanned; Google removes them and can restrict your profile
- The law in the EU, UK and USBanned in the EU since 28 May 2022, in the US by the FTC rule of August 2024, in the UK since 6 April 2025
On rewards Google is stricter than the law in all three markets. The law adds one duty Google does not: in the EU, if you show reviews on your own site, you say whether and how you check they come from real customers.
What Google does when it goes wrong
When Google finds fake or incentivised reviews it removes them, and it can restrict the profile for a set period: no new reviews, existing reviews hidden, or a warning on the profile that fake reviews were removed. You get an email and can appeal. One discount campaign can take all your reviews out of view for a while. Why bought reviews never pay off is in can I buy Google reviews. Planning a campaign with a prize or a discount? Run it past your lawyer before it goes out.
Reply to every review
You can reply once your profile is verified. Google checks each reply before it appears, usually within ten minutes. The reviewer is notified and can still change the review afterwards. Thank people briefly, answer criticism without arguing and without personal details, and offer to sort it out by phone or email. If a review breaks Google's rules, you can report it.
| Kind of review | How to reply | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Happy customer | Thank briefly, mention something concrete without personal data | "Thank you, glad the bathroom was finished on time." |
| Criticism with a point | Acknowledge, do not argue, offer to solve it outside Google | "Sorry the schedule slipped. Call us and we will sort it out together." |
| Criticism with no customer behind it | Say calmly you cannot find the person, and report it if it breaks the rules | "We cannot find a job under this name. Please get in touch." |
Reviews and your place in Google
Reviews are part of how people find and choose you on the map, next to a complete profile, your service area and a site with a page per service. They are not a button that lifts you: a profile with many reviews and an empty site rarely beats a competitor with both. Check what your site does with the SEO checker. Whether a profile is free is answered in is Google Business Profile free; how long it takes before such work shows is in how long until my website shows on Google.
Reviews on your own site
Google reviews live on Google. If you show them on your own site, show them as they are, with dates and without picking: under EU rules you must be able to say how you check that reviews come from real customers, and a selection of only the best as "what customers say" misleads. A named testimonial you ask for separately, with consent. Your own site is also where a hesitating customer calls or emails after reading your reviews; see website design, and for builders and installers website for contractors. Sites in more than one language are in multilingual websites. What SEO around your profile and pages costs is in how much does SEO cost.
A habit, not a campaign
Reviews arrive best as a fixed step in your work. Put the request in your handover email, the QR code on your invoice and a reminder in your calendar for customers who have not replied. Keep it up for a month and reviews grow on their own, spread over time, which reads more credibly than twenty in one week.
Asking for reviews: what else you want to know
How do I ask for Google reviews without being pushy?
Ask once at the right moment with a link that opens straight away, remind once at most, ask everyone and let the customer decide what to write.
Can I give a discount for a review?
Not for a Google review. Google bans any reward, including a discount, a gift or free service, for posting, changing or removing a review.
Can I ask customers to mention my service or a staff member?
No. Google does not allow businesses to request specific content. List your services on the profile instead: Google asks some reviewers which job you did.
Does my customer need a Gmail address?
No. They need to be signed in to a Google Account, and that account can use any email address.
Can I copy reviews from my website to Google?
No, a Google review must be posted by the customer with their own account. Ask happy customers from your site to share their view on Google too, without a reward.