How to ask customers for Google reviews
If you want more Google reviews, ask for them, and make leaving one quick. Google gives you a link for this, along with a few clear rules about how you can use it.
Get your review link
Your Google Business Profile can make a link or a QR code that takes customers straight to the review box. Send the link in a text or email, and print the QR code on an invoice, a receipt or a card you leave after the job. Customers need to be signed in to a Google Account to post. If your profile isn’t finished yet, start with our Google Business Profile checklist.
Ask while the job is fresh
We’d send the ask the same day the work is done, or the next morning, while the customer still remembers the details. We’d have it come from the person they dealt with, so it reads like a note from someone they know.
What to send
Keep it short and personal, the way you’d text a customer anyway. Here’s a message you could adapt:
“Hi Maria, thanks for having us out to fix the AC today. If you have a minute, a Google review helps other people in the area find us. Here’s the link.”
One reminder a few days later is fine if they haven’t had a chance. After that, we’d leave it.
What Google doesn’t allow
- Paying for reviews, or offering discounts or free work in exchange for one.
- Asking only your happy customers, or discouraging negative reviews.
- Reviews from employees, current or former.
- One person posting reviews from several accounts.
Reply to every review
Thank people for good reviews, and answer critical ones calmly with what you did or will do about it. Google asks that replies stay positive and relevant, so we keep sales pitches out of them.
Questions
Should I only ask the customers I know were happy?
No, because Google doesn’t allow businesses to ask only for positive reviews or to discourage negative ones, so ask everyone you’d normally follow up with.
What if the job had a problem?
Ask anyway, and fix the problem if you can. If they leave a critical review, a calm, specific reply shows the next reader how you handle things.
Can I offer a discount for a review?
No, Google doesn’t allow payment, discounts, or free goods or services in exchange for a review, even if you don’t ask for a good one.
Can my staff leave reviews?
No, Google doesn’t allow reviews with a conflict of interest, and that includes current and former employees.
Why can’t my customer leave a review?
They need to be signed in to a Google Account, so start there. If they are and it still fails, open the link yourself to check it goes to your profile.
Want help with your profile?
We set up and look after Google profiles as part of Meridian Presence. See our Google Business Profile setup, or book a call.