How to get more Google reviews, within the rules

Ask the customers you already serve, all of them, within hours of each job, with a direct link. Google's own advice is plain: "you can ask customers to visit a Google link or scan a QR code." Start by making sure every job gets a request; refine the wording later.

What Google allows, in its content policy: merchants may "Solicit or encourage the posting of content that does represent a genuine experience," "without offering incentives to do so or attempting to influence the rating or the contents of the review." So ask for an honest review, don't pay for it, don't steer the stars and don't tell people what to write.

Open your Business Profile, select Read reviews, then Get more reviews, and copy the link. To save the QR code, right-click it and choose Save image as. Google says review QR codes "can only be generated on a computer browser, not on mobile devices," so do this at a desk, not from your phone.

Google's review link page suggests putting the link on receipts, in thank-you emails, at the end of a chat, and printing the QR code. It also lists email, WhatsApp and Facebook posts as ways to send requests.

One friction point to plan for: Google says "Customers must be signed into a Google Account to leave a review" and that "They can set one up with a non-Gmail email address" (tips to get more reviews). A one-line note in your email helps customers who stall there. And since the link opens your profile, fix any wrong name, hours or service area first; our Google Business Profile handbook covers each setting.

Ask when the customer has just seen the result: the same day for a service call, at the walkthrough for an install, and at completion for a multi-day project. Google doesn't set a timing rule, so this is our advice: ask while the job is fresh, before the invoice and daily life crowd it out.

Ask every customer on the schedule for their job type, including the ones whose job had a hiccup. Skipping them is how gating starts (more on that below).

Send one short message with the link, from your own system, using the customer's name and the job. Ask for an honest review, not "5 stars." Google bars merchants from trying to influence "the rating or the contents of the review," so asking for a star count, or telling people what to mention, crosses that line.

Text suits most service calls; email suits projects and can carry the QR code. A tech's heads-up in person and a printed QR on the invoice back up the message but don't replace it.

Two short examples, invented for illustration. Swap in your own names and details:

Text after a service call (plumbing): "Hi Maria, it's Smith Plumbing. Thanks for having Jake out today. If you have a minute, we'd appreciate an honest Google review: [link]. Any problem with the repair, reply here and we'll fix it."

One reminder, three to five days later: "Hi Maria, a quick reminder in case it got buried: [link]. Thanks either way."

Send one reminder, then stop. More than that starts to feel like pressure, and Google's policy says merchants "should not require or pressure users to leave ratings or write reviews."

Your techs should tell every customer a review request is coming. They shouldn't hand customers a phone to review on the spot, ask for reviews that mention them by name, or chase a review count. Google's policy names two of these, review quotas and reviews that name a staff member, and bars pressuring customers on the business's premises.

From Google's content policy, merchants may not engage in:

• "Merchants requesting that staff solicit a certain number of reviews." So no review quotas for techs.
• "Merchants requesting that staff solicit reviews that include specific content," "including content that identifies a staff member." So no "please mention Jake" scripts.
• Pressure at the point of service: "merchants should not require or pressure users to leave ratings or write reviews" "while on the premises, nor should they request that specific content be included." Google's wording is about the merchant's premises. Our reading for a crew in a customer's home: don't wait while they review on your tablet; let the request arrive by text.

What works instead: a one-line heads-up at the end of the job ("You'll get a text from us asking how we did; we read every review") and a request that goes to everyone automatically. Track that every completed job got a request, not how many reviews each tech brought in.

Staff and their families also shouldn't review the business. Google prohibits reviews based on a conflict of interest, including "current or former employment" and "familial relationships."

Several tactics in 2026 guides for contractors break Google's policy: gift cards or discounts for reviews, per-review cash bounties for crews, surveys that send only happy customers to Google, and review swaps with other businesses. Google can remove those reviews and restrict a profile (see Google Business Profile suspension). Here's each one checked against the exact rule.

If you use a review tool with a "how did we do?" step, set it so every customer gets the Google link whatever they answer.

The FTC's rule on consumer reviews (16 CFR Part 465), in effect since October 21, 2024, bans paying for reviews that express a particular sentiment, bans fake and insider reviews that misrepresent, and bans suppressing negative reviews on your own site. Google's policy is stricter on incentives. Follow Google's rule and you'll usually meet both.

The parts that touch review requests, read November 1, 2026:

• Incentives tied to sentiment. Section 465.4 bans giving "compensation or other incentives in exchange for, or conditioned expressly or by implication on," reviews expressing a particular sentiment (eCFR). The FTC's Q&A adds that "failing to disclose incentives could be a violation of the FTC Act." Google bans incentives for any review, so on Google there's no incentive you can offer.
• Staff and relatives. Section 465.5 covers managers who ask relatives or employees for reviews posted without disclosing the connection (16 CFR 465.5). It exempts "generalized solicitations to purchasers," such as a request sent to all your customers.
• Asking only happy customers. The FTC's Q&A says the rule has no specific ban, but "this practice could violate the FTC Act." Its guide for marketers is blunt: "Don't ask for reviews only from customers you think will leave positive ones."

This is a summary for owners, not legal advice. The full allowed-and-banned table, with threats and review removal, is in our Google Business Profile handbook.

Aim for a steady pace that matches the businesses in your trade, not a single total. In our study, the median business had 39 new Google reviews in 90 days in HVAC and 1 in remodeling. Compare your own last 90 days with your trade, then work back to how many requests that takes.

Normal pace varies widely by trade, from 39 new reviews in 90 days for the median HVAC business to 1 in remodeling; every trade's figure is in our reviews handbook and the review patterns study.

A simple check you can run with your own numbers:

1. Count the jobs you completed in the last 90 days.
2. Count the Google reviews you received in the same 90 days.
3. Divide reviews by jobs. That's your own request-to-review rate.
4. Compare your 90-day reviews with your trade's median. If you're behind, start by checking that every completed job got a request.

Whether more reviews go with being named in AI answers depends on the trade; see do more reviews get you named by AI?

Then the system is working: you asked everyone, and someone was unhappy. Reply once, calmly, and fix what you can. Don't stop asking, and don't start skipping customers who might be unhappy. A steady flow of honest reviews gives readers the context to judge one bad review.

How to reply, with examples, is in how to respond to reviews on Google. If a review is fake or breaks Google's policy, can you remove a Google review? covers reporting and the one-time appeal. Never offer anything to change or remove a review: Google prohibits incentives for "changing reviews, or removing negative reviews" (review link page).

Most owners can run this themselves with a review link, a text template and a habit. Hand it off when requests stop going out on busy weeks or when nobody has time to reply. Mindflow's review program sets up requests from your own system and drafts replies, as part of one marketing program.

In Mindflow's reputation management, review requests go out from your own system, your CRM or review tool, which we help you set up. They're never gated or incentivized, and we never write reviews. Our own tool drafts a reply to each new review for you to approve, or to post automatically once you're happy with the drafts. It's part of every Mindflow plan, alongside SEO and your Business Profile. No one can promise a number of reviews, a ranking or an AI mention.

How many times can I follow up? Once is reasonable: a short reminder three to five days after the first request. Google doesn't set a number, but its policy says merchants "should not require or pressure users" to leave reviews. Repeated reminders start to look like pressure and annoy good customers. After one reminder, stop.

What if my customer doesn't have a Google account? They'll need one. Google says customers "must be signed into a Google Account to leave a review" and "can set one up with a non-Gmail email address." Add a line to your email request saying so. Don't offer to post the review for them, and don't ask staff to post it on their behalf.

Can I offer a small thank-you for a review? You can ask any customer for an honest review. What you can't do is give them anything for it: no discount, credit, gift card or entry in a drawing. Google calls incentives "strictly prohibited." A thank-you message is fine; a reward tied to the review isn't.

Should I ask past customers for reviews? Yes, if you ask all of them the same way, not only the ones you remember as happy. Picking only your favorites is the selective asking Google prohibits. A single batch request to every customer from the past year, then the normal routine for new jobs, is a reasonable way to start.

All pages read November 1, 2026.

• Google, Maps user-generated content policy: prohibited and restricted content
• Google Business Profile Help, Tips to get more reviews
• Google Business Profile Help, Create a Google link or QR code to request reviews
• eCFR, 16 CFR Part 465, Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials; Cornell LII, 16 CFR 465.5
• FTC, Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule: Questions and Answers
• FTC, Soliciting and Paying for Online Reviews: A Guide for Marketers
• Mindflow, Home-service review patterns (reviews collected October 2026)

More on Maps, profiles and reviews: Google Maps and reviews guides.

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