How to get more Google reviews, the right way

Most owner-run businesses have far fewer Google reviews than happy customers. The reason is rarely the work: it’s that nobody asked, or the asking happened when the owner remembered. Reviews come from a routine: every customer, the same way, at the same moment.

Why reviews matter

When someone searches for a business like yours, your Google Business Profile shows your rating, how many reviews you have and how recent they are. People read the newest ones first. Recent, specific reviews tell a stranger that real people chose you and were glad they did, which is the one thing your own website can’t say for you.

Get your review link

Every Google Business Profile has a direct link that opens the review form for your business. Sign in to your Business Profile, choose Ask for reviews (or Get more reviews), and copy the link. That link is the whole tool: it removes the “search for us, then find the reviews tab” step that stops most people.

Ask at the right moment

Ask when the result is fresh and the customer is pleased with it:

• Trades: when the job is finished and the customer has seen it working, or with the invoice.
• Salons and barbers: as they leave, or that evening.
• Clinics and studios: after a session where they made progress, not after the first visit.
• Cafés and venues: the day after an event or booking, not mid-meal.

What to send

Short, personal and with the link. One message, and at most one reminder a few days later.

By text:

Hi [first name], thanks for choosing [your business] today. If you were happy with it, a quick Google review would really help us: [review link]. Thank you!

By email:

Subject: Thanks from [your business]

Hi [first name], thanks again for [the job or visit]. Reviews help other people in [your area] find us. If you have a minute, you can leave one here: [review link]. And if anything wasn’t right, reply to this email and I’ll sort it out.

At the counter: a printed card with a QR code that opens your review link, next to the till or on the reception desk.

The rules: what not to do

Google and Australian consumer law are both clear:

• Don’t offer anything in return. No discounts, freebies or prize draws for reviews. Google’s policy forbids incentives, and the ACCC warns businesses that incentivised reviews can mislead consumers.
• Ask everyone the same way. Google forbids selectively asking for positive reviews, sometimes called review gating. You can’t send happy customers to Google and unhappy ones to a private form.
• Never write reviews yourself, or ask friends, family or staff to post them as customers.
• Don’t remove or hide bad reviews by flagging them unless they break Google’s policies.

Reply to every review

Reply to every review, good or bad, briefly and by name. Thank people for specifics. For a bad review, stay calm, acknowledge it, don’t share anything private, and offer to sort it out offline. Every future customer reads how you respond.

Make it automatic

The ask works best when it doesn’t depend on anyone remembering. Most booking, job and point-of-sale systems can send a message after a booking or job is marked complete. Set the review request as that message, with your link, and it goes to every customer, every time. That consistency is what keeps reviews coming in month after month, and it keeps you on the right side of Google’s rules.