How do I get more Google reviews for my business?
Short answer
Ask every customer right after the job is done, with a direct link, by text if they've agreed to get texts from you. Never offer a discount or a gift for a review, and never ask only the customers you know are happy: Google's review policy bans both, and the FTC's 2024 rule separately bans rewards tied to a review being positive or negative.
Reviewed
When is the best moment to ask for a review?
Right after the job, while the customer is still glad to hear from you. Wait a week for a “better” moment and the request usually never goes out.
Text, email, QR code or in person: which works?
We’d send a text with a direct link the same day to customers who’ve agreed to get texts from you, because a text is where people read things. Google’s tips for getting reviews suggest asking customers to visit a Google link or scan a QR code, and a QR code on a receipt or at the counter suits a business people walk into. Email works too. It’s just competing with everything else in the inbox.
Can I offer a discount or a gift for a review?
No, not for writing one, and not for changing or removing one. Google’s Maps content policy doesn’t allow businesses to offer incentives such as payment, discounts, or free goods or services in exchange for any review, or for revising or removing a negative one. Federal rules cover part of this as well. The FTC’s 2024 final rule bans offering compensation or other incentives conditioned on a review being positive or negative, and it lets the FTC seek civil penalties against knowing violators.
Can I ask only my happy customers?
No. The same Google policy bans discouraging negative reviews and selectively asking for positive ones. Ask everyone the same way, every time, and let the reviews land where they land. Clinics and law firms have that rule and more: professional and privacy rules shape how and when they can ask at all, so check those before setting up any review requests.
Do recent reviews matter as much as the total count?
To the people reading them, yes. Two hundred reviews with nothing new in a year looks like a business that’s slowed down; fewer reviews arriving every month looks like one that’s busy. We’d take the steady trickle.
How do I ask a Spanish-speaking customer for a review?
In Spanish, the same way: a text with a direct link, sent right after the job. The rules above (no incentives, no cherry-picking) don’t change with the language.
Every Forward Dawn plan, from the $297 Living Website up, sends these requests to your customers after each job. We never write a review for anyone.
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