How to get more Google reviews (without breaking the rules)

What you are allowed to do

Ask any customer, at any time, through any channel. Make it easy with a short link or a QR code. Remind them once.

What gets you penalised

• Offering a discount, entry to a draw or anything of value in exchange
• Review gating — surveying first and only sending happy customers to Google
• Writing reviews yourself, or asking staff and family to
• Bulk-requesting from a purchased list

The process that works

• Ask at the moment of satisfaction — job finished, order delivered, event over
• Send a text rather than an email; open rates are far higher
• Use a short direct link straight to the review form, not your homepage
• Ask a real question first ("was everything alright?") before sending the link
• Follow up once, never twice

Reply to every review

A reply is not for the person who wrote it. It is for the next person reading, who is deciding whether to call you. That is doubly true of negative reviews, where a calm, specific answer often does more good than the review did harm.

How many do you need?

More than the competitor currently ranking above you, and recent. A handful every month beats forty from three years ago.