How to Get More Google Reviews Without Breaking the Rules

Ask at the moment of satisfaction

Not a week later in a newsletter. The moment the job is signed off, the treatment is finished, the problem is solved. That is the only time the customer feels strongly enough to act, and the gap between then and your request is the main thing suppressing your review rate.

Make it one tap

Use the short review link from your Google Business Profile, sent by SMS. Every additional step — searching for your business, logging in, navigating — loses a meaningful share of people. A QR code on the invoice works well for in-person trades.

Ask everyone, not just the happy ones

Selectively soliciting only positive reviews is review gating and breaches Google's policies. Ask everybody. A handful of moderate reviews alongside strong ones reads as more credible anyway, and a well-handled complaint is persuasive in a way a five-star review isn't.

Never offer an incentive

Discounts or entries into a draw in exchange for reviews breach Google's policies and, in Australia, risk breaching the Australian Consumer Law prohibition on misleading or deceptive conduct. The ACCC has taken action on fake and incentivised reviews. It is not worth the exposure.

Reply to every single one

Replies are visible to future customers and demonstrate the business is attended to. For negative reviews, respond once, factually, without arguing, and move the conversation offline. The reply is for the next reader, not for the reviewer.

Build it into someone's job

The businesses that succeed at this have made it a step in a process with a named owner, not an intention. Whoever closes the job sends the request. That's it — and it's the whole difference.

Track recency, not just the total

Watch how many reviews you received in the last 90 days against the businesses currently above you in the map pack. That comparison, not your lifetime total, is what predicts movement. It's a standing item in our local SEO reporting.