Skip to content

Reviews & Reputation

Getting reviews properly, responding well, and the rules platforms enforce.

17 posts, newest first

Texting that arrives: registration and consent

Why business texts get filtered before anyone sees them, how we register and capture consent properly, and the five follow-up sequences worth running.

Read 6 min read

The mid-year audit of your local presence

Half the year is gone. The profile fields, listings, photos, hours and unanswered questions we go back over in July, in the order we work through them.

Read 5 min read

Reviews under enforcement: fix your flow

The fake reviews rule has been in force since October 2024. Incentives, staff reviews, AI-written replies, and the review flow we build to stay clear.

Read 5 min read

How patients find a dental practice now

The map, the answer, the reviews and the phone are the four doors into a practice. Which ones you control, and what to fix in each this spring.

Read 5 min read

Six weeks left: posts, reviews and January

The holiday posts, the review recovery habit and the January pages that decide whether your first week back in the new year is booked or quiet.

Read 5 min read

Your reviews are being read by software

Five things owners still believe about reviews and hours that stopped being true once software started doing the browsing and the booking.

Read 5 min read

Retention belongs on the marketing line

Summer empties a wellness calendar in three different ways. How we handle rebooking, memberships and reactivation, and why we budget for all three.

Read 5 min read

What the overlay order means for practice sites

The FTC has ordered an accessibility overlay vendor to drop its compliance claims. What to check in your practice footer, contract and booking path.

Read 5 min read

The fake review rule is final. What it forbids.

The FTC finalized its rule on fake reviews and testimonials last week. What it bans, what it means for staff reviews and incentives, and the October date.

Read 5 min read

Two Google updates in two days. Hold steady.

A spam update and a core update landed a day apart. How we read the churn, what we refuse to touch this month, and the work that keeps paying.

Read 5 min read

Dental reviews: how to ask and how to reply

The rules on asking patients for reviews, the ask that works in an operatory, and two reply templates that keep a practice out of trouble.

Read 5 min read

Opposite review rules on Google and Yelp

Google wants you to ask for reviews. Yelp asks you not to. The rules on each, what a not recommended review really is, and how to ask well.

Read 6 min read

HVAC and lawn care: winning the spring rush

Spring demand lands in bursts. How we set Local Services Ads budgets for HVAC and lawn care, and why call handling beats better ad copy.

Read 5 min read

The vicinity update and your business name

Local results pulled closer to the searcher and keyword-stuffed names lost their lift. How we are planning next year around proximity and reviews.

Read 5 min read

Before the first cold night: HVAC and plumbing

Heating season planning for HVAC and plumbing: Local Services Ads, answer rate, tune-up offers, and the search work to finish while the phone is quiet.

Read 5 min read

Call history on your listing, and the review ask

Google My Business is adding call history. How to read the answered and missed calls, and how to build a review ask the front desk keeps.

Read 5 min read

Review myths that cost local businesses money

Buying reviews, gating the ask, paying for stars and chasing the average. Four review habits we keep undoing, and what we do with clients instead.

Read 5 min read
Get started

Turn the reading into a plan for your business.

Tell us about your business and your area. We will show you where you stand and which of this applies to you first.