Google review request writer
A good review request does one thing: it asks every customer the same way, at the same point in the visit, with a link that opens straight to your Google review form. This page writes that ask in your business's own words, checks your edits for the phrases that break Google's review policy, makes a counter card with a QR code, and works out how many customers a week you would need to ask to pass the businesses you are measured against.
The businesses with a steady stream of reviews rarely have the cleverest message. They have a routine: the same short ask goes to everyone, nobody picks who gets it, and it never mentions stars. Start with your link, pick your business and how you will ask, then edit the message until it sounds like you. The rules check reads whatever is in the box, so look at it after your edits, not before.
The planner is arithmetic on numbers you type. It tells you how many people to ask, not what they will write, and it cannot tell you where you will show on the map.
Nothing you type here is sent to us or anyone else: your link, message and your own numbers are saved in this browser so you can come back, and competitor numbers are not saved at all.
Your review link from Google
Google gives every Business Profile a link that opens the review form directly, so the customer does not have to search for you first. To find it:
- On a computer, sign in with the Google account that manages your Business Profile and open the profile.
- Choose Read reviews, then Get more reviews.
- Choose Copy and paste the link below. The same panel shows Google's own QR code; right-click it and choose Save image as if you would rather print that one.
Google's help page on creating a review link or QR code says the QR code can only be made in a browser on a computer, not on a phone.
A first name reads like a person, not a system.
The ask, in your own words
Every version asks for an honest review and nothing else: no stars, no "if you were happy", nothing in return. Pick where you work and how the ask reaches the customer, then change any word you like.
For clinics: keep the ask about your office, never the treatment. Nothing in it should say what the visit was for, because anyone holding the phone or reading the inbox can see it, and a review request should not confirm someone's care. If your practice is covered by HIPAA, ask counsel how it applies to review requests. Not legal advice; confirm with counsel.
Send review texts only to customers who agreed to get texts from you, and keep the opt-out line. Whether a review request counts as marketing under the federal texting rules is a question for counsel; if your consent may not cover it, use email. Not legal advice; confirm with counsel.
Most job, booking and point of sale software can send a text or email when a job closes or a customer checks out. If yours can, paste this message in and turn it on; you do not need us for that. What matters is that it goes to every customer, not only the ones someone remembers.
Rules check on your message
This reads the message above as you edit it and flags wording that steers who reviews, what they say, or what they get for it. It looks for words, not meaning, so a clean result is a prompt to read the message once more as a customer would, not a clearance.
What the check measures against
- Google. The Maps content policy treats it as fake engagement when a business offers an incentive for posting a review or for changing or removing a negative one, discourages negative reviews, or tries to "selectively solicit positive reviews". It also bars asking for specific content, pressing customers to review while they are on the premises, and asking staff to collect reviews that name them.
- The FTC. The Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule, 16 CFR Part 465, took effect October 21, 2024. It bans incentives conditioned on a review saying something positive or negative (465.4). The FTC staff's questions and answers add that the rule has no specific ban on asking only the customers you expect to be happy, but that doing so could still violate the FTC Act, and that an incentive with no condition on what the review says is not banned by the rule, though failing to disclose it could violate the FTC Act.
- Yelp. Its content guidelines tell businesses not to ask customers for reviews at all, so every version here points at Google.
This is a plain reading of public rules, not legal advice; confirm with counsel before you change how your business asks for reviews.
A counter card with a QR code
A card by the register, on the table or in the job folder lets the customer decide whether and when to review, which is what Google wants. The code is drawn in your browser from the link you pasted, and you can print the card on plain paper.
Point your phone's camera at the code.
Scan the printed card with two different phones before you put it out. If the code will not draw here, the QR code in your Business Profile works just as well.
How far behind are you, and how many asks close it
Search Google Maps for what a customer would type, note the review counts of up to three businesses that show up beside you, and type them here. Competitor numbers stay on this page only; they are not saved, and they are gone when you leave.
For your notes. The planner does not project it.
The share is your own estimate. If you already ask, divide last month's new reviews by the customers you asked. There is no standard figure, so we do not fill one in.
Reviews are one factor among several in where a business shows on Google Maps. Passing a competitor's count does not guarantee you will show above them; it means a customer comparing the two of you sees more recent experiences on your profile.
After the ask goes out
A written ask is the easy half. The rest is making sure it goes out after every job, replying to what comes back, and keeping the review tool from quietly filtering who gets the link.
- Our playbook on getting more Google reviews without breaking the rules covers timing, reply wording, staff reviews and the replies clinics have to be careful with.
- If you want the ask sent after every job without anyone remembering to, that is what our review management work sets up, along with replies.
- Reviews sit on your Google Business Profile; if the profile itself is thin or in the wrong category, more reviews will not fix that on their own.
- If you already run GoHighLevel, the request can go out from the same pipeline that tracks the job, so a closed job sends it automatically.
Sources
5 cited
- Google Business Profile Help, Create a Google link or QR code to request reviews
- Google Maps, User Generated Content Policy: prohibited and restricted content (fake engagement)
- FTC, The Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule: Questions and Answers
- eCFR, 16 CFR Part 465, Trade Regulation Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials
- Yelp, Content Guidelines
Want a review plan built on these numbers?
Send us your review count, the businesses you are measured against and how many customers you serve a week. We will tell you whether your date is realistic, where the ask fits in your day and whether the software you already pay for can send it. If it can, we will say so and you can set it up yourself.
- A free consult. A real conversation about your business, your area and what is not working yet.
- An honest evaluation. Where you stand in search, ads and follow-up next to the businesses you lose customers to.
- A plan you keep. What we would fix first and why. It is yours whether or not you work with us.
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