How to get more Google reviews, properly

Ask at the right moment

A request works best when the customer has just had the benefit: the boiler is running, the meal was good, the keys have been handed over. An hour later it is a favour; a week later it is forgotten.

• Trades: before you leave the house.
• Restaurants and salons: as they pay.
• Professional firms: when the matter completes.
• Shops online: a few days after delivery.

Make it easy

Your Google Business Profile gives you a short link that opens the review box directly. Use it everywhere:

• In a text message sent on the day.
• As a QR code at the till, on the counter or on a card left with the customer.
• In the email that goes with the invoice or receipt.
• In your email signature.

Then say it out loud as well. “Would you mind leaving us a review? It really helps a small business” does more than any automated message. Our Google Review Master toolkit handles the texts and QR codes.

Make it a habit

A steady flow matters more than a total. Recent reviews reassure customers, and a sudden burst followed by silence looks odd to them and to Google.

Decide who asks and when, and keep to it. In most businesses that is one line added to how a job is finished.

Reply to every one

Thank people for good reviews, briefly and personally. Answer poor ones calmly, our guide to responding to negative reviews has examples. Replies are read by the next customer, not just the reviewer.

What the rules forbid

• Fake reviews. Writing them, buying them or having staff post them is banned under UK consumer law, as well as by Google.
• Rewards. Google does not allow discounts, gifts or prize draws in exchange for reviews.
• Hidden incentives. Under UK law, a review that was incentivised must not be presented as if it were not.
• Review gating. Asking only customers you know are happy, or steering unhappy ones away from the review page.
• Reviewing yourself, or a competitor.

The law changed in 2025. Fake reviews and concealed incentivised reviews were banned in the UK from April 2025, and businesses that publish reviews are expected to take steps to keep fake ones out. The regulator has published guidance; if reviews are central to your marketing, it is worth reading or taking advice on.