Text, email and in-person scripts for asking customers for Google reviews, where to find your review link and QR code, and what Google and the FTC ban.
The way to get more Google reviews is boring, and it works: ask every customer, right after the job, with a direct link, in words that sound like you. No discounts, no asking only the happy ones, no "please leave us 5 stars."
Most owners I talk to don't have a review problem. They have an asking problem. The work is good and the customers are happy, but nobody asks while the customer is still standing in the driveway.
Reviews help you show up, and they help you get picked. Google says local results are based mainly on relevance, distance and prominence, and about prominence it says: "More reviews and positive ratings can help your business's local ranking" (Google Business Profile Help).
Keep that in proportion. Reviews are one input among several, and the same page says there's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. Nobody can promise you a spot in the map results, including us.
The second job reviews do happens after the search, when someone is choosing between you and the next company. In BrightLocal's 2026 survey of 1,002 US consumers, 74% said they seek out reviews written in the last three months (BrightLocal). A pile of reviews from 2021 doesn't do much for you. A steady trickle from last month does, which is why this is a habit and not a once-a-year review drive.
Ask every customer, offer nothing in return, and don't tell anyone what to say. That keeps you inside both sets of rules that matter.
Google's rules. Google's content policy prohibits offering incentives "such as payment, discounts, free goods and/or services" in exchange for reviews, and it prohibits businesses from discouraging negative reviews or selectively soliciting positive ones (Google's prohibited and restricted content policy). That second one is called review gating: sending happy customers to Google and unhappy ones to a private feedback form. It's against the rules even when software you bought does it for you.
The FTC's rule. In August 2024 the Federal Trade Commission announced a final rule banning fake reviews and testimonials, and it took effect on October 21, 2024 (FTC announcement). Among other things, it prohibits fake reviews (including AI-generated ones) and buying them, rewarding customers for reviews that express a particular sentiment, reviews by your own officers and managers that don't disclose the connection, and using threats or false accusations to get negative reviews taken down. The FTC can seek civil penalties from businesses that knowingly break it.
The FTC's own Q&A adds two details. The rule doesn't ban every incentive, only ones that require or imply a particular sentiment. And asking only the customers you think are happy isn't specifically banned by the rule, but it "could violate the FTC Act" (FTC Q&A). Google's policy is stricter on both points, so the simple move is to follow Google's: no incentives at all, and ask everyone.
I'm not a lawyer. If you're unsure about something specific, read those two FTC pages or ask one.
Ask right after the job, while the customer is happy and the details are fresh. Same day, in person, with the link following by text before you leave.
What that moment looks like by trade:
Don't save it for the end of the month or a quarterly email blast. The longer you wait, the less likely they are to bother.
Your review link opens the review box for your business directly, so the customer doesn't have to search for you, pick the right listing and scroll. Every step you remove is one less place for them to give up.
Google's steps (Google Business Profile Help):
Save the link somewhere you can paste it from your phone in two taps: a text shortcut, a note, or a saved reply.
Short and personal beats polished. Use their name, your name and the job, and ask for an honest review, not a 5-star one. Copy these and make them yours.
Hi [Name], it's [Your name] from [Business]. Thanks for having us out for the [job] today. If you have a minute, would you leave an honest review on Google? It helps people around here find us. [Review link]
Subject: How did the [job] go?
Hi [Name],
Thanks for choosing [Business] for your [job] on [day]. I hope everything is working the way it should.
If you have two minutes, would you share an honest review on Google? Reviews help other people in [town] decide who to call, and I read every one.
[Review link]
Thanks, [Your name], [Business], [Phone]
"Thanks for having us out. Can I ask a favor? We're a local business, and Google reviews make a real difference for us. I'll text you the link in a minute. An honest review would mean a lot."
Then send the text before you pull out of the driveway, while you're still the person they just thanked.
One link, one ask. A single reminder a few days later is fine. More than that is nagging.
A QR code is the in-person version of your link: the customer points their phone camera at it and lands on your review box. Google's own suggestions include receipts, thank-you emails and a printed code in your store.
For a service business, the spots that work:
Google makes the QR code on the same screen as the link: under Get more reviews, right-click the QR code and choose Save image as. Google notes this works only in a computer browser, not on a phone. If that's a hassle, use our free Google review QR code generator.
Reply within a few days, and make each reply specific. Google says the reviewer is notified when you reply, your reply shows publicly under their review, and customers can still change their review after reading it (Google Business Profile Help). In the same BrightLocal survey, 81% of consumers said they expect to hear back within a week.
Google's reply tips come down to this: be polite, keep it short, skip the copy-paste "thank you," don't use the reply to pitch deals, never share the reviewer's private information, and apologize when it's warranted (Google's review tips).
A good review, answered well:
Thanks, Dana. Glad the water heater swap went smoothly, and thanks for clearing a path to the garage before we got there. Call us anytime.
A bad review, answered well:
Mike, I'm sorry the first visit didn't clear the drain. That's on us. I'd like to make it right: call me directly at [number] and I'll get someone back out this week. [Your name], owner.
A review from someone who was never your customer:
We can't find a job under this name. If we've missed something, please call me at [number] so I can look into it.
If a review breaks Google's policies, report it from your Business Profile (how to report a review). Google won't remove a review just because you disagree with it. Don't argue in public either: your reply is written for the next customer who reads it, not for the reviewer.
This is what we built for the written ask, and where it stops.
When you mark a job won in your leads list, the agent drafts a review-request email to that customer and puts it in your review queue for your approval. You still make the in-person ask. The agent makes sure the written one gets drafted for every job you mark won, instead of depending on you remembering at 9pm.
Reputation management is in early access and comes with Growth and Everything: your Google reviews come into one place with a drafted reply for each. You approve, and replies to 1 to 3 star reviews always wait for you. If you choose, you can let replies to 4 and 5 star reviews post without you.
The agent doesn't text your customers, and it doesn't post anything you haven't approved, except under auto-send rules you switch on yourself, like those 4 and 5 star replies.
If you already have a website you like, the Platform runs the agent next to it, from $249/mo. And put your reviews on your website too, not just on Google: that's leak number five in your website gets traffic and no leads. You can see the sites we've built on our work page.
Start asking every customer today, the same day as the job, by text with your review link. There's no faster honest method, and the shortcuts, like buying reviews or offering discounts, break Google's rules.
Do the work well, then ask every customer for an honest review while they're still happy with it. Don't ask for 5 stars specifically, and don't offer anything in return.
Yes, as long as you send the same request to every past customer, not just the ones you know were happy. Asking only the happy ones is the gating Google prohibits.
Ask every customer, the same day, with your direct link, and ask for an honest review. Reply like the next customer is reading, because they are. Skip anything that looks like a shortcut.
If you want a hand setting any of this up, book a 15-minute call. No pitch deck. If a stack of printed QR cards is all you need, I'll tell you that.
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