The short answer
Ask every customer, not just the happy ones, shortly after the experience ends: the same day for appointments and jobs, after delivery for products. Send one short, personal message by email or text with your direct Google review link, ask for honest feedback rather than five stars, and offer nothing in return. Automate the send if you like, but keep the wording human and never filter who receives it.
- Timing beats persuasion: ask within hours of a good experience, while details are fresh.
- Send the same request to every customer. Filtering by satisfaction (review gating) breaks Google policy.
- No discounts, draws or freebies for reviews. Google prohibits incentives outright.
- One reminder is reasonable; three is spam.
Why customers do not review unless you ask
Unhappy customers are motivated; they want to be heard. Satisfied customers are busy; they got what they paid for and moved on. Left alone, your reviews skew toward the people with something to complain about. A simple request rebalances that by giving the quiet majority a nudge and a link.
Google actively encourages this. Its tips to get more reviews page tells businesses to remind customers to leave reviews, and its review link tool exists for exactly this purpose. What Google forbids is shaping the result: rewarding reviews, choosing who gets asked based on how they feel, or telling people what to write.
When to ask: timing by business type
| Business | Send the request | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurant | Same evening or next morning, if you have contact details from a booking | Asking at the table while the server waits |
| Salon or spa | Two to four hours after the appointment | Before the client has seen the result in daylight |
| Dentist or clinic | Same day, with no reference to the treatment | Any wording that confirms what care the patient received |
| Home services | As soon as the job is signed off | Before the invoice is settled or a callback is booked |
| E-commerce or delivery | A few days after delivery, once the product has been used | The moment it ships |
| Professional services | After a milestone the client is pleased with | In the middle of an ongoing dispute |
Choosing the channel
Text message gets read fastest and suits service businesses where the customer already gave a mobile number for booking. Keep it under two short sentences and only text people who agreed to receive messages from you, in line with local messaging laws.
Email gives you room for a warmer note and works well for e-commerce, hotels and professional services. Use a plain-looking email from a real person, not a heavily designed newsletter, so it does not land in a promotions tab.
In person works when it is a light mention at checkout plus a card or review QR code they can use later. Google prohibits requiring or pressuring customers to review while on your premises, so do not hand someone a tablet and wait.
Whichever channel you pick, the message needs your direct review link so the customer lands on the form in one tap. If you do not have it yet, follow our guide on how to get your Google review link.
Review request templates you can copy
Swap in your own names and link. Each template asks for honest feedback and goes to every customer.
Text after an appointment: "Hi Maria, thanks for coming in today. If you have a minute, we'd really value an honest Google review: [your link]. Sam at [business name]"
Text after a home-service job: "Hi Dev, the team's finished up. Hope everything's working well. Would you share how it went on Google? [your link] Reply here if anything isn't right."
Email after an online order: Subject: "How's the new kettle?" Body: "Hi Priya, your order arrived a few days ago and we hope it's earning its place on the counter. Reviews help other people decide, and we read every one. If you have two minutes, you can leave yours on Google here: [your link]. Thanks, Alex"
Email after a hotel stay: "Thank you for staying with us last weekend. We'd be grateful if you'd share your experience on Google, the good and the not-so-good, so we can keep improving and future guests know what to expect: [your link]."
Gentle reminder (once, three to five days later): "Just a quick follow-up in case our last message got buried. If you'd like to share feedback, the link is here: [your link]. No worries if not, and thanks again for choosing us."
The rules: what Google and the FTC prohibit
Do
- Ask every customer with the same neutral wording.
- Use your official Google review link or QR code.
- Say you value honest feedback, positive or negative.
- Make it easy to reach you directly about a problem, separately from the review request.
Don't
- Offer discounts, gifts, prize draws or loyalty points for a review. Google prohibits incentives for posting, changing or removing reviews.
- Send a "How was it?" survey and only forward happy responders to Google. That is selective soliciting, banned under Google's rating manipulation policy.
- Ask for five stars or suggest what to write.
- Set staff quotas or ask customers to name a staff member in their review.
Google's Maps user-generated content policy spells these out under rating manipulation and fake engagement. In the US, the FTC's Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule, in effect since October 21, 2024, bars fake reviews and incentives conditioned on a review expressing a particular sentiment, and the FTC's guidance notes that asking only happy customers could still violate the FTC Act.
Automating review requests safely
Automated review requests are just the templates above, triggered by an event in a system you already use: an appointment marked complete in your booking software, a job closed in your field-service app, an order marked delivered in your store. Many of those tools have a built-in follow-up message where you can paste your review link.
- Trigger on the event, not on sentiment. "Appointment completed" is fine. "Survey score of 9 or 10" is gating.
- Cap it. One request and at most one reminder per customer per visit.
- Respect opt-outs and only message people who agreed to hear from you.
- Check the link monthly. A broken automation can silently send hundreds of dead links.
- Stagger sends. Messages timed a couple of hours after the visit read as personal; ones fired at midnight do not.
After they review: close the loop
Asking more customers brings more reviews, and each one is an invitation to reply. A thank-you that mentions their specific experience encourages the next customer to write a detailed review too. A calm, constructive reply to a critical review shows that your request for honest feedback was sincere.
If replies start to pile up, our free AI review reply generator drafts a response in seconds, and Responsly can do it for every new review across all your locations. For ready-made wording, see our 5-star review responses.
Sources
- Google Business Profile Help: Tips to get more reviews
- Maps User Generated Content Policy: Prohibited & restricted content — Rating manipulation, incentives and staff quotas.
- FTC: Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule, Questions and Answers
- Google Business Profile Help: Create a Google link or QR code to request reviews