To get more Google reviews, share your direct review link and make asking part of your normal service. Ask every customer in the same way. Don’t offer rewards, choose only happy customers, or pressure anyone to post.
Start with your review link, choose a regular moment to ask, and track what happens. The steps below cover hotels, restaurants, shops and local services.
Keep asking regularly
Ask as part of your normal service, through busy and quiet weeks. That gives recent guests the same chance to share their experience. Don’t ask for a particular star rating or set staff targets for review counts.
Google also connects reviews to local visibility. Its help page on local ranking says: “More reviews and positive ratings can help your business’s local ranking” (Google). Note the wording: “can help.” It’s one of several factors, not a guarantee.
Get your Google review link and QR code
Google gives every verified business a direct review link and a QR code for free. Here’s how to create a Google review link, following Google’s own steps:
- On a computer, go to your Business Profile. (Google says review QR codes can currently only be generated in a computer browser, not on mobile.)
- Select Read reviews, then Get more reviews.
- To copy the review link, select Copy.
- To download the QR code, right-click it and select Save image as….
A few practical notes:
- Customers need a Google account to leave a review (Google). Keep another way to give feedback for people who don’t have one.
- Google suggests places to share it: receipts, thank-you emails, the end of a chat, and a printed QR code in your store. You can also send the link by email, WhatsApp or a Facebook post.
- Label the QR code clearly. “Scan to review us on Google” tells people what it’s for. A bare code doesn’t.
If you want a printable QR card with your own label and layout, our free QR code print size calculator generates the code from your Google review link and estimates a suitable print size. Test a final-size print before making more copies. Everyone still lands on the same Google review link. For every way to find your link, including the Maps app and the Place ID method, and what to do when it doesn’t open the review form, see How to get your Google review link.
When to ask, by type of business
The right moment depends on the business. Ask once the customer has had the full experience, and give them a way to review later, when they have a minute.
Scroll to see more columns.
| Business | Good moment | Channel |
|---|---|---|
| Hotel | At checkout, then in the post-stay email | Spoken thank-you at the desk; link in the follow-up email the day after departure |
| Restaurant or café | With the bill, or after the visit | A card or printed QR code with the bill; link in a follow-up message if you have the guest’s contact details from a booking |
| Shop | After the purchase, once the customer has used the product | Link on the receipt; follow-up email for online or delivered orders |
| Local service (repairs, salons, trades) | After the job or appointment is finished and checked | Message or email the same day |
Try one request time for a month, then compare it with another. For example, a hotel could compare a checkout card with a next-day email. Keep the wording and guest selection the same. Changes in season or guest volume can affect the result too.
Whatever moment you choose, use it for every customer. Don’t base the request on whether the guest seemed pleased, and don’t let staff choose which tables get a card. A regular moment makes the routine easier to follow and compare over time.
Asking in person, and what to say
Asking in person is fine, but pressuring someone to review you on the spot isn’t: Google’s policy says merchants shouldn’t “require or pressure users to leave ratings or write reviews while on the premises” (Google Maps content policy). Hand over the link or QR code and let the customer choose when, or whether, to follow through.
Use the same honest wording for every customer, and don’t mention a star rating. Wording for every channel: Ethical review requests.
What Google doesn’t allow (and what people still do)
This is general information, not legal advice.
Google’s policy prohibits several ways of influencing reviews (Google Maps content policy):
- Offering payment, discounts or free goods for reviews.
- Discouraging negative reviews or asking only happy customers.
- Pressuring customers to write reviews while at your business.
- Setting staff targets for review counts or asking for reviews that name a staff member.
Google also prohibits unusual review volumes or patterns that indicate an attempt to manipulate a rating.
Review gating is the name for the second item: asking customers how it went, then sending only the happy ones to Google, or making it harder for unhappy ones to post.
For staff, the rule is simple: offer everyone the same review option, let them choose their words and rating, and don’t reward reviews. A card, an email and a spoken request all need to follow that rule.
US federal rules also apply. The FTC’s rule on consumer reviews has been in force since 21 October 2024. FTC staff say asking only happy customers isn’t specifically banned by the rule, “But this practice could violate the FTC Act.” The FTC’s Q&A also uses a coupon example, “John’s Steakhouse,” to show how an incentive for a review can carry an implied condition (FTC).
Asking everyone means accepting criticism too. When a guest raises a problem, help them directly while keeping their public review option unchanged.
Send requests steadily
Send requests steadily rather than in bursts. That matters most if you’re working through a backlog of past customers or running several locations.
Google’s rule concerns patterns that indicate an attempt to manipulate ratings. It doesn’t give a safe daily request count. Tie requests to real visits or completed jobs, rather than sending one large batch to an old customer list. No schedule guarantees that Google will publish every review.
If you run several locations, stagger any scheduled requests by site and by day, and tie them to real events such as checkouts or completed jobs rather than a single weekly send.
Measure what works
Track requests sent and new reviews over the same period. To compare an email with a printed card, try each method over similar periods while keeping the wording and timing consistent. Google doesn’t normally tell you which request led to each review, so treat the comparison as an estimate.
Some QR services count scans, but a scan isn’t a completed review. People may open the form and leave without posting. Use scan counts to understand how often the link is opened, rather than as proof of new reviews.
Once reviews are coming in steadily, the next step is reading them for patterns. That’s what Reviato is built for. Its aspect analysis groups reviews by topic across Google Maps, Tripadvisor, Booking.com and Airbnb, and you can preview one location without a card.