Where do you find your Google review link?
Google Business Profile creates a short review link and a matching QR code for you. Sign in with an account that is an owner or manager of the profile, open your Business Profile, select Read reviews, then Get more reviews. Copy the link, or right-click the QR code and save the image. Google's help page says review QR codes can only be generated in a computer browser, so do this on a laptop or desktop. Then test the link on a phone signed in to a personal Google Account and check that it opens your own profile with the rating box ready.
Customers must be signed in to a Google Account to post a review. Google notes that the account can be created with an existing non-Gmail email address, which is worth knowing when a customer says they do not use Gmail.
When is the right moment to ask?
Ask once the customer has had the whole experience and can judge it: when the job is signed off, the order has arrived or the appointment has finished. A request sent before the work is checked invites a review of half a job, and a request sent weeks later reaches someone who has moved on. Tie the request to one event in a system you already use, so it does not depend on someone remembering on a busy day. For regular customers, ask once rather than after every visit.
- Trades: when the job is marked complete in your job management software, such as ServiceM8, simPRO or Tradify, rather than when the quote is accepted.
- Cafes and shops: on the receipt or a table card, so the request is in front of every customer.
- Online stores: in an email sent a few days after the parcel is marked as delivered.
- Appointment businesses: in the follow-up message after the visit, with no mention of what the appointment was for.
What should a review request say?
Keep it to two or three sentences: thank the customer, ask for an honest review and include the link. Do not suggest a star rating, a topic to mention or a staff member to name. Google's policy says businesses should not request that specific content be included in a review, and it lists asking staff to collect reviews that identify a staff member as a breach. A neutral request also produces more useful reviews, because customers write about what mattered to them.
Example SMS: 'Thanks for choosing [business name]. If you have a minute, we would value an honest Google review of your visit: [link]'. Example email line: 'Your feedback helps other people decide, and it tells us what to keep doing and what to fix. You can leave a review here: [link]'.
Should you ask by SMS, email or QR code?
Use the channel the customer already uses with you. Google suggests putting the link on receipts, in thank-you emails and at the end of a chat, and printing the QR code for display in your premises. It also mentions sending requests by email, WhatsApp message or a Facebook post. Each channel has a limit. A counter QR code relies on the customer remembering later, and an SMS costs money per message and has little room for context. Pick one main channel and use it for everyone, so customers are treated the same way.
Electronic marketing messages fall under the Spam Act. If a review request also carries an offer, a promotion or a 'book again' link, treat it as a marketing message: you need consent, the message must identify your business, and it needs an unsubscribe option that is honoured within 5 working days. ACMA also points out that an SMS sent under an alphanumeric sender name generally cannot receive replies, so 'reply STOP' will not work from one. The simplest approach is to keep review requests free of offers. This is administrative guidance; ACMA or a lawyer can confirm your position.
What must you never do when asking?
Google allows businesses to ask for reviews that reflect a genuine experience, as long as they offer no incentive and do not try to influence the rating or the content. The ACCC says it is against the law for a business to create fake or misleading reviews or to arrange for others to do so. Together, those rules exclude the shortcuts below. If any of them is part of your current process, stop it before you send the next request.
- Offering anything in return, such as a discount, a prize draw entry or a free coffee. Google prohibits incentives for posting a review, or for changing or removing a negative one.
- Asking only the customers you expect to be happy, or sending unhappy ones to a private form instead of the review link. Google calls this selectively soliciting positive reviews and does not allow it.
- Requiring or pressuring customers to post while they are still on the premises, or setting staff a number of reviews to collect.
- Asking staff, family, suppliers or friends to review you. Google treats these as conflicts of interest, and the ACCC says undisclosed reviews by family or employees can mislead.
- Writing the review for the customer. In the ACCC's case against Service Seeking, business-drafted reviews were published if the customer did not respond within 3 days, and the Federal Court ordered $600,000 in penalties.
How do you keep requests consistent across your team?
Write the process down in a few lines: the trigger, the channel, the exact wording, who sends it and where requests are recorded. Every customer who reaches the trigger gets the request, including customers who complained during the job. If a customer replies to the request with a complaint, deal with the complaint and leave the request as it is. Withdrawing the link from unhappy customers is the selective soliciting Google prohibits. Once a month, compare the number of requests sent with the number of new reviews, and check that the link still opens the right profile.