Reviews do two jobs for a local business. Google counts how many you have toward how prominent your business is, and says "more reviews and positive ratings can help your business’s local ranking" (Google). And they're what a stranger reads before deciding whether to call you.
My local SEO guide covers reviews in a few lines. This post goes further: how to ask, what Google's rules and federal law forbid, and how to answer what comes in. You'll need a verified Business Profile first; setting one up has its own post.
Get your review link and QR code
Google lets you create a link customers can follow to leave you a review, and a QR code that does the same (Google):
- Go to your Business Profile.
- Select Read reviews, then Get more reviews.
- Select Copy to copy the link. To save the QR code, right-click it and choose Save image as.
For now, Google says the QR code can only be made in a browser on a computer, not on a phone. Customers have to be signed in to a Google Account to leave a review, and the account doesn't have to be Gmail (Google).
When and how to ask
Google suggests putting the link on your receipts, in thank-you emails and at the end of a chat, and displaying the printed QR code in your shop (Google). A few more things help:
- Ask everyone, the same way. Put the link on every invoice or every follow-up email, not only the ones going to customers you think loved you. That's fairer, and as the next section shows, it's also the rule.
- Ask while it's fresh, when the job is done: with the receipt, or in a note the same day.
- Don't hover. A QR code on the counter is fine; Google suggests one. What its rules forbid is requiring or pressuring people to leave a review while they're at your business.
- Keep it short, and leave the words to them. Don't ask for five stars, suggest what to write, or ask them to mention someone by name. A note like this is plenty:
Thanks for choosing us. If you have a minute, we'd be grateful for a Google review: [your link]. It helps people nearby find us.
What Google doesn't allow
Google's policy on fake engagement and rating manipulation covers every review on Maps (Google Maps content policy). Businesses may not:
- Offer anything for a review, or for changing or removing a bad one: no payment, discounts, or free products or services.
- Pick who gets asked. Google prohibits businesses from discouraging negative reviews or "selectively" asking for positive ones. That rules out what's often called review gating: asking customers how it went first, then sending only the happy ones to Google.
- Push on the spot, or script the review. No pressuring people at your business, no asking for specific content (including naming a staff member), and no review quotas for staff.
- Post reviews that aren't based on a real experience, including reviews from several accounts run by one person, or from someone with a conflict of interest, such as a current or former employee or a relative.
- Review a competitor to hurt their reputation.
What Google does allow, in its words: asking customers to post about a genuine experience "without offering incentives to do so or attempting to influence the rating or the contents of the review."
If Google finds fake reviews on your profile, it removes them and may also stop your profile from getting new reviews for a set time, unpublish your existing reviews for a set time, or show customers a warning that fake reviews were removed (Google).
What federal law says
The Federal Trade Commission's rule on consumer reviews and testimonials, 16 CFR Part 465, took effect on October 21, 2024 (Federal Register). The FTC says it lets the agency seek civil penalties against knowing violators (FTC). In plain terms, a business may not:
- Write, create or sell fake reviews: reviews by someone who doesn't exist, by someone who never used the business, or that misstate the reviewer's experience. The FTC's announcement names AI-generated fake reviews as an example. Buying such reviews, or getting them from your own staff, is banned too when you knew or should have known they were fake.
- Pay for a review that says a particular thing, positive or negative. The ban covers any payment or other incentive tied to the review's sentiment, whether the condition is stated or implied.
- Post insider reviews without saying so. An owner or manager who reviews their own business must clearly disclose the connection, and there are rules for asking employees and relatives to review you.
- Suppress bad reviews with groundless legal threats, physical threats, intimidation or certain false public accusations. And on your own website, you can't present the reviews you show as all or most of them while hiding the negative ones.
- Buy fake followers or views that misrepresent your influence for a commercial purpose.
Asking all your customers is fine: the rule says some of its fake-review provisions don't apply to reviews that come from "generalized solicitations to purchasers."
The two sets of rules aren't the same. The FTC bans incentives tied to what a review says; Google bans incentives for any review at all. On your Google profile, the stricter rule is Google's.
This is general information, not legal advice.
Answering reviews
Once your profile is verified, you can reply to any review (Google). Go to your Business Profile, select Read reviews, then Reply next to the review, write your answer, and select Reply again. Google checks each reply against its content policies first, usually within 10 minutes and sometimes up to 30 days. The reply appears under the review as your business, not under your own name, and the reviewer is notified. They can still change their review after reading it.
Google's advice for replies comes down to this: be polite and brief, don't send everyone the same "thank you," and don't use a reply to advertise deals (Google). Spend your time on reviews where you can answer a question or share a useful update.
Answering a bad one
A bad review stings, and your reply is public, so wait until you're calm. Google's tips for negative reviews (Google):
- Never share the reviewer's private information, and don't attack them. If it's complicated, invite them to call or email you to sort it out privately.
- Own your mistakes, but don't take the blame for what was out of your hands. Say what you can and can't do.
- Apologize when it's warranted.
- Use their name, answer what they actually said, and sign it.
- Reply promptly.
Here's the shape of it, answering a made-up complaint about a long wait:
Hi Dana, you're right that your table waited too long on Saturday, and I'm sorry. We were two people short that night, which is our problem, not yours. I'd like to make it right, so please call the shop and ask for me. — Sam
Google notes that a constructive reply "may even encourage the customer to update their review."
Flagging a review that breaks the rules
You can report any review, but Google removes only those that break its policies: spam, fake engagement, conflicts of interest, harassment, hate speech, someone's personal information, profanity, off-topic rants and the like (Google; policy). Disagreeing isn't grounds. Google says: "Do not report a review just because you disagree with it or dislike it," and that it "doesn’t get involved in conflict between businesses and customers."
To report one, go to your Business Profile, select Read reviews, select Report next to the review, choose the reason, and select Send report. Google says evaluation typically takes several days. You can check the status in its Reviews Management Tool and, if Google finds no violation, file a one-time appeal there. If someone tries to extort you with negative reviews, the same page links to a separate way to report it.
Put your reviews to work on your website
Reviews earn their keep on your own site too, where people decide whether to get in touch. The reviews on this site are the ones on my Google Business Profile, pasted in whole and unedited.
The Deluxe ($4,080) and Premium ($6,720) website plans include a reviews display; on Starter ($2,400), it's a $150 add-on. If your Business Profile isn't set up yet, Google Business Profile setup is another $150 add-on to your project (upgrades). Every plan includes on-page SEO, and hosting and care is $79 a month after launch. See the plans, or start your project.
