How to get more Google reviews for a local business

Google reviews are often the first thing a new customer reads about you. They appear right beside your business on Google Maps and in search results, and Google says prominence, which includes reviews, is one of the factors in how local results are ranked. The good news is that most satisfied customers are happy to leave a review. They just need to be asked, at the right moment, in a way that takes them seconds.

Start with a complete Business Profile

Reviews are attached to your Google Business Profile, so you need a verified profile first. If you have not set one up, our guide on getting your business on Google Maps in Ireland walks you through it.

Get your review link and QR code

Google lets you create a direct link that opens the review form for your business, and a QR code that does the same. You find both in your Business Profile under the option to ask for reviews or share a review form. Google's help pages note that the QR code can only be generated from a computer browser. Save the link somewhere handy on your phone so you can send it in seconds.

When to ask

Timing makes a big difference. Ask when the customer is happiest and the experience is fresh:

• Trades: just after the job is finished and the customer has seen the result, or in the message where you send the invoice.
• Salons and clinics: at the end of the appointment, or in a follow-up text that evening.
• Cafés and restaurants: a QR code on the table card or the receipt, rather than asking at the till.
• Cleaners and services: after the first clean when the customer says they are pleased, or after a regular customer's tenth visit.

How to ask

Keep it personal and short. A text or WhatsApp message from you, not an automated email, gets the best response. Something like:

"Thanks again for having us out today, Mary. If you have a minute, a Google review would really help a small business like ours: [your link]. Thanks a million."

Ask every customer, not just the ones you think will be most positive. That is not only good manners, it is a rule, as explained below.

Other places to put your review link

• On your invoices and receipts.
• In your email signature.
• On a small card you leave behind after a job.
• On your website, near your contact details or testimonials.
• Printed as a QR code at your counter, reception or on the back of your business card.

What Google does not allow

Google's policy on fake engagement is strict, and reviews that break it can be removed. In more serious cases your profile can be restricted. According to Google's contributed content policy, businesses must not:

• Offer incentives for reviews, such as payment, discounts, free goods or free services. That includes a draw or a discount on the next visit.
• Selectively ask only happy customers for reviews, or discourage negative ones. Asking everyone is fine; filtering who you send the link to is not.
• Post reviews of their own business, or have staff, friends or family post reviews that do not reflect a genuine customer experience.
• Buy reviews, or pay someone to post them.

What Irish law says

Since 28 November 2022, the Consumer Rights Act 2022 has made it illegal in Ireland for businesses to post fake reviews or pay others to post them. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) enforces these rules. If you show reviews on your own website and present them as coming from real customers, you need to have taken reasonable and proportionate steps to check that they do, and you should not edit or pick them in a way that misleads.

Replying to reviews

Reply to every review if you can. For positive ones, a short, personal thank-you is enough. Mention the job or visit if it feels natural. For negative ones:

• Wait until you are calm before replying. Other customers read your response more closely than the complaint.
• Thank them for the feedback, acknowledge the problem and offer to sort it out offline with a phone number or email.
• Do not argue, share private details about the customer or the job, or accuse them of lying in public.
• If a review clearly breaks Google's policies, for example it is spam, offensive or from someone who was never a customer, you can report it through your Business Profile. Google decides whether to remove it.

Showing reviews on your own website

Your Google reviews live on Google, but you can still put them to work on your website. The simplest way is a link to your Business Profile that says something like "Read our Google reviews". You can also quote a handful of reviews word for word, with the customer's first name and town if they are happy for you to use them. Do not edit the wording to make it sound better, and do not leave out every critical review if you claim to be showing what customers think. Keep the quotes current, as a review from years ago carries less weight than one from last month.

Make it a habit, not a campaign

A burst of 30 reviews in one week followed by nothing for a year looks odd, to customers and possibly to Google. A steady trickle of genuine reviews is better. Build asking into your routine: the same message after every job, the same card on every table. Within a few months you will have a healthy, current set of reviews that does a lot of selling for you.

Send review readers somewhere useful

People who like your reviews will often click through to your website to check your services and prices before they get in touch. Sitefront builds a site for your business in minutes, with your contact details, services and towns ready to go, for €120 a year. See what we build for salons and tradespeople.