How do you get more Google reviews without being pushy?

When is the right moment to ask?

Straight after the good moment, not a week later when the feeling has faded and your email sits under forty others. The cue is usually the customer saying something positive. That's your opening: “That's great to hear. Would you mind putting that in a Google review? It really helps other people find us.”

What that moment looks like depends on the business:

• Restaurant or café: when a guest compliments the food while paying.
• Salon or barber: at the mirror, when the client is looking at the result.
• Accountant or consultant: right after the return is filed or the problem is solved and the client says thanks.
• Trades and builders: at handover, standing in the finished room.
• Online or remote services: in the message that delivers the final work.

Make it one tap: a short link and a QR code

Every extra step loses people. Nobody will search for your business, find the profile, scroll to reviews and work out where to click.

Your Business Profile has an option to ask for reviews, which gives you a short link that opens the review box directly. Copy it once and put it everywhere you'll need it:

• Saved as a quick reply in WhatsApp and in your phone's notes.
• In your email signature and at the foot of invoices and receipts.
• As a QR code on a small card by the till, on tables, or on the last slide of a workshop. Any free QR generator will turn the link into one.
• In booking follow-up emails.
• As a button on your website's reviews section.

Review request messages you can copy

Keep them short, personal and easy to ignore without awkwardness. Use the customer's name, mention what you did for them, and send a reminder once at most. Swap the brackets for your details:

• After a visit (text or WhatsApp): “Hi [name], thanks for coming in today. If you have a minute, a short Google review would really help us: [link]. Thank you!”
• After a project (email): “Hi [name], it was a pleasure working on [project]. If you're happy with how it went, would you mind leaving a quick review on Google? It helps other people find us: [link]”
• One gentle reminder, a few days later: “Hi [name], just a quick nudge in case the link got buried: [link]. No worries at all if not.”
• Asking a regular: “You've been coming here for ages, and we'd love it if you shared what keeps you coming back: [link]”

Reply to every review, including the bad ones

Future customers read your replies, and a calm answer to a harsh review often reassures them more than a row of five stars. Aim to reply within a day or two.

For a negative review, something like this works: “Thank you for telling us, [name]. I'm sorry the wait was longer than we promised; that's not how we want it to go. Please call me on [number] so I can put it right.” Then actually call.

• Positive reviews: thank them by name, mention something specific, two sentences at most. Vary the wording so replies don't read like a template.
• Negative reviews: acknowledge, apologise for the experience, offer to continue privately. Never argue in public.
• Confidential services: if you're a therapist, lawyer or accountant, don't confirm someone is a client or mention any details. Reply in general terms.
• Fake or abusive reviews: report them through your profile rather than fighting them. Google removes reviews that break its policies, not ones you simply disagree with.

What isn't allowed?

Google's review policies are updated from time to time, so read the current version, but these have been off-limits for years. Breaking them can mean removed reviews and, in some cases, restrictions or warnings on your profile. In the UK and the EU, fake reviews also run into consumer protection law.

• Incentives: discounts, freebies, prize draws or money in exchange for a review, even an “honest” one.
• Review gating: asking only customers you expect to be happy. Timing an ask in person is fine; your follow-up messages should go to everyone.
• Reviewing yourself, or asking staff, family or friends to do it.
• Bought reviews and review-swap groups.
• Reviewing competitors, or asking anyone to do it for you.

Reuse your reviews on your website and in video

A review that lives only on Google works once. Put the good ones where decisions happen, quoting accurately and using first names unless the customer is happy with more.

On psychologist Vanya Velkova's website, I built her reviews from Superdoc.bg into the site, so visitors read real feedback without leaving the page. On the Danini Correct accounting site, client testimonials sit beside the services and the FAQ rather than on a page nobody opens.

Your best reviewers are also your best candidates for camera. A 30-second clip of a real client saying why they came back carries more weight than text, and there's a guide to getting good video testimonials. Setting up review links, website review sections and Google profiles is part of my marketing and website work, alongside the filming.