Short answer: To get more Google reviews, ask every customer soon after the job with your direct review link or QR code, by text, email or in person. Do not offer discounts, filter out unhappy customers, set staff review quotas or ask customers to name staff. Ask consistently instead of in bursts, and reply to the reviews you get.
Reviews feed what Google calls prominence, and they are often the deciding factor when a searcher picks between three businesses. Google's rules on asking for them are strict and were tightened in April 2026. Here is the compliant playbook we use in our review management service.
In this guide
The compliance rules first
Google's policy lets you ask any customer for a genuine review. It prohibits: offering incentives (payment, discounts, free goods or services) for a review; selectively asking only happy customers (review gating); discouraging negative reviews; pressuring customers to review while on your premises; asking for specific content; and reviews from people with a conflict of interest, such as current or former employees or family. Unusual volumes or patterns of reviews are also treated as manipulation.
What changed in April 2026
Google added two rules to its rating manipulation policy: a business must not ask staff to collect a certain number of reviews, and must not ask staff to request reviews with specific content, including content that names a staff member. Monthly review quotas, review contests and "mention Sarah in your review" scripts are now violations. If a customer names a staff member on their own, that is fine.
15 compliant ways to ask for reviews
- Get your direct review link from the "Ask for reviews" option in your profile. A link beats "search for us on Google".
- Ask every customer, not just the happy ones.
- Time the ask to the moment the job is done: same day for home services, the day after an appointment for clinics, after the meal for restaurants.
- Send a text with the link for service businesses.
- Send an email for longer projects and B2B work.
- Print a QR code on receipts and invoices, so customers can review later at home.
- Leave a small card with the QR code after on-site jobs.
- Ask in person with a neutral line: "If you have a minute, we'd appreciate an honest review."
- Add the link to your email signature and booking confirmations.
- Add it to your website thank-you and order confirmation pages.
- Send one reminder a few days later, then stop.
- Automate the request from your CRM, POS or booking system so nobody forgets.
- Ask about the experience, never for stars, keywords or staff names.
- Use the same message for everyone, so no group is filtered out.
- Fix what reviews tell you. Better service is the only lasting way to better reviews.
Setting up the automation and the wording is part of our Google review management work.
Respond to every review
Reply to every review, good and bad. Google says helpful replies show you are responsive. You are writing for future readers: acknowledge specifics, take ownership, and move complaints to a private channel. See how to respond to negative reviews for wording.
Is there a target number of reviews?
Google sets no number. Look at how many reviews, and how recent, the businesses in the top three for your main search have, and aim for a steady flow above theirs. Sudden surges look like manipulation to Google's systems; consistent asking avoids that.
Updated October 9, 2026: added the April 2026 rules on staff review quotas and staff-named reviews, the on-premises and conflict-of-interest rules, and removed unsourced conversion and ranking percentages. Sources: Google Maps user-contributed content policy · Google: read and reply to reviews · Google: improve your local ranking.