How to get more Google reviews (a system, not begging)

To get more Google reviews, ask every customer, ask once, and ask a day or two after the job with a direct link they can tap. The rest of this guide is about doing that without it eating your evenings and without breaking Google's rules.

Most tradesmen who say they "never get reviews" have plenty of happy customers and no system. The ask depends on you remembering, on the right moment, and on a link you can find in two seconds.

Jump to what you need:

• Why reviews matter for a trade business
• Step 1: get your review link
• Step 2: pick the moment
• Step 3: send the ask
• Where to put the link and QR code
• Texting customers: the UK rules
• What Google does not allow
• Replying to reviews
• Doing this every week without thinking about it

Why reviews matter for a trade business

When someone's boiler packs up or a tap will not stop, they search on their phone. Google shows a map and a short list of local businesses. Your rating and review count sit right there next to your name.

Google's own help page on local ranking says prominence is based partly on how many reviews you have, and that more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking. It gives no weightings, so be wary of anyone who tells you exactly how much a review is worth.

What you can say with confidence is how people behave. They scan the list, they see two businesses with similar ratings, and they ring the one that looks busier and more recent. Picture two electricians in the same town: one has 14 reviews, the latest from last month, and the other has 60 that stopped in 2022. That is an illustration, not a statistic, but you know which one you would ring.

Checkatrade, Trustpilot, MyBuilder and TrustATrader each keep their own reviews. They are worth having if you pay for them or customers check them, but they do not add to your Google profile. Google is the one that shows on the map, so start there. If you want to see how the paid directories compare, our Trustpilot comparison covers one of them.

Step 1: get your review link

You need a link that opens your review form directly, with the stars ready to tap. Without it, customers have to search for you, find the right listing among similar names, and work out where the review button is. Some will not bother.

There are two ways to get it:

1. From Google. On a computer, sign in to the Google account that manages your Business Profile, open your profile, choose Read reviews, then Get more reviews. Google shows a link and a QR code to copy or save. Google says the QR code can only be created from a computer browser, not on mobile.
2. From our free review link generator. Paste your Ask for reviews link or Place ID, copy the link, download the QR code. No sign-up, and it runs in your browser.

Either way, open the link on your own phone before you send it to anyone. Check it lands on the review form for the right business, especially if you have a similar name to another firm in your area.

Our guide to finding your Google review link walks through both routes and what to do when the link goes to the wrong place.

Step 2: pick the moment

Timing decides whether the customer writes anything. There are three common moments, and only one of them works well every time.

On the doorstep, as you pack up. The customer is polite and a bit awkward. They will say yes, then forget. It also feels like a bill is coming. Use this moment to mention that a text is on its way, not to hand over a phone.

A day or two later. The boiler has run through a few cold mornings, the bathroom has had its first shower, the new sockets have taken the kettle. The work is real to them and they have a sentence or two to say about it. This is the moment to send the link.

A fortnight later. The details have faded and your name is just a name in their phone. Reviews written now are shorter and fewer.

So: tell them in person, send it one to three days later. The conversation on the doorstep matters. A customer who has heard "I'll send you a quick text, it really helps a small firm like ours" is far more likely to act on it than one who gets a text from a number they do not recognise.

Ask every customer, including the ones who were a bit quiet. Customers with a so-so experience rarely write a review unprompted, and a run of nothing but five-star reviews from people who clearly loved you is no more believable than a run of nothing. Google's contributor policy also says businesses should not selectively ask only happy customers.

Step 3: send the ask

Keep it short. Use your first name, the customer's first name, the job, and one link. Do not list platforms. One ask, one link.

That text has no "5 stars please", no wording you want them to use and no offer in return. Google's rules below cover all three.

For more scripts, including what to say face to face and how to follow up once without nagging, see how to ask for a Google review.

Where to put the link and QR code

The text is your main route. The QR code gives you a second one for customers you meet in person or never text.

• Invoices. Put the code next to "thanks" at the bottom. The customer is looking at that page when they decide whether to pay.
• The van. Rear doors and side panels get seen by people stopped behind you. Make the code big, with a clear white border. Our guide on Google review QR codes has sizes and placement.
• Business cards and leaflets. Small but it works. Keep it at least 2 cm wide.
• Quote and job sheets. Hand the customer their copy and point at the code.
• Email signature. One line: "How did we do? Leave a Google review" with the link.
• WhatsApp. Many tradesmen run jobs over WhatsApp already. Google's own help page lists WhatsApp, email and printed codes among the ways to share a review request.

Texting customers: the UK rules

Review requests by text and email sit in a grey area, so treat them carefully.

The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) cover electronic marketing messages, and texts count. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) says you must not send marketing texts to individuals without their consent, with a limited exception for existing customers called the soft opt-in. That exception requires that you gave them a clear chance to opt out when you collected their details and that you offer an opt-out in every message.

Whether a plain "how did we do?" message counts as marketing depends on its purpose and content. A review request sits near the line between a service message and a marketing one, and it is safer to treat it as marketing:

• Get the customer's agreement to be texted before you send, and keep a note of it (a line on the quote or job sheet is enough).
• Say who you are in the message.
• Include a simple way to opt out, such as "Reply STOP", and honour it.
• Do not add offers, promotions or other sales messages to the text.
• Keep a list of people who have said no, and do not text them again.
• Only keep and use their number for what they agreed to. UK GDPR also applies to the personal data in your job records.

If you are unsure, ask the ICO or a solicitor.

What Google does not allow

Google's contributor policy is short and worth reading once. In plain terms:

• No incentives. You cannot offer money, discounts or free work in exchange for a review, or for changing or removing a negative one. "Ten per cent off your next job if you leave us five stars" is out.
• No gating. You cannot only ask your happy customers, or send unhappy ones to a private form while happy ones get the Google link.
• No pressure on staff or family. Reviews from people with a conflict of interest, such as employees, relatives or competitors, are not allowed. Do not ask your apprentice to leave one.
• No fake reviews. Reviews must reflect a genuine experience.

Reviews that break these rules get removed, and Google can restrict accounts that keep doing it.

The UK adds a legal layer. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 made fake reviews, and reviews with a hidden incentive, a banned practice from 6 April 2025 (see the CMA's guidance). Offering an incentive is not automatically banned, but a material connection has to be disclosed, and Google's policy separately prohibits it. For a one-van firm the practical answer is the same either way: do not pay for reviews, do not buy them and do not trade favours for them. See why buying Google reviews backfires.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Replying to reviews

Reply to every review, good and bad. Google's help page says to keep replies professional, polite and short, to be specific rather than a generic thank-you, and not to use replies to push deals. Google's page also says positive reviews and helpful replies can help a business stand out.

For a good review, use the customer's first name and mention the job. For a bad one, say sorry it fell short, say what you will do, and invite them to ring you. You are really writing for the next customer who is reading it.

Two guides cover this with scripts you can copy:

• Positive review responses: examples to copy
• How to respond to a bad review

What to do when it goes wrong

Three problems come up again and again.

The review does not show. Google checks reviews against its policies and says this can take a few days. Reviews removed for policy breaches are not restored.

A review is fake or unfair. You can report reviews that break Google's policy, but a harsh review from a real customer is not a policy breach. See can you delete a Google review.

You are not sure where all your reviews are. If you have a profile, a Checkatrade page and a Trustpilot listing, it gets messy. For the bigger question of whether you need software at all, see review management for trades.

If you are wondering how reviews feed into search more widely, do Google reviews help SEO answers it.

Doing this every week without thinking about it

Look at your last ten jobs. How many customers did you ask, and how many did you ask at the right time? For most one-man bands the honest answer is "the ones I remembered". Memory is the weak point of the whole system.

The fix is to take the decision out of your day. Pick a routine and stick to it:

1. When you finish a job, note the customer's mobile number and ask if you can text them.
2. Send the text one to three days later, from a saved template.
3. When a review arrives, reply within a day or two.
4. Once a month, scroll your reviews and see who you missed.

That is a ten-minute job done weekly, and it works. The catch is that you have to do it, on the evenings when you have already done a full day on the tools.

Common mistakes

• Sending the link to a list of platforms. Pick Google. More choices mean fewer reviews.
• Asking only after a perfect job. Ask everyone.
• Writing the review for them. Tell them what you would like, never what to say.
• Ignoring replies. A review with no reply looks like nobody is home.
• Waiting for a quiet week. There isn't one. Build it into the finish of every job.

Sources

Checked 9 October 2026.

• Google Business Profile Help: get reviews and respond to them
• Google Business Profile Help: create a link or QR code to request reviews
• Google Business Profile Help: improve your local ranking
• Google Business Profile Help: missing or delayed reviews
• Google Maps contributor policy: prohibited and restricted content
• ICO: electronic mail marketing under PECR
• CMA fake reviews guidance (CMA208), GOV.UK
• Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, Schedule 20 (unfair in all circumstances), legislation.gov.uk
• Commencement No. 2 Regulations 2025 (in force 6 April 2025), legislation.gov.uk
• ICO: guide to PECR
• ICO: UK GDPR guidance and resources