Ask every customer, the same way, at the same point in every job, and send a direct link so leaving a review takes one tap. You get the link from your Business Profile: Read reviews, then Get more reviews. Send it in a short text or email when the job is done, or hand over a card with a QR code at the walk-through. Never offer anything in return, and never ask only the customers you think are happy.
That’s the method. The rest of this guide covers the details: the wording, Google’s rules in plain English, how to reply once reviews arrive, and how to make the ask go out on its own. Reviews are one part of what makes a contractor’s phone ring, and our contractor websites page covers the rest.
Get your review link and QR code
Google’s help page on review links and QR codes gives the steps:
- On a computer, go to business.google.com and open your profile.
- Select Read reviews, then Get more reviews (shown with a share icon).
- Select the copy icon to copy the link. To keep the QR code, right-click it and choose Save image as.
Google says review QR codes can only be made in a computer browser for now, not on a phone. Once you have the link, open it on your own phone to check that it lands on your review form, then save it where the whole office can find it.
One thing to tell customers who hesitate: they need to be signed in to a Google account to post, and Google notes they can create one with an email address that isn’t Gmail (Google’s tips on getting reviews).
When to ask
Pick one moment that every job passes through, and ask then. For most contractors it’s one of two points:
- The final walk-through, when the customer has just seen the finished work.
- When the final invoice is paid, which suits jobs where the customer isn’t home at the end.
Tie the ask to an event, not to a feeling. If you only ask when a job went well, you’re choosing who gets asked, and that’s exactly the selective asking Google’s policy bans (more below). Ask everyone at the same point, send one reminder a few days later if you like, and stop there.
How to ask: text, email, card and in person
Keep the message short, use the customer’s first name, sign it with a real person’s name, and put the link on its own line.
By text
Text only customers who gave you a cell number for the job and said texts were fine.
Hi [first name], it's [your name] from [company]. Thanks for having
us out for the [job]. If you have a minute, we'd appreciate an
honest Google review:
[your review link]By email
Use a plain subject line such as “Thanks from [company]”. Keep the body to two or three sentences, put the link in as a button or a plain link, and end with your name and phone number. Send it from an address customers can reply to.
On a printed card
A small card with your logo, the QR code, the short link and one line asking for an honest review. Hand it over at the walk-through or leave it with the invoice. Google’s policy says businesses shouldn’t require or pressure people to review while on the premises. At a customer’s house we read that the same way: mention it, leave the card, and don’t stand there while they type.
In person
Use the same sentence every time, for example: “If you get a minute later, an honest Google review helps us a lot. The link’s on this card.” The same words go to the job that went perfectly and the one that had a hiccup.
What Google’s policy forbids
Google’s rules for reviews allow businesses to ask for reviews that reflect a genuine experience, as long as they don’t offer incentives or try to influence the rating or what’s written. In plain terms, don’t:
- Offer anything for a review. No payment, discount, free service or gift, for any review, positive or not, and nothing for changing or removing a negative one. Google warns that this can lead to restrictions on your profile (source).
- Ask only happy customers. The policy says merchants must not “selectively solicit positive reviews from customers,” and it bans discouraging negative ones too. A “How did we do?” screen that sends five-star answers to Google and everyone else to a private form is that practice. If you want private feedback as well, put both options in the same message to every customer, and don’t route people by their answer.
- Tell people what to write. Google says not to ask for specific content, and it lists asking for reviews that name a staff member as an example. That rules out “please mention the town and the service.”
- Set review quotas for your crew. Asking staff to collect a set number of reviews is on Google’s list as well.
- Write or post reviews for anyone else. No drafting a review for a customer to paste, no posting from several accounts, and no reviews of your own business from staff, family or your marketing company. Google counts employment, family and business ties as conflicts of interest. Reviewing competitors is out for the same reason.
US federal rules apply too. The FTC’s rule on consumer reviews, in force since October 21, 2024, bans fake reviews, reviews by company insiders who don’t disclose the connection, and suppressing reviews through groundless legal threats or intimidation. The FTC’s questions and answers on the rule say it doesn’t ban asking only happy customers by name, but that the practice could still violate the FTC Act. Google’s policy is stricter in places, especially on incentives, so following Google’s rules keeps you well inside both. This is practical advice, not legal advice.
How to reply to reviews
Google’s review management page gives the steps: go to business.google.com, select Read reviews, select the reply icon next to a review, write your reply and select Reply. Edit and delete icons sit under each reply you’ve posted.
Replies are public, show as coming from the business, and are checked before they appear: usually within 10 minutes, sometimes up to 30 days. Customers can still change their review after reading yours.
Google’s tips for replies come down to this: keep it short and polite, say something specific instead of a generic thank-you, don’t use replies to advertise deals, and never share the customer’s private details.
A reply to a good review can be two lines:
Thanks, [first name]. Glad [the detail they mentioned] turned out
the way you wanted. Call us anytime. [Your name], [company]For a bad review, answer the facts calmly, own what really was your mistake, and take the rest offline:
[First name], I'm sorry [the issue] wasn't up to our standard. I'd
like to make it right. Please call me at [number]. [Your name], [company]Don’t argue in public, and never threaten legal action over an honest review; groundless legal threats are the kind of suppression the FTC rule names. If a review breaks Google’s content policies, such as spam or profanity, you can report it from Read reviews with the report icon. Google won’t remove a review because it’s negative.
Send the ask automatically after each job
Asking by hand is the first thing to slip in a busy month. An automated ask fixes that, and a system that sends the same message after every job can’t pick favorites.
Many invoicing and job-management tools have a review request built in, so check yours first. Otherwise:
- Pick the trigger. One event every job passes through: the invoice marked paid, the job marked complete, or a completion form your crew fills in on the website.
- Write one message. A text, an email or both, with the review link, sent the same day or the next morning.
- Add one reminder, then stop. One more message a few days later. No third.
- Keep a log. Record who was asked and when, so nobody gets asked twice for the same job.
- Leave out the filter. Everyone who hits the trigger gets the same message, with no rating question in front of it.
- Test it on yourself. Run a pretend job through and check the message, the link and the timing on your own phone.
If your jobs already end with a form or an invoice on your website, the ask can hang off that step. That’s the kind of thing our website automations work covers, along with the form and order alerts that tell you a new lead has come in.
Put the reviews to work on your site
Once reviews come in, show a few on your website, each linked to where it was posted. Our contractor website checklist covers where they fit.
How we can help
We build contractor websites where the quote form, the job photos and the reviews all do their part to bring in the next call. If you’d like the review ask to go out on its own after every job, or a site that shows your reviews honestly, tell us your trade and how your jobs end today through our contact page. Our contractor websites page shows where reviews sit on a finished trade site.
