How to get more Google reviews for your service business
The way to get more Google reviews is to ask every satisfied customer, at the moment they’re happiest, with a link that opens straight to your review form. This guide covers the timing, the wording, the link, what Google doesn’t allow, and what to do when a review is bad.
By Business Genie, Mesa, Arizona · Published · Updated
Why reviews matter to a local service business
Reviews matter because they sit next to your name when someone searches for a plumber or an electrician nearby: the map results show your star rating and review count beside your competitors’. Google lists reviews among the signals it uses to judge a local business’s prominence, and customers read them to decide whom to call. Recent reviews that mention the job and the town tell a new customer more than a row of stars does.
What a customer nearby sees: your rating and review count beside your competitors’.
Sample business and customers
Ask at the right moment
Ask when the customer has just seen the finished work and told you they’re happy: in person, before you leave. If you can’t ask then, send the request the same day, while the visit is still fresh. Ask after every completed job, not only the ones that went especially well, so the requests don’t depend on someone remembering. Business Genie can send review requests automatically after a job.
- 2:40 pmJob done, and seen
- 12:45 pmAsk in person
- 23:05 pmText the link
- TonightStill the same day
- TomorrowThe visit fades
- Next weekEasy to forget
What to say
Keep it short and specific. “Can you leave us a review?” is easy to ignore. Something like this gets a better response. Name the work you did and the kind of business you are: it gives the customer something to write about.
1Glad the repair sorted it out. 2Would you take thirty seconds to share how it went on Google? 3It helps other people nearby find a plumber they can trust. Here’s the link: 4[your review link]
- 1Part 1
- Names the work you did, so they have something to write about
- 2Part 2
- One small, specific ask
- 3Part 3
- Says what kind of business you are, and why it helps
- 4Part 4
- The direct link, so they never have to search for you
Send a direct review link
Don’t make the customer search for your business. Your Google Business Profile gives you a short link that opens the review form directly; you’ll find it under the option to ask for reviews.
One tap on the link and the review form is open. No search in between.
Sample business and customers
Where to put the link
- In the review request itself
- On your invoice or receipt email
- In your email signature
What Google doesn’t allow
Google’s rules forbid paying for reviews, choosing who gets asked, and writing your own:
- Offering a discount, gift or prize in exchange for a review.
- Asking only the customers you expect to be happy, and steering unhappy ones elsewhere.
- Writing reviews for your own business, or having staff or family write them.
Reviews that break these rules can be removed, and the profile can be restricted.
Reply to every negative review, and do it promptly. Future customers read your reply as closely as the complaint. Stay calm, don’t argue in public, and move the conversation offline:
1Thank you for telling us, [name]. 2We’re sorry the visit didn’t meet your expectations and we’d like to put it right. 3Please call us at [phone] so we can sort it out directly.
- 1Part 1
- Thank them, by name
- 2Part 2
- Own it, without arguing in public
- 3Part 3
- Move the conversation offline
If you fix the problem, the customer may update the review on their own. Don’t ask them to remove it.
Questions
Can I offer a discount or gift in exchange for a Google review?
No. Google’s review policies prohibit offering anything of value in exchange for a review, and reviews obtained that way can be removed. You can ask every customer, remind them, and make it easy with a direct link. You just can’t pay for the review in any form.
What should I do about a fake or unfair review?
Reply publicly and calmly: say you have no record of the job and invite the person to contact you. Then report the review from your Google Business Profile. Google removes reviews that break its policies, such as reviews from people who were never customers, but it doesn’t remove a review just because you disagree with it. A steady flow of genuine reviews is what makes one unfair review matter less.
Review requests in Business Genie
Business Genie sends automated follow-ups and review requests after the work is done, from the same software that schedules, routes, invoices and takes payment, so the ask doesn’t depend on someone remembering. Free for a month, and no credit card to start.