How to get more Google reviews the allowed way

Google's own explanation of local results includes them. Its ranking help page says that "More reviews and positive ratings can help your business’s local ranking." The same page notes that prominence depends on "how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have." It also says "There's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google," so reviews are one of the few levers an owner controls directly.

Reviews do a second job that has nothing to do with ranking. A homeowner choosing between three roofers reads what past customers wrote about showing up on time and cleaning up. That is why the routine below aims at volume and honesty together.

Asking is explicitly fine. Google says you "can ask customers to visit a Google link or scan a QR code" to leave a review, and its help center explains how to create both from the profile. A text message sent from the truck, an email with the link, or a QR code printed on the invoice all qualify.

Replying is also encouraged. Google puts it this way: "Your replies are public and help you build good relationships with customers." For a negative review, its advice is that "Providing constructive replies and following up on concerns can show that you care."

Three behaviors are named in Google's Maps contribution policy.

• Payment or perks. The business help page prohibits "Offering incentives, like free or discounted goods or services, in exchange for customers to post reviews" and calls such offers "strictly prohibited." A discount on the next service call in return for five stars is the textbook case.
• Gating. The contribution policy bars businesses from trying to "Discourage or prohibit negative reviews, or selectively solicit positive reviews from customers". Sending the link only to customers you expect to be happy is selective solicitation. Send it to everyone.
• Pressure and fakes. The policy says "When soliciting reviews, merchants should not require or pressure users to leave ratings", and it adds that "Fake engagement is not allowed and will be removed." That covers reviews written by employees or relatives, which the policy treats as "Content that is based on a conflict of interest."

Paid reviews are named too: "Reviews or ratings that have been paid for, directly or in kind." On the profile itself, Google says "We may suspend or disable Business Profiles that don’t follow our guidelines," per its removal help page. Our suspended profile guide covers what follows.

1. Ask at the moment the customer is happiest, ideally right when the work is finished and they have seen the result.
2. Send the same message to every customer, from the technician or the office, with the Google link in it.
3. Keep the wording neutral. Ask for an honest review, never a rating, and offer nothing in return.
4. As our recommendation, not a Google rule, reply to every review within a few days, using the customer's job type and your own words instead of a pasted template.
5. Track how many requests go out and how many reviews arrive, so a slow month shows up as a number.

Our review generation system is a review acquisition and response system built on this same pattern. The review step sits inside a wider plan for the map results, which the guide to winning the Google map pack lays out. If the profile was never set up for a mobile crew, start with the service area setup guide. After the scan, a strategist checks your review position against local rivals by hand, which you get through the free audit. Related guides are in the resources library.