How to get more Google reviews
Most businesses don't have a review problem, they have an asking problem. Here's the routine that fixes it.
6 min read · Updated Aug 21, 2026
Ask at the moment of relief
The single biggest lever is timing. A review request lands when the customer has just felt the benefit — the leak stopped, the van pulled away, the dog came back clean. Wait until the invoice is paid and a week has passed and you're asking someone who has moved on.
For trades that means asking on-site before you leave, with the customer standing next to the work. For appointment businesses it means at checkout, not by email that evening.
- 1.Finish the job and confirm the customer is happy — out loud, not assumed.
- 2.Ask in person: "Would you mind leaving a quick review? It genuinely helps us."
- 3.Hand them something to scan or tap right there — a QR card beats "I'll email you a link".
- 4.Follow up once, the next day, with the same link. Once only.
Make the link a one-tap job
Every extra step costs you reviews. Searching for your business, finding the reviews tab, signing in — each one loses people. Use a direct review link and put it behind a QR code on a card, the invoice, and the counter.
Google Business Profile gives you a short review link; on VouchHaven your profile has one too. Print both if you want reviews in both places.
Never buy, incentivise, or gate
Buying reviews is the fastest way to lose the ones you earned — Google removes them in sweeps and can suspend the profile. Offering a discount for a review breaks Google's policy too, even when the review is honest.
Review gating — asking how happy someone is first and only sending the review link to the happy ones — is also against the rules on Google and most platforms. Ask everyone, and treat the occasional bad review as the price of a credible profile.
Build it into the week, not the quarter
Ten reviews in one week followed by silence looks worse than two a week forever. A steady trickle is what reads as real to customers and to ranking systems.
Pick the two moments in your process where asking is natural, put the QR code there, and check the count on Fridays. That's the whole system.
Common questions
- How many Google reviews do I need?
- Enough that the rating looks lived-in rather than curated — for most local businesses that's a few dozen, growing steadily. A 4.7 across 60 reviews reads as more trustworthy than a 5.0 across 4.
- Can I offer a discount for a review?
- No. Google's policy prohibits incentivised reviews whether or not the review is honest, and enforcement removes the reviews and can suspend the profile. You can incentivise the feedback conversation; you cannot pay for the public review.
- What if I get a bad review?
- Respond to it calmly and publicly — see the guide on responding to negative reviews. A single well-handled complaint among good reviews raises trust rather than lowering it.
Put it into practice
Get a review link and QR code for your business
Free, and it takes about a minute — the link goes straight to your profile's review form.