To leave a review, a customer has to find your profile, spot the button and be signed in to a Google Account1. Every step loses a few along the way. The review link takes them straight to the form, and Google offers it itself, with a QR code, to make things easier for your customers2.

The steps, according to Google's help2:

  1. Go to your Business Profile, signed in to the account that manages it.
  2. Select Read reviews, then Get more reviews.
  3. For the link, select Copy.
  4. For the QR code, right-click the image, then Save image as.

A detail that wastes time: for now, the QR code can only be generated in a desktop browser, not on a phone2.

Google suggests four places2:

  • your receipts;
  • your thank-you emails;
  • the end of a chat with the customer;
  • a printed QR code on display in your premises.

It also mentions email, WhatsApp messages and Facebook posts2. Depending on your trade:

  • restaurant: on the bill or the table tent;
  • hotel: in the email sent after check-out;
  • tradesperson: on the invoice or in the end-of-job text message;
  • shop: on the receipt or near the counter.

The link isn't enough: the sentence that goes with it makes the difference. It must stay neutral, because Google prohibits trying to influence the rating or the content of the review3.

Write: "Thank you for your visit! If you have two minutes, your review on Google helps other customers find us."

Avoid: "Did you like it? Leave us 5 stars!" The sentence steers the rating.

And of course: no discount, no gift, no prize draw in exchange for the review. Google treats any incentive offered for a review as fake engagement, which is strictly prohibited2.

The link must go to all your customers, not only to those who seem satisfied: selectively soliciting positive reviews is prohibited3. We cover this in detail in our guide to getting more reviews.

What next?

More reviews means more replies to write. ReplyTop takes care of it: your new Google reviews are checked three times a day, and each one gets a personal reply within hours.