How to get more Google reviews: 9 steps for local businesses

Key takeaways:

• Make reviewing easy with a direct Google review link or QR code, and ask every customer at the right moment.
• A steady flow of recent reviews builds more trust than a one-time burst, because customers look for fresh feedback.
• Never buy reviews, offer incentives, or filter out unhappy customers, since each one breaks Google’s rules.

Your next customer is reading your reviews before they call. In the BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey, 97% of consumers say they read reviews for local businesses. If a competitor down the street has more Google reviews, newer ones, or a higher rating, they’re likely winning the clicks you should be getting.

You can close that gap with a process designed to encourage your customers to leave reviews. This guide shows you how to get more Google reviews in nine steps, from creating your link to building a weekly rhythm. You’ll also get copy-ready templates for five channels, the math behind your rating, and the rules on buying reviews, incentives, and review gating. Every step works for a solo shop or a small team, and none of them costs a thing.

Why Google reviews matter for local businesses

Google reviews shape whether customers choose you. BrightLocal’s 2026 survey of 1,002 US adults found that “47% of consumers won’t use a business with fewer than 20 reviews.” The same survey found that “74% seek reviews written in the last three months.”

As Chris Day, VP, Customer Fulfillment at Network Solutions, explains: “Research consistently shows that roughly nine out of ten consumers read online reviews before making a purchase, and those same trust signals help both customers and AI assess which businesses are credible enough to recommend.”

Experts suggest that reviews may help feed your local SEO. In the Whitespark local ranking factors report, 47 local search experts ranked high ratings, review count, and recency among the top local pack factors. The local pack is the map results at the top of a local search.

Whether someone is looking for the reviews or not, they often show up when someone searches for your business on Google, Maps, or even withinand LLM, so having a strategy in place to keep these current and fresh helps makes sure you’re putting your best foot forward when potential customers discover you.

Before you start: claim and complete your Google Business Profile

You need a claimed, verified profile before you can get a Google review link or reply to reviews. Start with this checklist:

1. Claim your business on Google.
2. Verify that you own it.
3. Complete your hours, categories, and photos.

If you haven’t done it yet, follow our guide to claim your Google Business Profile.

“Google Business Profile increases your chance of getting your business found easily with one single search from potential customers looking for your business in the area,” says Kate Furnifer, Senior Director, Product Management at Network Solutions.

If you have a domain name with Network Solutions, you can manage your profile in one place from your Network Solutions account with the free Google Business Profile App.

How to get more Google reviews in 9 steps

The core idea is simple: ask every customer at the right moment, and make reviewing as frictionless as possible. These nine steps show you how to ask for Google reviews and keep them coming:

• Step 1: Create your Google review link and QR code
• Step 2: Ask at the right moment
• Step 3: Ask in person and train your team
• Step 4: Send email and text requests
• Step 5: Put your review link everywhere customers already look
• Step 6: Respond to every review
• Step 7: Show off your best reviews
• Step 8: Build a steady review rhythm
• Step 9: Keep your listings consistent everywhere

Step 1: Create your Google review link and QR code

How do you get a direct Google review link? Google gives you one in your Business Profile. Here’s how to create a Google review link:

1. On a computer, open your Business Profile.
2. In your Business Profile, click Read reviews.
3. In the reviews panel, click Get more reviews.
4. In the window that opens, copy the link or download the QR code.

Use a computer for this step. According to Google’s review link and QR code guide, “reviews QR codes can only be generated on a computer browser, not on mobile devices.”

The link works like a Google review button you can put anywhere. For printed materials, run it through a free URL shortener so it’s easy to type.

Step 2: Ask at the right moment

Ask soon after a positive experience. We recommend asking within 24 hours, while the visit is fresh. Good moments include right after a job wraps, at checkout, or after a compliment.

Use these trigger moments by business type:

• Service trades: Ask when you finish the job and the customer sees the result
• Restaurants: Ask when you drop off the check or when a guest thanks you
• Retail: Ask at checkout or when a customer says they love a purchase
• Appointments: Ask at the end of the visit or in your follow-up message

Ask every customer, including the lukewarm ones. Asking only happy customers is review gating, which we cover in the “What not to do” section below.

Step 3: Ask in person and train your team

A friendly, direct ask works best. Try this script:

Thanks so much for coming in today. Would you be willing to leave us an honest Google review? It really helps other people find us.

If the customer says yes, offer to pull up the review page on their phone with your QR code.

Coach your team to ask, but skip review quotas. Google’s prohibited content policy bans any incentive for a review. It also lists “merchants requesting that staff solicit a certain number of reviews” as a violation and says merchants “should not require or pressure users to leave ratings or write reviews while on the premises.”

Train your team with three habits:

• Practice the script until it sounds natural
• Ask every customer the same way, every time
• Keep a QR code card at the counter or with your staff if they are out in the community or servicing clients

Step 4: Send email and text requests

Happy customers often forget to review you. A short email review request or text review request closes that gap. Our recommendation: send one request plus one gentle follow-up 2–3 days later, and stop there.

If you’re a Network Solutions Customer, you can pull your contacts from the free Customers App, which comes with every domain. Keep texts short, and we suggest sending them within hours of the visit.

Asking works. In BrightLocal’s 2026 survey, 28% of consumers said they’ll “always” write a review if asked, up from 16% in 2025.

Step 5: Put your review link everywhere customers already look

Use this checklist to get more Google reviews for free:

Placement	How to add it
Receipts and invoices	Print the short link or QR code at the bottom
Thank-you emails	Add a one-line ask with the link
Email signature	Add a “Review us on Google” line with the link
End of a chat	Paste the link as you close the chat
Website footer or contact page	Add a text link or button that opens your review form
In-store QR sign	Print the QR code near the register or exit
Social bio	Add the link to your profile bio or your Link in Bio page

Step 6: Respond to every review

Customers notice when you reply. BrightLocal’s 2026 survey found that 89% of consumers expect business owners to respond to reviews. The same survey found that generic or templated replies put off 50% of consumers.

Google’s tips for more reviews list best practices for replying, especially to negative reviews. Google recommends that you keep it short and simple, respond in a timely manner, and personalize your reply. It also advises against using replies to offer deals or promotions.

How do you fix bad Google reviews? Use this three-step process:

1. Acknowledge the problem and thank the customer for the feedback.
2. Take the conversation offline with a phone number or email address.
3. Follow up publicly once you’ve resolved the issue.

If a review violates Google’s policies, you can flag it. For genuine criticism, the best move is a calm public reply.

Here’s a positive reply you can adapt:

Thanks for the kind words! We’re glad _____ is running well, and we appreciate you trusting us with the job.

Here’s a negative reply you can adapt:

We’re sorry your order arrived late, and thank you for telling us. We want to make this right. Please call us at [phone number] so we can look into it.

Step 7: Show off your best reviews

Add a testimonials section to your website, and share standout reviews on social media with the Social Media App, available to existing Network Solutions customers.

Attribute each quote to “a Google reviewer,” never to the person’s name. Showing reviews off also reminds other happy customers to boost your Google reviews with one of their own.

Step 8: Build a steady review rhythm

How do you get 1,000 reviews on Google? There’s no shortcut, only a repeatable weekly system. At 20 new reviews a week, you’d reach 1,000 reviews in about 50 weeks.

Recency matters. BrightLocal’s 2026 survey found that 74% of consumers seek reviews from the last three months. Whitespark’s experts also rank a “sustained influx of reviews over time” above bursts.

To increase Google reviews week after week, try this routine:

1. Pull last week’s customers from your contact list on Monday.
2. Send review requests to everyone you haven’t asked yet.
3. Send one follow-up to anyone who hasn’t responded.
4. Reply to every new review by Friday.
5. Share one standout review on social media.

Step 9: Keep your listings consistent everywhere

Customers also read online reviews on other directories. Keep your name, address, and phone number identical on every listing, and monitor reviews in one place.

The Business Directory Tool from Network Solutions builds your listings across major directories, keeps your information consistent, and lets you monitor reviews across directories from one login. For the bigger picture, explore our local SEO tips for small businesses.

Review request templates you can copy

Use these Google review request templates as written, or adjust them to sound like you.

Channel	When to send	Template
In person	At checkout or when the job wraps	“Thanks for choosing us! Would you leave an honest Google review? This QR code takes you there.”
Text message	Within a few hours of the visit	“Hi [Name], thanks for visiting [Business]! Would you share an honest review? [link]”
Email	Within 24 hours of the visit	Subject line: “How did we do, [Name]?” Body: “Thanks for choosing [Business]. Your honest feedback helps neighbors find us. Share your review here: [link]”
Receipt or card line	With every receipt or order	“Tell us how we did. Leave an honest Google review: [link]”
Social post	Once a month	“Visited us recently? We’d love your honest Google review: [link]”

Each template asks for an honest review, never a star rating, and none mentions a reward.

What not to do: buying reviews, incentives, and review gating

Is it legal to buy Google reviews? No. Google prohibits it, and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rule bans buying or selling fake reviews. Courts can impose civil penalties of up to $53,088 per violation, according to FTC consumer review rule warnings issued in December 2025. This isn’t legal advice.

Can you pay for Google reviews, or for five-star reviews? Same answer, No. Paying for any review breaks Google’s policy, and fake Google reviews fall under the FTC rule. According to the FTC warning letter, the rule “became fully effective on October 21, 2024.”

Incentives fall under two separate standards:

• Google: Bans any incentive for a review, even an honest one
• FTC: Bans incentives conditioned on a particular sentiment

The FTC final rule on fake reviews states: “The final rule prohibits businesses from providing compensation or other incentives conditioned on the writing of consumer reviews expressing a particular sentiment, either positive or negative.” Google’s standard is stricter, so offer nothing in return.

Review gating means screening customers and sending only happy ones to Google. You may see advice to pre-filter feedback this way. Google’s prohibited content policy, linked above, says merchants may not “selectively solicit positive reviews from customers.”

The same policy says violating content “will be removed,” and Google may take account actions that range from suspension to termination. Stay on the safe side:

Don’t do this	Do this instead
Buy reviews from a service or a friend	Ask every real customer for an honest review
Offer a discount for a review	Ask with nothing attached
Send only happy customers to Google	Send the same link to every customer
Set staff quotas for review counts	Coach staff to ask every customer naturally

How many 5-star reviews does it take to raise your rating?

Use this formula to see how many five-star reviews you need:

New five-star reviews needed = (target rating × current count − current rating × current count) ÷ (5 − target rating)

Here’s a worked example. A 4.2 rating from 50 reviews needs 50 new five-star reviews to reach 4.6. The check: (4.6 × 50 − 4.2 × 50) ÷ 0.4 = 50.

Current rating	Current reviews	Target	5-star reviews needed
4.0	20	4.5	20
4.3	30	4.5	12
4.2	50	4.6	50
3.8	100	4.2	50
4.5	200	4.8	300

Round up when the result isn’t a whole number. The math assumes every new review is five stars, so plan for a few extra.

The target is worth it: BrightLocal’s 2026 survey found that 31% of consumers will only use a business rated 4.5 stars or more. Asking every customer is how to get five-star reviews on Google over time.

Frequently asked questions

Turn more reviews into a stronger local presence

Now you know how to get more Google reviews with a system that lasts. Create your link, ask every customer, follow up once, reply to every review, and keep the rhythm steady and policy-safe.

Reviews work best alongside a consistent profile, accurate listings, and your own domain and website, so every piece tells the same story.

Want expert help? Our website and marketing bundles combine website building and marketing services in one package.

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