A star rating is only part of what buyers see on Google. They also look at how many reviews you have and how recent they are. A 4.7 from twelve reviews posted three years ago carries less weight than a 4.6 from three hundred reviews posted this season. So if you want to know how to get more Google reviews, plan for a steady flow rather than a one-time push.
The short answer on how to get Google reviews: ask every customer at a good moment, keep the review form one tap away, and reply to what people write. Below, our team breaks this into 11 strategies that show how to get reviews on Google without breaking its rules.
Why the Number of Google Reviews Matters
A large, fresh set of reviews tells new visitors that a business is open, busy and still doing good work. One old review could be luck or a friend. Two hundred reviews spread over the past year show a pattern, and buyers trust a pattern more than a star average on its own.
Recency matters too. A profile whose newest review is six months old looks inactive, even if the business is doing well.
Reviews also count among the signals behind local results, so a healthy review count supports your local SEO and helps you appear in the Map Pack when people nearby search for what you sell.
Before You Ask: Make Sure Customers Can Leave a Review
Every request sends customers to one place: your Google Business Profile. If the profile isn’t claimed and verified, you can’t reply to reviews or keep your details current. Claim it, finish verification, and only then start asking.
Next, check the business details. Name, address, phone number, hours and category should match your storefront sign and your website. A customer who shows up when you’re closed may leave a review about the wrong hours instead of your service.
If you run a chain, each location needs its own verified profile. That keeps reviews for each city separate, and every location builds its own rating.
Before the first request goes out, run through this short checklist for every location:
- the profile is claimed and verified;
- name, address, phone number and hours match the storefront and the website;
- the review link is copied and opens the right profile when you test it;
- the QR code is printed and placed where customers pause;
- every staff member knows who asks for reviews and at which moment.
If an item is missing, fix it first. A request that opens the wrong profile or a broken form wastes the customer’s goodwill.
11 Strategies to Get More Google Reviews
Strategies 1 through 7 are about channels and timing: where and when your request reaches the customer. Strategies 8 through 11 cover replies, critical reviews, multi-location work and the service itself.
You don’t need every channel on day one. Start with two or three, then add more once your staff has a routine.
1. Ask Every Customer at the Right Moment
The best time to ask is right after a good experience: at payment, at order pickup, at the end of a visit or at hotel checkout. The customer still remembers the details and usually has a phone in hand. A day later, they’re busy and the moment has passed.
Ask every customer, the same way, at the same point of the visit. One honest request, worded without sounding pushy, gives you a fair picture of your service.
2. Share a Direct Google Review Link
In your Business Profile, select “Read reviews”, then “Get more reviews”, and copy the short link to your review form. The steps are in Google’s guide to review links and QR codes. The link comes from Google itself, so you don’t need a third-party tool. Save it where the whole team can find it.
Paste the link into follow-up emails, text messages, thank-you pages and chat replies. One tap opens the review form, and nobody has to search for your listing first.
3. Put QR Codes Where Customers Already Are
The same “Get more reviews” window has a QR code you can download in a computer browser (Google doesn’t offer it on mobile yet). A printed code turns any surface into a review request. Put codes where customers already pause: the front desk, receipts, tables, takeout bags. Add a short line next to each code so people know what it opens.
Use a separate code for each location, so every review lands on the right profile. Our team sets up branded QR codes for every location as part of our automated review requests service.
4. Follow Up by Email
Many customers mean to leave a review and simply forget. One email sent a day or two after the purchase or visit gives them a second chance. Thank them, ask how their experience went, and add a single button that opens your review form.
Skip long surveys and extra links in this email. Every additional choice cuts the number of people who reach the form.
5. Send a Text to Customers Who Opted In
Text messages get read fast, which makes them one of the strongest channels for review requests. Send them only to customers who agreed to receive texts, for example when they booked a table or a dental appointment.
One message with the direct link is enough. Send it within a few hours of the visit, during normal hours, and don’t follow up if the customer doesn’t respond.
6. Train Your Team to Ask in Person
A request from the person who served the customer works better than any email. Decide who asks and when: servers when they bring the check, front desk staff at checkout, dental assistants after the appointment.
Give your staff a short line they can say in their own words, and show them where the QR codes are. Then track requests by shift. A busy Saturday will show quickly whether the routine holds.
7. Add Review Prompts to Receipts, Invoices and Your Website
Receipts, invoices and your website reach every customer, so a review prompt there costs nothing extra. Add one line and a QR code to receipts and invoices. On your website, place the review link near your contact details and on the order confirmation page.
These prompts catch customers who left before anyone asked in person. They also remind regulars who never thought about writing a review.
8. Reply to Every Review
Replies show future customers that someone actually reads what people write. A personal thank-you for a positive review and a calm, specific answer to a complaint both make readers more willing to share their own experience.
Reply to every review, the kind ones and the harsh ones. Our review reply templates and examples give you a starting point. Adjust each reply with details the customer mentioned.
9. Handle Critical Reviews Quickly and in Public
A critical review is a chance to show how your business solves problems. Reply within a day, thank the customer, acknowledge what went wrong and offer to sort it out offline. Then fix the cause, so the next customer doesn’t run into the same issue.
After a fair reply, some customers update their review on their own. A complaint that gets resolved can even turn into long-term loyalty.
10. Run It Location by Location
A chain or franchise needs more than one shared process. Give each location its own review link, its own QR code and its own review count. Then you can see which locations get a steady flow and which fall behind.
Compare locations every month. If one restaurant gets three times more reviews than another of the same size, look at how staff ask at each one and train the team that is falling behind.
11. Give Customers Something Worth Writing About
Every channel above works only if customers have something good to say. Fast answers, a clean room, a short wait and a host who remembers a regular’s name all show up in reviews.
Read your reviews for repeated themes and act on them. Over time, that is the most reliable answer to how to improve your Google reviews.
Steady requests, quick replies and a complete profile are also what raising your star rating comes down to. The table below sums up when to use each channel and what to include.
| Channel |
When to send |
What to include |
| In person |
At payment, pickup, end of visit, checkout |
A short request in the staff member’s own words |
| QR code |
Always visible at the desk, table, receipt, packaging |
A one-line note and a code for that location |
| Email |
1–2 days after the purchase or visit |
A thank-you, one question, one button |
| Text message |
Within a few hours, opted-in customers only |
One line and the direct link |
| Receipt or invoice |
With every document |
One line and the QR code |
| Website |
Order confirmation or thank-you page |
The link next to contact details |
Running all of this by hand across many locations takes time. ORM Service does it for you: we set up branded QR codes for every location, monitor new reviews 24/7 and reply to every review in your brand voice. Start a 48-hour free trial and see how it works on your own profiles.
What Not to Do: Tactics That Get Reviews Removed
Google allows businesses to ask customers for reviews. What it bans is any review that doesn’t reflect a real customer’s experience. Its Maps user-generated content policy covers this under fake engagement and conflict of interest, and that includes:
- buying reviews or paying anyone to post them;
- discounts, gifts, free items or any other reward in exchange for a review;
- reviews from employees, owners or their relatives;
- many reviews posted from one device or one location, for example from a tablet at the front desk.
Reviews collected this way get removed. Google can also temporarily stop a profile from receiving new reviews, which blocks honest reviews from real customers too.
There is a legal side as well. In August 2024, the FTC announced its final rule on the use of consumer reviews and testimonials. It bans buying and selling fake reviews and posting reviews from company insiders without disclosing the connection. Violations can lead to civil penalties.
How to Track Your Progress
To figure out how to increase your reviews on Google, start by measuring them. Three numbers matter most: new reviews per month for each location, the share of reviews with a reply, and the average response time. Together they show whether your requests work and whether your team keeps up.
Watch trends, not single days. When a location’s review count drops two months in a row, the cause is usually the process, for example staff no longer asking at checkout.
The same numbers show how to increase Google ratings over time. A steady flow of fresh reviews from real customers moves your average more than any single campaign. A reputation analytics dashboard keeps these numbers in one view for every location.
The reports also help when you’re working out how to improve reviews on Google at one struggling location, or how to get better reviews on Google across the whole brand. Most of the time they point to a location that asks too rarely or replies too slowly.
ORM Service tracks rating and NPS at brand, region and location level in one dashboard. We monitor reviews 24/7, and a real person replies to each one in your brand voice. Book a demo to see the dashboard with your own locations.
