How to get more Google reviews for your business
Most happy customers never leave a review, because nobody asked them at the right moment. How to ask, when, and what Google doesn't allow.
2 min read · Updated October 19, 2026
Why reviews matter
When someone looks for a café or a barber nearby, Google shows the businesses on a map with their rating and number of reviews. For many people that is the decision. Google's own advice to businesses says that positive reviews can improve your visibility in local results.
Ask: most people only need that
Satisfied customers rarely review on their own; unhappy ones are more motivated to. Asking is what evens it out. A short, personal request at the right moment works far better than a sign nobody reads.
Ask at the right moment
The best moment is shortly after a good experience: after the coffee, once the haircut has been seen in the mirror, at the end of the meal, while their phone is still in their hand. Not while they are paying, and not a week later.
Ask regulars rather than first-time visitors. Someone on their third visit already likes you and knows what to write.
Make it one tap
Every extra step loses people. Don't tell customers to search for you on Google: give them a direct link that opens the review form for your business. Your Google Business Profile has an option to ask for reviews that gives you that link.
Put the link where people already look: a QR code on the counter or the tables, your WhatsApp replies, your email signature.
What Google doesn't allow
Google's policy on reviews bans some common tactics, and breaking it can get reviews removed or your profile restricted.
Fake reviews are also illegal in the European Union: since 2022, consumer law forbids businesses from posting or commissioning them.
- Offering anything in exchange for a review: a discount, a free coffee, an entry in a prize draw
- Asking only the customers you think are happy
- Writing reviews yourself, or having staff, friends or family write them
- Buying reviews
Reply to every review
Thank people for the good ones in a line, and answer the bad ones calmly, saying what you will do about it. Future customers read the replies as closely as the reviews.
Let the card ask for you
Loyalshy can ask for you. After the visit you choose, the customer's wallet card shows your message with a link to your review form, about an hour and a half later. It asks each customer once, never offers anything in return and never chooses who is asked. It is included from the Pro plan.