How to get more Google reviews, and how to answer them.

Reviews are the part of your Google profile you cannot write yourself. They also go stale fast. BrightLocal’s 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey found 97% of consumers read reviews for local businesses, and 74% only care about reviews from the last three months. A steady flow beats a big push once a year.

When and how to ask

The best moment is right after the job, while the customer is still pleased the AC works or the leak stopped.

1. Ask in person. The tech or front desk says: “If we did a good job, a Google review really helps a small business like ours. I’ll send you the link.”
2. Send the link the same day. In your Business Profile, open Read reviews, then Get more reviews, and copy the link or download a QR code (Google says QR codes can be made only from a computer browser).
3. One reminder, then stop. If there is no review after three or four days, send one friendly reminder.

Use email for everyone who gave you an address. Use text only for customers who agreed in writing to get texts like this one, for example a checkbox on your booking form or invoice that mentions review requests. A customer texting you about a job is not the same as agreeing to automated follow-ups. The TCPA restricts automated texts without the right kind of prior consent, and people can revoke it by any reasonable means. If someone replies “stop”, stop.

Asking works. In BrightLocal’s 2026 survey, 78% of consumers had been asked for a review in the past year, and 83% of those asked went on to leave one.

What the FTC bans

The FTC’s Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials (16 CFR Part 465) took effect on October 21, 2024. Courts can impose civil penalties for knowing violations. In plain terms, it bans:

• Fake reviews. Reviews from people who do not exist, including AI-written ones, or who never used your business. Buying or selling them is banned too.
• Incentives tied to sentiment. The FTC says the rule does not ban all incentives for reviews, but you cannot offer one with an express or implied requirement that the review be positive. A disclosure does not fix it.
• Review suppression. You cannot use groundless legal threats, physical threats or intimidation to stop a review or get it removed, or make knowingly false accusations about a reviewer.
• Undisclosed insider reviews. Owners, managers and staff who review the business must disclose the relationship.

The FTC also says asking only happy customers is not specifically banned by this rule, but could violate the FTC Act.

What Google bans

Google’s rules are stricter than the FTC’s on incentives. Its content policy prohibits:

• Reviews paid for, directly or in kind, and content posted because of an incentive from the business.
• Businesses that discourage or prohibit negative reviews, or selectively solicit positive reviews.

That second point is what people call review gating: a survey that sends happy customers to Google and unhappy ones to a private form. Do not use it. Google’s help page is blunt: offering free or discounted goods or services for posting, changing or removing reviews “is strictly prohibited.”

How to respond to Google reviews

Google’s advice is short: keep replies short and simple, be conversational not promotional, never share a reviewer’s private information, and move complex issues to phone or email. BrightLocal found 89% of consumers expect owners to respond, while 50% are put off by templated replies. Start from these, then add one real detail.

Positive review

Thanks, Maria. Glad the new water heater is working and that Luis left the garage clean. We appreciate you trusting us with it.

Negative review

Thanks for telling us, James. A two-hour wait without a call is not how we want to work, and I’m sorry. I’d like to make it right. Please call me at the office and ask for Dana.

Do not argue facts in public, and do not offer a refund in exchange for removing the review.

Review you believe is fake

We take every review seriously, but we can’t find a record of a job under this name or at this address. If we did work for you, please call the office so we can look into it.

Then flag the review from your Business Profile. Google reviews flags against its content policies, and replies themselves are reviewed before they go live, which can take minutes or longer.

Dentists and other healthcare providers: say less

Patient privacy rules apply in public replies. In 2022 HHS settled with New Vision Dental, a California practice, for $23,000 plus a corrective action plan. Its Yelp replies to negative reviews included patient names and details about visits and insurance. The director of HHS’s Office for Civil Rights said providers “cannot disclose protected health information of their patients when responding to negative online reviews.”

A safe pattern for a practice:

Thank you for your feedback. We’re unable to discuss any individual’s care online, but we’d welcome the chance to talk. Please call our office manager at the main number.

Do not confirm that the reviewer is a patient, and do not mention treatment, dates or insurance, even to correct a mistake. Ask your compliance advisor to approve your reply templates before your team uses them.

A 15 minute weekly review management routine

Review management does not need software at first. It needs a habit.

• Monday: list last week’s finished jobs. Check each one got a review request.
• Every weekday: read new reviews and reply. BrightLocal found 19% of consumers expect a same-day reply and 81% within a week.
• Friday: count new reviews and your average rating. Note which tech or location gets the most.
• Monthly: read the negatives together. If three people mention the same thing, fix the process, not the review.

Software helps once you send dozens of requests a week, but it must not filter who gets asked.

Make reviews part of a bigger system

Reviews work best when the rest of the profile is current: correct hours, real photos, services that match your work, and a phone that gets answered. The Google Business Profile optimization guide walks through each of those settings. Google says local ranking depends on relevance, distance and how well known a business is, and review count and rating are part of that.

Ammett sets up the review request flow, reply templates and the profile around it as part of ads and listings. See how it fits for HVAC, roofing and plumbing, or start with a free audit.