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Is It Allowed to Ask Customers for Google Reviews?

Yes, you can ask, and you should. Google allows you to encourage genuine reviews, but not to offer discounts, gifts, or payment for them, to ask only your happy customers, or to set review quotas for staff. Send everyone the same simple request after the job and let the reviews land however they land.
By Eric Walker · Last updated October 2026

What Google’s policy says

Google’s prohibited and restricted content policy separates encouraging reviews, which is fine, from manipulating them, which is not. Businesses may not:

  • Pay for reviews or offer anything in return, including discounts, free goods, or free services.
  • Offer an incentive to change or remove a negative review.
  • Discourage negative reviews or selectively ask only the customers they expect to be positive.
  • Require or pressure customers to leave a review while on the premises.
  • Set review quotas for staff.
  • Ask for specific content, including reviews that name a staff member.
  • Post reviews from multiple accounts controlled by one person.

What is fine

Asking is fine. Google says merchants may encourage genuine reviews as long as they offer no incentive and do not try to influence the rating or what the review says. A text or email after the job with a direct link works. Many businesses also leave a card or show a QR code. The line is pressure: requiring a review on the spot, or making someone feel they owe you one.

The gating mistake

Review gating is the one that catches honest businesses. It looks like this: send a message asking how the job went, and if the customer says great, send them to Google, and if they say poor, send them to a private form. That is selectively soliciting positive reviews, which the policy prohibits.

The fix is simple. Send the same message with the same link to every customer. If you also want private feedback, offer it separately without steering anyone away from Google.

The discount trap

“Ten percent off your next job for a Google review” feels harmless. It is an incentive, and reviews posted that way can be removed. The same goes for any offer to remove or change a bad review in exchange for a refund or a gift. If a customer is upset, fix the problem first. If they update the review on their own afterward, that is their choice. Do not make it a condition.

Your team and the wording

Two points matter for trades businesses in particular. Do not give technicians a quota or tie their pay to review counts, and do not ask customers to mention a technician by name. Both fall under the restricted behavior in the policy. You can thank a technician publicly once a review comes in, and you can tell customers that honest feedback helps.

A message that stays inside the rules

Something like this works: “Thanks for choosing us. We would value your honest review on Google, since it helps other homeowners decide. Here is the link.” Notice what it leaves out: no reward, no request for five stars, and no suggestion of what to write.

My guide to getting Google reviews and the review link guide show how to build the link and when to send it.

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