Google review link: how to get more reviews, and what to do about a bad one

Plenty of happy customers fully intend to leave you a review. Then they get home, the kettle goes on, and the moment passes. Nobody is being rude. "I'll leave you a review" is simply one of the most sincere promises people never quite get round to keeping.

That matters. Google shows reviews beside your Business Profile in Search and Maps, where people decide who to call, and it says more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking. So the job is simple: make reviewing you easy, ask at the right moment, stay inside Google's rules, and know what to do when a bad one arrives.

Google's steps and rules here come from its own help pages and policies, read on 6 November 2026. It moves its buttons now and then, so the linked pages have the latest steps.

Where to find your Google review link and QR code

Your Business Profile can give you a review link and QR code for customers to leave you a review. To get yours:

1. On a computer, go to your Business Profile while signed in to the Google account that manages it.
2. Select Read reviews, then Get more reviews.
3. To copy the link, select Copy.
4. To get the QR code, right-click it and download it as an image.

Two things worth knowing. Google says the QR code can only be made in a browser on a computer, so if you can't find it on your phone, that's why. And customers need a Google Account to leave a review, though Google points out they can make one with an email address they already have, not only Gmail.

Where to put it

Google suggests receipts, thank-you emails, the end of a chat with a customer and a printed QR code where customers can see it, or sending the link by email, WhatsApp or a Facebook post. A few more places that suit most businesses:

• Your invoice, or the email that goes with it.
• The follow-up email after a booking, an appointment or a delivery.
• A small card handed over with the finished job, the order or the bill.

A QR code on the counter does a lot of polite asking on your behalf, and it never has an off day.

What Google's rules don't allow

Read this before you ask anyone, because breaking these rules costs far more than one bad review. Google's prohibited and restricted content policy says every review must reflect a genuine experience. In practice, that rules out:

• Anything in return. No money, discounts, free products or services, or anything else in kind, for leaving a review, changing one or removing a negative one. Google calls this fake engagement.
• Asking only the happy ones. Businesses may not discourage negative reviews or ask selectively for positive ones. If a tool asks customers to rate you first and only sends the happy ones on to Google, that breaks this rule.
• Pressure on the spot. Don't require or pressure customers to write a review while they're with you, and don't tell them what to say. A QR code they can scan later is fine. Standing over someone while they type is not.
• Staff targets and staff reviews. Don't ask staff to collect a set number of reviews, or reviews that mention them by name. Reviews from staff, former staff, family or anyone else with a conflict of interest aren't allowed either.
• Fake reviews of any kind. Bought reviews, reviews of things that never happened, several reviews posted by one person from different accounts, and reviews left on a competitor to drag them down.

Google removes reviews that break these rules, and it can go further. Its page on Business Profile restrictions says it may stop a profile receiving new reviews for a set period, hide its existing ones for a while, or show customers a warning that fake reviews were removed. Nobody wants that notice pinned to their front door.

It's also the law. Since April 2025, fake reviews and reviews that hide an incentive have been a banned practice under UK consumer law, and the Competition and Markets Authority can fine those who break it directly. GOV.UK has the guidance for businesses.

How to get more Google reviews: a simple routine

Reviews come more reliably from a small habit than from a big push. Here's one that fits most businesses, whether you fix boilers, cut hair, sell furniture or run a café.

1. Ask everyone. Every customer gets the same ask, not just the ones you're sure will be kind. That's Google's rule, and Google notes that a mix of positive and negative reviews often feels more trustworthy anyway.
2. Pick the moment. Ask when the job is finished and the customer can see the result: the end of the appointment, the day the work is signed off, the delivery that arrived when you said it would.
3. Ask in one sentence. Something like: "If you've got a minute this week, a Google review would really help us. The link is on your receipt." Plain and polite, with no mention of stars.
4. Send it with what goes out anyway. Put the link in the thank-you email, receipt or invoice. Asking once is helpful. Asking three times is a campaign.
5. Make it someone's job, without a target. Decide who sends the link and when, so it happens every time. Just don't give staff a number to hit: Google doesn't allow it.
6. Keep it steady. Google's policy names unusual volumes or patterns of reviews as a sign of rating manipulation. A steady trickle from a routine looks like what it is: real customers.

What to do about a bad review

A bad review stings, especially when you've put everything into the business. Google itself says a negative review isn't necessarily a sign of poor business practice. The aim now is to stop one review from becoming the whole story.

Reply calmly, briefly, and for the next customer

The reviewer may not change their mind, but the people reading next are still deciding, so write for them. Google's tips on replying to reviews come down to this:

• Check your records first, so you know what actually happened.
• Stay polite and professional. No personal attacks, in the reply or anywhere else.
• Keep it short. Long replies can overwhelm readers.
• Be honest. Admit what went wrong, apologise if it's deserved, and explain what you can and can't do. Don't take the blame for things outside your control.
• Keep their details private. Nothing from the customer's account, booking or bill belongs in a public reply.
• Take it offline. Invite them to get in touch by email or phone so you can put it right.
• Sign it. Your name or initials make it feel human.
• Reply in good time. It shows you take feedback seriously.

Something like this works for most businesses:

Thank you for telling us about this, and I'm sorry the job didn't go the way it should have. I'd like to understand what happened and put it right, so please email me at [your email] or call [your number] and ask for me. [Your name], owner

What not to do: argue point by point, paste the same reply under every review, or offer a refund or a freebie in exchange for changing or removing the review. That last one is an incentive, which breaks the rules above. Putting things right is good. Making it conditional on the review is not.

Google tells the reviewer when you reply, and they can still change their review. A calm reply followed by a genuine fix is the honest way to get a review changed.

Everyone has felt the urge to write four furious paragraphs late at night. Sleep on it: the reply will be better for the wait.

If you run a pub, restaurant or café, our guide to responding to bad pub reviews has more example replies.

How to remove a Google review, and when you can't

You can't delete a review someone else has written, however unfair it feels. You can report it, but Google removes it only if it breaks Google's policies. Google says not to report a review just because you disagree with it, as it doesn't get involved in disputes between businesses and customers.

Reviews Google will remove include:

• Fake reviews, or reviews not based on a real experience.
• Reviews with a conflict of interest, such as one from a competitor or a former employee.
• Spam, and the same review posted again and again.
• Off-topic posts, such as general rants or political and social commentary.
• Harassment, hate speech, threats, and profanity used to offend.
• Someone's personal information posted without their consent.
• Unsubstantiated allegations of criminal or unethical behaviour.

What Google won't remove is an honest, respectful account of a real experience, even a critical one you think is unfair: its policy explicitly allows those. Your reply is the tool for them.

How to report a review

From Google's page on reporting inappropriate reviews:

1. Go to your Business Profile and select Read reviews.
2. Next to the review, select Report.
3. Choose the reason, such as spam or profanity, and select Send report.

Google says checking a report typically takes several days, and you can follow its progress in its Reviews Management Tool. If Google finds no breach and you disagree, the tool offers a one-time appeal.

One special case: a sudden wave of one-star and two-star reviews, then someone demanding money to make them go away. That's an extortion scam. Google says don't pay or engage, screenshot every message straight away, and report it through the form on its extortion scam page.

Reviews are one part of being found

Reviews help, but Google's local ranking tips say its local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and how well known a business is. So a complete, accurate Business Profile and a website other sites link to matter as well.

If you'd like help with that side, our local SEO work covers local search month by month, alongside your website. It runs on our growth plans, from £350 a month plus VAT on a 12-month agreement, and every price is on our pricing page. We never promise rankings or traffic. We commit to the work and report honestly on what it does.

Orange Jelly is based in Stanwell Moor, Staines, and works with businesses across Surrey, Berkshire and beyond. The first chat is free, by phone or video call. You don't need the technical words. You do need to want things to change. Get in touch and tell us what's going on.

The short version

• Your link and QR code are under Read reviews, then Get more reviews, in your Business Profile on a computer.
• Ask every customer once, when the job is done. Nothing in return, no cherry-picking, no staff targets.
• Reply to bad reviews calmly and briefly, for the next reader, and take the detail offline.
• Report only reviews that break Google's rules. The rest are yours to answer, not remove.