How to get more Google reviews, legally

For most local businesses, Google reviews do more selling than any advert. A customer comparing three salons or three plumbers reads the star rating, then the newest few reviews, then rings the one that looks safest. The businesses with the most recent reviews are rarely the best ones; they are the ones that ask. This guide covers how to ask well, what the rules are in 2026, and how to stop relying on remembering.

Why most businesses have fewer reviews than they deserve

Happy customers rarely leave a review unprompted. They meant to, then the moment passed. Unhappy customers are more motivated, which is why a business that never asks ends up with a rating that undersells it. The fix is not to chase good reviews. It is to ask everybody, so the reviews you get reflect the customers you actually have.

When to ask

Ask while the visit is still fresh: the same day, a few hours after the appointment, is the sweet spot. Ask too early and the customer has not yet seen the result; ask a week later and they have moved on. Ask once. A single, polite request gets most of the reviews you will ever get from that customer, and a second or third one starts to feel like pressure.

How to ask

• Send the direct link. In your Google Business Profile, the “Ask for reviews” option gives you a short link that opens the review box. Every extra tap loses people.
• Keep it short. Thank them, ask for an honest review, give the link. Two sentences is plenty.
• Ask everyone the same way. The same words, to every customer who visited, whatever you think of how it went.
• Ask in person too. A card or QR code at the till, and a word from whoever served them, work well alongside a text.
• Reply to reviews, good and bad, politely and briefly. The next customer reads your replies as closely as the reviews.

What the rules say in 2026

Google’s policies. Google’s prohibited and restricted content policy forbids reviews that are fake or written by the business, offering or accepting anything in return for a review, discouraging negative reviews, and selectively asking only for positive ones. Breaking them can get reviews removed and a profile restricted.

UK consumer law. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 added fake reviews to the list of practices that are banned outright, from April 2025. That covers writing or commissioning fake reviews, and incentivised reviews that hide the incentive, and businesses that publish reviews must take reasonable steps to stop fake ones. The Competition and Markets Authority can now enforce consumer law itself, including with fines, and its fake reviews guidance (CMA208) sets out what the ban means for a business.

Texting customers. A text asking for a review can count as marketing, depending on what it says, and marketing texts to individuals fall under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations. The cautious way is to tell customers when they book that you may text once to ask, give them a way to refuse, and put an opt-out in the text. Our plain guide to PECR and the soft opt-in explains why.

This is general guidance, not legal advice. If you are unsure about your own situation, the Competition and Markets Authority and the Information Commissioner’s Office, whose guidance on electronic mail marketing covers texts, both publish guidance for small businesses.

What not to do

• Do not ask “were you happy?” first and only send the review link to the people who say yes
• Do not offer a discount, a free extra or a prize draw entry for a review
• Do not ask staff, friends or family to review you as if they were customers
• Do not buy reviews, or pay anyone who promises a better rating
• Do not text the same customer again and again

Making it automatic with Ringmere

Remembering to ask is the hard part, so Ringmere can do it for you. Switch on honest review requests in Settings, paste your Google review link, and a few hours after each appointment (you choose the delay) Ringmere texts the customer once, asking for an honest review. Every eligible customer gets the same text; there is no “were you happy?” step anywhere, and nothing in it knows how a visit went. Customers are told in their booking confirmation that one text may follow and how to refuse it, and every request ends with a way to opt out.

• Texts go out between 9am and 8pm, never on a Sunday; a request due at night waits for the morning.
• A customer asked recently is not asked again until your cooldown has passed, 90 days unless you change it.
• Mark a booking as “didn’t attend” before the text goes, and that customer is not asked.
• Anyone who has replied STOP, on any channel, is not sent one.
• It is on every plan: 100 review texts a month on Starter, 300 on Growth and 1,000 on Pro, and 30 during your free trial. It is off until you switch it on.

Because a request follows a booked appointment, it suits any business that takes bookings, from salons and opticians to gyms, tattoo studios and driving instructors. The review link has to be a Google link, because the text goes out under your name. See plans from £49 a month, with a 7-day free trial.

Frequently asked questions