How to Get More Google Reviews: Share Your Review Link the Right Way

When someone searches for a business like yours, Google usually shows a map with three businesses before any regular search results. Your Google Business Profile is what puts you on that map. It shows your name, hours, phone number, photos, and, most visibly, your star rating and reviews.

Your website still matters. But for many local searches, your Google Business Profile is the first thing a customer sees, and your reviews decide whether they call you or the business next to you.

This guide covers why reviews matter, how to find and share your review link, and a simple process for asking at the right time.

What is a Google Business Profile?

A Google Business Profile (it used to be called Google My Business) is the free listing Google shows in Maps and in the local results on search. You claim it, verify you own the business, and keep it up to date. If you haven’t set yours up yet, or it needs work, start with our Google Business Profile optimization guide.

Once your profile is live, reviews are the part you have to keep working on. Everything else you set up once and update occasionally.

Why reviews matter so much

Reviews affect your ranking. Google says local results are based on relevance, distance, and prominence, and that review count and review score are part of prominence. More reviews and a better rating help you show up in the map results more often. See how to rank in Google’s local pack for the other factors.

Reviews affect who gets the call. Two businesses can rank side by side. The one with 85 reviews at 4.8 stars gets the call over the one with 6 reviews at 4.1. People trust other customers more than they trust anything you say about yourself.

Recent reviews count. A steady stream of new reviews tells customers (and Google) that you’re open, busy, and still doing good work. Twenty reviews from three years ago and nothing since looks like a business that slowed down.

Your replies count too. Answering reviews, good and bad, shows future customers how you treat people. A calm, helpful reply to a complaint often builds more trust than a dozen five-star reviews.

How to find your review link

Google gives every business profile a short link that opens the review form directly. Your customer clicks it, picks the stars, writes a sentence or two, and they’re done. No searching for your business, no wrong listing.

On a computer:

1. Sign in to the Google account that manages your business.
2. Search Google for your business name. Your profile’s management panel shows up at the top of the results.
3. Click Read reviews, then Ask for reviews (or Get more reviews).
4. Copy the link. It looks like https://g.page/r/XXXXXXXX/review.

On your phone (Google Maps app):

1. Open Google Maps and tap your profile picture, then Your Business Profile.
2. Tap Ask for reviews.
3. Copy the link or share it straight to a text or email.

Save the link somewhere you can grab it quickly: a note on your phone, your email templates, your invoicing software. You’ll use it a lot.

Ways to share your review link

The easier you make it, the more reviews you get. Use the link everywhere your customers already hear from you:

• Follow-up email. The most reliable method. More on this below.
• Text message. Great for service businesses. Short and personal: “Thanks again for having us out today. If you have a minute, a Google review helps us a lot: [link]”
• Invoices and receipts. Add a line with the link at the bottom of every invoice, or a QR code on printed receipts.
• QR code. Turn the link into a QR code (free generators are everywhere, and some Google Business Profile screens offer one). Put it on business cards, the counter, leave-behind cards, or a thank-you note in the box.
• Email signature. A small “Review us on Google” link under your name.
• Your website. A “Leave us a review” button on your contact page or the thank-you page after a purchase.
• In person. If a customer tells you they’re happy, say thanks and tell them it would really help if they shared that on Google. Then send the link so they don’t have to remember.

A better process: check in first, then ask

Most businesses either never ask for reviews, or they send the review link to everyone the moment a job ends. There’s a better way that protects your customers and your reputation: check in first, fix anything that needs fixing, then ask for the review.

The goal is not just “more reviews.” The goal is to find out how every customer feels and take care of any problem before it turns into a frustrated one-star review.

Step 1: Check in when the job is done

Right after you finish the service or deliver the product, send a short, personal check-in by email, text, or phone call:

“Hi Sarah, thanks for choosing us for your kitchen remodel. How did everything turn out? Is there anything we missed or anything you’re not happy with?”

Keep it short and make it a real question. You want an honest answer, not a sales pitch.

Step 2: If something’s wrong, fix it

If the customer tells you something isn’t right, that’s good news. You found out privately, and you can still fix it.

• Reply quickly, ideally the same day.
• Call them if you can. Problems get solved faster on the phone than over email.
• Make it right: come back out, replace the part, adjust the bill, whatever fits.
• Confirm they’re happy now. Don’t assume. Ask: “Are you happy with how this turned out?”

A customer whose problem you solved quickly often ends up more loyal than one who never had a problem at all.

Step 3: Ask for the review

Once the work is done and any problems are taken care of, ask for the review. Send your review link with a short, friendly note:

“Thanks so much, Sarah. We’re glad everything’s working the way you wanted. If you have a minute, a Google review would mean a lot to us and helps other local folks find us: [your review link]”

Ask every customer, whether they told you they loved the job or you had to fix something first. If you fixed something, wait until it’s actually fixed before you ask. Some will mention the problem and how you handled it. Future customers usually read that as a reason to hire you, not a reason to avoid you.

Step 4: Reply to every review

Thank people for good reviews by name and mention the job if you can. For a negative review, stay calm, apologize for their experience, and offer to make it right offline. Never argue in public. Your reply is written for the next customer reading it, not just the reviewer.

What not to do

Google removes reviews, and can suspend profiles, that break its rules. The FTC also fines businesses for fake or bought reviews. Avoid these:

• Don’t ask only happy customers. Google calls this “review gating” and doesn’t allow it. A survey that sends happy people to Google and unhappy people to a private form breaks the rule. Check in with everyone, fix problems, and ask everyone.
• Don’t offer anything for reviews. No discounts, gift cards, or entries in a drawing in exchange for a review, even a “review of any kind.”
• Don’t write reviews yourself or ask family and employees to review the business.
• Don’t buy reviews. Ever.
• Don’t set up a review station (a tablet or computer in your shop for customers to review on). Google may filter those reviews out because they all come from one location.
• Don’t send dozens of requests at once to an old customer list. A sudden spike looks unnatural. A steady flow from recent customers is better.

Make it a habit

The businesses with the most reviews aren’t lucky. They ask every time. Build the check-in into your routine:

• Add the check-in message and the review request to your email or text templates.
• Do the check-in the same day or the day after the job is finished, while the experience is fresh.
• Track who you’ve asked so nobody gets asked twice and nobody gets missed.
• Look at your new reviews once a week and reply to each one.

A few minutes per customer adds up. In six months, you can have a profile that wins the call before the customer ever visits your website.

Want help with your Google reviews?

We help local businesses set up their Google Business Profile, build review requests into their follow-up emails and website, and keep a steady stream of reviews coming in. Learn more about our online review management, or contact us and we’ll take a look at your profile.