How to ask for Google reviews, with words to copy

Five review requests you can copy

Replace the bracketed details before using these. Offer the same invitation without judging how happy someone seems. For text and email, use only a channel you are allowed to contact that customer through, and honor their opt-out choices.

At the counter

Thanks for visiting. If you'd like to share your experience, the Google review link is on your receipt. You can use it whenever it suits you.

Say it once, then let the customer go. Don’t wait for them to take out a phone or ask to see what they wrote. If the line is long, the printed receipt can do the asking.

On a receipt

Visited [store name, street or neighborhood]?
Share your experience on Google: [this store's review link]
Need help with your visit? Contact [support phone or email].

Keep the support route next to the review invitation. A person who needs help should not have to choose between getting that help and leaving public feedback.

In a text

Hi [first name], this is [store name] on [street]. If you'd like to review your visit, here's our Google link: [review link]. For help with your purchase, contact [support contact].

Send it through your approved messaging setup, with its required sender and opt-out information. Don’t turn this example into a blast to every phone number in the register. Having a number on a receipt does not settle which messages you can send to it.

In an email

Subject: Your visit to [store name, location]

Hi [first name],

Thank you for visiting [location]. If you'd like to share your experience, you can leave a Google review here:
[this store's review link]

If you need help with your visit, contact [support contact].

Thank you,
[name and store]

Keep the message about the visit. Remove unrelated offers and links that make it harder to find the review request. Check the store name in both the subject and body if one shared system sends messages for several locations.

On a small sign

How was your visit?
Share your experience on Google.
[Store name and location]
[Place this store's review QR code here]

Put the sign where a customer can read it without holding up the queue. Keep the code clear of folds, glare and decorative graphics. Print a sample and scan it at the size customers will actually see.

Get the link and QR code for the right store

Google provides both inside the Business Profile. Its current instructions say to create the QR code in a computer browser, rather than on a mobile device ³.

1. Open the Business Profile for the location you want customers to review.
2. Select Read Reviews, then Get more reviews.
3. Copy the review link.
4. To save the QR code, right-click it and choose Save image as ³.

Before printing, open the link and check the destination name and location. Scan the code with a phone too. A working square is not enough if it opens the store across town.

Give the files plain names such as oak-street-review-code and harbor-store-review-code. Keep them with the approved receipt and sign for that location. If the store moves, changes its public name or has a profile problem, recheck those materials before reusing them.

You don’t need to buy a QR-code subscription just to use the code Google supplies. If you already use a separate short-link or QR service, check who controls the destination and whether the link depends on keeping that service active. Test the final printed version, not only the file on your laptop.

Keep the request fair and optional

Google allows invitations based on real experiences. It prohibits rewards, selective positive-review requests and pressure to post on the premises. Its policy also rejects staff review quotas and requests for specified review content, including staff names ².

Review gating means screening people before deciding who receives the public review invitation. An example is a survey that gives happy customers the Google link but sends unhappy customers only to a private form. Remove that split. Keep help available to everyone.

The FTC draws separate legal distinctions. Its rule prohibits incentives conditioned on a positive or negative sentiment; other deceptive practices may fall under the FTC Act. That does not make an incentive acceptable on Google, whose platform rule is stricter ^{4 2}.

Give your team an approved invitation, not a rating target. In a practice conversation, check that a customer can decline without an awkward exchange. A staff member should be able to answer “Do I have to?” with “No, it’s entirely up to you.”

Fit the request to the visit at each location

Choose a point when the customer has enough experience to describe. For a completed shop visit, that might be the receipt. For a repair, it might be after collection rather than when the item is first dropped off. These are examples to adapt, not claims that one timing produces more reviews.

Start with one channel per visit so a customer does not receive the same request from the register, an email system and a staff member’s phone. Check what your existing tools already send before adding another message.

Try the routine at one location before copying the materials. A cafe with a short checkout needs a different moment from a store where customers collect an assembled bicycle. Keep the shared wording and standards, then check the customer journey at each store.

Before a busy event, put this check beside your Small Business Saturday store plan. The useful preparation is making sure the link, sign and support route work when staff have less time to explain them.

Check the routine and act on what you hear

Use a short weekly check to find broken steps and recurring service issues. Keep the date beside what you record so you can compare the same length of time later.

• Does each receipt or sign still lead to the correct store?
• Are messages going through the approved channel, without duplicate requests?
• Are support messages reaching someone who can help?
• What concerns recur in the new reviews, and who will check what happened?
• Are there replies or customer issues still waiting for a response?

If your messaging tool reports invitations delivered or links clicked, label those measures clearly. They are not completed reviews. Don’t calculate a review-conversion rate unless you can connect the request and the review reliably. A change in the store’s total review count alone does not show which invitation caused it.

Avoid judging staff by the stars customers choose. Give them work they can control: correct information, a neutral invitation and follow-through when someone needs help. If a review appears to violate a policy, use the separate guide to reporting Google reviews; a low rating alone is not a reason to demand removal.

For ongoing help with invitations, replies and recurring concerns, see how Kai works on reviews with your team. You can start with one store’s current process and decide what needs attention before extending it to the other locations.