Google reviews for your business: how to get more, the right way

The way to get more Google reviews is to ask every customer on the day you finish the job, and let them say how it went in their own words. Then keep an eye on your average rating, not just the count, because a small drop in the average can hold your listing back.

What a Google review is

A Google review is a star rating and a few words a customer leaves on your Google listing. Anyone who finds you on the map or in the results sees your average, how many reviews you've got, and what people wrote. You can't delete a review. You can reply to every one, and your reply's public.

Why they matter

• Your average can hold you back. One firm in the United States with thousands of good reviews was stuck for months because eighty one-star reviews had pulled it from 4.9 to 4.8. Four of those were removed, and the listing moved the same day.
• Recent reviews help on the map. In a 2026 survey of 47 local search experts, your rating ranked 6th, the number of reviews 9th and how recent they are 11th among the things that decide the map. For AI answers, the rating ranked 8th and positive words in the review text 22nd.
• The AI tools read the words. "Fixed a leaking boiler in Kingswood on a Sunday" can be matched to somebody's search. "5 stars, great service" can't.
• The firms AI names are highly rated. When we asked ChatGPT for a plumber in Bristol, every firm it named was rated 4.99 or 5.00.
• Reviews on other sites count for AI. In the same survey, six of the top 25 things that decide an AI answer were reviews on sites other than Google.
• Google deletes real reviews. It removed 221 million in 2025. In a separate study of 335,520 removals, 89 in 100 were five-star, and 63 in 100 of the profiles hit lost between one and five reviews, which is easy to miss.

How to ask, the right way

1. Ask on the day you finish, by text, while the job's still fresh in their mind. Keep it short and put the link in, so leaving a review is one tap.
2. Ask how it went, and leave the words to them. Google's policy says a business shouldn't "request that specific content be included" in a review. So don't ask them to mention the job, the town or the day. Something like: "Thanks for having us round today. Would you mind leaving us a Google review? Here's the link." If they mention the job on their own, that's words a search can match.
3. Don't ask them to name who did the job. Google's policy counts that as asking for specific content too.
4. Reply to every review in a sentence or two, and say the job back. People read your replies. For a bad one, say what you did about it, in a line, and leave it there.
5. Keep your own copy. Screenshot your reviews every few months, so if real ones disappear you've got the record to send Google support.
6. Watch your average, not just the count. When you've only got a few reviews, one one-star moves the number that can hold you back. Say you've got 20 reviews, all five stars: one one-star takes your average to 4.8. With 100 five-star reviews, the same one-star only takes you to 4.96.
7. Report a review only if it really breaks Google's rules, and only from your own account.
8. Ask customers who use Checkatrade or Trustpilot to leave one there too, because those count on the AI side.
9. Put your review link where customers will see it: on your invoices, your quotes and your email signature, as well as in the text.

What not to do

• Buying reviews, or getting friends and family to leave them. They get removed, and the rating drops back.
• Only sending the link to customers you think are happy. That's against Google's rules.
• Offering a discount, or anything else, for a review. Google's policy doesn't allow incentives.

Why it's worth doing

Your average is the cheapest thing on your listing to move. Asking every customer, every time, costs nothing, and the more reviews you've got, the less any one bad review can shift it.

Where CitedBy fits

CitedBy, which publishes this guide, is software for UK trades. On the reviews add-on (free the first month, then £97 a month) or on Managed, it texts your customer a review request after a job, spaces the requests out, and drafts a reply to every new review for you to approve before it goes up. It also keeps a copy of every review it reads.

Questions

Can I get a bad review taken down? Only if it breaks Google's rules. Report it from your own account, and Google decides. Reporting reviews you just don't like, or getting other people to report them for you, is manipulation.

Does replying stop Google deleting a review? No. In the study of 335,520 removals, about 60 in 100 of the deleted reviews had a reply from the owner.

Some of my reviews have disappeared. Can I get them back? Google says its spam filter can "mistakenly remove legitimate reviews", and that if it happens you should "contact support for assistance". Send them your screenshots. Nothing on Google's pages promises they'll be put back.

Can I ask them there and then, before I leave? You can ask, as long as you don't push. Google's policy says a business shouldn't "require or pressure users to leave ratings or write reviews". Sending the link by text lets them do it in their own time.

Should I ask for reviews on other sites too? Yes, on the ones your customers already use, like Checkatrade or Trustpilot. They count for the AI answers.

See how your listing looks today

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