How to get more Google reviews (ethically)

Why it matters

Reviews decide two things at once

People check before they buy. That is no longer a theory, it is everyday behaviour: before calling a plumber, before booking a dentist, before hiring an accountant, they open Google, glance at the stars and read the last few comments. It takes twenty seconds and it often decides the whole thing.

Reviews work in two directions. First, trust. A 4.5 with a hundred real comments reads as more credible than a perfect 5.0 with three. People want to see that other customers like them already took the risk and were fine. Second, local visibility. A Google Business Profile with a steady, fresh flow of reviews — and replies to them — gets shown more often than an abandoned one. It is not the only ranking factor, but for a small business it is one of the very few you can influence without a budget.

There is a third effect people forget: reviews are no longer read only by humans. When someone asks an AI assistant "who is a good roofer in Kaunas", that assistant leans on public information — including your profile and what customers say about you. We cover that in what is AEO and why it matters in 2026.

The insight that changes everything

Review count almost never measures how good you are. It measures how consistently you ask. Two businesses of identical quality on the same street can sit at 8 and 240 reviews — the only difference is that the second one asks every single time. That is good news, because asking is the one variable in this equation you fully control.

1. Fix your Google Business Profile first

Without a clean profile there is nowhere to collect reviews. Check that the business name matches reality, that the category is precise, that opening hours are correct, that the phone and address work, and that the photos are real rather than stock. If the profile is unverified, verify it before anything else. It is half an hour of work that everything else depends on. If you would rather we handled it, see our Google Business Profile and reviews service.

2. Build one short, direct link

Nobody will write a review if it means searching for your business on Google, scrolling down and guessing where to click. Your Google Business Profile dashboard gives you a ready-made review link — copy it and use it everywhere. Turn it into a QR code on the receipt, the invoice or a card at the counter, and save it as a text shortcut on your phone so sending it takes two seconds. The rule is simple: every extra click between the customer and the review form costs you reviews.

3. Ask at the right moment

Timing matters more than wording. The best moment is immediately after a good experience, while the person still feels the relief or the delight: the job is finished and the customer says "thanks, that's great"; the problem got solved faster than expected; you arrived ahead of schedule. A week later the same customer is still satisfied, but the feeling has cooled, and the request now reads as paperwork.

Asking face to face works best: "Glad it all worked out. If you have a minute, a short Google review would really help us — it's how most of our customers find us." Then send the link by SMS or email right there, while you are still talking. A spoken ask plus a link five seconds later is the combination that produces the most reviews.

4. Keep the message short and human

Your SMS or email should fit in three sentences: thanks, a specific request, the link. No marketing copy, and no dictating what to write — if every review sounds the same, both customers and Google notice. Instead of asking for "five stars", ask for an honest impression. And never send more than one reminder.

5. Make it a routine, not a campaign

Most companies collect reviews in bursts, usually right after a bad one lands. Build the ask into the process instead: into the job completion checklist, into the invoice template, into the last step of the conversation. Five asks a week is around 250 a year, and realistically somewhere between a fifth and a third of them turn into a review. That is a completely different business from one that asks once a quarter.

6. Reply to EVERY review

Replying to a good review takes twenty seconds and does two things: it shows other readers you are present and attentive, and it makes the writer more likely to come back. One personal sentence is enough — skip the template. Replying to bad reviews is not optional either, which brings us to the next part.

A bad review is not a disaster. A bad reply, or silence, is. When a prospective customer reads a negative comment, they are not really judging the complaint — they are judging how you behave when something goes wrong. A calm, specific reply often sells better than ten five-star ratings.

Three rules: reply within a day, before the thread grows; never argue in public and never reveal customer details; move the conversation to a private channel. And never write the reply in the same minute you read it — draft it, wait ten minutes, then send.

A template you can use

"Hi [name], thank you for writing — we're sorry that [the specific problem] didn't go the way it should have. We've looked into what happened: [short explanation, no excuses]. To make sure it doesn't happen again, [the concrete change you're making]. We'd like to put this right — email us at info@pakamedia.lt and we'll follow up directly."

Four elements you should never skip: thanks, a specific apology (not "we're sorry if anyone felt…"), the action you are taking, and a way to reach you. If the review is fake or comes from someone who was never your customer, still reply — politely and factually — and separately report it to Google. But do not count on removal just because the review is unfair.

Sooner or later someone will offer you "50 reviews for 200 euros". The answer is always the same: no. This is not a grey area and it is not a clever shortcut.

It is illegal. In the European Union, fake reviews count as a misleading commercial practice, and national consumer protection authorities can issue real fines for them. That covers bought reviews, reviews you write yourself, and reviews traded for a discount when the reward is not disclosed.

It breaks Google's policies. Google actively hunts fake reviews and keeps getting better at it: reviews disappear in batches, a profile can lose the ability to collect them, and in the worst case it is removed entirely. The painful part is that genuine reviews you spent a year earning usually go down with them.

People see straight through it. Twenty-five five-star ratings in three days, names with no photos, texts with no specifics that a competitor could just as easily have written — it is obvious. A customer who suspects your reviews are bought will stop believing everything else you say about your business.

There are softer versions that fail for the same reasons: review gating, where you only send the link to people who already said they were happy; a discount in exchange for five stars; asking staff and their families to write. All of it is the same lie in a smaller size. The only approach that survives years is the boring one: do good work and ask consistently.