A review request text is a short message sent to a customer after a job is finished, asking them to leave a public review and giving them a direct link to do it.
Timing
The best moment is soon after the work is done, while the customer can still see the result and remembers the tech's name. A request the next week competes with everything else in their inbox. A request while the tech is still in the driveway can feel like pressure.
A practical window is between about half an hour and a few hours after the job is marked done. CrewLink, for example, sends its review link 30 minutes after the job is done. Whatever you choose, send it to every customer, not only the ones you think were happy.
Wording
A good request has four parts and nothing else:
- Who it's from. The company name the customer booked.
- What it's about. The visit, ideally with the day or the tech's first name.
- The ask. One plain sentence, asking for an honest review.
- The link. Straight to the review form, not to your homepage.
Example (Northline Heating & Air is an example company):
"Thanks for choosing Northline Heating & Air today. If you have a minute, an honest review of Marco's visit helps us a lot: [link]"
Keep it under two lines on a phone screen. Skip the coupon codes, the emojis and the second link. For the other texts around a visit, see field service customer communication.
The rules on asking
As of October 2026, Google's contribution policy says businesses must not "selectively solicit positive reviews" or offer incentives in exchange for reviews. The FTC's Q&A on its consumer reviews rule says you can't suggest that a review must be positive (or negative) to get a promised incentive, and notes that asking only happy customers "could violate the FTC Act."
In practice that means:
- Ask every customer, with the same message.
- Don't route unhappy customers to a private form and happy ones to Google (often called review gating).
- Don't offer discounts or gifts for a review.
Texting also needs consent. Collect permission to text at booking, honor opt-outs and have your process reviewed, because texting rules vary by country and state. This is not legal advice.
How it relates to other scores
A review request is public and qualitative. Customer satisfaction score and net promoter score are private survey measures you use internally. Some companies send a survey and a review request; if you do, send both to everyone so the review request is never conditional on the survey answer.
What to take away
- Send one short text soon after the job is done, with a direct link to the review form.
- Name the company, the visit and the ask. Nothing else.
- Ask every customer the same way. No gating and no incentives.
Common questions
How soon after a service call should I ask for a review?
Within a few hours, while the result is fresh. Around 30 minutes after the job is marked done gives the customer time to see the work without the tech standing there.
Should I send a reminder if they don't leave a review?
One gentle follow-up a day or two later is reasonable. More than one starts to feel like pressure and invites opt-outs.
Can I offer a discount for leaving a review?
Google's policy, as of October 2026, prohibits incentives in exchange for reviews, and the FTC rule bars incentives conditioned on the review being positive. The safe practice is no incentive at all.
Where can I learn how to get more reviews overall?
Volume depends on how many customers you ask and how easy the link is to use. How to get more Google reviews for a service business covers the arithmetic.