Ask every customer, not just the happy ones, within an hour of the job being done, with a direct link to your Google review form. Volume comes from asking consistently and making it one tap. Never offer anything in exchange for a review and never screen customers first: Google prohibits both.
Most service companies don't have a review problem. They have an asking problem. The tech forgets, the office forgets, and the only customers who review are the ones who are very happy or very angry.
The arithmetic of review volume
Reviews per month come from three numbers you control:
Reviews = Jobs × Ask rate × Response rate
The response rates here are invented for the example. Measure your own. The point holds either way: moving the ask rate from "sometimes" to "always" does more than any script.
What Google allows, and what it doesn't
Before you build a process, read the rules. Google's Maps user-generated content policy (checked October 2026) lists what merchants may not do. In short, you may not:
- Offer incentives. No payment, discounts or free goods or services in exchange for a review.
- Gate reviews. The policy says merchants must not "selectively solicit positive reviews from customers." Asking "Were you happy? If yes, review us on Google; if no, tell us privately" is selective soliciting.
- Ask for specific content, or set staff quotas for reviews.
- Review yourself. Reviews from current or former employees, owners and close affiliations count as a conflict of interest.
What Google does allow: asking customers to share a genuine experience, without incentives and without trying to influence the rating. Google's own tips to get more reviews say to remind customers to leave reviews, reply to them, and value all of them.
The FTC's rule on fake reviews and testimonials, announced in August 2024, also bars buying reviews, incentives tied to a particular sentiment, and using threats or intimidation to suppress negative ones. This is a summary, not legal advice.
Get the direct link
Don't send customers to your website and hope they find you on Maps. Google Business Profile lets you create a review link or QR code from your profile on a computer browser. That link opens the review form directly. Put it in:
- the text or email sent after the job,
- the invoice and receipt,
- a printed card or leave-behind with the QR code.
Timing: the hour after the job
Satisfaction is highest right after the problem is solved: the heat is back on, the drain runs. Ask then. A request that arrives three days later competes with everything else in the customer's inbox, and the relief has worn off.
If you use CrewLink, a text with a review link goes to the customer 30 minutes after the job is marked done. It goes to every customer, which keeps you on the right side of the no-gating rule.
What the tech says at the door
A text works better when the tech has mentioned it in person. Keep it short and neutral:
"You'll get a text from us in a bit with a link to leave a Google review. If you have a minute, an honest review helps us a lot."
That wording asks for an honest review, offers nothing, and doesn't screen. See managing field technicians for how to make habits like this stick without quotas.
Reply to every review
Reply to good reviews briefly and specifically. Reply to bad reviews once, calmly, with an offer to fix it offline. Future customers read the replies as much as the reviews. A measured reply to a one-star review often does more for you than five more five-star reviews.
Handle unhappy customers separately
You can, and should, follow up with unhappy customers. That is customer service. What you can't do is use that follow-up to decide who gets the review link. Send the review link to everyone, and run your satisfaction follow-up in parallel. A customer satisfaction score or net promoter score survey is a fine internal tool, as long as it doesn't decide who gets asked for a public review.
For wording on the rest of the job's texts, see field service customer communication.
What to take away
- Reviews = Jobs × Ask rate × Response rate. Asking every customer moves the number most.
- Use the direct review link or QR code from your Google Business Profile.
- Ask within an hour of the job being done, with one tap.
- No incentives, no gating, no staff quotas, no reviews from employees or owners.
- Reply to every review, and handle unhappy customers without filtering who gets the link.
Common questions
Can I offer a discount for leaving a Google review?
No. Google's policy prohibits offering payment, discounts, free goods or services in exchange for a review, and the FTC rule bars incentives tied to a particular sentiment. Ask without offering anything.
What is review gating?
Review gating is asking customers how they felt first and sending only the happy ones to Google. Google's policy prohibits selectively soliciting positive reviews, so send the same review link to every customer.
When is the best time to ask for a review?
Within an hour or so of finishing the job, while the result is fresh. A text with a direct link, mentioned in person by the tech at the door, tends to work better than an email days later.
Should I reply to negative reviews?
Yes, once, calmly and without arguing the details in public. Acknowledge the problem, offer to make it right and give a way to reach you. Future customers judge you by the reply.