ReviewGun

Guide

What Google’s review policy allows

Most contractors ask the same thing before they ask for their first review: is this allowed? The answer is yes — asking is the whole point — but the rules around the asking are narrower than most people expect, and breaking them risks the listing rather than the review.

Here is what you may do, what Google prohibits, and the short list of reviews that can actually be taken down.

What you are allowed to do

None of this is a loophole. It is the ordinary behaviour of a business that asks for feedback, and the policy exists to protect it.

  • Ask every customer for a review

    Asking is not just allowed, it is how reviews happen. In person, by text, by email, on an invoice — the policy has nothing to say about asking, only about what is attached to the asking and which customers get asked.

  • Put a link or a QR code where customers can see it

    On the invoice, the counter, the van or the job-site sign. A code that any customer can scan is fine; a code that a member of staff hands only to the customers they think are happy is not.

  • Ask once, and follow up once

    A single reminder a few days later is an ordinary thing to do. Repeated pressure is not prohibited either, but it is a good way to turn a satisfied customer into an annoyed one.

  • Reply to any review, positive or negative

    Responding is encouraged. A reply is also the only lever you have on a review you wish had not been written, because you cannot edit or delete somebody else's review.

  • Use software to help your team ask

    The rules are about what you ask for and who gets asked, not about how the message is sent. A tool that makes asking systematic is on the safe side of the policy; a tool that filters out unhappy customers would not be.

What gets a listing into trouble

  • Offering anything in exchange for a review. A discount, a free call-out, a gift card, an entry into a draw, a donation to a charity of their choice. Google's contribution policy prohibits incentivising reviews, and the offer does not have to be generous to count — "review us and get 10% off your next visit" is the shape that gets listings in trouble.
  • Choosing which customers get asked. Asking only the customers you expect to be pleased is called review gating, and it is prohibited. It is also why this product has no review filter, no "happy customer" screening and no way to suppress a request when a job has gone badly: those features would be the violation, not the fix.
  • Asking for a particular rating. "Please leave us five stars" asks for a positive review rather than an honest one. Ask for a review and let the customer decide what it says — you will get fewer 5s than you hoped and more trust than you expected.
  • Writing it for them, or leaving it yourself. Typing the review out for a customer to paste, leaving one on your own listing, and asking staff, family or friends to write as if they were customers are all prohibited. So is buying reviews, or using any service that sells them.
  • Reporting a review because it is negative. Google removes reviews for breaking the rules, not for being unkind, and a one-star review that complies with the policy will stay. There is a narrow list of things that genuinely qualify for removal, and being unflattering is not on it.

Asking properly, in five lines

  • Ask everybody, not just the customers who you think will be glowing about you. The moment you start choosing, you are gating.
  • Do not attach a condition. No discounts, no freebies, no entry into anything, not even "mention this text".
  • Never name the rating. Ask for a review, an honest one, and nothing more specific than that.
  • Send them straight to the review box rather than your profile, so nobody gives up looking for the button.
  • Keep the wording short and neutral. Somebody who feels handled leaves a worse review than somebody who was never asked.

The wording itself is the easy part — review request text templates are written to sit inside these rules, and every one of them goes straight to the review box rather than your profile.

The reviews Google will actually remove

The list is short, and every item on it is about the review breaking a rule rather than about the review being unkind.

  • It is not a genuine customer experience — somebody you never worked for, a competitor, or an ex-employee posting about the business.
  • It is spam or advertising, including a review that promotes another business or drops a link.
  • It is off-topic — a complaint about something your business does not do, or a political argument.
  • It contains personal information: an address, a phone number, a photo of a person, or a name that is not the reviewer's.
  • It is illegal content, or it harasses or threatens somebody.

One star is not on that list, and neither is a customer who was difficult, a version of events you disagree with, or a job that went badly. When a review is unfair but compliant, how to respond to a negative review is the part that is still in your hands.

Questions contractors ask about the policy

Is it against Google's policy to ask customers for reviews?
No. Asking customers to leave a review is allowed and expected — that is how reviews happen. What the policy prohibits is offering something in exchange, asking only the customers you expect to be happy, and asking for a particular star rating. Ask everybody, and ask honestly.
Can I offer a discount for a review?
No. Incentivising a review with a discount, a gift, a free call-out or an entry into a draw is prohibited by Google's contribution policy, and it puts your Business Profile at risk rather than just the review. The same applies to offering to pay for one, or to a refund in exchange for taking one down.
What is review gating, and is it really prohibited?
Review gating is asking only the customers you believe will be positive — screening the unhappy ones out before they ever get the link. It is prohibited. It is also the reason this product deliberately has no feature that would let you filter or suppress a request, even though contractors ask us for one.
Can I ask a customer to remove their review?
You can reply publicly and invite them to talk to you directly, and a customer who said something in anger sometimes amends or removes it themselves. What you must not do is offer anything in return for the removal, because that is the incentive rule from the other direction. Replying well is the part that is in your hands.
Will Google remove a review that is untrue or unfair?
Only if it breaks the content policy — spam, fake, off-topic, personal information, or abusive. Being one star, exaggerated, or a version of events you disagree with is not a reason for removal. Where you know a review is from somebody you never worked for, report it as not a genuine customer and include the evidence you have.
Can my family or my staff leave reviews for my business?
No. Reviews from people connected to the business are a conflict of interest and count as fake engagement, even if the business is genuinely good. The difference between twenty real reviews and twenty reviews from your friends is the difference between a listing that converts and a listing that gets flagged.
Does using review software break the policy?
No. The policy governs what you ask for and which customers get asked, not the app that sends the message. Software that helps your team ask every customer systematically is the safe direction; a product promising to collect "only positive reviews" is describing the violation.
Can I use a tablet at the counter or a QR code on the invoice?
Yes, as long as any customer can use it and nothing filters who is offered the chance. A neutral QR code that goes straight to your review box is one of the cleanest ways to ask, because it asks everyone who sees it — including the customer who was quietly unhappy, which is the whole point of the rule.

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Review requests for your trade

The policy is the same whatever you do for a living. These pages are about the jobs, the timing and the objections that come up in yours.