When I look at a new client's Google Business Profile for the first time, I almost always see the same picture: solid work, happy customers — and a review count that tells none of it. Twelve reviews in four years, the last one eight months old.
That's painful, because reviews are one of the few local SEO levers you fully control yourself. According to BrightLocal's Local Consumer Review Survey, the vast majority of consumers read reviews before choosing a local business — and Google itself treats count, recency and your replies as ranking signals. Here are the seven tactics I see working for my clients again and again.
1. Ask at the moment of delight
The single biggest difference is timing. A review request right after a compliment — "The food was amazing!", "Finally the heating works again!" — converts many times better than any email three days later. My advice: identify the one moment in your business when customers are happiest, and anchor the ask exactly there.
2. Put a QR code on the counter
Every click between "sure, happy to!" and the star form costs you reviews. A QR code at the counter, on the table or in the waiting area reduces the whole journey to a single scan. With our free review QR generator you get a print-ready PDF in three sizes in about a minute — I've written a full step-by-step guide on how to set it up.
3. Put the link on receipts, invoices and your email signature
Not every customer ever stands at your counter. Tradespeople, service providers and B2B companies reach their customers better via the invoice, the project-completion email or the signature. The short review link (g.page/r/…) from your Business Profile belongs everywhere a happy customer is already looking.
4. Reply to every single review
Replies are doubly valuable: Google sees an actively managed profile, and future customers often read your replies more attentively than the reviews themselves. Thank reviewers by name, mention the service and your location naturally — "Thanks for trusting us with your bathroom renovation!" — and stay calm and solution-focused with criticism. Google explicitly recommends replying in its own tips for getting more reviews.
5. Give your team a single sentence
Reviews happen at the counter, not in the back office. The hurdle for your team is usually not willingness but wording. Practise one sentence together — "If you were happy today, we'd love a Google review — the QR code is right here" — and asking becomes second nature.
6. Aim for consistency, not campaigns
Ten reviews spread over ten weeks are worth more than fifty in one weekend. A sudden burst looks suspicious to Google's filters and bought to readers — a steady flow signals a living business and keeps your profile permanently fresh. Make asking a routine, not a one-off push.
7. Use negative reviews as a stage
One or two critical voices don't hurt you — they make your profile credible. What matters is your response: acknowledge, offer a fix, invite them back. I've seen the composed reply to a one-star review convince more new customers than the twenty five-star ratings around it.
What I strongly advise against
Two shortcuts end up costing more than they deliver: bought reviews and rewards for reviews — including the friendly free drink for five stars. Both violate Google's fake engagement policy; Google regularly deletes such reviews in large waves and can restrict your profile. Equally off-limits: asking only satisfied customers ("review gating"). Ask everyone — your average will hold up fine if your work is good.
My takeaway
More reviews aren't luck, they're a process: the right moment, a short path, a reply routine — every week, ongoing. And they're only one building block of your local visibility: how Google combines them with your profile and website into the local ranking is what I explain in my post on local SEO ranking factors. If you'd rather tackle this together, book a free consultation — I'm happy to take a look at your profile.