For a local service business, Google reviews do two jobs at once. Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking, so they affect how often you appear in the map. And they are what a homeowner reads before deciding whether to call you or the next listing.
The rules on asking for them have tightened, though, and some advice still circulating would now get reviews removed or a profile suspended. Here is what is allowed, what is not, and a routine that keeps you well inside both Google's policies and US law.
What Google prohibits
Google's policy on rating manipulation, which covers Business Profile reviews, is explicit about what businesses must not do. In summary:
- Offer any incentive for a review - such as payment, discounts or free services - whatever the review says
- Discourage negative reviews, or selectively ask only the customers you expect to be happy
- Set staff targets to collect a certain number of reviews
- Ask for reviews that include specific content - including naming a staff member
The last two were added in April 2026, and they catch a lot of well-meant advice. Asking customers to mention the technician by name, or to describe the exact job, now falls foul of the policy. So does a leaderboard of which technician collected the most reviews this month.
Review gating is out
Review gating means asking customers how their experience was first, then sending only the happy ones to Google and the unhappy ones to a private feedback form. Some review tools used to work this way. Google treats it as selective solicitation, and practices like it can lead to reviews being removed or a profile being restricted. Ask everyone the same way.
What the law adds
In the US, the FTC's rule on consumer reviews and testimonials took effect on October 21, 2024. It bans fake reviews, including ones written by people with no real experience of the business, and it bans incentives that are conditioned on a review being positive or expressing a particular sentiment. It also prohibits certain ways of suppressing negative reviews.
Google goes further than the FTC on incentives: the FTC targets incentives conditioned on sentiment, while Google bans incentives for any review at all. If you follow Google's rules, you are well inside the FTC's on this point.
The rule of thumb that keeps you safe: ask everyone, ask the same way, offer nothing, and let them say whatever they want.
What is allowed - and works
Google explicitly allows businesses to ask for reviews that reflect a genuine experience, without incentives and without trying to influence the rating or content. That leaves plenty of room to do it well:
- Ask every customer when the job is finished, in person, as a normal part of closing the job
- Follow up with a direct link to your review form, taken from your Google Business Profile, so it takes one tap
- Put the same link on invoices and receipts, where every customer sees it
- Reply to every review, positive or negative, promptly and politely
- Make asking a habit for the whole team, without targets or rewards attached
Replies matter more than most owners think. Google notes that replying shows you value feedback, and a calm, specific reply to a negative review often reassures the next reader more than a dozen five-star ratings. Never argue in public, and never reveal a customer's private details.
A routine for a trade business
The businesses with the steadiest review growth are not running campaigns. They have a routine that happens after every job:
- The technician finishes the job and asks, the same way every time: would you mind leaving us a review on Google?
- The office sends the direct review link the same day, by email or message
- The link is also printed on the invoice
- Someone replies to every new review within a couple of days
It is not clever, and that is the point. A steady trickle of genuine reviews, spread over months, looks and reads the way real customer feedback does - which is what both Google and homeowners are looking for.
Where reviews fit in local SEO
Reviews are one part of how you show up in the map, alongside relevance - services and categories that match the search - and distance. A profile with strong reviews but thin services still misses searches it should win. The trade-specific detail is on our pages for local SEO for plumbers, HVAC companies, roofing companies and electricians.
Frequently asked questions
- Can we offer a discount for leaving a review?
- Not for Google reviews. Google prohibits incentives for any review, positive or negative, such as payment, discounts or free services. Under the FTC's rule, incentives conditioned on a positive review are also illegal in the US.
- Can we ask customers to mention the technician's name?
- No. Since April 2026 Google's policy prohibits merchants requesting reviews that include specific content, including content identifying a staff member. Ask for a review and leave the content to the customer - many will mention the technician anyway.
- Is it OK to ask only happy customers?
- No. Selectively asking customers you expect to be pleased, or filtering unhappy ones to a private form first, is review gating, which Google prohibits. Ask every customer, the same way.
- Should we reply to negative reviews?
- Yes - calmly, promptly and without revealing private details. Acknowledge the problem, explain what you did or will do, and offer to continue the conversation directly. A good reply to a bad review often reassures the next reader more than another five-star rating.
Where this applies
Notes from the team running paid media, funnels, and growth systems for Platino Sol clients every day.