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How to Get More Google Reviews Without Breaking the Rules
Kyle Vogt, Founder, Groow GroupPublished · 5 min read
After every job
Automatic
- 1
Job closed
Furnace install · Sarah K.
- 2
Text sent
2 hours later
- 3
Review posted
★★★★★ “Same-day install…”
- 4
Reply drafted
Approved by you
More recent, specific reviews help you show up in AI answers. Here's a simple system for contractors that stays within Google's and the FTC's rules.
Key takeaways
- Recent, specific reviews show AI that real customers use you, and give it something concrete to say.
- Ask every customer, every time, right after the job, with your direct review link.
- Never offer anything for a review or only ask happy customers: Google and the FTC don't allow it.
- Reply to negative reviews calmly and briefly; future customers and AI read your replies too.
Reviews do two jobs for AI visibility. The number and recency show that real customers use you. The words in them give AI assistants something specific to say about you, like same-day service, fair pricing or a clean install.
The fastest way to get more of them is also the simplest: ask every customer, every time, right after the job.
The rules you need to know
- Google doesn't allow offering anything in exchange for a review, whether that's a discount, a gift card or a free service.
- Google also doesn't allow “review gating”, where you only send happy customers to Google and steer unhappy ones somewhere else.
- Since 2024, the FTC's rule on consumer reviews bans fake reviews and bans offering incentives for reviews that are conditioned on the review being positive. Penalties can be significant.
- Don't write reviews for your own business, and don't ask employees, friends or family to review you as if they were customers.
A simple system that works
- Get your direct review link from your Google Business Profile.
- Send it to every customer by text within a few hours of finishing the job, while it's fresh.
- Keep the message short and personal: thank them by name and mention the job.
- It's fine to ask them to mention what you helped with. It's not fine to tell them what to write or what rating to give.
- Reply to every review, good or bad, within a couple of days.
Replying to negative reviews
Stay calm and brief. Thank them, acknowledge the problem without arguing the details in public, and offer a way to make it right offline. Future customers, and AI assistants, read your replies too.
Groow's review engine sends the request after every job and drafts replies for you to approve, so your review count keeps growing without extra work.
About the author
Kyle Vogt, Founder, Groow Group
Kyle founded Groow Group to help businesses show up when customers ask ChatGPT, Google and the other AI assistants who to call. He writes about what actually moves AI and Google visibility, from the checks Groow runs every week.