Guide · 2-minute read
More genuine reviews.
Satisfied customers rarely write of their own accord. Asking, and when and how, shapes your picture on Google.
By Manuel Bubori, Studio BUBORILast reviewed
For businesses that get found locally and whose customers check Google before they call.
On Google, reviews sit right next to your name, and prospects read them before they call. Even so, many businesses leave them to chance. Here is how to get more genuine reviews and what to avoid.
Why it pays off
Satisfied customers rarely write of their own accord; dissatisfied ones do. If you do not ask, you get a skewed picture. Reviews are also part of what counts in local search. How to look after the profile itself is covered in the article on the Google Business Profile.
Asking at the right moment
The best moment is the handover: when the job is done, the result is good and the customer is saying so. A short personal request does more than any system.
Make it easy. The business profile provides a direct link to leave a review, which can also be printed as a QR code on a card your team hands over.
Be careful with emails: in 2018 Germany's Federal Court of Justice ruled that a request for feedback by email can be advertising, even inside an invoice, and is not allowed without consent. The request in conversation or on a card is the safe route.
What not to do
No incentives. Discounts or gifts in return for reviews breach Google's policies.
Buy nothing, invent nothing. Fake reviews are prohibited under competition law, and reviews from your own team have no place in the profile either.
Do not ask only the happy ones. A row of exclusively perfect reviews is no more credible than a profile with one honestly answered criticism.
Reply, even to criticism
Replies show prospects how you treat customers. For praise, a short personal thank-you is enough.
Answer criticism factually, promptly and without justifying yourself: regret, what can be cleared up, and an offer to discuss it directly. Give no details of the job and no customer data. The people reading along are mainly your next prospects.
If a review breaches the policies, for example because it does not come from a customer at all, you can report it to Google.
In short
- Ask in person at the handover
- A direct link or QR code makes it easy
- No incentives, buy nothing, be careful with emails
- Reply to every review, factually to criticism
Frequently asked questions
Yes, in conversation or with a card at the handover. Be careful with email: under a 2018 ruling by Germany's Federal Court of Justice, that can be unlawful advertising without consent.
You should not. Incentives for reviews breach Google's policies.
Factually, promptly and without justifying yourself. Express regret, offer to clear it up directly and give no details about the customer.
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agent-view
What an answer engine reads from this page
A search engine returns ten links and the human picks. A language model returns one paragraph and names two or three companies in it. That is the difference between being found and being named. This page is built for the second case.
Retrieval
read: /llms.txt · /robots.txt · JSON-LD @graph · this page
answered: Yes, in conversation or with a card at the handover. Be careful with email: under a 2018 ruling by Germany's Federal Court of Justice, that can be unlawful advertising without consent.
Allowed agents (21)
Anthropic: ClaudeBot · Claude-User · Claude-SearchBot
Perplexity: PerplexityBot · Perplexity-User
Google: Google-Extended · Googlebot
Microsoft: Bingbot
Apple: Applebot-Extended · Applebot
Meta: Meta-WebIndexer · meta-externalfetcher · meta-externalagent
Mistral AI: MistralAI-Index · MistralAI-User · MistralAI-Training
DuckDuckGo: DuckAssistBot
rule: Allow: / · source: https://www.bubori.studio/robots.txt
Entity
url: https://www.bubori.studio/en/guide/getting-google-reviews
inLanguage: en-GB
alternate: de-DE · https://www.bubori.studio/ratgeber/google-bewertungen-bekommen
@type: Article
updated: 2026-10-31
Questions this page answers
- Can you ask customers for a Google review?
- Yes, in conversation or with a card at the handover. Be careful with email: under a 2018 ruling by Germany's Federal Court of Justice, that can be unlawful advertising without consent.
- Can you offer a discount for reviews?
- You should not. Incentives for reviews breach Google's policies.
- How do you reply to a bad review?
- Factually, promptly and without justifying yourself. Express regret, offer to clear it up directly and give no details about the customer.
Contact
email: hello@bubori.com
address: Industriestraße 3, 78052 Villingen-Schwenningen, Baden-Württemberg
geo: 48.0916, 8.5046
Machine-readable entry points
sitemap: https://www.bubori.studio/sitemap.xml
JSON-LD: in the head of this page
Ten links leave the choice to the human. One paragraph has already made the choice. A company that does not appear in that answer is not on the list being chosen from.