A Google review is the rating a customer leaves on your Google Business Profile: a number of stars, usually with a few lines of text. It appears next to your profile on Maps and in Search, so it is read by people who do not know you yet. Getting reviews is not about tricks. It is about asking in the right way, within Google’s rules and Belgian law.
How do I ask for reviews without breaking Google’s rules?
Google allows asking. Its help pages say you can ask customers to open a Google link or scan a QR code, and that the customer needs to be signed in with a Google account to do it. Google’s policy is explicit too: you may ask for reviews that reflect a real experience, as long as you do not offer a reward and do not try to influence the rating or the content.
In practice, that means three things you do not do:
- Offer nothing in return for a review. No discount, no free coffee, no prize draw. Google names payment, discounts and free goods or services, and the ban also covers a review you later want changed or removed.
- Do not ask only the happy customers. Google forbids discouraging negative reviews or asking for positive ones selectively. This is called “review gating”: first asking “were you happy?” and only giving the link to those who say yes.
- Do not pressure anyone. Google says you may not require or pressure customers to write a review while they are in your business, and that you may not ask for specific content or for a set number of reviews per employee.
What is allowed: asking everyone the same thing, simply and without conditions. “If you were happy, a review helps us a lot, here is the link” is enough. If the answer is honest, it is allowed to be negative.
What does Belgian and European law say about fake or bought reviews?
A 2019 European directive, the Omnibus Directive (2019/2161), tightened the rules on unfair commercial practices. Belgium has put them into Book VI of the Code of Economic Law. The FPS Economy explains them in its “Guidelines Online reviews” of 5 April 2023, which say the following:
- Writing reviews yourself, or having them written, while posing as a customer is prohibited in any case. That includes employees or third parties with no real experience of your business (article VI.100, 22° and 26°).
- If you claim that your reviews come from real customers, you must take reasonable and proportionate steps to check that (article VI.100, 25°).
- Paid or sponsored reviews (money, a discount, a voucher, a free product) must be labelled as such when you publish them on your website (article VI.100, 24°).
- If you contact customers yourself for a review, you contact all of them, not just the ones likely to write something positive. A random, objective selection is allowed, for example the customers of the past twelve months. Do not ask the customer to leave out anything that went less well either: the review may then no longer be authentic.
Two caveats. The guidelines are written mainly for people who publish reviews on their own website or platform. On Google Maps, Google decides what stays up, but the prohibited practices themselves apply to you as a business owner. And the FPS Economy considers a contest around reviews acceptable under conditions, while Google prohibits any reward. So follow the strictest rule: on Google, no contest and no reward.
If you suspect another business of using fake reviews, you can report it through ConsumerConnect. The Economic Inspectorate of the FPS Economy looks at the report and can decide to open an investigation.
How quickly and how should I reply to a review?
Reply to every review, the positive ones too, and do it within a few days. Google asks for short, specific replies without advertising. A generic “thank you” says little. One sentence that adds something does, such as an answer to a question or a detail the customer mentioned.
Your reply sits under the review, so even people who never write anything themselves see how you handle criticism.
What do I do with a bad review?
A bad review is not a disaster, and Google says a negative review does not necessarily mean a business is run badly. What Google recommends:
- Stay calm and write as someone who wants to fix it. Address the customer by name and sign with your own name.
- Acknowledge what is true. If you made a real mistake, own it. If the complaint is about something outside your control, answer with what you can and cannot do.
- No private details, no personal attacks. If the matter is complicated, offer to continue by phone or email.
- Do not be defensive. A constructive reply can even lead the customer to update their review. Do not count on it.
A review that you simply find unfair or unpleasant does not break Google’s rules and stays up. Your reply is what you have left.
How do I put a QR code at the till?
Google points to its own help page for creating a link or QR code to ask for reviews. Put a card or stand with it at the till or the counter, with one sentence: “A review helps us, scan here.” Put it where customers wait for a moment anyway, and leave the decision to the customer. A member of staff who says “feel free to leave five stars” goes too far: that is pressure on the customer and an attempt to steer the rating.
A second fixed place is your confirmation email, sent to every customer and not only the happy ones.
How do I report a review that breaks Google’s rules?
In your profile management, choose “Report” on the review, give a reason and send the report. You can follow the status there: the report is still pending, or it has been reviewed and no policy violation was found. Google says the assessment usually takes several days.
If the review is not removed, you can appeal once, for up to ten reviews per appeal. After the appeal the status shows “Escalated” and you get the final decision by email. Only reviews that break the policy qualify: fake reviews, reviews with a conflict of interest (a former employee, a competitor) or reviews with a reward behind them. A review you simply dislike reading will not be removed.
How does Ovrick handle this?
With the Business Profile Fix, I get your Google Business Profile in order. It comes with a QR code for reviews, with a stand for the counter and a card for the till. You ask for the reviews yourself, following the rules above. I never write any, and I do not promise a number of stars or reviews. The Business Profile Fix is also part of Orbit and Cargo; the pricing page shows what each plan includes. How the profile itself works is in the Google Business Profile guide, and how it fits with your site is in the guide to SEO.