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Owner tools

Review request kit

Put in your business name, trade, first name, and Google review link. You get texts and an email to send after each job, a printable card with a QR code, and replies for good and bad reviews. Edit any of it, then copy.

Your details

Four things, then everything below fills in. Leave any of them blank and you get a [blank] to fill in instead, never a made-up detail.

Customers answer a person, not a company.

How to find your review link
  1. Sign in to the Google account that manages your Business Profile.
  2. On a computer, search Google for your business name. Your profile tools show at the top of the results. In the Google Maps app, open your business profile instead.
  3. Choose Ask for reviews. In some versions it is called Share review form, or sits under Read reviews.
  4. Copy the link it gives you and paste it above. It usually starts with g.page/r/.

The long form, search.google.com/local/writereview?placeid= followed by your place ID, works too. Google renames these buttons from time to time; if you cannot find them, search the Business Profile help for “ask for reviews”.

Used only for the estimate on this page.

Your details stay in this page and its address. Nothing is sent unless you ask for a copy below.

How many reviews to expect, roughly

4 to 9new reviews a month

If you ask after every finished job, a fair estimate is about 4 to 9 new reviews a month, or 52 to 104 over a year. Not a promise: some months will be lower.

  1. Jobs finished a weekYour number10
  2. Jobs a month10 × 4.33 weeks43.3
  3. If 1 in 10 leave a review43.3 × 10%4.3
  4. If 1 in 5 leave a review43.3 × 20%8.7

An estimate, not a promise. The 10 to 20 percent is a rule of thumb for a personal text with a direct link, not a measured rate; yours depends on your customers and how soon you ask. The habit that matters: ask after every finished job, the same way.

Texts to send

Three texts and an email, timed to the job

Fill in the [blanks], change any word, then copy. Every one asks for an honest review and offers nothing in return, because Google does not allow incentives or asking only happy customers. Replace [job] with a few words, like “the job we did”.

  • Same day

    Send within a few hours of finishing the job, while it is fresh.

    211 of 300 characters, sent as 2 parts that most phones join5 blanks to fill
  • Two days later

    One reminder only, and only if they have not left a review yet. Then stop.

    258 of 300 characters, sent as 2 parts that most phones join5 blanks to fill
  • After a callback or warranty visit

    After you go back to fix something. Ask the same way you ask everyone else.

    259 of 300 characters, sent as 2 parts that most phones join5 blanks to fill
  • Email version

    For customers who booked by email, or as the same-day ask when you do not have a mobile number.

    7 blanks to fill
Leave-behind card

A card with a QR code to your review form

Hand it over with the invoice or leave it on the counter. A phone camera opens your review form directly, so there is nothing to type. The code is made in your browser from your link.

[Business name]How did we do?Scan to leave an honest Google review.Thank you for choosing us. [Your first name]
Your QR code appears here once you add your review link.

Add your review link above to print the card or download the QR code. Until then the card shows where the code will go.

Replying to reviews

What to say back, good or bad

Short, calm, and signed by a person. Fill in the blanks from the review itself, never from your job records.

  • A 5-star review

    Thank them by name, mention the job they mentioned, keep it short.

    4 blanks to fill
  • A mixed review

    Agree with what is fair, say what you changed, and offer a call.

    6 blanks to fill
  • An unfair 1-star review

    Calm and factual. No customer details, no argument. Take it offline.

    5 blanks to fill
  • Reply to every review, good and bad, within a few days. The reply is written for the next customer who reads it.
  • Never mention the customer's address, what they paid, or job details they did not share themselves.
  • Wait until you are calm before replying to a bad review. Agree with what is fair, and move the rest to a phone call.
  • If a review breaks Google's rules (spam, someone who was never a customer, offensive language), report it from your Business Profile. Google decides; arguing in the reply does not help.
What Google allows

Four rules that keep your reviews on your profile

Reviews that break Google’s rules can be removed, and a profile with a pattern of them can be restricted. These are the ones owners run into most.

  • Ask every customer, the same way

    Send the same ask after every finished job, whether or not you think it went perfectly. Asking only the customers you expect to be happy is called review gating, and Google does not allow it.

  • Offer nothing in return

    No discounts, gifts, entries, or credits for a review, even for an honest one. Google's policy forbids incentives and can remove the reviews they bring in.

  • No survey that filters people

    Do not send happy customers to Google and unhappy ones to a private form. Ask everyone for a public review. You can still offer to fix a problem, separately.

  • Only real customers, in their own words

    No reviews written by you, your staff, or family, and no writing them for customers. In the US, the Federal Trade Commission's 2024 rule on reviews also bars fake reviews and paying for positive ones.

Email me this kit

Leave your email and a person at Cornerstone sends you this kit with your edits, so it is in your inbox when you need it.

No mailing list. A person reads it and replies.