How to automate Google review requests

An automated review request is one that goes out because a sale happened, not because someone on your team remembered. It has three parts:

1. A trigger

   The moment a sale is real, such as a paid order, a finished job or a paid invoice, recorded in a tool you already use.

2. A wait

   Time for the customer to actually use what they bought before you ask.

3. The ask

   A short message with a link that opens your Google review box directly.

Set up well, every customer is asked once, at a sensible moment, and nobody does anything by hand. It doesn’t mean posting reviews for customers or emailing your whole mailing list: a Google review has to be written by the customer, from their own Google account.

The best trigger is the record you already create when someone pays you. Most businesses have one:

• Online store

  A paid order in Shopify or WooCommerce

• Payments

  A successful charge in Stripe or Square

• Invoicing

  A paid invoice in QuickBooks

• Field service

  A completed job in Jobber or Housecall Pro

• Sales team

  A deal marked won in a CRM like Salesforce

These tools can notify another app when that happens, either directly through a webhook or through Zapier. A few things make the difference between a trigger that works and one that annoys people:

• Trigger on payment, not on the order. Customers whose payment failed, or who canceled before paying, shouldn’t be asked.
• Make sure the customer’s email comes with it. A sale with no email address can’t be followed up.
• Ignore test events. Setting up a webhook usually sends a sample order; it shouldn’t email anyone.

For sales that never capture an email, like a counter sale or a table at a restaurant, put your review link or a QR code in front of the customer instead: on a sign by the register, a receipt or a card left after a job.

Ask once the customer has experienced what they paid for, while it’s still fresh:

1. The sale

   Payment is recorded. Don’t ask yet.

2. Same day or next

   A service delivered on the spot: a haircut, a repair, a class.

3. About a week

   Shipped goods, once they’ve arrived and been used.

4. At sign-off

   Longer projects, when the work is done, not when the deposit is paid.

Then ask once per purchase, and give repeat customers a break. Someone who buys every week shouldn’t get a review request every week; a cooldown of a month or two keeps your regulars from tuning you out.

Keep the message itself short: from your business’s name, a plain subject line, one sentence and one button. A single, well-timed ask is easier on customers than a string of reminders.

“Review gating” means screening customers first, for example asking “How did we do?” and only sending those who answer four or five stars on to Google. It’s tempting to automate, and it’s against Google’s rules. Google’s content policy says businesses may not:

• selectively ask for positive reviews,
• discourage or prohibit negative reviews, or
• offer incentives for reviews, such as payment, discounts or free goods or services.

Reviews that break these rules can be removed from your listing. The safe setup is simple: every customer gets the same request and the same link to Google, whatever you think of how the sale went. Collecting private feedback first is fine, as long as everyone is still offered the Google link afterward.

It also tends to work out. Asked at a good moment, satisfied customers are the ones most likely to follow through, and Google itself points out that a mix of positive and negative reviews can look more trustworthy than a wall of five stars.

“Find us on Google and leave a review” loses most people along the way. A direct link opens the review box for your business in one click. There are two ways to get one:

1. From your Google Business Profile. Google gives you a link and QR code to share with customers.
2. From your Place ID. Every business on Google Maps has a Place ID. Look yours up in Google’s Place ID Finder and add it to the end of the review link below.

If you run more than one location, each has its own Place ID, so make sure each location’s customers get that location’s link. Customers need a Google account to post, and Google doesn’t let anyone pre-fill a review’s text or star rating for them; the customer always writes and rates it themselves.

Step-by-step instructions are in how to get a Google review link and QR code, or make one in a few seconds with our free review link generator.