For contractors & local service pros
How to get more Google reviews, and ask for them automatically
Most happy customers will leave a review if you ask them, but few do it unprompted. The fix is simple: ask every customer, right after the job, with a link that opens your review box in one tap. Below is how to do it, with templates you can copy. Or let Redbud Way send the request for you every time a customer pays, free.
Why Google reviews matter for a local business
When someone searches for a plumber, cleaner, or electrician near them, the businesses with more and better reviews get the calls. Google says review count and score are factors in local search ranking, and a long list of recent reviews is what makes a stranger trust you enough to book. A steady habit of asking beats a one-time push: reviews keep coming in, and recent ones count for more with customers.
How to get more Google reviews: 6 steps
- Get your direct review link. In your Google Business Profile, choose Ask for reviews (or Get more reviews) and copy the link. It opens the review box directly, so the customer doesn't have to search for you. You can also find it with a free Google review link finder.
- Ask every customer. Not just the ones who seemed thrilled. It's fairer, it's what Google requires, and it gets you more reviews.
- Ask soon after the job. Within a day or two, while the work is fresh. Once the customer has paid is a natural moment.
- Make it one tap. Put the link in the message itself. Every extra step ("search for us on Google") loses people.
- Follow up once, then stop. One polite reminder after about a week is fine. More than that annoys customers.
- Reply to your reviews. Thank people for good ones, and answer a bad one calmly with what you did to fix it. Future customers read the replies too.
How to ask for a Google review: copy-paste templates
Swap in the parts in [brackets]. Keep it short and personal, and always include your direct review link.
Send it the same day or the day after you finish.
Subject: How did we do, [first name]? Hi [first name], Thanks for choosing [business name] for your [job, e.g. water heater install]. If you have a minute, a Google review would mean a lot to a small business like ours. It helps neighbors find someone they can trust. Leave a review here: [your Google review link] Thanks again, [your name] [business name]
Text message
Short enough to read at a glance. Send it only to customers who gave you their number for job updates.
Hi [first name], it's [your name] from [business name]. Thanks for having us out today! If you were happy with the work, would you leave us a quick Google review? It really helps a small business: [your Google review link]
In person, at the end of the job
Asking face to face works best when the customer is looking at finished work. Follow it with the link.
Thanks for having us. One favor: most of our new customers find us on Google, so a review really helps. Mind if I text you the link? It takes about a minute.
One follow-up
If there’s no review after about a week, one polite reminder is fine. After that, let it go.
Hi [first name], just a quick follow-up from [business name]. If you have a moment, we'd be grateful for a short Google review: [your Google review link]. No worries if not, and thanks again for your business.
What Google doesn't allow
Breaking these rules can get reviews removed from your profile, so it's not worth the risk.
- No incentives. Don't offer a discount, gift, or entry into a drawing for a review.
- No review gating. Don't ask "were you happy?" first and send only the happy customers to Google. Ask everyone the same way.
- No fake or self-written reviews. Not from you, your staff, or family, and never bought.
- Don't discourage negative reviews. A few honest critical reviews among many good ones make the good ones more believable.
Redbud Way asks for the review for you
The hard part isn't knowing how to ask. It's remembering to, after every job. Redbud Way is a free invoicing and card-payment app for contractors, and because it knows when each customer pays, it can send the request at the right moment without you thinking about it.
Paste your Google review link into Settings and pick when to ask: 2 hours, 1 day, or 3 days after payment. Send yourself a test to see exactly what customers get.
When a customer pays an invoice in full, books and pays for a service, or starts a recurring plan, Redbud Way lines up their review request. Booked services wait until after the visit.
"How did we do?", from your business name, with one button to your Google review page. Replies come to you. You see how many requests went out and how many customers opened your review link.
- Every customer, same request
- No "were you happy?" filter, so you stay inside Google's rules.
- Never pushy
- At most one request per customer every 90 days, once for a recurring customer, none for refunded jobs, and a one-click opt-out in every email.
- Built on your customer list
- Everyone you invoice, quote, or book is saved with their history, so requests go to real customers after real jobs. No list to upload.
- Free
- Part of Redbud Way's one free plan. No per-request fee, no subscription, and a 0% platform fee on your payments; Stripe's standard fees apply.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I get more Google reviews for my business?
- Ask every customer, soon after the job, with a direct link that opens the review box in one tap. Most happy customers will leave a review when asked, but few think to do it on their own. Ask once, follow up at most once, and reply to the reviews you get. Redbud Way can send the request for you automatically after each paid job.
- How do I ask a customer for a Google review?
- Keep it short and personal: thank them by name, mention the job, say a review helps a small business like yours, and give them your direct Google review link. Email and text both work. Never offer a discount or gift in return, and ask every customer, not only the ones you think were happy.
- How do I find my Google review link?
- Sign in to your Google Business Profile, choose Ask for reviews (on some profiles it is labeled Get more reviews), and copy the link it shows. It opens your review box directly. You can also look your business up with a free Google review link finder.
- When is the best time to ask for a Google review?
- Within a day or two of finishing the job, while the work is fresh and the customer is happy it is done. For a one-off job, once the customer has paid is a natural point. Waiting weeks lowers the chance they will do it.
- Can I offer a discount or gift in exchange for a Google review?
- No. Google’s policy forbids offering money, discounts, or gifts for reviews, and reviews it finds that were incentivized can be removed. Ask without anything attached.
- Can I ask only my happy customers for reviews?
- No. Google forbids selectively asking satisfied customers for reviews, which is called review gating. Tools that first ask “were you happy?” and send only the happy ones to Google break this rule. Send every customer the same request.
- Does Redbud Way send Google review requests automatically?
- Yes. Save your Google review link in Settings and Redbud Way emails each customer a review request after they pay you: 2 hours, 1 day, or 3 days after payment, your choice. For a booked service it waits until after the scheduled visit. Each email comes from your business name, replies go to you, and it has one button to your Google review page.
- How much do automatic review requests cost?
- Nothing. Review requests are part of Redbud Way’s one free plan, with no per-request fee and no limit. Redbud Way makes its money nowhere else either: it has no subscription and a 0% platform fee. Stripe’s standard fees apply only to the payments you collect.
- Will my customers get too many review emails?
- No. Redbud Way asks a customer at most once every 90 days per business, asks a recurring customer once rather than after every charge, skips refunded jobs, and every email has a link to stop review requests from you.
- Can Redbud Way send review requests by text message?
- Not yet. Automatic requests go by email. You can still text customers yourself using the text template on this page.
Get paid, then get the review
Send invoices your customers pay by card, and let Redbud Way ask each one for a Google review once they've paid. It's free, with a 0% platform fee. Stripe's standard fees apply to payments, billed by Stripe.