Asking every client for a review at the moment the work is done, with a direct link and the same wording for everyone, and replying to every review is how to get more Google reviews. Offer no incentives and never choose who gets asked; Google's guidance treats reviews traded for discounts or free services as fake and misleading content.
A prospect searches for a family lawyer, a physiotherapist or an electrician, sees a few businesses on the map, and reads their reviews before choosing who to call. If the listing beside yours has a steady run of recent reviews and yours has a handful from years ago, that comparison happens without you in the room.
The fix is rarely a clever tactic. It is a single ask, built into the step where the work ends, sent to every client in the same words, plus an owner reply to every review that comes in. That is the review process we build into client intake and closing for firms and clinics across Atlantic Canada.
Getting it right matters because the rules are strict. Google removes reviews that were paid for or traded for discounts, and law firms and clinics carry confidentiality duties that limit what a reply can say. Below you will find the review link and QR code steps, ask templates, the policy lines quoted directly, reply wording that never confirms a client relationship, the removal process, regulator checks, and a way to measure progress.
Reviews affect both whether you appear and whether you get the call. Google lists replying to reviews among its tips for local ranking, and prospects see your reviews next to your profile before they call.
Google's local ranking help page says replying to reviews shows you value customer feedback, and that positive, high-quality reviews can improve your visibility and make a visit more likely. The same page notes that businesses with complete and accurate info are more likely to show up in local search results, so reviews work alongside the rest of your profile. Our guide to Google Business Profile optimization covers that wider routine.
Google's page on getting more reviews adds that reviews show next to your Business Profile in Maps and Search. A prospect comparing listings sees your rating, your review count, the latest comments and your replies before deciding who to call.
Every reply you post is public. A calm answer to a complaint is read by the reviewer once and by every prospect who scrolls past it later. Our own listing sits in the Saint John map pack, and the same rules apply to it.
Copy the link once from your Business Profile, then place it everywhere a client finishes with you. Google's guidance says customers can leave a review by visiting a Google link or scanning a QR code, so set up both.
If you would rather skip the dashboard, a Google review link generator tool does the same job, and we are building our own for this site.
If the panel offers a QR code download, use it. Otherwise paste the short link into a QR code generator, export a high-resolution file, and test it on an iPhone and an Android phone before printing anything. Then put the link or code where the work ends:
Each location has its own Business Profile, so each needs its own link and QR code. Name a person at every location who owns the replies, and check that printed codes match the office they sit in.
Make the ask a step in your process, not a favour someone has to remember. Tie it to the moment the work ends, give it to one named role, and use the same words for every client.
Our approach for firms and clinics across Atlantic Canada builds the review process into client intake and closing. In practice, note each client's preferred contact channel at intake, then add "review request sent" to the closing checklist with a date beside it, the same way you track the final account.
| Business | The moment | Who asks | Channel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Law firm | File closing, with the closing letter | The lawyer or assistant who closes the file | Email with the short link |
| Clinic | Discharge or the end of a treatment plan | Front desk at checkout | QR code at the desk, then a text |
| Trades company | Job sign-off on site | The technician, followed by the office | QR code in person, then a text |
| Multi-location business | Checkout at each location | The location manager | That location's own link |
Law firms and clinics should read the regulator section below before sending anything. Everyone else can start this week.
Ask everyone. Do not pick the clients you think liked you, and do not wait to see how they feel first. If someone does not respond, a short reminder later in the week is enough. If a client says they do not use Gmail, tell them Google lets them set up a Google Account with a non-Gmail email address.
Subject: Thank you from [Business]
"Hi [First name], thank you for choosing [Business]. If you have a moment, we would value an honest review of your experience on Google: [short link]. Your review helps other people in [town] decide who to call. [Owner name]"
"Hi [First name], it's [Name] at [Business]. Thanks again for choosing us. If you're willing, you can leave an honest Google review here: [short link]"
"Before you head out, would you be willing to leave an honest review on Google? This code opens the review page on your own phone. We read every one."
Google prohibits any review that is not a genuine, unbiased account of a real experience, and anything offered in exchange for one. Asking every client is allowed; what you offer and who you leave out is where the risk sits.
Google's prohibited and restricted content policy states that a review or rating "should reflect an actual experience with a business, and be genuine and unbiased." Under fake engagement it lists "reviews or ratings that have been paid for, directly or in kind" and "content that has been posted from multiple accounts by or at the request of one person." It also bars merchants from offering incentives such as "payment, discounts, free goods and/or services" in exchange for posting a review or for revising or removing a negative one.
Under rating manipulation, the policy targets incentivized or biased reviews and "content exhibiting unusual volumes or patterns of review contributions." Content in these categories is removed.
Review gating means sending a private survey first and passing only the happy clients to Google. Do not build it. A filtered set of reviews is not the genuine and unbiased picture the policy asks for, and Google's guidance tells businesses to value all reviews, noting that a mix of positive and negative feedback often feels more trustworthy.
Reviews from staff, owners or relatives fail the same test, so keep them off the profile. Do not hand clients an office tablet to review on the spot either, because a cluster of reviews from one device can resemble the unusual patterns the policy describes.
| Allowed | Prohibited or off-limits |
|---|---|
| Asking every client for an honest review | Offering payment, discounts, free goods or services for a review |
| Sharing your short link or QR code | Offering anything to change or remove a negative review |
| A reminder to clients who have not reviewed yet | Buying reviews, directly or in kind |
| Clients posting from their own phone and account | Posting from multiple accounts by or for one person |
| A QR code stand at the front desk | A run of reviews from one office device* |
| Replying to every review, positive or negative | Reviews from staff, owners or relatives* |
| A feedback survey sent alongside the review link to everyone | Gating, where only happy clients get the link* |
*These rows apply the policy's genuine-and-unbiased standard rather than quoting a specific line.
Reply to every review within a few days, in the owner's voice, and never confirm that the reviewer was a client or patient. Flag a review for removal only when it breaks Google's policy; a genuine bad experience stays up, and a calm reply is your answer to it.
Google's page on getting more reviews sets the reply rules: be professional and polite, keep it short and simple, be conversational, not promotional, and remember that replies are public and must follow Google's content policies. It also warns against sending the same "thank you" to everyone. Treat the templates below as starting points and echo one detail the reviewer already shared, as long as it reveals nothing new about their matter or treatment.
Never write "we have no record of you" or "glad we could help with your case." The first discloses who is not a client; the second confirms who is.
Under the policy quoted above, Google removes fake engagement, reviews paid for or traded for incentives, content posted from multiple accounts by one person, biased reviews, and posts made on a competitor's profile to undermine it. A genuine account of a bad experience breaks none of those rules, so expect it to stay.
Removal is neither instant nor guaranteed, so plan for a wait. In the meantime, post the unidentified-reviewer reply above; it is calm, it confirms nothing, and it shows later readers how you handle problems.
Google allows the ask, but your regulator decides whether and how you make it. Rules on advertising, testimonials and client contact differ by province and by profession, so check with your law society or health college before the first request goes out.
For lawyers, the Canadian Bar Association publishes The Ethics of Advertising: A Toolkit for Lawyers. It is a sensible starting point, but your provincial law society's code of conduct is the rule you answer to. Our lawyer SEO guide covers the wider search picture for firms.
For clinics, your college's advertising standard is the document to read, with close attention to anything it says about testimonials. Dental practices can pair this with our local SEO for dentists guide.
A reply that thanks someone for trusting you with their divorce or their knee surgery confirms a relationship the person may not have disclosed in full. Use the confidentiality-safe templates above for every review, positive ones included, and settle the regulator questions before you write a single ask.
Track a short set of numbers every month: new reviews, response rate, average rating trend, and your review count against the top three businesses in the map pack for your main search. Together they show whether staff are asking, whether replies keep pace, and whether the gap is closing.
| Metric | How to measure it | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews per month | Count new reviews on each location's profile at month end | Whether the ask is happening at the closing step |
| Ask rate | Review requests sent divided by files, jobs or discharges closed | Whether the checklist step is followed |
| Response rate | Reviews replied to divided by reviews received | Whether the owner reply habit holds |
| Average rating trend | Record the rating monthly and watch the direction | Whether a service problem is surfacing |
| Review count gap | Search your main service and town, then note the review counts of the top three map pack listings | How far behind you are and whether the gap is shrinking |
Read reviews per month alongside the ask rate. If requests go out but reviews do not arrive, test the link and shorten the message. If requests are not going out, the problem is the process, not the client.
Check the competitor gap from a phone inside your service area, since local results depend on where the searcher is. Reviews are one part of local visibility; if you want the profile, the review workflow and the rest of search handled together, see our SEO services, or local SEO in Saint John, NB if you are nearby.
A steady review count comes from a process, not a push. Copy your review link once and turn it into a QR code. Put the same ask at the step where the work ends, assign it to one role, and send it to every client. Offer nothing in exchange and filter no one out, because the policy removes incentivized and fake reviews. Reply to every review in the owner's voice without confirming who is a client or patient, flag only genuine policy breaches, and check your regulator before the first ask if you run a law firm or clinic. Then measure monthly against the top three listings in your map pack. If you would like the ask, the replies and the tracking built into your intake and closing workflow, book a free consultation with our team in Saint John.
