How to create and share your Google review link

You get your Google review link inside your Google Business Profile: open the profile, choose the option to ask for reviews and copy the link. The link opens the review window directly, so the customer does not have to search for you. This guide shows how to find it, test it and share it.

What the review link is and why it helps

Without a link, a customer has to open Google, search for your business, find the right profile, scroll to the reviews and tap the button to write one. Each step is a place where people stop.

The review link skips all of that. One tap opens your profile with the star rating and the text box ready. The customer only needs to be signed in to a Google account.

You need a Google Business Profile that you manage. If you have not claimed your profile yet, do that first. Google will ask you to verify that the business is yours, and this can take some days.

How to find your link, step by step

Google changes the names of its menus from time to time, so the labels on your screen may be a little different. The path is usually this:

1. Sign in to the Google account that manages your business.
2. Search for your business name on Google, or open the Google Maps app and tap your business.
3. You see the management panel for your profile. Open the reviews area. It is often called Read reviews.
4. Choose Get more reviews or Ask for reviews.
5. Copy the link that Google shows. It is a short address that ends in the word review.

Save the link somewhere your whole team can find it, for example in a shared note. You will use it often.

If you cannot find the button

There is a second way. Every place on Google has a Place ID. Google offers a free Place ID finder in its developer documentation. Search for your business there, copy the ID and put it at the end of this address:

https://search.google.com/local/writereview?placeid=YOUR_PLACE_ID

Both kinds of link open the same review window.

Test the link before you share it

A broken or wrong link wastes every request you send. Take two minutes to check:

• Open the link on a phone, not only on a computer. Most customers will use a phone.
• Open it in a private browser window. You should see a sign-in step and then the review window.
• Check that the right business and the right branch appear. This matters if you have more than one location. Each location has its own link.
• Send the link to yourself by text and by email. Make sure it is not cut off or broken into two lines.

Do not post a review of your own business during the test. Reviews must come from real customers.

Make a QR code for your counter

A QR code is the same link in a form that a phone camera can read. It is useful wherever customers stand in front of you.

1. Open a QR code generator. Many are free, and some browsers have one built in under the share menu.
2. Paste your review link and download the image.
3. Print it with a short line of text next to it.
4. Scan the printed code with two different phones to test it.

Choose a generator that makes a plain, static code. Some services route the code through their own address and stop it working when a free period ends.

A line of text you can print next to the code:

How was your visit? Scan the code and tell us on Google. It takes about a minute. Every honest opinion helps.

Where to share the link

Put the link where customers already are, at the moment when the work is done:

• A text or email after the job. This is the strongest place. See our review request templates for wording.
• The invoice or receipt. A short line at the bottom with the QR code.
• Your email signature. One line: Happy to hear your feedback on Google, plus the link.
• A card on the counter or in the bag. With the QR code.
• Your website. A small button on the contact or thank-you page.
• The van or the waiting room. A sticker or small sign with the QR code.

A message you can copy:

Hi [first name], thank you for choosing [business name]. If you have a minute, we would be glad to hear how it went: [review link]. Thank you, [your name]

Rules to keep in mind when you share it

Google has clear rules for reviews. The main ones for small businesses are:

• Give the same link to everyone. Do not send the link only to customers who seem happy and a different page to the others. Google calls this review gating and does not allow it.
• Offer no reward. No discount, gift, voucher or prize draw in return for a review.
• Do not write reviews yourself and do not ask staff or family to pose as customers.
• Do not set up a tablet in the shop where customers write reviews one after another on your device. Reviews should come from the customer's own phone and account.

You may offer a private way to give feedback as well, as long as every customer gets both options. Rules can change, so read Google's current policy from time to time.

If you want the request to go out by itself after each job, the 5-Star Review Engine from Astranode does this and sends everyone the same link. It is in early access.