How our review requests work.

From finished job to Google review

1. After the job

   The ask goes out

   A few hours after a confirmed booking, the customer gets a short message from your business with a personal link. Customers you add yourself, one per line or as a CSV from your invoicing tool, get the same message. Texts wait for daytime rather than arriving late at night.

2. Step one

   How did we do?

   The link opens a page with your name on it and one question: a rating from one to five, with space to say more. This part is private. It goes to you, not to Google.

3. Step two

   Everyone gets the Google link

   Whatever rating they chose, the next screen offers the same link to your Google review box. If they want help with the wording, they can type or say a few words and get a tidied-up version in a box they can edit. They post it themselves, or not at all.

4. Straight away

   You hear about the unhappy ones

   A rating of three or lower sends you an alert with what they wrote, so you can call them that day. The alert is for you. It does not change what the customer is shown.

5. A day or two later

   One reminder

   Anyone who answered the first question but has not gone on to Google gets one reminder, at the same interval for everyone. Then we stop.

Why the rating never decides who is asked

Sending only happy customers to Google is called review gating, and Google's content policy does not allow businesses to "discourage or prohibit negative reviews, or selectively solicit positive reviews from customers." When Google finds fake engagement it can restrict a Business Profile, for example by stopping new reviews for a period.

So the private question and the public ask are kept apart. The rating is recorded, it can trigger an alert to you, and it is never used to decide what the customer sees next. The longer explanation of the rule is in what is review gating.

What we never do

• Decide who is asked for a public review based on their rating. There is no rule anywhere in the system that says "only four and five stars".
• Post, edit or remove a review. Only the customer can post it, on their own Google account.
• Offer the customer anything in exchange for a review.
• Write a review from nothing. The wording help only works from what the customer actually said, and it declines when they have not described the visit.
• Text someone who has not agreed to texts, or anyone who has replied STOP.

Paying for reviews in any form, including discounts and prize draws, is covered in can you pay for Google reviews.

What you control

• Your Google review link. You paste it once during setup; here is where to find it.
• Who is skipped. Text your business line "don't ask Jackie Smith" and she is not asked. Use it for customers who asked not to be contacted, not to leave out the unhappy ones.
• Asks on demand. Text "ask Jane Smith for a review", check the preview, reply YES.
• Your replies on Google. You own the Business Profile and the replies. Our guide to responding to negative Google reviews has examples.

Common questions

Do unhappy customers still get asked for a Google review?

Yes. Every customer who answers the first question is shown the Google review link, whatever rating they gave. A low rating also sends you an alert so you can call them, but it never removes the link.

Can you post reviews for my customers?

No. The customer always posts their own review on Google. We send the ask and make the link easy to use, and that is where our part ends.

What if I do not want a particular customer asked?

Text your business line something like "don't ask Jackie Smith" and that customer is skipped. Skipping is for customers who asked not to be contacted, or a job that did not go ahead. It is not for leaving out someone you think is unhappy: that is the selective asking Google's policy does not allow. You can also ask for one on demand with "ask Jane Smith for a review", which shows you a preview and waits for your YES before anything is sent.

Do you text customers who never agreed to texts?

No. A customer is texted only if they agreed to review texts, for example by ticking the box when they booked. Everyone else, including customers you add from a list, is asked by email. Anyone who replies STOP is never texted again.