Google review rules for businesses, in plain English

By the Seyclops team · Updated 2026-10-22

The short answer

You can ask any customer for an honest review and send them a direct link. You can’t offer incentives, ask only happy customers (review gating), or post fake reviews. Offer every customer the public link, with private feedback as an extra option.

What Google allows

Asking any customer for an honest review, in person, by text, by email or on a receipt.
Sending a direct link to your review form.
Sending one reminder.
Replying to reviews publicly, including critical ones.
Flagging reviews that break Google's policies (spam, off-topic, conflicts of interest) for removal.

What Google prohibits

Incentives

Offering money, discounts, free services, gifts or prize-draw entries in exchange for reviews, even if you ask for honest ones.

Review gating (selective soliciting)

Google's policy prohibits discouraging negative reviews or selectively asking only satisfied customers for reviews. A common example is a "How did we do?" page that only shows the Google link to people who pick 4 or 5 stars and sends everyone else to a private form.

Fake and conflicted reviews

Reviews written by the owner, staff, family or anyone paid to post them, and reviews posted about competitors. Google detects and removes these, and repeated violations can lead to restrictions on your Business Profile.

The US rule on fake reviews

The Federal Trade Commission's rule on consumer reviews and testimonials took effect in October 2024. Among other things it bans buying or selling fake reviews, giving incentives that are conditioned on a review being positive, and suppressing negative reviews through threats or intimidation. Penalties can apply per violation, so treat review practices as a compliance issue, not just a marketing tactic.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. For your specific situation, check Google's current Business Profile policies and talk to a lawyer.

How to collect feedback without gating

You can still learn about problems privately. The compliant way is to give every customer the public Google review link, and also offer an optional private way to tell you about a problem. Nobody is filtered away from Google. This is how Seyclops' default Compliant mode works.

A compliant review routine

Ask every customer after every job, not a hand-picked few.
Send a direct Google review link to everyone.
Offer a private feedback option alongside it, never instead of it.
Send at most one reminder.
Reply to every review, and call unhappy customers the same day.

Next: How to get more Google reviews (the 7 steps that work).

Frequently asked questions

Can I offer a discount for a Google review?

No. Google prohibits offering any incentive for reviews, including discounts, gifts or prize draws, even if you only ask for honest reviews.

What is review gating?

Review gating means only sending satisfied customers to leave a public review while diverting unhappy ones to a private form. Google's policy prohibits it.

Can I ask only my happy customers for reviews?

No. Selectively soliciting positive reviews is prohibited. Ask all customers and let them choose.

Is it legal to collect private feedback?

Yes, as long as every customer is also offered the public review link and negative reviews are not suppressed.

Can I remove a negative Google review?

Only if it breaks Google's policies, such as spam, hate speech, a conflict of interest or content about a different business. Otherwise, reply professionally and try to resolve the issue.

Put this on autopilot

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