How to Ask for Reviews: 12 Scripts That Stay Legal

Asking customers for reviews is explicitly allowed on Google and explicitly banned on Yelp. Asking only the happy ones is banned on both, and since October 2024 a US federal rule has carried civil penalties of up to $53,088 per violation for some review practices. Most script libraries mention none of this.

Below are twelve scripts you can send today, each marked with where it is safe to use, plus the rules that decide which asks are legal.

What are you actually allowed to do?

Google says ask, but never selectively

Google's policy permits merchants to solicit or encourage content representing a genuine experience, without offering incentives or attempting to influence the rating or contents.

The same page prohibits discouraging or prohibiting negative reviews and selectively soliciting positive reviews from customers. That is review gating, and it is the single most common tactic sold by reputation software: survey first, send happy customers to Google, route unhappy ones to a private form. It is a direct policy violation.

Also prohibited by name: offering payment, discounts or free goods for a review, pressuring customers to review while still on the premises, asking that a review include specific content such as a staff member's name, and setting staff review quotas.

Penalties go beyond deleted reviews. Google can block new reviews for a period, unpublish existing ones, and display a public warning on your profile stating that fake reviews were removed.

Yelp says do not ask at all

Yelp's guidance is the opposite of Google's. Its content guidelines state plainly not to ask for reviews and not to offer to pay for them, and the scope covers customers, mailing lists, friends, family and follow ups after surveys.

Yelp filters solicited reviews with its recommendation software and posts public consumer alerts on offending business pages. So any script here that names Google should never name Yelp.

The FTC rule that carries fines

The US Federal Trade Commission's rule on consumer reviews and testimonials took effect on 21 October 2024 and authorises courts to impose civil penalties for knowing violations.

It bans buying fake reviews, undisclosed insider reviews from employees, officers and immediate relatives, company controlled review sites, certain review suppression, and fake indicators of social media influence.

Two points from the FTC's own guidance that matter for scripts. On gating, the rule contains no specific prohibition, but the FTC says the practice could still violate the FTC Act under the Endorsement Guides. On incentives, the rule permits them only where there is no express or implied requirement that the review express a particular sentiment, and the FTC's example of an illegal ask is telling customers to say how much they loved their visit in exchange for a coupon.

The maximum civil penalty figure is currently $53,088 per violation, adjusted in January 2025 and unchanged since. The $51,744 figure still quoted in most articles is the stale 2024 number.

Note the practical consequence: a blanket ask sent to every customer is the safest pattern available, because the FTC exempts generalised solicitations, and Google's ban is specifically on selective asking.

Twelve scripts

Every script below is safe to send on Google. None should be used for Yelp. Swap the bracketed parts and keep the review link short.

1. SMS, same day, trades and home services

Hi [name], thanks for having us out today. If the work was up to standard, a quick Google review would genuinely help other people in [town] find us: [link]. Either way, tell us how we did.

2. Email, immediately after a completed job

Subject: Quick favour, two minutes. Hi [name], the [job] is finished and the invoice is attached. If you have two minutes, a review helps people nearby decide whether to call us. Honest feedback either way is useful, so please say what you actually found. [link]

3. In person, at handover

Before I go, one thing. We get most of our work from people finding us on Google, and reviews are what makes that happen. If you would be willing to leave one, I will text you the link now. No pressure at all if not.

Note that this asks permission to send the link later rather than asking for the review on the spot. Google prohibits pressuring customers to review while on the premises, so send, do not stand there.

4. Email, three days after a longer project

Hi [name], now that you have lived with the [work] for a few days, how is it holding up? If anything needs attention, reply and we will sort it. If it is all good, a Google review would mean a lot: [link]

5. Invoice footer line

Found us useful? Reviews are how new customers find us. Leave one here: [link]

6. Repeat customer

Hi [name], that is the third job you have trusted us with, which we do not take for granted. We have never asked you for a review. If you have a moment, it would carry more weight than most: [link]

7. After an unsolicited compliment

Thank you, that is good to hear. Would you mind putting that in a Google review? What you just said is exactly what someone deciding between us and another firm needs to read. [link]

Do not tell them what to write beyond this. Requesting specific content is prohibited.

8. QR card left at the door

Job done. Scan to leave a review, good or bad. Both help us.

9. Professional services, clinics and consultancies

Hi [name], thank you for choosing [firm]. Reviews help people who are nervous about picking a [profession] make a decision. If you are comfortable leaving one, the link is here: [link]. Please do not include any personal or medical details.

10. The single follow up

Hi [name], last note from me on this. If the review link got buried, here it is again: [link]. If you would rather not, no problem at all and I will not ask again.

One follow up. Not three. Persistent chasing edges toward pressure, and it annoys the customers most likely to say something useful.

11. When they mention a staff member

Really glad [name] looked after you well. If you leave us a Google review, mention whatever mattered most about the visit. [link]

This is deliberately worded to avoid asking them to name the staff member. Google explicitly prohibits requesting reviews that include content identifying a staff member, which makes the very common employee of the month review drive a policy breach.

12. Responses to reviews

To a five star: Thanks [name], glad the [specific job] went well. Call us any time. To a three star: Thanks for the honest write up, [name]. You are right about [the issue] and we have changed how we handle it. To a one star: [name], this is not the standard we work to. I would like to put it right. I am on [number] and will call you today if you would rather.

Google's guidance on replies asks you to keep them useful, readable and courteous, to avoid getting personal, and to sign off with a name so the reply reads as a person.

The asks that will get you penalised

• Surveying first and only sending happy customers to Google. This is gating, prohibited by name.
• Offering a discount, a free service or a prize draw entry for a review. Prohibited by Google regardless of sentiment.
• Asking customers to review before they leave your premises.
• Asking a review to mention a specific technician, product or phrase.
• Setting staff targets for review counts.
• Reviews from employees or family without a clear disclosure of the relationship, which is an FTC exposure as well as a Google one.
• Paying anyone to remove or change a truthful negative review.
• Asking for reviews on Yelp in any form.

What the data actually supports

BrightLocal's 2026 consumer survey of 1,002 US adults is the best sourced data in this subject, with a caveat worth stating: it is what consumers say, not what they were observed doing.

• 78 percent were asked for a review in the past year, and 65 percent of those wrote one. Asking works, and most businesses simply do not ask.
• 74 percent say they only care about reviews written in the last three months, which makes a steady trickle worth more than an old pile.
• 68 percent say they need at least 4 stars and 47 percent avoid businesses with fewer than 20 reviews.
• 37 percent cite the owner having responded as a trust factor.
• 45 percent now report using AI tools to find local businesses, up from 6 percent a year earlier.

On response rates by channel, there is nothing credible to report. Every claim that SMS converts three to five times better than email traces to reputation software vendors with no sample size, time period or method. We are not going to repeat numbers we cannot source, and neither should the agency pitching you.

What Google does document is that reviews feed local ranking as part of prominence. What it does not document is that replying to reviews affects ranking, so treat that claim as unsourced too.

Key takeaways

• Google permits asking for reviews. Yelp prohibits it entirely. Never run the same script across both.
• Review gating, asking only happy customers, is prohibited by Google by name and may breach the FTC Act.
• Incentivised reviews are banned by Google outright, and the FTC allows them only with no implied sentiment requirement.
• The FTC rule took effect 21 October 2024, with civil penalties up to $53,088 per violation. The $51,744 figure in most articles is stale.
• Asking every customer is the safest pattern, since the FTC exempts generalised solicitations and Google's ban targets selective asking.
• 78 percent of consumers were asked for a review last year and 65 percent of those wrote one.
• No credible data exists on review request response rates by channel. Every figure in circulation is unsourced vendor copy.

Common questions

Is it legal to ask customers for reviews?

On Google, yes, provided you ask everyone rather than only satisfied customers and offer nothing in exchange. On Yelp, no, its guidelines prohibit soliciting reviews entirely. In the US, the FTC rule also applies, banning undisclosed insider reviews and certain suppression practices.

What is review gating and why does it matter?

Gating means surveying customers first and directing only the happy ones to leave a public review. Google prohibits it by name under selectively soliciting positive reviews. Penalties include blocked reviews and a public warning displayed on your profile that fake reviews were removed.

Can I offer a discount for a review?

Not on Google, which prohibits offering payment, discounts or free goods in exchange for a review. The FTC rule is narrower, allowing incentives only where nothing implies the review must be positive, but Google's platform ban applies regardless and is enforced faster than any regulator.

How many reviews does a local business need?

BrightLocal's 2026 survey found 47 percent of consumers avoid businesses with fewer than 20 reviews, so 20 is a sensible first target. Recency matters more than volume beyond that: 74 percent say they only care about reviews written in the past three months.

Start with one script

Pick script one or two, send it to every customer you served this month with no filtering, and count what comes back. That single change usually outperforms anything else on a local SEO proposal, and it costs nothing.

Then check what the rest of the work is genuinely worth, because reviews are one of the few local ranking inputs Google actually documents.

EchoPulse runs review flows, local pages and profiles for local and service business owners. The $299 Pilot runs 14 days, you keep everything produced, and there is no contract.