Can I offer a discount for a Google review?
No. Google says a review has to be a real experience. Offering payment, a discount, or free goods or services for a review, or to change or remove a review, is not allowed. Those reviews can be removed.
How to get more Google reviews
Short answer
Ask a real customer after the job is done, and give them a direct review link from your Google Business Profile. Google lets you share that link, or a QR code, in a text or email, on a receipt, and at the counter. Do not pay for a review, do not offer a discount for one, and do not ask only the people who already said they are happy.
What you can do
Ask when the work is finished
The useful moment is after the customer has seen the finished work and is not in a rush. A landscaper can ask once the cleanup is done and the customer is looking at the yard. A plumber, electrician, or HVAC tech can ask after the repair is done and the invoice is paid. A shop can ask as the customer leaves with what they came for. One short ask is enough. Google's Maps policy says a business should not require or pressure someone to write a review while they are still on the premises, and should not tell them which words to include. Hand them the link and let them decide later.
Source: Prohibited and restricted content (Maps User Generated Content Policy)
Copy the review link from Google
Google says you can create a link or a QR code so customers can leave a review on your Business Profile. On a computer, open the profile, select Read reviews, then Get more reviews, and copy the link. That is the link to text, email, and put on your site. Use the link Google gives you. A link you build by hand is easy to get wrong. The profile has to be yours. This page does not sign in to Google for you. If you do not have a verified profile yet, add that first. The Maps guide on this site covers how to add one and how the name, the towns, and the phone should match the website.
Source: Create a Google link or QR code to request reviews (Google Business Profile Help)
On this site: How to show up on Google Maps for your town
Send a short text or email
Google lists a thank you email as one place for the link. A text works the same way for a crew that does not send email. Keep it short, name the business, and include the link. Do not ask for a certain star rating, and do not offer anything in return. A landscaper or a trade can send: "Hi, this is [your name] from [your business]. Thanks for having us out in [town]. If you have a minute, a Google review helps neighbors find a local crew. Here is the link: [paste your review link]. No need to reply." A shop can send: "Hi, this is [your name] from [your shop]. Thanks for stopping in. If you have a minute, a Google review helps other people in [town] find us. Here is the link: [paste your review link]." Google says a customer must be signed in to a Google Account to leave a review. They can create that account with an email that is not Gmail.
Source: Tips to get more reviews (Google Business Profile Help)
Put a QR code at the job or the counter
The same Get more reviews screen on a computer shows a QR code. Google says that code is created in a computer browser, not on a phone. Right-click the code and save the image. Google says you can print it and display it in your store, and you can put the link on receipts. A shop can set the code by the register. A landscaper or a trade can print it on the invoice or on a card left with the job. The code is there if they want it. Do not stand over them until they scan it. The same Maps policy says not to require a review while they are still there.
Source: Create a Google link or QR code to request reviews (Google Business Profile Help)
Reply to every review
Google says a reply shows that you value the feedback, and that you have to verify the profile before you can reply. Reply to each review, including the hard ones. Keep it short and specific. A note that mentions the job or the town is better than the same thank you pasted under every review. Google says a mix of positive and negative reviews often feels more trustworthy, so do not hide from a hard one. For a negative review, stay polite, say what you will do, and offer a phone or email if the story needs more than a public reply. Do not offer a discount, free work, or any other payment to change that review or take it down. Google treats that as fake engagement. Do not share the customer's private details in the reply.
Source: Manage customer reviews (Google Business Profile Help); Tips to get more reviews (Google Business Profile Help)
Skip what Google does not allow
Google's Maps policy says a review has to be a real experience, and that fake engagement is removed. Do not pay for a review. Do not offer a discount, free goods, or a free service for a review, for a changed review, or for taking a negative review down. Do not ask only the customers who already said they are happy, and do not hold the link back until you know the review will be positive. People call that review gating. Google says a business may not discourage a negative review or selectively ask only for positive ones. Do not write a review of your own business, and do not ask staff, family, or another account to post one. Google treats current or former employment, and family, as a conflict of interest. Do not tell the customer what to write, including a staff member's name. A service that posts reviews for you is the same problem as a fake review.
Source: Prohibited and restricted content (Maps User Generated Content Policy)
Put the review link on your website
The same review link belongs on the site, near the phone number, so a customer who looks you up later can tap it. Use plain words such as Leave a Google review, and use the link you copied from Google. If you show reviews on the site, use the customer's real words. Do not rewrite them, and do not invent a review you do not have. The full set lives on the Google profile. If the site shows only a few, say they are examples, not every review.
Match the name, the address, and the phone
The business name, the address or service area, and the phone number on the site should match the Google Business Profile. A shop should use the same shop name and the same street address in both places. A landscaper, plumber, or other trade that goes to the customer should use the same phone and the same towns. If those do not match, a person who taps the review link and a person who reads the site can think they found two different businesses. The Maps guide covers the profile itself. This page does not create the profile for you.
On this site: How to show up on Google Maps for your town
Check the page you have, or ask for a site
If you already have a site, start with the free website checker. It reads one public page and reports HTTPS, response status and time, the title, the meta description, a mobile viewport tag, one heading, and a tel: link. It does not store the URL, and it does not count reviews. Website Quick Diagnostic is $19, paid once. An automated PDF within about 1 hour with your speed and mobile scores, the top 5 issues ranked, and a plain fix for each. The $19 is credited toward the $99 Checkup within 30 days. Website Checkup is $99, paid once: a ranked report of what to fix on your website first, covering speed, SEO, mobile, and AI search visibility, delivered within 2 business days. Those checks describe a page you already have. They are not a quote for a new site, and they do not add reviews. If you want a new site, ask on the start page. The founding offer is $500 to set up and $50 a month, limited to the first 3 Ohio businesses. Hosting and ordinary upkeep are included. You see a demo of your own site before you pay. The start page says you get a preview within a few days.
On this site: Free website checker; Website Quick Diagnostic; Website Checkup; Start a site quote
Check a page now
The free website checker reads one public URL. It reports HTTPS, a mobile viewport tag, and whether GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, and Google-Extended are blocked. It does not store the URL.
The AI search readiness check is the free look for AI search. It reports whether OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT-User, and PerplexityBot are blocked, and whether the words are in the server HTML. It does not store the URL.
Website Checkup is $99, paid once. A ranked report of what to fix on your website first, covering speed, SEO, mobile, and AI search visibility, delivered within 2 business days. No login is needed. The report goes only to you.
FAQ
What is review gating?
Review gating means asking only the customers who already said they are happy, or holding the review link back until you know the review will be positive. Google says a business may not discourage a negative review or selectively ask only for positive ones.
Can I post a Google review for my own business?
No. A review has to come from a real customer experience. Do not post one yourself, and do not ask staff, family, or another account to post one. Google treats current or former employment, and family, as a conflict of interest.
When should I ask a customer for a Google review?
Ask after the work is done and the customer has seen it. Send a short text or email with the review link so they can answer later. Google says not to pressure someone to write a review while they are still on the premises, and not to tell them what to write.
Will more Google reviews put my business first on Maps?
No. Google says reviews show next to your Business Profile on Maps and Search, and that they can give a customer helpful info. This page does not promise a position or a set number of reviews.
How does a website help with Google reviews?
The site can hold the same review link, show a customer's real words without rewriting them, and use the same name, address, and phone as the Google Business Profile. The site does not create the reviews, and it does not promise how many you will get.
More guides
Why your business is not showing up on Google
A business can be missing from Google because the page is not in the index, because the words you searched are not the words a customer uses, or because the page is blocked. A page can also be in the index and still sit far down the results. The free check on this site reads the public page, and it does not look up a rank.
How much a small business website audit costs
You can check a public page for free. The checker on this site reads one URL, reports what it found, and does not store the URL. If you want a report that ranks what to fix first, Website Checkup is $99, paid once, and it is delivered within 2 business days.
How much does a small business website cost
If you build it yourself, published US prices checked for this page start at $4 a month on WordPress.com when billed annually, $17.77 a month on Wix Light for a yearly plan, or $19 a month on Squarespace Basic billed annually ($228 for the year). If you hire an agency, Clutch says web design agencies typically charge $2,000 to $100,000, and that most reviewed projects cost less than $10,000. If Telep IO builds it, the founding offer is $500 to set up, then $50 a month. Limited to the first 3 Ohio businesses. The start page splits that setup into two payments and makes the first upkeep month free, which comes to $1,050 in the first year, then $50 a month.
What website maintenance costs a small business
Website maintenance is the work that keeps a live site reachable and current: hosting, domain renewal, SSL, backups, software and plugin updates, security, small content edits, uptime checks, and keeping a Google Business Profile matched to the site. You do not always need a monthly plan. You need one when you will not do that work, or when a fee is the only way the site stays hosted and edited. Other providers set their own prices. This page does not print those prices. The only prices stated here are the ones Telep IO publishes.
How to hire a web designer for a small business
Before you hire, ask who owns the domain and the site, what hosting costs, who edits it later, whether the page works on a phone, whether they will help with a Google Business Profile, and when you will see a first look. Walk away if you will not own the domain, if the contract locks you in, if there is no portfolio you can open, or if the monthly fee does not say what it covers. Other people set their own prices. Ranges vary. The only build price stated here is the one Telep IO publishes.
Signs your business website needs a redesign
Redo the site when it no longer matches the business, you cannot edit it, or a customer on a phone cannot read it and call. Many of the usual problems can be fixed without a full rebuild. Old hours, a missing call link, a page that is hard to read on a phone, and an address that is not on HTTPS are often edits. A new look does not, by itself, put the business on Google or on Maps.
Wix vs Squarespace vs hiring a web designer
A DIY builder can be the right call when you will finish the page, you will own the domain, and a customer on a phone can tap to call, see the towns you serve, and open your Google Business Profile. Hire when you will not keep the page current, when the number cannot be tapped, or when the domain and the site would sit in an account you do not control. Wix, Squarespace, and the GoDaddy website builder are typical monthly subscription plans. This page does not print their prices. Other designers set their own prices. The founding offer is $500 to set up and $50 a month, limited to the first 3 Ohio businesses. Hosting and ordinary upkeep are included. You see a demo of your own site before you pay.
How to check if your website works on phones
Open the site on a phone you already own and try to call the business from the page. If you have to pinch and zoom, or you cannot find the number, the page is hard to use on a phone. A viewport tag tells the browser to use the screen width. It is a setup signal, not a grade of the layout.
Can ChatGPT and other AI tools find your business
An AI tool can mention your business when it has public information to use, or when a person typed the facts in. A robots.txt file can ask specific crawlers to stay off the site. That file is a request, not a record of what a tool has already saved. Blocking one crawler does not block every AI product.
Is a Facebook page enough without a website
A Facebook page is not a website you control. Google's guidelines say the website on a Business Profile should represent the business, and they say not to use a page created on a social media site as that website. A site you control can name the work, the towns, and a phone number a person can tap.
What a small business website should include
A local site should say what you do, name the towns you actually serve, and put a phone number a person can tap. It should also load on a phone. That is not a promise of a ranking or a set number of calls.
How to show up on Google Maps for your town
Map results come from a Google Business Profile, which is separate from the website. Google says that when you add and verify a Business Profile, customers can find the business on Search and Maps, and that only verified businesses can show their info there. A website does not create the profile. This page does not create it for you.
How to get more calls from a trade website
A website does not promise a set number of calls. For an HVAC company, a plumber, or a landscaper, the page can make the call easy: the number is tappable, the jobs are named, and the towns are the ones you drive. If those facts are buried, the person on the phone has to hunt.
Local Web Tips
A monthly email of short practical website tips for Ohio small businesses and trades. One email a month. Unsubscribe anytime.