Ask every customer for a Google review at the moment the job is marked complete, with a direct link to your review form, and reply to every review within a set time, following a written policy. Do not offer anything in exchange for a review, and do not ask only the customers you expect to be happy: Google prohibits both.
This is the process for trades and other service businesses, where most customers are met once, at their home or site, and the request has to fit into the end of the job. Reviews are one of the three parts of local SEO for tradies, and Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking. For how reviews sit beside ads and tracking, see our guide to marketing for tradies.
When should a service business ask for a review?
When the job is finished and the customer has just seen the result. For most service businesses that moment is recorded in the job management software, when the job is marked complete or the invoice goes out, which makes it the natural trigger for the request. Asking then, every time, beats asking in batches, and it puts the request in front of every customer rather than the ones you happen to remember.
ServiceM8, for example, has a Customer Feedback add-on, and its Zapier triggers include a job being completed. If your software cannot send the message itself, an automation tool such as Zapier, or a daily check of the jobs completed that day, does the same work. The tool matters less than the rule: same moment, every customer.
How do I request a Google review?
Send customers the review link or QR code from your Google Business Profile. Google's help centre describes exactly this: asking customers to visit a Google link or scan a QR code to leave a review.
- In your Business Profile, create the link or QR code customers use to leave a review.
- Write one short message: thank the customer by name, name the job, and include the link.
- Send it from your job software or phone when the job is marked complete. For jobs where you hand over paperwork, print the QR code on the invoice or a card.
- Reply to every review that comes in, using the policy below.
A message along these lines works: "Thanks for having us out to fix the hot water today. If you have a minute, a Google review helps other people in the area find us: [link]."
What do Google and the ACCC not allow?
Google's policy for reviews on Maps does not allow businesses to:
- offer incentives, such as payment, discounts or free goods or services, in exchange for a review, or for changing or removing a negative one;
- discourage or prohibit negative reviews, or selectively ask customers for positive ones;
- require or pressure customers to leave reviews while they are on the premises, or ask for specific content;
- ask staff to collect a set number of reviews, or reviews with particular wording.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says it is against the law for a business to create fake or misleading reviews or to arrange for others to do so. Where a business does offer an incentive for reviews, the ACCC says the incentive must apply whether the review is positive or negative and must be clearly disclosed, and that a business may mislead consumers if it suppresses or edits negative reviews or removes genuine ones. Google's rules on incentives are stricter, so for Google reviews, offer none.
This is general information, not legal advice. Read the ACCC's guidance on online reviews and Google's prohibited and restricted content policy, both checked on 1 October 2026, and ask the ACCC or your adviser if you are unsure.
How should you reply to reviews?
Briefly, politely and quickly, with nothing private in the reply. Google's guidance is to keep replies clear, helpful and polite, short and simple, and timely, and for negative reviews to protect the customer's privacy, find out what went wrong, be honest about limitations and apologise where it is warranted. Two more rules: never argue in public, and never put a customer's address, job details or invoice in a reply.
What goes in a review response policy?
A written policy keeps replies consistent when more than one person answers them. Sort each review into a type, use the matching response, and record what was done.
| Review type | What to do | Example reply |
|---|---|---|
| Happy customer | Thank them by name, mention the job, keep it short | "Thanks, Sam. Glad the new hot water system is running well, and thanks for having us out." |
| Unhappy customer, fixable problem | Acknowledge it, apologise where warranted, offer a call with a named person | "Sorry the job did not go the way it should have, Alex. I would like to put it right: please call me, Jo, on [number] and we will arrange a time." |
| A review you cannot match to a job | Say you cannot find the job and invite contact; never accuse | "Thanks for the feedback. We cannot find a job under this name; please call [number] so we can look into it." |
| A review that looks fake | Report it to Google, and reply once, neutrally, if at all | "We have no record of this job and have asked Google to review it. If we have missed something, please call [number]." |
| Mentions a dispute, a lawyer or a regulator | Reply briefly, take it offline, and get advice before saying anything about the matter | "Thank you for raising this. We will be in touch with you directly." |
| Complaint about slow replies | Acknowledge it and give a direct contact | "Sorry we were slow to get back to you. Please call [number] and ask for [name]." |
Source: Profit Geeks review response policy, adapted for service businesses from Google Business Profile reply guidance, October 2026.
Where does AI help, and where does a person decide?
AI is useful for the repetitive parts: sorting reviews into the types above, drafting a reply in your voice, and spotting patterns, such as several reviews about the same problem. We first built this process for an enterprise client, using AI to categorise past reviews and draft response templates that the team then refined and approved. This version is adapted for trade and service businesses.
A person still approves every reply, negative ones especially, because an AI draft can promise something the business cannot deliver or repeat details that should stay private. And AI must never write reviews: a review the business writes or arranges is the fake review the ACCC says is against the law.
How do reviews fit into local SEO?
They are one of three parts. Google says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and popularity, and that more reviews and positive ratings can help a business's local ranking. The other two parts are a Business Profile set up correctly for the way you work and a page for each job and area you cover. Our page on local SEO for tradies covers all three, and our guide to marketing for tradies shows how they fit with ads and tracking. If you would like your profile and review routine checked, book a free 30-minute profit audit.
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