More genuine reviews, replies in your voice

Ask every customer, every time, at the same point after the job, with a direct link to your review form. Keep the request neutral: no mention of stars and nothing in return. Steady asking beats a one-off push. Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) and its review link are free; our fee is for running the requests and replies for you.

There’s no magic number, but customers do count. In BrightLocal’s 2026 survey, 47% of consumers said they won’t use a business with fewer than 20 reviews, and 74% look for reviews from the last 3 months. So aim for a steady flow from real customers rather than a one-time push, and keep replying.

Calmly, specifically and soon. Thank them, acknowledge the problem without arguing, say what you’ve done or will do, and offer a way to talk offline. The reply is written for future customers as much as for the reviewer. In BrightLocal’s 2026 survey, 89% of consumers expect owners to respond, and templated replies put off 50%, so we draft replies in your voice.

No. Google’s rules ban offering anything in return for a review, even for an honest one, and reviews tied to a reward can be removed. In the US, the FTC also bans incentives tied to positive reviews, with penalties up to $53,088 per violation. A neutral request to every customer works without the risk.

You report it, and Google decides. Flag it in Google’s Reviews Management Tool and pick the reason, then check its status there. If it stays up, you get a one-time appeal. Only reviews that break Google’s policies can come down, so nobody can promise removal. Google says it blocked or removed over 292 million policy-violating reviews in 2025.

Usually because Google’s filters removed them as possible policy breaks, sometimes weeks after they were posted. Things that can set them off include a sudden burst of reviews, reviews from staff or family, reviews tied to a reward, or several posted from the same place. A reviewer can also delete their own. We check what went missing and why.

Don’t pay and don’t engage. Google calls this a negative review extortion scam and has a separate form to report it. Save screenshots of the messages with dates and the sender’s details, plus links to the reviews, then report them through that form and flag the reviews too. We help you file it and keep a record. Paying doesn’t guarantee they stop.