How can a small business get more customer reviews the right way?

Why most businesses have fewer reviews than they deserve

Satisfied customers rarely go looking for a place to praise you. Unhappy ones are more motivated. The result is that many good businesses have only a handful of reviews, often older ones, while their actual customer base is far larger. The fix is not complicated: ask more customers, at the right time, in a way that takes them seconds.

Reviews matter in two places. On review platforms and map listings, they help people choose between businesses before they ever see your website. On your own website, they reassure people who have already found you that you are real, active and reliable.

Decide where you want reviews

Spreading requests across five platforms dilutes the effect. Choose one main place, and possibly one sector platform:

• Your Google Business Profile is the default choice for most local businesses, because the reviews appear in map results. Our guide to getting found on Google Maps explains how to set up and look after the profile.
• A sector platform that customers in your field already use, such as a holiday rental, restaurant or trades directory.
• Your own website, through a feedback form, for comments you then publish with permission.

Pick the main platform based on where your customers look when choosing a business like yours, not where it is easiest for you.

How to ask so people actually do it

Timing

Ask when the customer has just experienced the result and is most pleased: when the job is finished and checked, when the product has arrived and been used, or at the end of a successful course of treatment. Waiting weeks means the moment has passed.

Make it effortless

Send a direct link that opens the review form, not a link to your profile where they then need to find the button. In a shop or studio, a small printed card with a QR code by the till works well. Reduce the number of taps to the minimum.

Ask personally

A request from the person who did the work gets more response than an automated message from a no-reply address. A short example:

"Thanks again for choosing us for your bathroom. If you have a minute, a short review would really help other people in the area find us. Here is the link. And if anything was not right, please tell me directly so I can put it right."

Notice that the message asks for a review, not a positive review, and gives an easy route for complaints without blocking anyone from posting publicly.

Build it into your routine

1. Add the review request to your job completion or order dispatch checklist.
2. Save the link and message as a template on your phone and email.
3. Send one gentle reminder if there is no response, then stop.
4. Thank people who leave a review.

What the rules say about fake and selective reviews

Across the EU, consumer protection rules were strengthened by the so-called Omnibus Directive, which amended the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. In general terms, they treat the following as unfair practices:

• Writing fake reviews, or asking or paying anyone else to write them.
• Misrepresenting reviews, for example by publishing only the positive ones while implying they are a complete picture, or editing the wording.
• Claiming that reviews come from real customers without taking reasonable steps to check that they do.

Businesses that show consumer reviews are also expected to tell visitors whether and how they make sure the reviews come from people who actually used the product or service. National consumer authorities enforce these rules and the detail varies by country. The European Commission publishes an overview on its consumer protection pages, and your national consumer authority or chamber of commerce can help with specifics. If in doubt, ask an adviser.

Platforms add their own rules on top. Google's content policies, for example, prohibit offering incentives in exchange for reviews and set limits on how businesses may solicit them; check the platform's current policy before running any review campaign.

In practice, the safe approach is simple: ask all customers, not only the happy ones; never reward a positive rating; never write or commission reviews; publish reviews as written.

Replying to reviews, including the critical ones

Reply to every review if you can. A brief, personal thank you to positive reviews shows that you notice. Critical reviews deserve more care, because future customers read your reply as much as the complaint.

1. Wait until you are calm. Never reply in anger.
2. Thank the person for the feedback and acknowledge their experience.
3. Explain briefly and factually, without arguing or sharing private details.
4. Offer to resolve it directly, with a name and contact route.
5. If you fix the problem, the customer may update their review. You may ask, but do not pressure them.

If a review is clearly fake, abusive or about a different business, use the platform's reporting process rather than arguing in public.

Showing reviews on your own website

Reviews on your site work best close to the decision, such as on service pages or near your contact form, rather than hidden on a separate testimonials page. Our guide to a homepage that gets enquiries shows where social proof fits on the main page.

• Use real reviews, word for word. Correcting an obvious typo is fine; changing the meaning is not.
• Show a date, so visitors can see they are recent.
• Get permission before naming someone. A first name and town is usually enough, and is kinder to privacy. Our GDPR checklist explains why.
• Add a short line explaining where the reviews come from and how you check them, for example that they were collected from customers after completed jobs.
• Link to your profile on the review platform, so visitors can see the full picture.
• Prefer a few specific reviews over many vague ones. "Fitted our kitchen in four days and left it spotless" says more than "Great service".

Any website builder that lets you add pages can host a reviews section. With ours, you can add as many pages as you need, and feedback sent through your site forms is stored as a client record in BonusFlow, so it is easy to find the original words and the permission you were given.

Frequently asked