If you’ve been asking customers for Google reviews – and you absolutely should be – there are some updated rules from Google that are worth knowing about. Nothing too scary, but a few things that might make you rethink how you’re asking.

Let me walk you through what’s changed, share a couple of bits that are personally relevant to me, and then give you my take on what we should actually be doing going forward. Because reviews are important for conversion (when people see you in search results) and heavily influence local SEO. They also really help with getting mentioned by AI.

So, what are the new rules?

You can’t just ask for positive reviews

This one – like all the new rules – makes sense, but is still a little annoying if we’re all brutally honest. Google doesn’t want you cherry-picking only the customers you know had a great experience and asking them to leave a review. The idea is that reviews should be an honest, balanced reflection of your business – not a curated highlights reel.

So rather than messaging someone and saying “Hey, if you enjoyed today, I’d love a review!” you should just… ask everyone. So this also rules out asking them to give some other form of feedback first, and if it was positive, following up asking for a Google review (which I’ve done in the past).

Don’t get a load of reviews all in one day

Google’s looking out for anything that smells like review manipulation, and a sudden spike of reviews in a single day is one of those red flags.

Now, this one’s a little bit awkward for me personally. I run masterclasses, and it’s pretty natural that on the day of a talk, a handful of people leave me glowing reviews all at once. I’ll also often get them mentioning me by name (more on that in a sec), which also falls into the “shouldn’t do” category.

My hope is that Google is smart enough to understand context – that sometimes five reviews in a day just means you held an event that day, not that you’ve done anything dodgy. If it’s a relatively small number and it happens occasionally rather than constantly, I think that’s quite different to someone manufacturing 50 reviews overnight. But it’s worth being aware of.

Avoid reviews that name specific staff members

Again, this is one that feels a little counterintuitive – especially if you’re a service-based business where the experience is the person. But Google’s guidance is to steer away from reviews that call out individual team members by name. So in my masterclasses I’m going to have to ask people to not say “Great talk today by Lisa….” as they usually do.

(For what it’s worth, I think this is probably aimed more at businesses, or employees, trying to game things by having staff ask their mates for reviews. But still – something to be aware of.)

Don’t tell people what keywords to use

Asking reviewers to include specific words or phrases, like “best SEO and GEO trainer in Bristol”, is a no. It might seem like a smart SEO move, but it’s against the rules and if Google spots a pattern, it won’t do you any favours.

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No getting all your reviews from one device or IP address

This is a big one for hospitality and tourism businesses. If you’ve got an iPad on the reception desk and you ask every customer to leave a review on it before they leave… that’s now a problem. All those reviews coming from the same device flags as suspicious, even if they’re all totally genuine.

If that’s been your approach, it might be time to swap to sending a review link via email or text instead.

No incentivising reviews

Another that’s not great for me – for completely legitimate reasons. You can’t offer a discount, freebie, or any kind of reward in exchange for a review.

Now, getting people to leave reviews is hard. Someone will have a terrible experience and leave a furious one-star review at 11pm, no problem (we’ve never actually had a bad Google review but I certainly know they happen!). But someone can have a genuinely brilliant experience of your business, mean to leave a review, forget, get busy, and just… never do it. We’ve all been there. And so having a reason to follow up – especially as someone who hates to ask for anything and so would rather offer something at the same time – kinda fitted nicely.

But the rule is the rule, so incentives are out.

So what should we be doing?

So now, you just ask. Consistently, and without filtering who you ask.

Build it into your process – whether that’s a follow-up email, a message the day after, or a polite ask at the end of a session.

And then follow up if you don’t hear back (once, not five times – don’t make it weird).

The key is keeping it regular. A handful of reviews every month is far more valuable to Google – and to potential customers – than 30 in January and then nothing for six months. Fresh reviews signal that your business is active, that people are still using you, and that the experience you’re delivering right now is worth shouting about.

So keep asking, be consistent, and make it easy for people to do it – send them the direct link, don’t make them go searching for your profile.

Habit building can be hard and easy to forget, but try to get into the swing of it until it becomes, well, a habit.