Asking for Google Reviews the Right Way in Canada and the US

For a local business, reviews are the closest thing to word of mouth that scales. They influence whether you appear in map results, and they are often the last thing a customer reads before calling. Because they matter so much, there are rules about them, from Google and from regulators on both sides of the border.

This article explains the rules in plain language and gives you a simple, honest way to earn more reviews. It is general information, not legal advice.

What Google does not allow

• Fake reviews, including ones written by you, your staff or your family.
• Paying for reviews or offering discounts, gifts or contest entries in exchange for them.
• Review gating: asking customers privately how it went, then sending only the happy ones to Google.
• Reviewing your competitors, or asking others to.
• Reviews collected in bulk from a device at your premises in a way that pressures customers.

What regulators say

In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission finalised a rule in 2024 that bans fake reviews and testimonials, buying reviews that are conditional on being positive or negative, undisclosed reviews by company insiders, and suppressing negative reviews through threats. It allows for civil penalties.

In Canada, the Competition Act prohibits false or misleading representations made to promote a business, and the Competition Bureau treats fake reviews and undisclosed incentives as falling within that. The principle is the same in both countries: a review must be a real customer’s honest opinion.

A review process that works

1. Pick the moment. Ask when the customer is happiest: at handover, after a successful repair, when they say thank you.
2. Ask in person first, then follow up the same day with a short text or email containing your direct review link. You can copy the link from your Google Business Profile.
3. Keep the message simple and neutral: “If you have a minute, an honest review on Google helps other people find us.” Do not suggest a star rating.
4. Ask everyone, not just the customers you are sure about.
5. Make it a habit. Five reviews a month, every month, looks natural and builds faster than a burst of thirty.

Replying to reviews

• Reply to every review, briefly and by name where you can.
• For negative reviews, stay calm, acknowledge the issue, and move the detail offline with a phone number or email.
• Never reveal private details about a customer or their job in a public reply.
• If a review is fake or breaks Google’s policies, flag it through your profile. Do not retaliate.

Using reviews on your website

Reviews work harder when they appear where decisions are made: on service pages, beside quote forms, on location pages. Quote them accurately, attribute them by first name and area, and get permission before using a full name or photo. Do not mark up reviews you selected yourself with star-rating structured data for your own business; Google does not show those stars and may treat it as misleading.

Beyond Google

Depending on your trade and city, Yelp, Facebook, Houzz, HomeStars or industry directories may matter too. Yelp in particular discourages asking for reviews at all, so read each platform’s rules. Start with Google, where most local searches begin, and add one more platform once the habit is in place. Our Google Business Profile guide covers the profile itself.

Where Cloud9 fits

Cloud9 Web Developments helps businesses in Greater Vancouver and Southern California set up review requests that are simple for staff and fair to customers, and we build the pages that show those reviews off. You can read our own reviews through the link in our footer. Explore our local SEO and ongoing marketing services, or contact us to set up a review process.