How to Get More Google Reviews Without Breaking the Rules
Updated on 17 September 2026
In the US, getting more Google reviews carries two overlapping sets of rules to respect: Google's own policies (which can trigger listing penalties) and, since October 2024, the FTC's Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule (which can trigger federal civil penalties). Both rules point in the same direction: ask everyone, never filter who gets asked.
What's explicitly allowed
Asking every customer, without exception. A QR code on the table, receipt, or counter that links directly to your Google review page is the simplest compliant method — it reaches every customer equally, with no filtering.
Timing the ask well. Asking right after a clearly positive interaction (a compliment on the food, at the moment of payment) increases response rates without excluding anyone from being asked.
Making the process frictionless. A direct link that opens the review form immediately, rather than requiring the customer to search for your business first, increases completion rates for everyone, not just satisfied customers.
Training staff to ask naturally. A simple, genuine request works better than a scripted one, and applies equally regardless of how the visit went.
What's prohibited, and why it matters more since 2024
Review gating — pre-filtering who gets asked based on predicted sentiment — is explicitly targeted by the FTC's 2024 rule, with civil penalties of $51,744 per violation now legally available to the agency. See the full detail in review gating is illegal in the US: the FTC rule explained.
Offering an incentive in exchange for a review (a discount, a free item) violates both Google's policies and FTC guidance on undisclosed compensation for reviews — even if the incentive isn't explicitly conditioned on a positive review, it still counts as compensation that must be disclosed, and Google prohibits it outright regardless of disclosure.
Buying reviews or asking employees/family to post them without disclosure violates the FTC rule directly and is one of its clearest, most enforceable provisions.
The compliant middle ground for negative feedback
You can still offer a private feedback channel — a comment card, an internal survey — as long as it's presented as an addition to the path toward a public review, never as a replacement offered only to customers you suspect are unhappy. The distinguishing factor the FTC and Google both look at is whether every customer retains an unobstructed path to the public review platform.
Why this matters more for an independent than for a chain
A large chain with an already-established reputation can absorb the reputational and legal exposure of an FTC investigation more easily than a single-location independent, for whom a $51,744-per-violation exposure (multiplied across potentially dozens of gated reviews) represents a genuinely existential risk relative to typical annual revenue.
For the full local SEO picture, see local SEO for restaurants: the complete guide.
SEOresto's review request flow is built to reach every customer equally, with no gating. From €39/month. See pricing.
Sources: FTC, Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule, 2024; Google Business Profile review policies.
Author: Dmitrii Portnov, founder of SEOresto.
