Asking customers for reviews: what each platform allows
Short answer: You may ask customers for reviews on Google, Trustpilot and Tripadvisor, as long as you ask everyone and offer nothing in return. Yelp asks businesses not to request reviews at all. Paying for reviews or asking only happy customers breaks the rules everywhere, and in the United States it can also break federal law.
Most happy customers never leave a review unless someone asks. Asking is allowed almost everywhere. How you ask is where businesses get into trouble.
The two rules that apply everywhere
- Nothing in return. No discount, gift card, free dessert or prize draw for a review. A reward tied to a review is a paid review.
- Ask everyone. Sending the review link only to customers who said they were happy is called review gating. It makes your rating look better than your service is, and platforms treat it as manipulation.
By platform
| Platform | May you ask? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | Ask all customers. No incentives, no gating, no reviews from staff or owners | |
| Trustpilot | Yes | Invite all customers in the same way. Trustpilot offers its own invitation tools |
| Tripadvisor | Yes | No incentives. Do not ask only selected guests |
| Yelp | No | Yelp asks businesses not to request reviews, and says solicited reviews are less likely to be shown |
| G2 and Capterra | Yes | Both run their own review campaigns. Incentivised reviews are labelled as such publicly |
Google’s policy allows you to ask customers for reviews. It forbids offering incentives, discouraging negative reviews, selectively asking for positive ones, and reviewing your own business. A direct link to your review form is the simplest ask: one tap and the customer is writing.
Yelp
Yelp is the exception. Its guidance to businesses is not to ask customers, mailing lists, friends or family for reviews. A sign saying “Find us on Yelp” is fine; a card saying “Review us on Yelp” is not. If Yelp matters in your trade, earn reviews there by being findable, not by asking.
Trustpilot and Tripadvisor
Both expect you to invite customers evenly. Picking who gets the invitation is the thing they look for.
The law in the United States
Since October 2024 a Federal Trade Commission rule bans fake reviews and testimonials. It covers buying reviews, reviews by insiders that do not disclose the connection, paying for reviews on condition that they are positive or negative, and suppressing honest negative reviews by threat. The FTC can seek civil penalties per violation. Platform rules can cost you a listing; this rule can cost money.
A way to ask that is safe everywhere it is allowed
- Ask soon. The same day or the day after, while the visit is fresh.
- Ask everyone the same way. One message, one link, every customer.
- Make it one step. Link straight to the review form, or print a QR code that opens it.
- Say why. “It helps other people find us” is honest and enough.
- Ask once, remind once. More than that reads as pressure.
A message that works:
Thanks for coming in today. If you have a minute, a review helps other people find us: [link]. Either way, thank you.
What to do with the reviews you get
Reply to them, including the good ones. A short, specific thank-you shows the next reader that someone is paying attention. And expect a few critical reviews among the new ones: a profile with only five-star reviews is less believable than one with a 4.7.