What Are Google’s Rules for Incentivizing Reviews?

All home services companies want more Google reviews, and for good reason. Reviews influence local rankings, conversion rates, and consumer trust. 

But business owners need to be careful of how they go about upping their review count. Offering customers incentives, like discounts or credits, in exchange for Google reviews is strictly prohibited. Review gating, or directing customers who had a negative experience to a private, internal feedback form rather than the Google review page, also violates Google's policy.

Doing so can lead to review removal, listing penalties, or full account suspension.

This guide breaks down Google’s rules for incentivizing reviews, what’s allowed, what’s prohibited, and the safest ways to grow your review volume without risking penalties.

Are you allowed to incentivize Google reviews?

Google’s review policy is very clear:

Businesses cannot offer any incentive (financial or otherwise) in exchange for a review, positive or negative.

Google classifies rewarding customers for reviews under “Fake Engagement”, a prohibited practice designed to protect the authenticity of Google Maps and Search results.

According to Google:

“Content that has been posted due to an incentive offered by a business—such as payment, discounts, free goods and/or services—is not allowed and will be removed.”

That means you cannot:

• Pay customers for reviews
• Offer a discount, coupon, or gift card for leaving a review
• Give free services in exchange for a review
• Offer rewards only for positive reviews
• Offer incentives to remove or revise a negative review
  
  

Even asking someone to revise a negative review in exchange for something violates Google’s policy.

Why does Google prohibit incentivized reviews?

Google’s goal is to keep reviews authentic, trustworthy, and helpful for consumers. Incentivized reviews distort real customer experience and can artificially inflate ratings.

Per Google’s terms, incentivized content falls under fake engagement because:

• It is not based solely on the customer’s genuine experience
• It influences the review’s tone, rating, or content
• It manipulates the business’s reputation or ranking

Google removes these reviews as soon as they’re detected. And detection methods have become increasingly sophisticated.

What happens if you incentivize reviews?

Businesses that incentivize reviews risk:

• Review removal: Google can wipe out all reviews associated with an incentive campaign.
• Suspension of your business profile: Google can temporarily or permanently suspend your profile, removing visibility in Maps and Search.
• Permanent damage to local rankings: Fake-engagement flags can suppress your ranking for months — even after you stop the behavior.
• Loss of customer trust: Consumers are quick to spot unnatural review patterns or sudden spikes.

The risk is real, and the consequences are costly. Suspension of your business profile in particular is a huge threat to new business given Google Maps is functionally the storefront for local home services businesses. 

Exactly what Google forbids around reviews

Based on Google’s prohibited content policy, you cannot:

Offer incentives for reviews

This includes:

• Cash
• Discounts
• Free goods or services
• Giveaways
• Account credits
• Loyalty points

Solicit only positive reviews

Selective solicitation is treated as deceptive.

Discourage negative reviews or engage in review gating

Google expressly prohibits review gating, which is the practice of filtering customer feedback to encourage positive reviews and discourage negative reviews. A common example is prompting customers about their experience, and then directing them to different pages based on their response (example: sending those who had a negative experience to a feedback page and those who had a positive experience to the Google review page.)

Ask customers to revise or remove negative reviews for compensation

Anything exchanged for a change in rating violates Google policy.

Post reviews from multiple accounts to manipulate your rating

Google monitors IP, device, and behavioral data.

Post false or misleading reviews on competitor listings

This is grounds for immediate account action.

What is allowed under Google’s review policy?

Google does allow businesses to:

Encourage customers to leave reviews — as long as they are genuine

You can legally:

• Ask customers to leave honest feedback
• Send review request emails or texts
• Post QR codes on receipts or signage
• Use review collection software (as long as it doesn’t filter reviews)

The key condition is that you “solicit or encourage the posting of content that does represent a genuine experience, without offering incentives to do so.”

Respond publicly to reviews

You can (and should!) respond to both positive and negative reviews.

Monitor and report suspicious or fake reviews

Google encourages reporting fraud.

How to increase Google reviews without violating Google policy

If you want more reviews (but want to stay 100% compliant) here are Google-safe strategies”

• Use automated review request tools: With automated review request tools (like Applause), customers automatically receive a text after service with a link to leave a review. No manual work required. 
• Send requests immediately after service: Recency dramatically increases response rates and reviews. 
• Make it easy for customers: Include direct links  to leave a review in automated text messages or leave behind QR codes that route customers to your review page. 
• Reward technicians for getting reviews: Recognize and reward employees internally for getting reviews from customers rather than incentivizing customers for writing reviews. 

FAQ: Common questions on Google reviews

Can you offer a discount to customers for leaving a Google review?

No. This is explicitly prohibited.

Can you offer an incentive for honest reviews (not just positive ones)?

Still no. Google bans incentives regardless of sentiment.

Can you ask customers to leave reviews?

Yes, as long as the review is voluntary and genuine.

Can you incentivize employees for helping generate reviews?

Yes. Internal incentives for team members are allowed. You can even hold competitions for your team to see who can get the most reviews in a month, for example. What’s not allowed is rewarding customers for writing reviews.

Can you collect reviews onsite?

Yes, but you can’t require or pressure customers, and you must not offer compensation. It’s best to send an email or text message after service to avoid any awkwardness. 

Final takeaway: Incentivizing Google reviews is never allowed

If you're wondering whether you can “reward customers” or “run a review promotion”, the answer is simple: Google does not allow any incentives, compensation, or rewards for reviews.

But that doesn’t mean you’re stuck.

You can grow reviews faster (and stay 100% compliant) by focusing on:

• Ease of review
• Customer experience
• Technician follow-through
• Real-time review prompts
• Consistent outreach

Strong review programs are built on authentic experiences, not incentives.

Need a simple way to automate review requests and reward employees for delivering high quality service? Chat with our team.