ReviewHero
Google Reviews for Restaurants: Why the Ask Is Hard
Google reviews for restaurants are hard to ask for: few diners leave an email, and staff quotas, rewards and happy-only asks break Google's rules.
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Reviews, done by the book
Guides and news for small businesses that want more Google reviews without gaming anything. Every number here is checked against a primary source and linked.
Competitor Review Audit: A 20-Minute Google Maps Method
A free 20-minute competitor review audit of the businesses above you on Google Maps: what to count, what Google ranks, and what a gap means.
Google Reviews for Salons and Barbershops
Google reviews for salons and barbershops: regulars, chair renters, booking apps and the staff-name rule that trips up more salons than any other.
Google Reviews for Multi-Location Businesses
Google reviews for multi-location businesses: Google wants one profile per location, and a single shared review link quietly starves all the others.
HIPAA and Google Reviews for Medical and Dental Practices
HIPAA and Google reviews: a practice may ask patients for reviews, but the reply is the risk. Four HHS cases, Google's rules, and a safe reply.
How to Get Google Reviews Without a Storefront
Trades, mobile services, and B2B sellers have no counter. Here's how to get Google reviews without a storefront, using the invoice as the ask.
Can you ask a customer to remove a review?
Can you ask a customer to remove a review? Only sometimes — three separate federal rules cover it, and most businesses only know one.
QR Codes for Review Requests: What Works, What Backfires
Google endorses QR codes for review requests — where they help, where the flow behind one becomes banned gating, and the physical risk to plan for.
Review Response Templates That Don't Read Like Templates
89% of consumers expect a reply to their review, but generic ones put off half of them. A framework for replies that pass, and a real legal trap to avoid.
Star Rating and Revenue: What the Research Shows
Two Yelp studies tie a half-star bump to real revenue and sell-outs. Here is what they measured, what they did not, and what it means for a Google profile.
The FTC Endorsement Guides, and what they mean for the testimonials on your own website
The FTC's 2023 Endorsement Guides decide when a customer's review becomes your advertising. What small businesses must disclose, avoid and keep.
CAN-SPAM and Review Requests: What the Law Actually Requires
Review requests feel exempt from spam law because nothing is being sold. The FTC's own test does not carve out that exception. Here is what applies.
Where to Find Your Google Review Link, and Where to Send It
Your review link isn't your website or your Business Profile page. Here's exactly where to get it, and the three places that actually work to send it.
Writing review-request emails people actually answer
Most review-request 'best practice' has no real source. What verified data says about timing and subject lines, and the CAN-SPAM rule most businesses skip.
Review Velocity vs Review Count for Google Ranking
Google's own ranking page never mentions review velocity. Whitespark's 2026 survey ranks review count above it. Here's what the sources actually say.
How to report a fake Google review, and what actually gets removed
Google removed 292 million policy-violating reviews in 2025 but says nothing about owner reports. What qualifies, how to file, what not to write back.
Google Business Profile suspended: what actually works
Your profile vanished from Maps. Here is what Google's own documentation says about appeals, evidence, and whether your reviews come back.
Email deliverability for review requests: SPF, DKIM and DMARC
The three DNS records that decide whether a review request reaches the inbox, and the May 2026 DMARC change most guides have not caught up with.
Why you must never ask for a Yelp review
Yelp is the one major review platform that forbids asking customers for reviews at all. Here is the policy, the penalty, and what to do instead.
Review gating, the FTC rule, and what is actually illegal
The FTC's fake review rule does not ban review gating outright. Here is what it does prohibit, and why Google's rule is the one that bites first.
How Google's review policies actually work in 2026
Google removed 292 million policy-violating reviews in 2025. Here is what gets a single review pulled, and what gets the business itself penalised.
Getting your first 50 Google reviews, without breaking any rules
83% of people who get asked leave a review. Here is a researched plan for your first 50, including what the timing evidence actually says.
Put the advice to work
ReviewHero asks every customer once, follows up politely, and stops the moment they open the link.