How to ask a customer for a Google review by text (5 message templates)

Most homeowners never review the plumber who saved their weekend. Not because they were unhappy, but because nobody asked, and by Tuesday the leak is a memory. Asking is now ordinary: in BrightLocal’s 2026 survey of US consumers, 78% said a business had asked them to write a review in the previous 12 months (BrightLocal). Your customers are used to the question. What matters is how you ask, when, and what you leave out.

Why a text is the right channel for most trades

You already have the number. The customer called you, booked by phone or texted a photo of the problem. A message from that same number arrives from someone they know, and the link opens in one tap.

Almost everyone can receive it. Pew Research Center found that 98% of US adults own a cellphone and 91% own a smartphone (Pew Research Center). Email still has its place, for commercial clients and property managers who live in their inbox, and a QR code works when the customer is standing next to you. We compare the three in QR code vs text vs email. For a homeowner after a service call, text is the strongest default.

Step 1: get your Google review link

Google lets every Business Profile owner create a link or a QR code that opens the review form directly (Google). The steps, as Google describes them:

1. Go to your Business Profile.
2. Select Read reviews, then Get more reviews.
3. Select Copy to copy the link.

Google notes that the review QR code can only be generated in a computer browser, not on a phone. The link itself works anywhere.

Save the link where your thumb can reach it. Most phone keyboards let you store a shortcut that expands into a longer text; on an iPhone it lives under Settings, General, Keyboard, Text Replacement. Type a few letters, get the whole message.

One hurdle you cannot remove: customers must be signed in to a Google Account to leave a review, though they can create one with an email address that is not Gmail (Google). Older customers sometimes stall at that screen. If one tells you the link “didn’t work”, that is usually why.

Step 2: pick the moment

Send it the same day. The best window is after the work is done, the mess is cleaned up and the customer has seen that the fix holds: the water runs hot, the breaker stays on, the door locks. A few hours later, from your truck or your kitchen table, is fine. Late at night is not.

For a project that runs several days, wait for the final walkthrough. For a job that ended in a dispute over the bill, settle the dispute first, then send the same message you send everyone else.

Do not hover. Since early 2026, Google’s policy says merchants should not “require or pressure users to leave ratings or write reviews while on the premises” (Google). For a contractor the premises is the customer’s living room. Mention it in person if you like, then let the text do the work.

Step 3: write it the way you talk

A good review request is short and specific:

• Their first name, and your first name plus the business, so nobody wonders who is texting.
• One line of thanks that names the job. “The water heater” beats “our services”.
• The link, on its own, near the end.
• Nothing about stars, rewards or what to write. Google’s policy says merchants should not “request that specific content be included” in a review (Google).

Write it once, read it out loud, cut anything you would not say to the customer’s face.

Five templates you can copy

Replace the words in brackets. Keep your own voice; these are starting points, not scripts.

1. The same day thank you, for most jobs

Hi [first name], it’s [your name] from [business]. Thanks for having us out today for the [job]. If you have a minute, a Google review helps other people in [town] find us: [link]

2. After an emergency call

Hi [first name], [your name] here from [business]. Glad we got the [leak / heat / power] sorted tonight. When things calm down, would you mind sharing how it went on Google? [link] Thanks again for calling us.

3. At the end of a longer project

Hi [first name], it’s [your name] at [business]. It was good working on your [kitchen / roof / panel upgrade] these past [two weeks]. If you are willing, an honest review on Google helps a small crew like ours a lot: [link]

4. A repeat customer

Hi [first name], thanks for calling us back for the [service] today. You have trusted us a few times now, and if you ever want to put that into words on Google, here is the link: [link]. No pressure at all.

5. The one polite reminder, three to five days later, only if no review came in

Hi [first name], [your name] from [business] again. Bumping this in case it got buried: [link]. And if anything about the [job] isn’t right, reply here and I’ll come back.

One reminder is enough. Jobber, for comparison, sends at most two automated follow ups, three and five days after the first request (Jobber). Past that, you are nagging.

What never goes in the text

• Rewards of any kind. Google prohibits offering incentives “such as payment, discounts, free goods and/or services” for a review (Google). In the US, the FTC rule that took effect on October 21, 2024 also makes it illegal to offer an incentive conditioned on a review expressing a particular sentiment (16 CFR 465.4). The FTC’s own example of an implied condition: “Tell us how much you loved your visit to John’s Steakhouse and get a $5 coupon” (FTC).
• “If you were happy with us.” Asking only satisfied customers is called review gating. Google bans selectively soliciting positive reviews, and FTC staff say the practice could violate the FTC Act.
• “Five stars would be great.” That is an attempt to influence the rating, which Google’s policy rules out.
• Quotas for your techs. Google now lists “merchants requesting that staff solicit a certain number of reviews” as a violation.

The full list, with what Google does to profiles that break it, is in Google’s rules on asking for reviews.

By hand or with software

By hand works for an owner operator: a saved shortcut and half a minute after each job. The weak point is memory. On a busy week, the texts you meant to send are the first thing to go.

If that is you, there are three kinds of help, each with a trade off:

• Your job management software. Jobber’s Reviews feature, part of its Marketing Suite, sends requests by email and text when a job closes, a visit completes or an invoice is paid, with up to two follow ups (Jobber). Sensible if you already run Jobber.
• A dedicated review platform. NiceJob’s Starter plan, $75 a month, automates text and email requests and follow ups (NiceJob). It runs on its own once connected.
• A tool that writes the text but leaves the sending to you. Own Your Ratings, made by Pikwize’s publisher, opens the request in your phone’s own Messages app so it comes from your number. It has a free plan with one request a month and a Pro plan at $35 a month (Own Your Ratings).

We compare these and others, with prices checked on each company’s site, in the best review request tools for contractors. And if you are wondering how many reviews you are aiming for, start with how many Google reviews a plumber needs.

The rule that covers all of it fits in one line: ask every customer, the same way, the same day.