How can my clinic ask for Google reviews without breaking the rules?

Reviews show next to your listing on Maps and Search. This page covers how to ask for them in a way Google and UK consumer rules allow, and what to avoid.

What Google allows

Google lets you remind customers to leave a review. You can ask them to visit a Google link or scan a QR code, and you can solicit reviews that reflect a genuine experience, as long as you offer no incentive and do not try to influence the rating or what the review says.

Customers must be signed in to a Google Account to leave a review. They can create one with a non-Gmail email address. Google also says reviews are available only in certain countries and for certain business categories, so your profile may not offer them.

What Google does not allow

Google's policy says a business must not:

  • Offer payment, discounts, free goods or free services in exchange for a review, for changing a review, or for removing a negative one.
  • Discourage or prohibit negative reviews, or selectively ask only for positive ones.
  • Require or pressure people to leave a rating or review while on the premises.
  • Ask for specific content to be included, or ask staff to collect a set number of reviews or reviews that name a staff member.

Google also removes reviews showing unusual volumes or patterns that suggest an attempt to manipulate a rating, and reviews written by people with a conflict of interest, such as current or former employees and family members.

What UK rules add

Rules on consumer reviews changed in the UK on 6 April 2025. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) describes two kinds of deceptive review: fake reviews, which look genuine but are not, and concealed incentivised reviews, where the reviewer was commissioned, for example paid or given a free product, and that is not made clear. Businesses must not write fake reviews or commission others to write them.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) applies matching rules in the CAP Code to advertising, including your website and social media. Reviews you publish must not be fake. If a review was incentivised, you must make that clear. You must not publish reviews in a misleading way, for example by leaving out negative reviews while showing positive ones, or by giving positive reviews more prominence. The ASA ruled in 2018, before these rules, against a business that offered a refund for a "nice review" and against a promoter that offered double entries to a prize draw for a 5-star Facebook review. The ASA says those cases are not direct precedent for the new rules.

ASA guidance says incentives for genuine, unbiased reviews could potentially be acceptable, and that incentivised reviews must be made clear. It says incentivising only positive reviews is likely to be a problem. Google does not allow review incentives at all, so for your Google listing the safe course is none.

How to reply to reviews

You must verify your business before you can reply. Choose Read reviews, then Reply next to the review, write your reply and choose Reply. Replies are public, appear as your business rather than your name, and are checked against Google's policies first.

Google's advice is to keep replies short, polite and relevant, and never to share a reviewer's private information. For a complicated complaint, ask the person to contact you by phone or email. If you believe a review breaks Google's policies, you can flag it.

What a review request cannot do

Asking for reviews does not guarantee any number of reviews, or any rating. Google says a mix of positive and negative feedback often feels more trustworthy.

This page covers Google's rules and UK consumer and advertising rules only. Your profession may have its own rules on how you talk about patients.

Last checked against Google, CMA and ASA pages: 6 October 2026.

Practice Maps helps independent clinics in the UK get their Google Maps listing right. If you would rather have this set up for you, see https://www.practicemaps.co.uk