Google review link: find yours and use it in a dental practice
Your Google review link is free, takes a minute to find and opens the review form in one tap. The care goes into where you send it and the words around it.
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A Google review link is a short web address that opens your practice's review form directly, so a patient can rate you without searching for you first. Google gives one free to every business that manages its Business Profile, and it takes about a minute to copy. For a dental practice, the link is the easy part. Where you send it and what you write with it decide whether it works and whether it keeps you inside Google's rules.
How to find your Google review link
Google's help page on how to create a Google link or QR code to request reviews gives the steps:
- Go to your Business Profile at business.google.com, signed in with the account that manages the practice.
- Select Read reviews, then Get more reviews.
- To copy the review link, select Copy.
- To download the QR code, right-click it and choose Save image as.
Google says the review QR code can only be generated on a computer browser, not on a phone, so do this at a desk. The same screen also offers to share the link by email, WhatsApp or a Facebook post.
Save the link somewhere the whole team can find it, such as your practice management software's message templates and your email signature settings. Most practices that "cannot find the link" have simply lost track of who has access to the profile.
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Do you need a Google review link generator?
No. Free Google review link generators, browser extensions and "5-star review link" tools all end up pointing at the same review form Google already gives you. Some add a step in between, sending patients through their own web address first. That creates two risks you do not need: the link breaks if the tool closes or a subscription lapses, and some tools show a rating screen first and only send happy patients to Google.
That second pattern is known as review gating, and it is not allowed. Google's Maps content policy says merchants must not discourage or prohibit negative reviews, or selectively solicit positive reviews. The CMA's fake reviews guidance describes "encouraging just those who are satisfied to leave reviews" as cherry-picking that can make published reviews misleading under UK consumer law. Use Google's own link, and send it to everyone you ask.
How to get a Google review link without access to the Business Profile
The documented route to a review link is through the Business Profile, so you need to manage it. In dental practices, access is often stuck with a former practice manager, a previous owner or an agency. If that is you:
- Ask whoever currently manages the profile to add you as a manager.
- If nobody can be reached, Google has a process to request ownership of a Business Profile.
- After a practice purchase, sort out profile access as part of the handover, along with the website domain and the practice phone number.
Until you have access, a patient can still find your review form by searching for your practice in Google Maps and choosing to write a review. It is just more steps for them.
Where to use your Google review link in a dental practice
Google suggests putting the link on receipts, in thank-you emails, at the end of a chat and on a printed QR code in your premises. In a dental practice that translates into a few places, each with its own catch.
| Where | Why it works | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Text message after the appointment | Arrives on the phone the patient will use to review | Lock-screen previews, so no treatment details |
| Thank-you email | Easy to add to an existing post-visit email | Keep it free of offers so it stays a service message |
| Email signature for reception and the practice manager | Reaches patients you already write to | Shows on every email, including complaint replies |
| Website contact or reviews page | Catches patients who look you up after a visit | Pair it with a link to your profile so visitors can read reviews too |
| Printed QR code or review card | A reminder in the room | No pressure at the desk, no "5-star" wording |
Is a review request a marketing message?
It depends on the wording. The ICO's guidance on identifying direct marketing does not mention review requests by name. It says a message that is neutral in tone and about the person's relationship with you is more likely to be a service message, but that if a service message contains direct marketing elements, even when that is not its main purpose, it counts as direct marketing. A plain request for a review with no offers, no promotion of other treatments and no "book your next whitening" line keeps you on the safer side. If you are unsure, check with whoever handles data protection for the practice.
What to write with the link
Google's policy draws a clear line. You may ask for reviews that reflect a genuine experience. You must not offer an incentive, try to influence the rating or the contents, ask for specific content including a staff member's name, or pressure people while they are on the premises. Three wording rules follow from that.
- Ask for a review, not a five-star review. "Leave us 5 stars" tries to influence the rating.
- Do not name the clinician. "Mention Dr Patel" is a request for content that identifies a staff member.
- Say nothing about the treatment. A message that says "how was your root canal today?" puts clinical information on a lock screen. The GDC's confidentiality standards include what treatment a patient is having in the information you must protect.
Google review link templates for patients
Plain wording works. For a text message:
"Thank you for visiting [practice name] today. If you have a moment, we would value a review on Google: [link]. Thank you."
For an email:
"Thank you for choosing [practice name]. Reviews help other people in [town] decide where to go, and we read every one. If you would like to leave one, this link opens our Google review form: [link]. If anything about your visit was not right, please reply to this email or call [number] and the practice manager will pick it up."
Offer the contact line to every patient in the same message, never instead of the review link. Sending unhappy patients a feedback form and happy ones the Google link is the selective soliciting both Google and the CMA warn about.
Can I link directly to my Google reviews?
Yes, in two ways. The review link above opens the form for writing a review. To let people read your reviews, search for your practice in Google Maps, select Reviews and use Share to copy a link to the profile.
You can also link to a single review. Google's help on managing customer reviews explains how: in Google Maps, open your reviews, select More next to the review, choose Share review, then Send a link and copy it.
Can you link Google reviews to a website?
Linking is simple: put the review link on a button such as "Leave us a review" and the profile link on another such as "Read our Google reviews". Showing the reviews themselves on your site is a bigger job. Google's own developer route, the Places API, returns a maximum of five reviews for a place and comes with attribution rules. If you display reviews, show them fairly. The CAP Code says marketers must not give greater prominence to positive consumer reviews over negative ones.
How do I hide my name on Google reviews?
Patients sometimes ask this before agreeing to review a dental practice. Google's answer is that you cannot add an anonymous review. Reviews are public and show the name on the reviewer's Google About me page. Tell patients that honestly if they ask, and never pressure someone who would rather not be seen reviewing a dentist. NHS practices also have the Friends and Family Test as an anonymous route for feedback, and that should be open to every patient whether or not they review you on Google.
How to tell if the link is working
Google does not show you who opened your review link. What you can see is the review count rising. Check it monthly against the practices that hold the map in your town, not against a national figure. In our study of 1,489 UK places, the median practice holding a map place had 113 reviews, but the figure ran from 70 in towns with five or fewer practices to 249 where twelve or more compete. Working out your review target shows how to find your own number.
When the reviews come in, reply to them. Google says replying shows that you value the feedback, and how to reply to Google reviews covers the confidentiality rule that matters for dental practices.
Track the reviews race in your town
Practice Radar's reviews race dashboard shows your review count and rating against the practices competing with you, re-checked every week, so you can see whether your asking is closing the gap.
Run on our own practice first: ninth of the 14 practices measured in its town in May, first of 18 in September, on UK-wide search value. Page-one keywords: 6 in May, 194 in September.
Thirty days free. No card, and nothing starts automatically when it ends.