How to ask patients for Google reviews, within the rules

Knowing how to ask for Google reviews is mostly knowing what not to do. In a dental practice, the approach that works and stays within the rules is simple: ask every patient at the same point, after their appointment, with a short neutral message containing your Google review link. No incentives, no request for five stars, no staff names, and no one waiting at the desk while the patient types.

Are you allowed to ask for Google reviews?

Yes. Google's own tips to get more reviews tell businesses to remind customers to leave reviews, using a Google link or QR code. Google's Maps content policy says merchants may solicit or encourage reviews that reflect a genuine experience, as long as they do not offer incentives or try to influence the rating or the contents.

UK consumer law takes the same view. The CMA's fake reviews guidance says that encouraging reviews without predetermining their content or sentiment, for example by emailing customers generally to ask if they wish to provide a review, is not prohibited.

The rules, in one list

From Google's policy and the UK's fake reviews law, a dental practice asking for reviews must not:

1. Offer anything in return. Google prohibits incentives such as payment, discounts or free services for a review. A whitening discount or a gift card is an incentive. Leave out prize draws too: the CMA says a draw is unlikely to count as commissioning under the law, but Google's policy is written to cover incentives broadly.
2. Ask only happy patients. Google says merchants must not selectively solicit positive reviews. The CMA describes encouraging just those who are satisfied as cherry-picking.
3. Ask for a particular rating. "Five stars would really help" tries to influence the rating.
4. Ask for particular content. Google says merchants should not request that specific content be included, including content that identifies a staff member.
5. Pressure patients on the premises. Google says merchants should not require or pressure users to leave ratings or write reviews while on the premises.
6. Set staff targets. Google lists asking staff to solicit a certain number of reviews as not allowed.
7. Write or commission reviews. Fake reviews and concealed incentivised reviews are a banned practice under Schedule 20 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. The CMA says commissioning can include a business asking a member of staff to review its own services.

Google enforces this. Its restrictions page says profiles that break the fake engagement policy can be blocked from new reviews, have existing reviews unpublished, or display a warning that fake reviews were removed.

When to ask

Ask at a fixed point that does not depend on how the appointment went. That protects you from selective soliciting and makes it a habit rather than a judgement call. Reasonable fixed points for a dental practice:

• after every routine examination
• at the end of a completed course of treatment, rather than midway
• after a hygiene appointment

The same day works well, while the visit is fresh. Then leave it. The CMA guidance also warns against interfering with negative reviews by arbitrarily stopping and starting review invitations, so do not pause requests after a difficult week and restart when things look better.

How to ask in person

An in-person mention is a nudge, not the ask itself. Keep it to one sentence at the end of the visit:

"We will send you a short message later. If you have a minute, we would really value a Google review."

Then move on. Hand over a card or point to the poster if you have one, but do not wait while the patient opens their phone, never take the phone to do it for them, and never hand them a practice tablet to review on. Google's policy is specific about pressure on the premises, and a receptionist watching someone type is exactly that.

How do I ask for a review without sounding desperate?

Ask once, plainly, and do not explain how much you need it. "Every review really helps us" or "we are trying to beat the practice down the road" puts the patient in an awkward position. "We would value a review on Google" is enough. Patients who had a good experience are usually glad to be asked and do not need persuading.

How to ask for Google reviews via email or text

The message after the visit does most of the work, because it arrives on the phone the patient will use to write the review. Get your link from your Business Profile under Read reviews, then Get more reviews, as Google explains in how to create a Google link or QR code to request reviews.

Keep it free of clinical detail

Text messages show on lock screens. "How did your extraction go today?" puts clinical information in view of anyone near the phone. The GDC's Standards for the Dental Team include what treatment a patient is having in the information you must keep confidential. Thank them for visiting the practice and leave it there.

Keep it free of marketing

The ICO's guidance on identifying direct marketing says a neutral message about someone's relationship with you is more likely to be a service message, but that a message with direct marketing elements counts as direct marketing even if that was not its main purpose. A review request that also promotes whitening or a membership plan is a marketing message. Keep the two separate.

Google review request templates

Text message:

"Thank you for visiting [practice name] today. If you have a moment, we would value a review on Google: [link]"

Email subject: Thank you for visiting [practice name]

"Thank you for choosing [practice name]. Reviews help other people in [town] choose a dentist, 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 our practice manager will pick it up. Thank you, [name], [practice name]"

The contact line goes to everyone in the same message. It must never replace the review link for patients you think are unhappy, because that is selective soliciting.

One message is enough. Most practice management software can send it automatically after the appointment, which takes the decision about who to ask out of anyone's hands.

What patients need to know to leave a review

Where can I submit a Google review?

The easiest route is your review link. Without it, Google's Maps help says to search for the place in Google Maps, choose Write a review, pick a star rating and add text if they wish. The same works when writing a Google review on a phone in the Google Maps app.

Google's review tips say customers must be signed in to a Google Account to leave a review, and can set one up with a non-Gmail email address. That is a useful line for patients who say they cannot review you because they do not use Gmail.

How do I hide my name on Google reviews?

Some patients do not want to be seen reviewing a dentist. Google says you cannot add an anonymous review, and that the name on the reviewer's Google profile is shown. Tell patients that honestly if they ask. If they would rather not post publicly, respect it. NHS practices also offer the Friends and Family Test, an anonymous feedback route that should be open to every patient.

Involving the team

Reviews work best when the whole team asks in the same plain way, and nobody is chasing a number.

• No targets or league tables for reviews collected by each person. Google lists staff targets for review numbers as not allowed.
• No asking patients to mention a clinician. Google lists requests for content that identifies a staff member.
• No team reviews. Employees and former employees have a conflict of interest under Google's policy, and a business asking staff to review it is commissioning under the CMA guidance.
• Do share the good ones. Reading reviews out at a team meeting is a far better motivator than a target.

How to get a bad Google review taken down

Only reviews that break Google's policies can be removed, through the report option on your profile and Google's Reviews Management Tool. Google's guidance on reporting inappropriate reviews says you should not report a review just because you disagree with it. Never offer a patient anything to change or remove a negative review. Google prohibits it and the CMA gives it as an example of what the law prohibits. A calm reply that does not confirm the person was a patient usually does more good, and how to reply to Google reviews covers the wording.

How many reviews to aim for

Asking every patient steadily matters more than any single campaign. Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help your business's local ranking. In our study of 1,489 UK places, the median practice in the local map pack had 113 reviews, but that ranged 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 the figure for your own town.