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FIELD GUIDE 02
The review request scripts
83 out of every 100 customers who get asked for a review write one. The reason your competitor has more reviews than you is almost never that they have more customers.
FIG. 01 · WHY ASKING IS THE WHOLE GAME
- 83%of people who were asked to leave a review went on to leave one. BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026, 1,002 US adults.
- 74%only care about reviews written in the last three months. A wall of five-star reviews from 2023 is close to worthless in 2026.
- 89%expect a business to respond to their review. Asking is half the system. Replying is the other half.
Read those together and the strategy writes itself. Reviews are not a trophy cabinet you fill once. They are a flow you have to keep running, because recency is what customers actually judge you on.
The rules you have to follow first
This part is not optional and it is not marketing advice. Since 21 October 2024 the US Federal Trade Commission has enforced a specific rule on consumer reviews, 16 CFR Part 465, with civil penalties of up to $53,088 per violation. Read this before you send a single request.
Never do any of these
- Review gating. Do not survey people first and only send the review link to the happy ones. Asking everyone is the rule.
- Incentivising sentiment. You may not offer anything in exchange for a positive review specifically. Conditioning a reward on the review being positive is the line.
- Writing them yourself, or having staff, family or contractors write reviews without disclosing the connection.
- Buying reviews, or buying followers or engagement indicators, from anyone.
- Suppressing bad ones using legal threats or intimidation to force removal.
THE SAFE VERSION
Ask every customer, at the same moment in the job, with the same words, and let the stars fall where they fall. That is both the compliant approach and, as it happens, the one that produces a review profile customers believe.
Timing beats wording
The single biggest lever is not the script. It is the moment you send it. Ask at peak relief, the point where the customer is most obviously glad the problem is gone.
| Business type | Ask at this moment | Not this moment |
|---|---|---|
| Trades and home services | Right after the walkthrough, while you are still on site | When the invoice is sent |
| Professional services | When the outcome lands: case closed, filing accepted, deal completed | At the end of the engagement, weeks later |
| Healthcare and wellness | At checkout after a successful course of treatment | Immediately after a first consultation |
| Real estate | At handover, keys in hand | After the paperwork clears |
| Restaurants and retail | At the point of payment while they are still in the room | By email the next week |
The rule underneath all of these: ask while the result is still emotionally present. A week later they remember the invoice, not the relief.
The scripts
In person, said out loud
This is the highest converting version and it costs nothing. The key is that you ask for the review before you send the link, so the text is expected rather than an interruption.
The in-person ask, for the person finishing the job
Glad that's sorted for you. Can I ask a favour? Reviews are how people find us. Would you mind leaving one? It takes about a minute. I'll text you the direct link before I drive off, so it's sitting on your phone.
WHY THIS WORKS
You have converted an anonymous automated request into a small promise made to a specific human who just helped them. Send the link within two minutes, while the conversation is still the most recent thing that happened.
SMS, sent within the hour
SMS 1, after an in-person ask
Hi [FIRST NAME], [NAME] from [BUSINESS]. Here's that review link I mentioned, thanks again: [LINK]
SMS 2, cold, no prior ask
Hi [FIRST NAME], it's [NAME] at [BUSINESS]. Hope [THE JOB] is holding up well. If you have a minute, a quick review really helps people nearby find us: [LINK] If anything isn't right, reply here first and I'll fix it.
SMS 3, the single follow-up, three days later
Hi [FIRST NAME], just bumping this once in case it got buried: [LINK] No worries at all if you'd rather not.
FOLLOW UP ONCE. NOT TWICE.
One reminder is a courtesy. Two is a nuisance, and a nuisance is how you turn a satisfied customer into a two-star review about being pestered. Stop after the second message either way.
Email, when SMS is not appropriate
Email, subject line and body
Subject: Quick favour, [FIRST NAME]? Hi [FIRST NAME], Thanks again for having us out for [THE JOB]. It was a pleasure. Most of our work comes from people finding us online, and reviews are the main reason they pick us. If you have a spare minute, here is the direct link: [LINK] It takes about a minute and it genuinely makes a difference to a business our size. And if something wasn't right, reply to this email instead and I will sort it personally. Thanks, [NAME] [BUSINESS] · [PHONE]
THE LAST LINE IS THE IMPORTANT ONE
Offering an unhappy customer a direct reply is not gating, because you are still sending the review link to everyone in the same message. You are giving them a route to be heard, not a filter that stops them reviewing. Never remove the link for anyone.
The printed card, for businesses without phone numbers or emails
QR card, front and back
FRONT Did we do a good job? Tell people. It takes a minute. [QR CODE TO YOUR REVIEW LINK] BACK Something not right? Call [NAME] direct on [PHONE] and we'll fix it.
Getting the link right
Most review requests fail at the link, not the words. If a customer has to search for your business, tap through a map, scroll to the review section and then sign in, you have lost most of them.
- Use the direct review link, not your profile link. In Google Business Profile this is under "Ask for reviews", which gives a short link that opens the star selector immediately.
- Test it on a phone you are not signed in on. This is where most links break.
- Shorten it so it survives being read aloud or printed on a card.
- Send the link to one platform at a time. Offering a choice of three review sites reliably produces zero reviews.
- Pick the platform your customers actually search on. For most local service businesses that is Google, and it is not close.
Make it a system, not a good week
Because 74% of customers only weigh reviews from the last three months, a burst of twenty reviews in one month is worth less than three a month forever. Build the flow, not the burst.
The operating rules
- Attach the ask to a step in the job, not to a person remembering. The walkthrough, the handover, the checkout.
- Set a floor: how many new reviews per month keeps your last-90-days window populated. For most small service businesses, two to four is enough.
- Track it as one number on your weekly sheet: reviews received this month.
- Whoever finishes the job makes the ask. It converts far better than a request from an office nobody met.
- Reply to every review within a week. 89% expect a response, and BrightLocal’s 2026 data shows 32% now want it by the next day.
FIG. 05 · SOURCES, CHECKED 2 AUGUST 2026
Every number above was traced to its primary source before publication. Where a widely repeated figure could not be verified at the source, it was cut rather than repeated.
- VerifiedBrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 Representative panel of 1,002 US adult consumers via SurveyMonkey. 83% of those asked for a review left one; 74% only consider reviews from the last three months; 89% expect a response to their review, with 32% wanting it by the following day and 81% within a week.
- VerifiedFTC Trade Regulation Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials, 16 CFR Part 465 Finalised 14 August 2024, effective 21 October 2024. Prohibits fake and purchased reviews, undisclosed insider reviews, review suppression and review gating.
- VerifiedFTC civil penalty amount Maximum penalty for violations under Section 5(m)(1)(A) of the FTC Act rose from $51,744 to <b>$53,088</b> effective 17 January 2025, and was not adjusted again for 2026. Our own earlier material used the superseded $51,744 figure; this guide uses the current one.
RANKTHREAD
Reviews are infrastructure, not a campaign
The businesses that win on reviews are not asking harder. They have wired the ask into a step of the job so it happens without anybody deciding to do it. That is the kind of thing RankThread builds and then leaves running.
RANKTHREAD
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