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Reviews

Can I ask my customers for reviews? What's allowed?

By Wild & Resourceful · October 27, 2026 · 3 min read

Short answer: yes, you can ask for reviews. What you can't do is pay or reward people for them, ask only your happy customers, or fake them. Ask everyone, ask honestly, and leave the wording to them.

What's allowed

  • Asking customers to share their honest experience, by text, email, a link, or a QR code on an invoice or card.
  • Asking after the job is done, when it's fresh, not while someone is standing in their half-finished kitchen.
  • Replying to every review, good or bad, politely.

What's not allowed

  • Rewards for reviews. Google says offering incentives, such as discounts or free goods or services, in exchange for a review, a change to a review, or removing a negative one is strictly prohibited.
  • Review gating. That means sending the review link only to customers you expect to be happy, and sending unhappy ones somewhere private. The fix is simple: send the same request to everyone.
  • Fake reviews. The FTC's rule against fake reviews and testimonials took effect October 21, 2024. It covers reviews from people who don't exist or never used the service, including AI-generated ones.
  • Buying reviews. The FTC rule bars compensation or incentives tied to a review expressing a certain opinion, positive or negative.
  • Threatening reviewers. The rule also prohibits using groundless legal threats or intimidation to stop or remove an honest negative review.
Heads up: platforms update their rules. Recent write-ups say Google is also enforcing against pressuring people to review while still on site, asking for specific wording or employee names, and giving staff review quotas. Other sites differ too. Yelp, for example, discourages asking at all. Check each platform's current rules before you send a request. This is general information, not legal advice.

What an honest ask sounds like

Something plain works best: "If you're happy to share your experience, here's the link. Thanks for letting us work on your home." No pushing for five stars, and no "if you liked it" filter.

If you want scripts ready to go

This kit is built around asking honestly. It has no paid reviews and no review gating, and it doesn't promise any reviews or referrals.

The Remodeler's Reviews & Referrals Kit

$27, 10-page PDF. For remodelers, general contractors, and home builders. No paying for reviews. No review gating.

See it on Gumroad

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October 27, 2026 · 3 min read

Sources

Checked October 27, 2026. Rules and numbers change, so confirm anything important on the source page.

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