Asking Irish customers for Google reviews the right way, without gating

Short answer: ask every customer, not only the ones who seemed happy, for an honest Google review soon after the job — using a direct link or QR code — and never offer anything in exchange. Selectively asking based on how a customer felt, known as review gating, breaks Google's rules and misleads the next person searching in your county.

Google requires reviews to reflect a genuine experience and prohibits offering incentives — discounts, free work, prize draws — for posting, editing or removing one. In Ireland, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has consumer protection responsibilities that cover misleading commercial practices, and the Consumer Rights Act 2022 sets out wider protections that touch on how businesses represent themselves to customers, including through reviews.

What review gating looks like in practice

A common but risky pattern: asking a customer in person "how did we do?" first, then only handing the Google link to the ones who said "great", while quietly directing anyone less happy to a private feedback form instead. The result is a profile that only ever shows the good days — not a fair account of the business, and something Google explicitly asks businesses not to do.

A fairer approach: everyone gets the same review link. Everyone also gets an easy, separate way to raise a problem directly with you — most unhappy customers would rather have it fixed than post publicly about it anyway.

When to ask

• Right after a good moment — the job finishing, the appointment ending, the collection being made.
• In person first, then a short follow-up message the same day while it's fresh.
• Once. A second and third reminder tends to annoy rather than convert.

Practical ways to ask across Ireland

1. A direct review link, generated from your Business Profile, that opens the review form straight away — useful in a text message after a callout in rural County Kildare or a walk-in job in Galway city.
2. A QR code on an invoice, counter card or van sticker.
3. An NFC card customers tap with their phone — a tap opens the link, it is not itself a submitted review.
4. A short message, for example: "Thanks for choosing us today. If you have a minute, an honest review on Google helps other people nearby decide: [link]. If anything wasn't right, reply here first and we'll sort it."

What to avoid entirely

• Any discount, freebie or prize draw offered for a review.
• Writing reviews yourself, or asking staff to review their own workplace.
• Asking only the customers you're confident were satisfied.
• Buying reviews from any service, however it's marketed.

Checklist

• The same review link goes to every customer
• No incentive of any kind, ever
• A separate, easy route exists for complaints
• Staff know the correct way to ask in person

Where Local SEO AI helps

Review requests generates branded review links, QR codes and NFC-ready links tied to your profile, and counts link visits separately from reviews actually submitted. Messages are sent by you — the platform does not send automatic SMS or email requests on your behalf. See pricing, billed in GBP (£). Once reviews start coming in, how to reply to them covers what to say, and our Cork local SEO guide has more on building review volume in that market.