Send a review request text within a few days of the job or visit, with a direct link to the review page, and one reminder a few days later if there is no reply. Ask every customer the same way: the FTC bars incentives tied to a positive or negative review, and Google bans selectively asking happy customers.
This guide covers when to ask, ready-to-paste sequences for home services, clinics and agencies, what the FTC's 2024 rule and the main review sites forbid, why review gating breaks those rules, and how to handle the replies. It is part of our guide to texting existing customers. Every rule links to its source and date.
When should you send a review request text?
Soon enough that the experience is fresh, late enough that the customer can judge the result. In BrightLocal's 2025 survey of 1,026 US adults, 48% expected a review request from a food and drink business "by the following day". For trades, service businesses, healthcare and real estate, consumers felt "between three days to a week" after the experience was right (BrightLocal, 2025). BrightLocal sells review software, so it has an interest in review requests.
| Business | First text | Reminder | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home services (repair, cleaning, install) | 1 to 3 days after the job | 3 days later | The customer has seen the work hold up |
| Larger projects (roof, remodel, HVAC system) | A few days after final sign-off | 4 days later | Ask once the job is truly finished |
| Clinics and appointment businesses | The day after the visit | 3 days later | Keep health details out of the text |
| Agencies and software | After a clear milestone, such as the first results or 60 to 90 days in | 4 days later | Trustpilot asks businesses to "Give your customers time to experience the product or service" |
Ask everyone at the same point in the journey, whatever you think of how it went. The reason is in the rules below.
The same survey found email was the request consumers were most likely to act on (40%), followed by being asked in person (27%), with increases "for other methods that follow the point of sale, such as via text message". A text works well as the follow-up to an in-person ask: "Thanks again, here's the link we mentioned."
What do the FTC and review sites forbid?
Paying for good reviews, steering unhappy customers away from public reviews, and, on some sites, asking for reviews at all. This section summarizes public rules as of October 2026. It is not legal advice, so ask a lawyer about your own program.
| Who sets the rule | What it says | What it means for your texts |
|---|---|---|
| FTC, Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials | Businesses may not "provide compensation or other incentives in exchange for, or conditioned expressly or by implication on, the writing or creation of consumer reviews expressing a particular sentiment, whether positive or negative" (16 CFR 465.4) | No discount, gift card or prize tied to a positive review |
| FTC guidance for marketers | "Don't ask for reviews only from customers you think will leave positive ones." If you offer an incentive, "don't condition it, explicitly or implicitly, on the review being positive" (FTC, 2022) | Send the request to every customer |
| Google Maps | Merchants may not offer incentives "such as payment, discounts, free goods and/or services" in "exchange for posting any review", or "Discourage or prohibit negative reviews, or selectively solicit positive reviews from customers" (Google Maps user contributed content policy, read 2026-10-14) | No incentive of any kind, and no filtering by who seems happy |
| Yelp | "Businesses should never ask customers to write reviews" (Yelp content guidelines, read 2026-10-14), and its software "may not recommend reviews that seem to be prompted or encouraged by the business" (Yelp support, read 2026-10-14) | Leave Yelp links out of review requests |
| Trustpilot | Invitations "must be fair, neutral, and unbiased with no incentives offered"; invite "everyone in the same way, and at the same point in the customer journey" (Trustpilot guidelines for businesses, September 2026) | One neutral invitation per experience, sent to all |
| Canada's Competition Bureau | Bell paid a $1,250,000 penalty after employees were encouraged to post positive app reviews "without disclosing that they work for Bell" (Competition Bureau, 2015) | Staff reviews without disclosure carry real penalties in Canada too |
The FTC rule was published on 2024-08-22 and took effect on 2024-10-21 (Federal Register, 2024). It also bars fake reviews, undisclosed reviews by officers and managers, and threats or intimidation meant to stop or remove a review (16 CFR 465.2, 465.5 and 465.7).
Google's policy goes further than the FTC on incentives: the FTC rule targets rewards tied to a particular sentiment, while Google bans rewards for "posting any review". Google also says merchants "should not require or pressure users to leave ratings or write reviews while on the premises, nor should they request that specific content be included". So a text that asks for "5 stars" or suggests wording breaks Google's policy.
What is review gating, and where is it banned?
Review gating means checking whether a customer is happy before deciding who gets the public review link. A common version asks "How did we do, 1 to 5?" and sends the review link only to people who answer 4 or 5, while everyone else is asked to contact the business privately.
Google bans it in plain terms: merchants may not "selectively solicit positive reviews from customers". Trustpilot lists "Pre-screening people who leave a review by directing customers who have had a good experience to leave a review and those with a bad experience to contact you directly", and also bans timing invitations for a stage "that will only be reached by people who have had a good experience". The FTC's guidance tells marketers not to ask only customers expected to be positive.
Asking for feedback is fine on its own. The line is crossed when the answer decides who gets the review link. The safe pattern: send everyone the same review request, and give everyone the same easy way to raise a problem with you.
Review request sequence
Two texts: the request and one reminder. Every template here fits in one segment (160 characters) with the fields filled in, before the opt-out line is added. Swap "Sam" and "Northwind" for your name and business, and use the review site's own link or a link on your own domain.
Text 1, at the point you chose above:
Thanks for choosing Northwind, First name. Would you share how the Service went in a quick review? Review link
Wait 3 days. If no reply:
One last nudge, and thank you again. Your review helps neighbors choose: Review link
Then stop. A customer who hasn't answered two texts has made a choice, and a third request starts to feel like pressure.
Home services
Hi First name, Sam from Northwind. Thanks for having us out for the Service. Would you leave us a short review? Review link
Clinics and appointment businesses
Keep the text to the visit and the link, with no treatment or health details:
Thank you for visiting Northwind Clinic, First name. If you have a moment, we'd value a review: Review link
Related: clinic and dental appointment reminder texts.
Agencies and software companies
Hi First name, Sam at Northwind. Now that Company has seen the first results, would you share your view in a review? Review link
Each version invites an honest account of the experience. None of them mentions stars, suggests wording or offers anything in return.
What consent do review request texts need?
The customer's permission to receive texts from you, usually given when they booked or signed. A plain review request with no offer attached sits with service texts in the carriers' guidance, which expects "express permission" for informational messages and written agreement for promotional ones (CTIA, 2023). Add a coupon or a promotion and the text becomes promotional.
In Canada, a purchase gives implied consent for two years under CASL (s. 10(10)), and every commercial text must identify you and include an unsubscribe mechanism (s. 6(2)). Our business texting rules guide covers consent in both countries.
How should you handle replies to review requests?
Stop the automated texts for anyone who replies, and answer from the same number. Replies to review requests are often the most useful texts you get.
| Reply | What to do |
|---|---|
| "Done, left you one" | Thank them. If they mention a staff member, pass it on |
| A complaint | Answer the same day and fix it. They already have the link, and what they post is their choice |
| A question about the job | Answer it, or book a call |
| "Who is this?" | "It's Sam from Northwind. We did your Service on Date." |
| STOP | Send only the single confirmation, then no more texts |
Never answer a complaint by asking the customer to hold off on a review, and never offer anything for removing or changing one. Google's policy bans incentives for the "revision or removal of a negative review", and the FTC rule bars threats or intimidation aimed at removing a review. US rules require opt-outs to be honored within 10 business days (47 CFR 64.1200(a)(10)), and CASL sets the same limit (s. 11).
What should a review request text leave out?
- Any incentive tied to a review, and on Google any incentive at all.
- Requests for a star rating or suggested wording. Ask for an honest review.
- A happiness check that decides who gets the link.
- Yelp links, since Yelp asks businesses not to request reviews.
- Shared public link shorteners. Carriers filter them, and CTIA asks senders to use a shortener "dedicated to the exclusive use of the Message Sender".
- Staff quotas. Google's policy names "Merchants requesting that staff solicit a certain number of reviews" as a breach.
How do you know review requests are working?
Track reviews per completed job, by month, and compare with the months before you started texting. Watch replies and opt-outs per text too: a reminder with more opt-outs than the first text is a sign to soften it or drop it.
Review requests come after the work, so they pair naturally with the sequences before it: estimate follow-up texts to win the job, and reminder texts to make sure it happens. More wording is in our follow-up text templates.
Where does Textually fit?
Textually runs review request sequences like these for teams in the US and Canada. You import finished jobs by CSV or paste, push them into a campaign (new rows can join automatically), and write a Text, a Wait and a Condition step with any column, such as Service or Review link, as a field. Every customer pushed into the campaign gets the same request, from the same number they already know, registered by Textually for 10DLC in the US or as a verified toll-free number for Canada. Texts send only inside your sending days and hours and only with a consent record or a campaign-wide confirmation, and STOP ends texts at once. A reply ends that customer's sequence and lands in one shared inbox with the full history and suggested replies. There is a monthly platform fee ($99, or $49 at the founding price for the first 1,000 teams), with texts charged per segment and replies free (pricing). See why text and how the rules are built in, or apply for access.
Questions
How do I ask a customer for a review by text?
Thank them, name the job, ask for a quick review and include the direct link: "Thanks for choosing Northwind, Jordan. Would you share how the furnace tune-up went in a quick review?" plus the link. Send it within a few days of the job and remind once.
Can I offer a discount for a Google review?
No. Google's policy bans incentives such as payment, discounts or free services "in exchange for posting any review", and the FTC rule bans incentives conditioned on a positive or negative review. A plain request to every customer is the safe route.
Is review gating illegal?
Google and Trustpilot ban it in their policies, and the FTC's guidance tells businesses not to ask only customers expected to leave positive reviews. Whether a gating setup breaks federal law depends on the facts, so ask a lawyer. Sending the same request to every customer avoids the question.
How many times should I ask for a review?
Twice at most: one request and one reminder a few days later. After that, stop. No study sets the number, and a third ask reads as pressure.
Can I ask for Yelp reviews by text?
Yelp's guidelines say businesses "should never ask customers to write reviews", and its support pages say prompted reviews may not be recommended. Leave Yelp out of review requests and point customers to sites that allow invitations.
When is the best time to send a review request text?
Within a few days of the experience. In BrightLocal's 2025 survey, consumers expected a request by the next day for restaurants and within three days to a week for trades, service businesses and healthcare.
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