Oakpress Studio Get more Google reviews
Get more Google reviews with a one-tap link and QR card.
Most happy customers will leave a review if someone asks at the right moment and it takes one tap. I set that up for you: a review link, a QR card for the counter or van, and a monthly nudge. It’s part of Grow, £99 a month, and a Found Check is free.
· by Jack Thomas
Why reviews decide who gets the call
When someone in Middlesbrough or Stockton picks a roofer, a physio or a wedding photographer, they read the reviews first. BrightLocal’s 2026 survey found 97% of people read them, 31% will only use a business rated 4.5 stars or more, and 74% want to see reviews from the last 3 months.
So a business with 200 happy customers and 12 Google reviews, the last one from two years ago, looks quieter than it is. The person searching picks someone else, and you never hear about it. Google notices too: how many reviews you have, how recent they are and whether they keep coming all feed into who it shows on the map.
Why good businesses don’t have enough
Customers are rarely the problem. Asking feels awkward, it gets forgotten on a busy day, and the review link is buried in a Google account nobody logs in to. So years of good work go by without a word on Google.
Sometimes the reviews exist but sit in the wrong place. One Teesside business I checked in October 2026 had about 1,400 reviews on a booking app, and Google doesn’t count those. Great reviews on Facebook have the same problem.
What I set up for you
Getting reviews is part of Grow, £99 a month:
- A one-tap review link that opens your Google review box straight away, ready to drop into a text, WhatsApp or invoice.
- A QR card for the counter, the van or the treatment room, so a customer can do it before they’ve left.
- A monthly nudge, so asking doesn’t slip when you’re busy and reviews keep coming in steadily.
Grow also includes 4 Google posts a month, a new FAQ answer on your website and a one-page report with your Google clicks, Maps views and a ChatGPT check. Reviews count there too: they’re one of the things ChatGPT and other AI tools read when they decide who to name.
Kept within the rules
Google is happy for you to ask for reviews. Everything I set up stays within its rules: no paying or offering discounts for reviews, no asking only the customers you know are happy, and nothing from staff or family. Fake reviews are also illegal in the UK. Breaking these can get reviews removed or your listing restricted, which is a lot worse than having too few.
What reviews won’t do on their own
Honestly: reviews alone won’t fix everything. Of the 21 Teesside businesses with a perfect 5.0 I checked in October 2026, 13 still sat outside the Google Maps top 5 for their own search (the numbers are in the Teesside Found Index). If that sounds like you, the cause is usually your Google profile or website, and that’s the job of the Search Fix.
I can’t promise a position on Google, and nobody honestly can. New reviews can start helping within weeks; a strong run of them takes months. Based on Teesside? See SEO in Middlesbrough or local SEO across Teesside.
Prices
Where you show up on Google, the map and ChatGPT, plus the 3 things I’d fix first.
A review link and QR card, a monthly nudge, 4 Google posts, a new FAQ answer and a monthly report.
Your Google profile, listings and website basics fixed. 5 things or your money back.
Need a website too? They start at £295.
How do I get more Google reviews?
Ask every customer, at the moment they’re happiest, with a link that opens Google’s review box in one tap. Most businesses fall short on the asking, and the customers would gladly do it. On Grow I set up the link and a QR card, and send a monthly nudge so it keeps happening.
Am I allowed to ask customers for Google reviews?
Yes, Google is happy for you to ask. What breaks its rules is paying or offering discounts for reviews, asking only the customers you know are happy, and reviews from staff or family. Fake reviews are also illegal in the UK. Everything I set up stays within those rules.
How many Google reviews do I need?
There’s no magic number. What matters is how you compare with the businesses around you on the map, and whether new reviews keep coming: BrightLocal’s 2026 survey found 74% of people want reviews from the last 3 months. The free Found Check shows you where you stand.
Will more reviews get me to the top of Google Maps?
They help, but I can’t promise a position, and nobody honestly can. Google also weighs your category, your website and how close the searcher is. Of the 21 perfect 5.0 businesses I checked on Teesside in October 2026, 13 still sat outside the Maps top 5.
Do Facebook or booking app reviews count on Google?
Not on your Google profile. One Teesside business I checked had about 1,400 reviews on a booking app, and Google doesn’t count them. They still help people who find you there, but the stars and numbers next to your name on Google Maps come from Google reviews.
Come in.
Send me your business name and town, and within one working day I’ll show you where you come up on Google, Google Maps and ChatGPT, plus the 3 fixes that would move you up. Free, with no obligation.