Review Guidelines

Reviews only help you when people trust them. Google removes reviews, and can restrict business profiles, that break its rules. These guidelines keep your reviews genuine and your profile safe, and every Give Me Five Star account must follow them.

• ask every customer for a review, whatever their experience;
• ask soon after a real visit, while it's fresh;
• let customers choose their own star rating and edit the draft before posting;
• reply politely to all reviews, including critical ones.

Don't offer money, discounts, free items, lucky draws or any other reward for a review, whether it's positive or not. A simple, friendly request is all you need.

Owners, staff, family and friends should not review your own business, and nobody should review a competitor. Never create or buy Google accounts to post reviews.

You can invite customers to send you private feedback so you can fix problems quickly. But you must never stop an unhappy customer from posting on Google, or only send your review link to people you expect to be happy.

Give Me Five Star's AI turns the customer's own rating and choices into a short draft. The customer must read it, change anything that doesn't match their experience, and post it themselves from their own Google account. Staff should never post drafts on a customer's behalf.

Don't pressure anyone to change or delete a review. Reply calmly, apologise where it's fair, and offer to sort things out. Our guide to replying has examples.

If we find an account collecting fake or rewarded reviews, we may pause its review page or close the account, as set out in our Terms of Service. If you see misuse, please tell us.