QR Code for Google Reviews

Get the right link, not the listing link

There are two different URLs and only one of them works. A link to your Google Business Profile opens the listing, where the customer still has to find and tap 'Write a review'. What you want is the direct review-form link.

The reliable way to get it: open your Google Business Profile manager, find the 'Ask for reviews' or 'Get more reviews' option, and copy the short link it generates — it looks like g.page/r/…/review. That link opens the star selector immediately.

Test it on a phone, signed out of your own business account. You should see the review dialog and nothing else. If you land on the listing page or a map, you copied the wrong URL.

Why route it through a short link

Google's review links are opaque and long, which makes for a dense QR code that has to be printed large. Shortening it first gives a simpler code that survives being printed on a receipt or a small table card.

More importantly, it makes the code editable. If you move location, rebrand, or Google reissues the link, you change the destination once instead of reprinting every card, sticker and receipt template.

It also gives you scan counts, which is the only way to tell an asking problem from a converting problem: plenty of scans and few reviews means the ask is fine and the form is losing people; few scans means the code is in the wrong place.

Where to put it, by business type

Restaurants and cafes: on the bill holder or the receipt, not on the table. The right moment is immediately after a good experience, when the plate has been cleared and the customer is settling up — a table tent gets ignored during the meal.

Shops and salons: at the till, at eye level, with the code angled toward the customer rather than flat on the counter. A flat code forces an awkward stoop and loses scans.

Trades and home services: on the invoice, the job-completion sheet, and a sticker on whatever you installed. Contractors get their best review rates from a printed leave-behind at the moment the customer is happiest, not from an email two days later.

Hotels and short-lets: in the checkout folder or on the departure card, never in the welcome pack — asking on arrival is asking before there is anything to review.

The wording is most of the result

'Leave us a review' underperforms a specific, low-effort ask. 'Enjoyed your meal? One line on Google helps us a lot — scan here' does better because it names the trigger, sets the effort ('one line'), and gives a reason.

Put that sentence in the frame around the code so it travels with the artwork. Keep it to one line: anything longer competes with the code for attention.

Train staff to say it out loud once while handing over the bill. A verbal ask plus a code converts several times better than a code alone, and it costs nothing.

Stay on the right side of Google's rules

Asking every customer for a review is allowed and encouraged. What is not allowed is offering an incentive for a review, or asking only the customers you expect to be positive — 'review gating'. Both can get reviews removed and the listing penalised.

So: one code, shown to everyone, with no discount or freebie attached. If you want to catch unhappy customers before they post, give them a separate, clearly-labelled feedback route rather than filtering who sees the review link.

Do not set up a landing page that asks for a star rating first and only forwards the happy ones to Google. That is the textbook example of gating, and it is the pattern most likely to cost you the reviews you already have.

Reading the numbers

Track scans per placement by giving each spot its own link and code — receipt, till, invoice, delivery box. After a month you will know which one is carrying the programme and which is decoration.

Compare scans with the review count in your Business Profile over the same period. A wide gap points at the form or the ask, not at the placement.

Watch the daily pattern too. Review scans that cluster on your busiest service is a healthy signal; scans spread evenly across a week usually means the code is being scanned out of curiosity rather than at the intended moment.

Step by step

1. 1Copy your direct review linkIn your Google Business Profile, use the 'Ask for reviews' option and copy the g.page/r/…/review link that opens the star selector directly.
2. 2Test it signed outOpen the link on a phone that is not signed into your business account. You should see the review dialog, not the listing.
3. 3Shorten itTurn the long Google link into a short link so the QR code stays simple, stays editable, and can be counted.
4. 4Generate the code with a one-line askCreate the QR code and add a frame captioned with a specific, low-effort ask such as 'Enjoyed it? One line on Google helps us — scan here'.
5. 5Place it at the moment of paymentPut it on the bill holder, the receipt, the invoice or the checkout card, one code per placement so you can compare.

Frequently asked questions