Here is the single biggest reason businesses don't get reviews: they ask people to "leave us a Google review" and then make them find the profile themselves.

Search the business name, scroll past the ads, find the right listing, scroll to reviews, tap write a review, sign in. Six steps, and most people drop out around step three.

A direct review link collapses that into one tap: the review box opens with the stars ready. Here are three ways to get yours.

Method 1: From your Google Business Profile (easiest)

Search your own business name on Google while signed in to the account that manages the profile.
Your business management panel appears at the top of the results.
Look for the option to ask for reviews — usually shown as "Ask for reviews" or "Get more reviews".
Google gives you a short link, typically in the form g.page/r/.... Copy it.

This link is the one to use. It's short enough to fit in an SMS and it opens the review dialogue directly.

Method 2: Build it from your Place ID

Useful if you manage several locations or want the link without logging in.

Find your Place ID using Google's Place ID Finder tool (search "Google Place ID Finder") — type in your business name and it returns a long identifier.
Drop it into this pattern:
https://search.google.com/local/writereview?placeid=YOUR_PLACE_ID
Open it on your phone to confirm the review box appears.

Method 3: From Google Maps sharing

Open your business on Google Maps.
Tap Share and copy the link.

A warning about this one: it opens your profile, not the review box. The customer still has to find the review button themselves. Use it for directions, not for review requests.

Always test it on a phone

This step gets skipped and it costs businesses months of missing reviews.

Send the link to your own phone. Open it. Does the review box open immediately with the star selector visible? Does it point at the right location? If you have two listings, does it point at the one you actually want reviewed?

Ask a colleague to test it on an Android phone and an iPhone. Behaviour differs slightly between the Google app, Maps, and mobile browsers.

Shortening the link

The g.page/r/ link is usually short enough. If you want something memorable to say out loud, use a redirect on your own domain — for example yourbusiness.com/review pointing at the Google link.

Two advantages of hosting the redirect yourself:

You can say it out loud. "Just go to oakleafcafe.com slash review" is something a customer can remember on the way to their car.
You can change what it points to without reprinting anything.

Avoid generic shortener services for this. Some phones and email filters treat unfamiliar shortened links as suspicious, and a link that looks untrustworthy in an SMS from a business you just paid does not get tapped.

Where to put the link

Having the link is the easy part. Getting it in front of people at the right moment is where the reviews actually come from.

SMS a few hours after the visit. The single highest- converting placement for most local businesses. They're home, they're on their own phone and connection, and the experience is still fresh.
In your invoice or receipt email. One line, at the bottom, every time.
Email signature. "Happy with our work? A quick Google review really helps."
Printed on the back of a card handed over at the end.
A QR code on the table, the counter, or the invoice — see how to create a Google review QR code.
Booking confirmation follow-ups for appointment-based businesses.

Two things that will get your reviews filtered

Worth knowing before you build a whole campaign around this link.

Don't collect reviews on your own device or Wi-Fi. Handing customers a shop tablet, or having several people review you while on your guest network, is one of the strongest triggers for Google's spam filter. The reviews appear and then quietly vanish a few weeks later — a very common cause of reviews not showing up.

Don't attach an incentive to the link. "Tap here to review us and get 10% off" breaks Google's policy and, in a growing number of countries, consumer law — here's the detail.

The message that goes with the link

Keep it short, personal, and honest about why you're asking.

Hi [name], thanks again for coming in today. If you have thirty seconds, a quick Google review genuinely helps a small business like ours: [link] — [Your name]

Sign it with a real person's name. Requests from a human get answered far more often than requests from "the team." More wording that works is in how to ask customers for Google reviews.

Once the reviews start arriving, the other half of the job is answering them — Reploi drafts a personal reply to every one in seconds. Start free — 5 replies/month →

How to Get Your Google Review Link (And Shorten It)