--- title: How to get more Google reviews for a restaurant | NFCeez url: https://nfceez.de/en/blog/how-to-get-more-google-reviews/ language: en description: How to get more Google reviews: create your review link and QR code, wording to copy, what Google bans and what German law adds for cafés and restaurants. --- # How can a restaurant or café get more Google reviews? The shortest way to your review link, wording for your team, and the rules many tips skip. As of November 2026. [Google and AI](https://nfceez.de/en/blog/topic/google/) 7 min read Updated 2 November 2026 NFCeez editorial team The short answer A restaurant or café gets more Google reviews by asking every guest the same way, offering nothing in return, and keeping the path short. The review link and QR code are in the Google Business Profile under Read reviews, then Get more reviews. Google bans stamps, discounts or gifts for reviews, and it also bans selectively asking only happy guests. Contents - Why do Google reviews matter for a café or restaurant? - Where do you get your Google review link? - Where should the review link go? - What should you actually say to guests? - What does Google ban when it comes to reviews? - What applies in Germany to reviews in exchange for something? - Can you ask for a review by email? - How many Google reviews does a café need? - Do you have to reply to every review? - What if genuine reviews disappear? - How do you make the way to a review at the table as short as it can be? - What should you do first today? Plenty of guests who enjoyed their visit would happily write something. They just forget between the till and the front door. So more reviews rarely come from a clever trick. They come from a short path and a routine your team actually keeps. ## Why do Google reviews matter for a café or restaurant? Google reviews matter twice: new guests read them before a first visit, and Google uses them in local search. [Google's help page on local ranking](https://support.google.com/business/answer/7091?hl=en) says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and prominence, and that more reviews and positive ratings can help. How much they help, Google doesn't say. It keeps the algorithm details confidential. Anyone selling you a fixed review target as a ranking rule is guessing. Our article on [getting found on Google and ChatGPT](https://nfceez.de/en/blog/get-your-restaurant-found-on-google-and-chatgpt/) covers what is known. ## Where do you get your Google review link? You create the link and QR code in your Business Profile, and it takes a few minutes. This is how [Google](https://support.google.com/business/answer/16816815?hl=en) describes it as of November 2026: - On a computer, go to business.google.com and sign in with the account that manages your profile. - Select Read reviews, then Get more reviews. - To take the link, select the Copy icon. - To take the QR code, right-click it and select Save image as. Two catches that often go unmentioned. Google only generates the review QR code in a computer browser, not on a phone. And guests need a Google Account, though [Google says](https://support.google.com/business/answer/3474122?hl=en) it can be set up with a non-Gmail address. Test the link and code on someone else's phone before you print anything. No verified profile yet? Start with our [Google Business Profile guide](https://nfceez.de/en/blog/google-business-profile-for-restaurants/). ## Where should the review link go? The review link belongs where a guest already has a phone or a receipt in hand. Google itself suggests receipts, thank-you emails, the end of a chat and a printed QR code in your store. Place Moment Watch out for Receipt After paying Print a test and scan it. Faint QR codes scan badly. Table or counter Over the last coffee One sentence and an NFC sticker or QR code. Nobody gets pushed. Saying goodbye At the door or till A mention, not a request to tap right now while staff watch. Instagram profile, your own page Any time Easy to see, not buried in an old post. Email to guests The day after In Germany only with the right legal basis, see below. Whichever route you use, the link should open with one tap or scan, without the guest having to search for your name, and it should look the same for every guest. A page that first asks whether guests enjoyed it and sends only the happy ones to Google is exactly the kind of pre-selection Google bans. ## What should you actually say to guests? The best wording is one short sentence the whole team says to every guest, asking for an honest review and never for five stars. Wording to copy - At the till: "If you feel like it, tell people on Google how it was. The code's on your receipt." - On the receipt: "How was it? We'd love an honest review on Google." - At the table: "Tap or scan: menu, links and our Google reviews." Leave out: "Give us five stars", "Please mention Lisa", "Leave a review and get a stamp". ## What does Google ban when it comes to reviews? Google bans any reward, any filtering of guests and any pressure. The [Maps user contributed content policy](https://support.google.com/contributionpolicy/answer/7400114?hl=en) explicitly allows you to encourage posts about genuine experiences, as long as there's no incentive. What you plan Allowed? Why Asking every guest for an honest review Yes Genuine experience, no incentive A stamp, discount or coffee for a review No An incentive, even if the review stays free Asking first if they enjoyed it, then sending only the happy ones to Google No Google bans selectively soliciting positive reviews A voucher to change or delete a bad review No An incentive for revision or removal A team quota, say ten reviews a week No Staff can't be told to solicit a certain number Asking guests to mention a person or dish No No requests for specific content Pushing guests while they're on the premises No No requiring or pressuring on site Staff or family reviewing your own business No Conflict of interest Google can remove all of this. It applies to loyalty cards too: a stamp is for a visit, never for a review. ## What applies in Germany to reviews in exchange for something? In Germany, unfair competition law sits on top of Google's rules, and rewards are a risk there as well. If you run a place elsewhere, check your own country's rules. As of November 2026 the key points for Germany are: - [Section 5a(4) of the Unfair Competition Act (UWG)](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/uwg_2004/__5a.html): it's unfair not to disclose the commercial purpose of a business act, where that isn't obvious from the circumstances and could sway a consumer's decision. - [UWG Annex, no. 23c](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/uwg_2004/anhang.html): submitting or commissioning fake consumer reviews is always banned. According to the [Wettbewerbszentrale](https://www.wettbewerbszentrale.de/uwg-novelle-2022-die-wichtigsten-aenderungen-im-ueberblick-teil-ii-kundenbewertungen-belaestigende-werbung-blacklist-tatbestaende-und-neue-rechtsfolgen/), Germany's competition watchdog, that includes a business reviewing itself while posing as a customer. - Whether a real customer's review given for a voucher or discount counts as "fake" is disputed, the Wettbewerbszentrale says. - In 2021 [the Hildesheim regional court](https://www.ra-plutte.de/lg-hildesheim-amazon-gutschein-gegen-google-bewertung/) barred a house-building firm from promising 50-euro vouchers for Google reviews (11 O 12/21, reported as not final). Not a hospitality case, but the same question. The simple rule for daily life: give nothing for a review. For your specific case, your local Chamber of Commerce (IHK) is the first place to ask. ## Can you ask for a review by email? In Germany, an emailed review request counts as advertising, so it needs a legal basis. The Federal Court of Justice ruled this in 2018 about an invoice email with a review request to an online buyer ([VI ZR 225/17](https://www.lto.de/recht/nachrichten/n/bgh-vizr225-17-online-shop-rechnung-email-kundenzufriedenheitsumfrage-verbotene-werbung/print.html)): without consent, it wasn't allowed. Google itself suggests thank-you emails, so German law is stricter here than Google's tip. Consent is one basis. The existing-customer exception in [section 7(3) UWG](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/uwg_2004/__7.html) has narrow conditions, including telling guests of their right to object when you collect the address. Receipts, stickers and a spoken word avoid the question altogether. See our article on [email consent and GDPR](https://nfceez.de/en/blog/loyalty-programme-gdpr/). ## How many Google reviews does a café need? Google gives no number. A more useful question is how many reviews your routine can bring in a year. Worked example with made-up numbers Café Morgenrot has 300 guests a week. Suppose 1 in 100 writes something: that's 3 reviews a week, about 150 a year. The rate is an assumption, not a forecast. Count for four weeks at your own place and you'll have your real figure. One sentence everyone says every day lasts longer than a one-off campaign. It also stops the temptation to bring in quotas when things get busy. ## Do you have to reply to every review? No, you don't have to reply to every review. [Google advises](https://support.google.com/business/answer/3474122?hl=en) keeping replies short and replying where you can add a useful update or answer a question, rather than posting generic thank-yous. One concrete line does more, like "The rhubarb cake is back in April". Criticism is different: reply promptly. You can only reply once your business is [verified](https://support.google.com/business/answer/3474050?hl=en). Templates for hard cases are in our article on [responding to bad reviews](https://nfceez.de/en/blog/how-to-respond-to-bad-reviews/). ## What if genuine reviews disappear? If genuine reviews disappear, you can contact Google support. [Google says](https://support.google.com/business/answer/4596773?hl=en) this can happen when automated spam detection removes a legitimate review. First check everything was clean: no reviews from staff or family, no campaign with a reward attached. ## How do you make the way to a review at the table as short as it can be? With the [NFCeez Smart Page](https://nfceez.de/en/features/smart-page/) it works like this. You add the review link you copied from Google once in the app. On your page it then comes first, the same for every guest, with no question beforehand. You connect an NFC sticker or the NFC card to your business in the app, and a tap or scan opens exactly that page. The table line from the box above works as it is. The app shows how often the review link was tapped, compared with the period before, so after four weeks you can tell whether the spot on the table works. The limits: NFCeez can't see how many guests then actually write a review. You count that on Google under Read reviews. Replies to reviews still happen in your Google profile. ## What should you do first today? - Get the link and QR code on a computer and test them on someone else's phone. - Add the code to your receipt and scan a test print. - Agree one sentence for the team and share it at the next shift change. - End any old campaign with a reward, including that line on the stamp card. - In four weeks, count under Read reviews what the routine brought in. [ How NFCeez does this Your review link at the top, the same for every guest. You add the link once, and a tap at the table opens it with no searching. The app shows you how often it was tapped. See how it works ](https://nfceez.de/en/features/smart-page/) Sources - [Google Business Profile Help: Create a Google link or QR code to request reviews](https://support.google.com/business/answer/16816815) - [Google Business Profile Help: Get Google reviews and tips for replies](https://support.google.com/business/answer/3474122) - [Google Business Profile Help: Manage customer reviews](https://support.google.com/business/answer/3474050) - [Google Business Profile Help: Report inappropriate reviews](https://support.google.com/business/answer/4596773) - [Google Business Profile Help: Tips to improve your local ranking](https://support.google.com/business/answer/7091) - [Google Maps: User contributed content policy](https://support.google.com/contributionpolicy/answer/7400114) - [§ 5a UWG](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/uwg_2004/__5a.html) - [§ 7 UWG](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/uwg_2004/__7.html) - [Anhang zu § 3 Abs. 3 UWG, Nr. 23c](https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/uwg_2004/anhang.html) - [Wettbewerbszentrale: UWG-Novelle 2022, Kundenbewertungen](https://www.wettbewerbszentrale.de/uwg-novelle-2022-die-wichtigsten-aenderungen-im-ueberblick-teil-ii-kundenbewertungen-belaestigende-werbung-blacklist-tatbestaende-und-neue-rechtsfolgen/) - [Bericht zu LG Hildesheim, 28.12.2021, 11 O 12/21](https://www.ra-plutte.de/lg-hildesheim-amazon-gutschein-gegen-google-bewertung/) - [LTO: BGH, 10.07.2018, VI ZR 225/17](https://www.lto.de/recht/nachrichten/n/bgh-vizr225-17-online-shop-rechnung-email-kundenzufriedenheitsumfrage-verbotene-werbung/print.html) ## Questions about Google reviews. No. Google treats free products, discounts and payments as incentives and removes that content, whatever the rating. That includes stamps on a loyalty card. In your Business Profile under Read reviews, then Get more reviews. You can copy the link there and, on a computer, save the QR code. Google only generates the review QR code in a computer browser. It can't be created on a mobile device. Yes. The account can be set up with an email address that isn't Gmail. No. Google treats current or former employment and personal ties as a conflict of interest, and those reviews aren't allowed. Only with a legal basis, because the Federal Court of Justice treats such a request as advertising. Without consent or the narrow existing-customer exception in section 7(3) UWG, leave it out. ## Keep reading. [All articles](https://nfceez.de/en/blog/) [ ### How should you respond to a negative Google review, and when can it be removed? Six ready replies for common cases, the exact steps for reporting, and the legal position in Germany if someone was never your guest. As of November 2026. - ](https://nfceez.de/en/blog/how-to-respond-to-bad-reviews/) [ ### How do you set up a Google Business Profile for a restaurant or café? The full step-by-step list, using the menu names from Google's own help pages. As of November 2026. - ](https://nfceez.de/en/blog/google-business-profile-for-restaurants/) [ ### How does your restaurant get found on Google and ChatGPT? What the companies actually document, what nobody outside them knows, and the work that's worth doing anyway. As of November 2026. - ](https://nfceez.de/en/blog/get-your-restaurant-found-on-google-and-chatgpt/)