Google review QR code and link, straight from your Business Profile

Google gives every business that manages a Business Profile a free review link and QR code. Get both in a few clicks on a computer, print the code where visits end, and ask the way Google allows. With BonusQR Premium, your loyalty program can also ask your regulars after the visit you choose.

  • Free from Google
  • Downloadable QR code
  • Google’s rules explained
Example of Google’s review form on a phone, the page a Google review QR code opens
Example: a card you print with the QR code from your Business Profile. The scan opens Google’s own review form, where customers choose the stars themselves.

What is a Google review link and QR code?

A Google review link is a web address that opens the review form of your Google Business Profile. A Google review QR code is the same link as a printable code: customers scan it with their phone camera and Google’s review form opens.

To post, customers must be signed in to a Google Account. Google notes they can set one up with an e-mail address that isn’t Gmail. They choose the stars, write the review and post it themselves.

If you manage your business on Google (Google Business Profile, formerly Google My Business), you can get both free in your profile.

What Google allows when you ask for reviews

Asking for reviews is allowed. Google’s rules are about how you ask.

Allowed

  • Asking customers to review a genuine experience, “without offering incentives to do so or attempting to influence the rating or the contents of the review”
  • Sharing your review link or QR code on receipts, in thank-you e-mails, at the end of a chat and printed in your store
  • Replying to reviews. Google reminds you that your replies are public.

Sources: Google Maps content policy, Google Business Profile Help, Tips to get more reviews

Not allowed

  • Offering incentives, such as payment, discounts, or free goods or services, for posting a review, or for changing or removing a negative one
  • Discouraging or prohibiting negative reviews, or selectively asking for positive ones
  • Requiring or pressuring customers to leave a rating or a review while they are on your premises
  • Asking customers to include specific content in their review
  • Asking staff to collect a certain number of reviews, or reviews that name a staff member
  • Reviews based on a conflict of interest, which Google says may include current or former employment

Source: Google Maps content policy

Our advice: ask everyone the same way. Keep loyalty rewards for visits and purchases, and ask for reviews separately.

More detail in our guide: Incentivized Reviews Policy: What Google and the FTC Allow

Premium

Let your loyalty program ask for Google reviews after the visit

A QR code on the table only works if someone scans it then and there. With BonusQR Premium, members of your loyalty program are asked for a Google review automatically when their visits reach the number you choose.

The invitation as members receive it: the e-mail and, on phones with the mobile app, the push notification.
  • After visit no. 3 by default, or any number from 1 to 20, counted at your business
  • An e-mail, plus a push notification for members who have the mobile app installed
  • Once per member at your business; each venue of a brand asks on its own
  • The same invitation for every member who reaches that visit, whatever they thought of it
  • Sent in the member’s language, or in your business’s language if the member has none set
  • The button opens your Google review form, where the member writes and posts the review

Your Google Maps profile must be linked. BonusQR pairs your business with the Google Maps listing under your name near your address. If it picked the wrong one, unlink it in Settings (“This is not my business – unlink”) and search for yours.

From owners who use it

BonusQR even asks for Google reviews automatically, and since we turned that on, we started getting more positive feedback on Maps.

AnnaParzymyOwner · Coffee Shop, Poland

We also activated Google review prompts through BonusQR, and many loyal customers started leaving positive feedback on Google Maps.

AdrisLa NenaOwner · Café / Restaurant, Spain

Where to put your Google review QR code

Put the code where the visit ends, not where it begins.

A small café from above: the spots where the code works, and the one to skip.
  • With the bill

    On the receipt or in the bill folder, once guests have had the whole experience.

  • At the till

    A small card next to the payment terminal, where customers wait a few seconds anyway.

  • On takeaway bags and boxes

    A sticker for customers who eat or drink at home.

  • In the thank-you e-mail

    In e-mails and chat replies, the link works better than a code.

  • Not at the entrance

    Guests who are just arriving have nothing to review yet.

Before you print

  • One short, neutral line, such as “How was your visit? Leave us a Google review.”
  • A dark code on a light background, with a white margin around it.
  • Big enough to scan from where the customer sits. Test it from that spot.
Basic

Let members rate their visit in your app

On the Basic plan, your loyalty app can have a Feedback tab. Signed-in members rate their visit from 1 to 5 stars and can add a comment of up to 1,000 characters, once every 30 days.

You read every rating in your BonusQR admin, linked to the member. BonusQR never posts anything to Google for your customers.

The Feedback tab as members see it in your loyalty app.

Questions about Google review QR codes

What owners ask before they print the code.

How do I get a QR code for Google reviews?

Open your Google Business Profile in a computer browser, select “Read Reviews” and then “Get more reviews”. Right-click the QR code and select “Save image as...” to download it. Google says review QR codes can currently be generated only in a computer browser, not on mobile devices.

Where do I find my Google review link?

In the same “Get more reviews” panel of your Business Profile: select “Copy”. The link opens your review form, so you can add it to receipts, thank-you e-mails or the end of a chat, which are the places Google itself suggests.

Do I need a Google review link generator?

Not for the basics. Google gives you the review link and a downloadable QR code in your Business Profile for free. Third-party generators either build a review link from your business listing or turn a link into a QR code, which can help if you want your own colours or a logo on the code.

Can I give customers a discount or a freebie for a Google review?

No. Google’s policy prohibits offering incentives such as payment, discounts, or free goods or services in exchange for posting a review, or for changing or removing a negative one. Reward visits and purchases in your loyalty program, and ask for reviews separately.

Can I ask only happy customers for a review?

No. Google’s content policy says businesses must not discourage negative reviews or selectively ask for positive ones. They must not require or pressure customers to leave a review while on the premises, or ask for specific content. Ask everyone the same way and let customers write what they want.

Do customers need a Google account to leave a review?

Yes. Customers must be signed in to a Google Account to post a review. Google notes they can set one up with an e-mail address that isn’t Gmail.

How does BonusQR ask customers for Google reviews?

On the Premium plan, each customer in your loyalty program gets an e-mail when their visits at your business reach the number you set: 3 by default, or any number from 1 to 20. Customers who have the mobile app installed also get a push notification. Each customer is asked once, whatever they thought of the visit, and the button opens your Google review form. Your Google Maps profile must be linked in the BonusQR settings.

Does BonusQR post reviews to Google for my customers?

No. BonusQR only opens Google’s own review form. Customers choose the stars, write the review and post it themselves with their Google Account.

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