Local Businesses Fighting for Google Reviews

“finding a single tool for 17 specific platforms is tough. Building a basic internal scraper with residential proxies (like geonode, which charges by concurrency rather than data volume) is usually the most reliable way to pull daily reviews from sites like Amazon, Walmart, and Trustpilot without getting blocked.”

“Many of our competitors have 24 hours listed and they probably are not. Does Google verify it? submitted by /u/Zoolanderlover [link] [comments]”

“We’ve had tap cards at our business for about three years. Last year we switched to a postcard with a QR code and a personal invitation to review. Reviews went up dramatically. No gatekeeping. I honestly think it all boils down to the personal invitation, and the fact that we aren’t watching them do the review. With a tap, it occurred right in front of us. The postcard? They can do it later, and it’s a fun souvenir.”

“Appreciate that. Honestly, the topic-grouping part took longer to get right than the integrations did. An average star rating hides way too much. You're right that maintenance is the real cost here, not the initial setup. A few of the sources go through a third-party scraping API, and even that needs babysitting since sites change their layout or rate-limit you without warning, so "using someone else's API" doesn't actually make the maintenance problem go away, just changes”

“This is 100% not legit. My company just got a letter saying we're the best toy store in our city, which is bullshit because 1, we're not a toy store(although Google does have us as a toy store), and 2, we only have a 4.0 on Google reviews. Not only would a legit company make sure that they're giving an award to an actual toy store, but I'm completely sure that there are multiple actual toy stores with a better Google rating. I'm sure this is some dumb AI company that hands ov”

“Context: small businesses and SaaS products get reviews scattered across way too many places: Trustpilot, Google, Amazon, App Store, Google Play, G2, Etsy, wherever you're listed. Nobody has time to check all of them every week, so the same complaint can sit unread in three different spots for months. Sentor connects to all of it automatically and breaks reviews down by topic instead of just an overall star average, so you can see something like "shipping speed" quietly dropping ac”

“Apparently our entire customer experience strategy begins and ends with whether a stranger can read an address label. Our pre purchase funnel is fine. Our product reviews are good. But our post purchase experience is destroying our NPS and it is entirely an ecommerce delivery problem. People love the stuff when it arrives. The issue is the part where it gets lost in the same three ways: Driver marks it delivered, customer sends us a picture of their very empty porch. Package is on vehicle for de”

“Honestly the tool matters less than the timing. What moved the needle for us was asking right after someone hit a real milestone or right after we solved a support ticket — that moment gets a "yes" way more than a generic "please review us" email. For picking a platform, the big thing for a small team is just not overpaying — a lot of the polished tools price for funded companies. Full disclosure, I built one partly for that reason (videotestimonials.video): free plan, paid f”

“Sounds like review quality and pricing were your main issues. Do you currently experience any friction with your current approach? Also, how many review platforms did you try before settling on the custom form?”

“senja pricing is wild for micro saas so i just use a simple form but the main issue is people just leaving useless reviews like "good app" , so i ended up finding one form builder that actually forces them to elaborate if they leave a 1-word answer and it alone improved the quality a lot!”

submitted by /u/sidi_ali [link] [comments]

That's awesome, good job OP, wish you tons of luck! 🎉🎉🎊🎊👏👏

“Don't remember exact level, but one of the higher one in the area, also with very high number of reviews (which is kind of easy to do when you're faking it and nobody cares)”

“That’s the thing though. Open a new restaurant, don’t create a yelp listing for it, someone else does (probably yelp) and they post a few mid-bad reviews. Then they call and basically extort you to remove the reviews. They basically force you to do business with them.”

Done!

“I had someone send me an email recently with a website “audit” (definitely just an ai generated report). Biggest “flags”: - no BBB accreditation - no Yelp page - no reviews or veteran’s thing posted even though both are mentioned So, BBB isn’t a real thing, it’s less than a magazine. Help absolutely sucks. The reviews and veteran badge thing were both in plugins that apparently ai can’t read. So, the “auditor” likely watched a YT video that said they can make $20k a month just cold emailing smal”

“It used to be good to read a detailed food review before going to a restaurant. And you can book a table through the app. But in the last decade, I just make sure a place has more than four stars on Google.”

No but there is a google business listing

“Super-yelpers are effectively capos who are compensated with imaginary Internet points… costs nothing to the company while giving the posters a focused goal to maintain their perceived authority, makes for an extremely loyal enforcement arm. It’s part of the model🫤”

“That's one big source of fake reviews on google. I noticed several years ago that I started getting reviews for a closed to public business from local guides What level were the Local Guide? This is why I specifically mention Level 6 and above. Like I'm Level 10 with over 4K reviews posted. I also always attach pictures to my reviews, videos and my timeline is on to show I was actually there”

“Local Guide That's one big source of fake reviews on google. I noticed several years ago that I started getting reviews for a closed to public business from local guides - some digging on the profile showed clearly that they were going through business in map areas and leaving reviews for each of them. Google didn't care about that kind of abuse, so in the end I just disabled company related entries for google maps.”

“Their FAQs page has a very weird AI-generated answer to a question that probably shouldn’t be on there at all: “is Current Branding legit?” It’s also not clear if they’re in New Orleans, Indianapolis, or both. There are so many red flags here.”

“I believe merchants will understand my pain because they know how difficult it is to collect genuine customer reviews. We’re Shopify app developers. For years, we’ve worked hard to build our product and collect honest feedback from merchants — reviews we were truly proud of. Every single one meant something: some confirmed that we were moving in the right direction, others showed us where we needed to improve. Now Shopify has removed them. The explanation we received is that these reviews were c”

“A restaurant could ask, "Leave us an honest Google review before you head out and we'll email you 10% off your next visit," or "Show us the confirmation screen and we'll give you a free appetizer coupon for your next meal." - You could write a script where they can put in their email and the automation sends them a coupon the minute the customer's email gets a notification But the most important thing is that it has to happen quickly with no additional effort on t”

“Testimonials and Photos with good people Customers. Gives them a cue to tell their stories.”

Google review requests that know when to stop — sent 2 days after the job, one polite reminder, never more

“I only have 6 reviews on my trustpilot profile (new seller) and wanted to move to google because it's free and people on subreddit mentioned that Trustpilot is a scam. I don't want to pay for subscription and apparently on free plan I don't even get a widget to put on my shop anyways. So is it possible? submitted by /u/Confusedmind75 [link] [comments]”

“Have you considered that the method isn't the issue? Putting your name on something typically only happens when you believe it and you feel like it was deserving. There's a reason is usually 1 star and 5 star. Would you want to leave a 3 review that says "It was acceptable for the price I was willing to pay." So leaving behing a card would potentially help, but it's another thing to manage for little value return. QR codes take seconds and solve the same problem. Maybe sell”

“Regarding the uncertainty. I think this depends on the demographic of your clientele. Will a NFC or QR convert better?”

“Not sure if this is dumb or not. Looking for a reality check. Background: Every local business I talked to had the same problem. They provide great service, customers leave happy, but their Google rating doesn’t reflect it. The people who consistently leave reviews are the unhappy ones. Everyone else forgets by the time they get to their car. So I built a simple NFC review card that sits on the counter. A customer taps it with their phone, and it opens the business’s Google review page instantly”

“I think this is why it's so important to keep asking happy customers for reviews. Not because it hides the bad ones, but because one fake review has a lot less impact when it's surrounded by a steady stream of recent, genuine customer feedback. Unfortunately I don't have any magic advice on getting it removed, but I'd definitely keep doing that while you're waiting on Google.”

“Nothing like getting a 1-star review because I wouldn’t refund an order that USPS shows was delivered to the exact address the customer entered… which also happens to be his workplace. It took me one google search of the shipping destination then his name to figure that out. If buying your girlfriend a personalized water bottle was that much of a financial commitment, maybe just skip the order next time brother. I chatted Etsy support about this and they sent it to a specialist to handle. I don&”

Not normal should take a few days

“Research shows that the sweet spot is 4.2 to 4.6 stars. Above that doesn’t matter and below that does matter. Respond to each review and be nice. People will filter to bad reviews just to see what they say and make a determination. Worst thing you can do is let it soak. And ask for more reviews also”

I personally use revaio .app it helps me do this for a cheap price

“What do you want to test? I also found people don't notice me, so I will notice others that might be in the same issue.”

“Responding to reviews used to wreck my afternoon, especially the unfair ones. Over time I built a repeatable approach, and it changed how our replies land. Sharing it because I see the same mistakes everywhere. What consistently works: Never open with "we're sorry you feel that way" or "we value your feedback." Both read as canned and dismissive, and future customers reading the reply notice. Reference one specific detail from the review. It proves a real person read it,”

“Reviews with photos from real customers. Not the star rating, the actual written reviews and especially photos that weren't taken by the brand. That's the fastest signal that real people bought this and were happy enough to say something. The thing that makes me leave immediately is vague or missing shipping information. If I can't find out where it ships from, how long it takes and what the return process is within about 30 seconds, I'm gone. That information being hidden feels”

“OP definitely do this… real customer read the business responses and weigh how the business responds way more than the initial review”

Link did not work - got a 404

“Has any shop owner had luck with a Etsy checking a feedback review request? I had a very nasty one left for me, and it had nothing to with the order, but with how annoying the "pop ups" they where getting, and that I had to stop sending them ( SMH ) , and I guess my response was not what they expected so I got a doozy of a review and called names. I did report it, but I was just wondering if anybody else had a any luck in getting the review removed ( at this point, I could care less if”

“Interesting idea. I like that you're solving the awkward conversation rather than just adding another review tool. The hard-lock concept definitely stands out. One question: have you considered allowing editors to unlock an additional revision by sending the client a paid revision link? That could help editors enforce the contract while still giving clients an easy way to request extra work when needed. Wishing you the best with the launch!”

“I’ve recently started selling on Etsy, I’ve sold 28 items and got three 5* reviews. One of my items didn’t arrive within time for when a customer needed it, despite me sending it in enough time, and she gave a 1 star review :( I include a handwritten note in all my orders thanking customers for supporting my small business and asking if they could leave a review if they are happy. Sometimes I add in freebies. Despite taking the effort to do this I haven’t had a review in weeks. It’s so dishearte”

“Untrue. Google is slow but eventually they do get around to it. I had fired a new guy, and he posted a negative review using pics from a customer's house. I provided proof that those were pics from our work, not his house but a customers, that he was showing the inside of a customers house without permission, and his own google account tied him to his own neighborhood. It took a while but Google *did* remove it.”

id never gate data exports

“Salon. Twelve years. 4.9 stars across a couple hundred reviews. Then a one-star from a name none of us recognize, describing an incident that did not happen, mentioning a staff member who does not work here. We reported it. It's still up. The platform's response was that it doesn't violate their policy. And the thing that's actually eating me is not the star rating. It's that new customers read the most recent review, and for six weeks the most recent thing anyone read about”

“I noticed that I have some nice 5 star reviews if you google our business name and it shows up on the "All" tab in google, but if you search for a general term and our business shows up in the list under the "Places" tab, it shows no reviews. What causes this? submitted by /u/pathosmusic00 [link] [comments]”

“Oh and to anyone else reading the OP. Never, and I mean NEVER say “can you review my business? I’ll review yours in exchange.” It’s, imo, unethical. I also predict you will get the most lukewarm reviews possible because you’re reducing them to a commoditized exchange instead of a reflection of your exceptional service. It will hurt you in the long run and damage your reputation with both existing and prospective clients.”

“Start by providing exceptional service. No, really. Exceptional. Then at the point of greatest satisfaction with the service, whenever that moment tends to happen, operationalize or automate asking for the review, making it as easy as humanly possible. The specifics and mechanics of that will depend on what you sell. But make it capital E easy. Link them. Tell them to write 2-3 sentences. Provide an example if there’s specific things you like to have mentioned. Also. Read your quality reviews. T”

“What would be the best way to try and get clients/customers to leave reviews on Facebook? I wish it was as easy as hey I could use a review I'll leave you one if you do the same. But most clients don't have business pages, and even if they say they're happy, trying to get a review is tough. submitted by /u/Right_Shine_9808 [link] [comments]”

“I make pet and livestock products, using American made materials. I have over 700 sales (on Etsy and thousands through fb) 4.9 Etsy rating and a 100% FB rating. For reference most of my smaller items are in the $10-$13 range on Etsy. Not expensive. I got a 1 star review last week, from someone who ordered over 2 months ago, saying it broke the first time they used it, that my materials are cheap and crappy and that is looks like it only took me 15min to make. Oh and that it took forever to get.”

“exactly. a visible human fallback changes the whole trust level. the mistake i see is treating review as a slowdown instead of a product feature. if the user can see what was generated, fix it, and know nothing goes live until they approve it, the ai can be imperfect without feeling dangerous. the hard part is deciding which mistakes are allowed in preview and which ones should never reach the user at all.”

“Hey everyone, We sell apparel, and I recently noticed that our review count has dropped significantly. After looking into it, it seems Amazon is now separating reviews by size. For example, if I select the Medium size, I only see reviews that were left for Medium shirts. Has anyone else noticed this? It seems like a strange change, and I’m wondering if it’s affecting everyone or just our listings. submitted by /u/JeanJauresJr [link] [comments]”

“the issue is the buyer moment! get more reviews automatically sounds useful until one finds out that many owners already have that inside their POS, CRM, booking tool, or invoicing system. they pay when the pain is sharper: unfair review, fake review, bad location trend, staff complaint, lost leads, owner embarrassment so the product may need to sell around risk and operations over being a review collection i’d interview people who recently had a bad review incident. ask what they did in the fir”

“so as far as i understand, the product may be getting positioned as review requests, and at the same moment the painful buyer thingy's : something public is hurting my business review requests feel like a nice-to-have and review damage feels urgent. that probably does not mean you should pivot into shady removal promises. It may instead mean that value prop probably needs to move from “get more reviews” to manage public feedback before it costs you leads. there are a few stronger wedges: rev”

“We are on Google, with a 5.0 right around 200 5 star reviews. Even if she left a 1 star it would be my first one, have no impact in my overall score and likely become buried in new positive reviews pretty quickly (although there are people that of course specifically filter and search to read the bad reviews.) I'm either doing the 50% or full refund just haven't fully decided on which one yet.”

“Yeah, this is a tough one. I wouldn't go no refund, because she may leave you a really bad Google review, assuming you are on there. Potential customers will see that review and may not go with you, so that wouldn't happen to them. I mean having a product that doesn't work that you paid a lot of money for is bad from the customers perspective. But I think offering a 50% refund is a good starting point.”

[Claude] ★ 1/5 (v1.260702.3) — I wanted to run a double blind test and I had Claude look up my website as a potential client trying to search me out. it instead…

So I had a customer message me and ask how they can send me a good review, they bought an item back in December. I checked and it seems that customers can…