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Review Gating

Review gating means choosing who gets asked for a public review by how happy they are. Google's policy lists “selectively soliciting positive reviews” as fake engagement. Ask every customer instead.

By Ariel Tarayants, founder · Updated

What Review Gating Means

Gating is a filter before the review link. The customer answers "How was it?" Happy customers are sent to your Google page. Unhappy ones are sent to a private form. The public page then holds only good reviews. It can also be done by hand: you only ask the customers who thanked you.

A Worked Example

Example, with made-up round numbers: a shop closes 20 jobs in a month. 16 customers are happy and 4 are not. If you ask all 20, perhaps some of the 4 write an honest 3 or 4 stars. If you gate, only the 16 are sent to Google, and the page shows nothing but praise. It looks better. It is also against Google's rules, which say review requests must not selectively solicit positive reviews (Google Maps user-generated content policy, checked 9 November 2026). Google can remove reviews it judges to be manipulated, and can limit a profile.

How It Is Usually Misunderstood

  • "A feedback form first is fine." It is fine if everyone gets the same link to Google as well. It is gating if only the happy ones do.
  • "I only asked people I liked." Same thing, by hand.
  • "Perfect is better." A page of all 5-star reviews looks less believable than a page with a few honest 4-star ones.
  • "Rewarding a review is OK." Offering gifts or discounts for reviews is its own rule problem. Do not.

The United States FTC also has a 2024 rule on fake reviews and some forms of review suppression. This is a definition, not legal advice.

Review request: the message asking for a review. Fake engagement: Google's umbrella term. Review link: the direct link to your Google review box.

How To Get More Google ReviewsAsk everyone, right after the job.
Under five minutes, all in. No credit card required.See it with my jobs