How to get your Google review link, make a QR code, and stop it from breaking

Your Google review link is in your Business Profile. On a computer, open the profile while signed in as an owner or manager, select Read Reviews, then Get more reviews, and select Copy. The same panel shows a QR code you can save with a right-click. The link opens the rating box for your business directly, so a customer can leave a review in two taps. The rest of this guide covers getting it on a phone, which link format to trust, where to put it, why links break, and the rules that decide whether the reviews it brings in stay up.

1. Sign in to the Google account that owns or manages the profile. Search your business name on Google, or open business.google.com, and open the profile.
2. If you manage more than one profile, check the business name at the top of the panel before you go further. Most wrong links start here.
3. Select Read Reviews, then Get more reviews (the share icon).
4. Select Copy to copy the review link. Paste it somewhere you will find it again, such as a note on your phone or the template your team uses.
5. To save the QR code, right-click it and choose Save image as. Google says review QR codes can only be made in a computer browser, not on a phone.
6. Open the link in a private browser window to test it. You should see your business name and the star rating box. If you see a different business, go back to step 2.

Get the link on a phone

Google’s help page only describes the computer route, and the phone menus move around more often. There are two ways that work from a phone.

• From the Google Maps app: tap your profile picture, open your Business Profiles, and pick the business. Look for Get more reviews or Ask for reviews in the overview. It opens the share sheet with the same review link, ready to send by text or copy. The app will not make a QR code.
• From the Google app or a phone browser: search your business name while signed in as the manager. The management panel appears above the listing with a reviews option that leads to the same share screen.

If neither option shows, you are probably signed in with a different Google account from the one that manages the profile, or the profile is not verified yet. Fix that first rather than hunting for a workaround link.

Which link to use: the short one Google gives you

There are three kinds of review link in circulation, and only one of them is worth printing.

Keep the whole short link when you paste it, including the end. Do not run it through a link shortener unless you need click counts; the link is already short, and a shortener adds one more service that can break or get flagged as spam in a text message.

Make a Google review QR code

Google’s own QR code, from the same Get more reviews panel, is the simplest choice. It is free, it points at the right profile, and it does not depend on anyone else’s service.

If you want your logo in it or a different size, any QR code generator will turn your short review link into a code. Pick a static code, where the link is written into the code itself. Many free generators default to dynamic codes that send the scan through their own server first, and those stop working when the trial ends or the company changes its plans. The cards, stickers, and receipts you already printed then point at nothing.

• Scan the finished code with two different phones before you print anything.
• Print it large enough to scan from where the customer actually stands, such as across a counter or from a table.
• Put a few words beside it: Scan to review us on Google. A bare QR code is easy to ignore.
• Keep high contrast: a dark code on a white background. Light grey on cream scans badly.

• A text message the day of the job, from the person who did the work. One line and the link.
• The thank-you or follow-up email after an appointment, a delivery, or a finished project.
• The invoice and the receipt, printed or emailed, with the QR code on paper and the link in email.
• Your email signature, so every message to a customer carries it without anyone remembering to add it.
• A counter card, a table tent, the back of a business card, or a sticker on the packaging.
• The end of a support chat or a booking confirmation page, once the customer has what they came for.
• Your website, on the contact page or after a booking form is submitted.

What does not work: asking the customer to leave a review on a tablet you hand them in the shop, or on your own wifi as they stand at the till. Google’s rules say businesses should not pressure people to review while on the premises, and reviews posted that way are the kind the spam filter removes later. A QR code on the counter is an invitation. Standing over someone while they type is not.

The profile is not verified, or is suspended

The Get more reviews panel belongs to a profile you manage, and an unverified or suspended profile either does not show it or shows a listing customers cannot review in the normal way. If you cannot find the option at all, check the profile’s status before anything else. Getting through verification is the fix, not a different link.

The link came from the wrong account or the wrong location

An agency account that manages forty profiles, or an owner with two businesses, copies the link from whichever profile was open. The link works perfectly, for the wrong business. Open every saved link in a private window and read the name before it goes on a print run.

It points at a duplicate profile

If an old listing for the same business still exists, or a previous owner or agency created a second one, a link built from search or from a Place ID can land on the duplicate. Reviews go to a listing nobody manages, and they can vanish when Google merges or removes it. Search your name on Maps for duplicates and get them merged before you print a link.

The profile was merged, moved, or recreated

A big address change, a merge, or a profile created again after a suspension can leave old links pointing at a listing that no longer exists. Google does not say its review links expire, but anything that changes which listing is yours is a reason to copy a fresh one and replace the old QR codes.

The customer is not signed in to Google

Google requires a signed-in Google account to post a review, so a customer who is signed out sees a sign-in screen first. That is expected, not a broken link. Google lets people create an account with an email address that is not Gmail. Links tapped inside Facebook, Instagram, or another app often open in that app’s own browser, which is not signed in to Google; telling customers to open the link in their phone’s browser solves it.

• No incentives. No payment, discount, free item, prize draw entry, or service in exchange for a review, or for changing or removing a negative one.
• No gating. Do not ask customers how they felt first and send only the happy ones to the Google link, and do not discourage negative reviews.
• No asking only the happy customers. Selectively soliciting positive reviews is named in the policy. Send the same link to everyone.
• No pressure on the premises. Do not require or push people to review while they are in your business.
• No staff quotas or scripts. Google lists asking staff to collect a set number of reviews, or reviews with specific content such as an employee’s name, as rating manipulation.
• No reviews from people with a stake in the business: owners, employees, family, or a marketing company.
• No floods. Unusual volumes or patterns of reviews are treated as manipulation, so a blast to your whole customer list in one afternoon can do more harm than good.

Google’s help page on profile restrictions describes those penalties. The safe pattern is simple: one link, the same for every customer, sent after every job, with nothing offered in return. It is also the pattern that produces the most reviews over a year.

A short request that works

Keep it personal and short enough to read on a lock screen. Two versions you can adapt:

• Text: Hi Maria, thanks for having us out today. If you have a minute, a Google review helps other people in Riverside find us: [link]. Dan, Reyes Plumbing
• Email: Thanks for choosing us for your kitchen. If you have a minute, we would be grateful for an honest Google review. It takes about a minute from your phone: [link]. Thank you, Sam

Notice what is not there: no star rating requested, no hint of a reward, and no line that only invites happy customers. An honest review is what you are allowed to ask for.

When the reviews start arriving, answer them, the good ones and the bad ones. Google tells the reviewer when you reply, and the next customer reads your replies as closely as the reviews. If the volume gets high, here is what is safe to hand to software when you automate Google review replies.

Questions people ask

Is the Google review link free?

Yes. The link and the QR code come from your own Business Profile at no cost. You do not need any software to share them.

Can I get a review link before my profile is verified?

The Get more reviews panel is part of managing a profile, so verify first. A link built from the Place ID can point at any listing on Maps, but treat it as temporary and replace it with the short link once you have access.

Does a Google review link expire?

Google does not document an expiry. Copy a fresh link if the profile is merged, moved, recreated, or reinstated, and test your printed QR codes every few months.

Can I see which reviews came from my link?

No. Google does not tell you how a reviewer reached the review box. Count reviews week by week against the requests you sent instead.