Why get reviews on Facebook and Yelp, not just Google?
Google is still the biggest review site, but it's no longer the only place customers check. In BrightLocal's 2026 survey, Google's share as a review source fell from 83% to 71%, and 34% of consumers wrote a Facebook review in the past year, against 24% on Yelp. A profile with zero reviews on those sites looks closed.
The BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 also found that 97% of consumers use reviews to guide what they buy, and that 78% were asked to write a review in the last 12 months, with 65% writing one after being asked. Asking works, but each platform has its own rules about who can ask and how, and Yelp's rules are the opposite of Google's.
Here's how I'd split the work: ask for Google reviews directly, make Facebook recommendations easy for the customers who already follow you there, and earn Yelp reviews without asking at all.
Can you ask customers for reviews on Google, Facebook and Yelp?
You can ask on Google and Facebook. You should not ask on Yelp. Google lets you send customers a review link but bans incentives and asking only happy customers. Yelp tells businesses not to ask anyone, and its software filters out reviews that look requested.
| Platform | Can you ask? | What's banned | What happens if you break it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yes, with a review link or QR code | Incentives of any kind, asking only happy customers (review gating), pressuring people on site | Reviews removed as fake and misleading content | |
| Yes, customers recommend your Page | Fake recommendations; don't recommend a Page you help manage | Recommendations can be removed | |
| Yelp | No. Yelp says don't ask anyone | Asking, staff contests, freebies or discounts for reviews | Requested reviews go unrecommended, and paid ones can trigger a public Consumer Alert |
The sources, so you can check them yourself. Google's tips page says "you can ask customers to visit a Google link or scan a QR code" and calls incentives "strictly prohibited." Its prohibited content policy says merchants can't "selectively solicit positive reviews from customers." Yelp's support article says: "Don't ask anyone to review your business, be it customers, mailing list subscribers, friends, family, etc."
On top of the platform rules, the FTC's Consumer Review Rule bans fake reviews and bans tying any reward to a positive review. The FTC sent warning letters to 10 companies in December 2025 and cites civil penalties of up to $53,088 per violation. The simplest way to stay clean on every site is to offer nothing in exchange for a review.
How do you get more Facebook recommendations?
Turn Recommendations on, then send your Page link to customers who already know you on Facebook. Facebook replaced star ratings with a yes or no recommendation plus a written comment.
- Check that Recommendations are on. Per Meta's help page, go to your Page, then Settings & privacy, Settings, Page and tagging, and turn on "Allow others to view and leave reviews on your Page?" Turning it off removes your rating and every review already on the Page.
- Copy your Page link and save it as a text shortcut on your phone.
- Tell customers where to tap. On mobile, Meta says they tap Reviews under Details, choose Yes to recommend, write a sentence, and tap Share.
- Ask the customers who found you on Facebook, messaged your Page, or tag you in posts. They're already logged in, so there's no friction.
- Reply to every recommendation, good or bad, within a day or two. People read your replies as closely as the reviews.
Don't have your staff or family recommend the Page. Meta says people who help manage a Page shouldn't recommend it, and a wall of recommendations from your own friends list is easy for customers to spot.
How do you get Yelp reviews without asking?
Make it obvious you're on Yelp and let customers decide on their own. Claim your page, keep it complete, put a "Find us on Yelp" sticker and website badge where customers see them, and reply to reviews. Never send a Yelp review link or ask in person.
Yelp is strict because its recommendation software is built to catch requested reviews. Yelp says the software "tries to identify any reviews that appear to have been requested, and not recommend them," and that no Yelp employee can manually override it. Reviews you get by asking break the rule, and they often won't show up anyway. If Yelp finds evidence of paid reviews, it can put a Compensated Activity Alert on your page in the US.
What Yelp does allow, from its own business resources:
- A "Find us on Yelp" sticker for your door, counter or service vehicle. Request one here; Yelp mails them once a month.
- A Yelp badge on your website, using the HTML code Yelp provides.
- Signs telling people they can find you on Yelp, and encouraging check-ins.
- A complete page: photos, hours, services and a real description, so the people who do look you up have a reason to stay.
- Public, polite replies to every review. Yelp's content guidelines still apply to you as the owner.
Yelp matters more in some trades and cities than others. If your customers rarely mention Yelp, do the passive setup once and spend your energy on Google and Facebook.
What's the best way to ask without annoying customers?
Send one link, to every customer, a few hours after the job is done. One request with one link gets more reviews than a message listing three sites, and sending it to everyone keeps you clear of Google's rule against asking only happy customers.
Default to your Google link. Google's own help page shows where to find it: open your Business Profile, select Read reviews, then Get more reviews. If you'd rather not dig through the menus, our free Google review link generator builds the short link and QR code for you. Switch to your Facebook Page link for customers who came in through Facebook. Leave Yelp out of every request.
Text template (send 2 to 4 hours after the job)
Hi Sam, thanks for having us out today. If you have a minute, would you leave a quick review about how it went? It helps other families find us: [link]. Either way, reply here if anything isn't right and I'll fix it.
Two follow-up rules. Send one reminder after three or four days if they haven't left one, then stop. And when someone replies with a problem, call them. That conversation is worth more than the review.
How do you automate review requests without breaking the rules?
Trigger the request from the moment a job is marked complete or an invoice is paid, send it to every customer, and route replies to a person. Automation keeps the ask consistent, which is where most businesses fall down. They ask for a week, get busy, and stop.
- Pick the trigger: job completed, appointment checked out, or invoice paid.
- Send the text with your Google link (or Facebook link, by lead source). Never a Yelp link.
- Add one reminder after three or four days, then end the sequence.
- Send any reply that mentions a problem to the owner or office manager as a task.
- Reply to every new review on every platform within 48 hours.
This is the same follow-up logic we cover in our guide to automated follow-ups, pointed at reviews instead of sales. For the Google side in more depth, read how to get more Google reviews on autopilot.
Review requests that send themselves
KenjiAI's reputation management sends review requests by text and email the moment a job closes, to every customer, and can send a different link depending on where the customer came from. It suggests replies to new reviews with AI, and it keeps your review requests in the same system as your leads and calendar. It runs inside the same automation and CRM we've used with 500+ businesses.
Next step: turn on Facebook Recommendations, order your Yelp sticker, and send your Google link to every customer you finished a job for this week.