Google review link generator planning tool.
Reviews are one of the simplest local SEO workflows to improve. Use this page to plan review requests and compare review management tools when manual work is not enough.
Best next step
Pick the page that matches your workflow, not the tool with the longest feature list.
Generate the link
Paste your Google Place ID. The link opens the review box directly, with the star rating already showing — no searching, no scrolling past your own opening hours.
The link is copied to your clipboard automatically. Everything happens in your browser; nothing is sent anywhere.
Finding your Place ID
- Open Google's Place ID Finder (search for "Google Place ID Finder" — it is a page in the Maps Platform documentation).
- Type your business name and town into the map search box.
- Click your business. The Place ID appears in the info window, starting with
ChIJ. - Copy it and paste it above.
If your business does not appear, the profile is unverified. Verify it first — an unverified profile cannot collect reviews.
Why a direct link changes the numbers
Most review requests fail at the navigation step rather than the willingness step. A customer who is happy to leave a review still has to find the business on Google, scroll past photos and hours, tap "Write a review", and sign in. Each step loses people, and on a phone it loses a lot of them.
A direct link removes every step except signing in. The realistic gain is not subtle — it is the difference between a request people mean to act on later and one they finish in fifteen seconds.
- Text it, do not email it. The customer is already holding the device that is already signed into Google.
- Send it while the job is fresh. Same day beats same week by a wide margin.
- Ask a person, not a list. Bulk review campaigns to old customers are the ones that get filtered.
- Put it on the invoice, the receipt, and a QR code at the counter. Same link, several surfaces.
What not to do
Google's review policies are enforced by automated filtering, and the penalty is usually silent: reviews simply vanish a few days after they appear.
- Never offer anything in exchange. Discounts, entries into a draw, free coffee — all prohibited, and increasingly detected.
- Never filter by sentiment. Asking happy customers privately and unhappy ones publicly ("review gating") is against policy and is what most review-request software used to do.
- Never collect reviews on a tablet in the shop. A stream of reviews from one IP address in one location is the clearest possible spam pattern.
- Never buy them. This does not need explaining, and it is easier to detect than people think.
When to move to software
A direct link and a habit of asking is enough for one location. Software earns its cost when you need scheduled sequences after a job completes, review monitoring across several locations, alerts on new one-star reviews, or reporting a client will read.
Tools that automate requests, monitoring and reporting:
Visit BrightLocal → Visit Semrush Local → Opens the vendor site in a new tab. Disclosure: affiliate links — we may earn a commission at no cost to you. This never changes which tool we recommend.FAQ
Is the short g.page/r link the same thing?
It does the same job. Google has changed and deprecated its short-link formats several times, while the search.google.com/local/writereview?placeid= form has stayed stable. That is the one this generates.
Does the customer need a Google account?
Yes. Google requires a signed-in account to post a review, and there is no way around it. Most people on a phone are already signed in, which is why texting the link works better than emailing it.
Can I use this for several locations?
Each location has its own Place ID and therefore its own link. Generate one per location and label them clearly — sending the wrong branch's link is a common and invisible mistake.
A review disappeared. Why?
Usually automated filtering: reviews from accounts with no history, several reviews from one network, or content that reads as incentivised. Reporting it rarely helps. Consistent, spread-out, genuinely requested reviews are the only reliable fix.