Review management
Review Management Services That Ask Every Customer, Not Just the Happy Ones
Our review management services ask every customer for a review soon after the job, reply to each one in your voice, and keep your business inside the rules Google, Yelp and the FTC have actually written. That last part is the one most review tools skip: many are built to send requests only to customers who said they were happy, and Google's own policy forbids exactly that.
Every customer asked. Nothing offered for a review. Every review answered.
On this pageThe rulesProcess checkWhat is includedPricingFAQ
7
review practices the FTC's 2024 rule bans, from buying reviews to suppressing bad ones
0
incentives Google allows: free or discounted goods for a review are strictly prohibited
30 days
the longest Google says it can take to check a reply before it is posted
$10,000
paid by a dental practice to settle social media disclosures of patients' information
Sources: FTC, final rule on fake reviews and testimonials, August 2024; Google Business Profile Help, tips to get more reviews and manage customer reviews; HHS Office for Civil Rights, Elite Dental Associates, 2019. All read November 2026.
In 30 seconds
- Ask everyone, not just the happy ones. Google forbids selectively asking for positive reviews, and that is what many review tools are set up to do.
- Never pay for a review. Google prohibits incentives, and the FTC’s rule bans paying for reviews that say something in particular.
- Yelp plays by different rules. It asks businesses not to request reviews at all, so we monitor and reply there instead.
- From about $1,000 a month. A flat retainer that does not change with how many reviews arrive.
The rules
The rules on getting and answering reviews, platform by platform
Every platform publishes its rules, and a federal rule now sits on top of them. Most pages selling review management skip all of it, which is how so many businesses end up running a process that breaks the rules of the very site they are trying to rank on.
| Rule | What it says | What it means for you | What we do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google, content policy | Businesses may not "discourage or prohibit negative reviews, or selectively solicit positive reviews from customers" | A filter that sends review links only to customers who rated you highly breaks it | Every customer gets the same request |
| Google, Business Profile Help | Ask with a Google link or a QR code; incentives such as free or discounted goods are "strictly prohibited" | No discount codes, no prize draws, no money off the next visit | A review link and a QR code, with nothing attached |
| Yelp | "Don't ask anyone to review your business"; reviews that seem prompted may not be recommended | Asking for Yelp reviews can lower the rating you are trying to raise | No Yelp requests; we monitor and reply there |
| FTC rule, 16 CFR 465 | Bans buying reviews conditioned on sentiment, undisclosed insider reviews and suppressing reviews by threats; civil penalties for knowing violators | Staff, family and paid reviews are a federal problem, not only a platform one | Staff never review; no threats to reviewers, ever |
| Consumer Review Fairness Act | Form contract terms that restrict honest reviews, penalise reviewers or claim their content are illegal | A non-disparagement clause in your terms is a liability, not a protection | Your terms and forms checked in the audit |
| HIPAA, for health practices | HHS settled with a dental practice over social media disclosures of patients' health information | A reply that confirms someone is a patient can itself be a disclosure | Replies never confirm who is a patient |
Sources: Google, prohibited and restricted content; Yelp Support, Don't Ask for Reviews; 16 CFR Part 465; FTC, Consumer Review Fairness Act guidance. Read November 2026. A summary, not legal advice.
The same request, sent to every customer
Nothing offered in return for a review
Review gating, and why tools still sell it
Review gating is the practice of asking customers how they felt first, then sending the review link only to the happy ones and steering the unhappy ones to a private form. It makes a rating climb quickly, which is why so many tools offer it. Google’s policy names it directly: no selectively soliciting positive reviews. Yelp goes further and warns that many businesses only ask happy customers, which it says leads to biased ratings.
A private feedback form is fine on its own. The problem starts when the answer to it decides who is invited to post a public review. We send the same review request to everyone, and use private feedback only to fix the problem behind it.
What we will not do
We will not write reviews, buy them, ask staff or family to post them, or offer anything in return. We will not threaten a reviewer, and we will not promise to remove a review just because it is negative, because nobody legitimate can. Google only acts on reviews that break its policies, and its route for those is a flag, which we use when a review genuinely qualifies.
That rules out most of the shortcuts sold in this market. It also means nothing we do for you can disappear in a sweep, or arrive as a letter from a regulator.
Interactive check
Is your review process inside the rules? A 60 second check
Switch on everything that is true of how you get and answer reviews today. It is a checklist, not a benchmark, and the score shows where to start.
Your reviews are at risk. Start with who you ask and what, if anything, you offer.
Want the real answer? The free audit checks your profile, your requests and your replies.
Get a free review auditWhy it matters
What reviews do for a local business
Reviews work twice. They are one of the signals Google uses to rank local results, and they are what a customer reads in the ten seconds before deciding whether to call you or the next name on the list.
The best moment to ask is when the job is done
For ranking
Google lists prominence, how well known a business is, as one of the three things behind local results, and its help page on ranking says more reviews and positive ratings can help. Reviews are not the only factor, and no number of them overcomes distance, but a steady stream of recent reviews is one of the few ranking signals a business can grow week by week through ordinary good work.
Source: Google Business Profile Help, tips to improve your local ranking, read November 2026.
For the decision
A customer comparing three businesses in the map pack reads the star rating, the number of reviews, how recent they are and, more than owners expect, how the business replied to the bad ones. Google’s own help says helpful replies can show that you are responsive to your customers. A calm reply to a one star review often does more for the next customer than another five star review does.
That is why review management is two jobs, not one: getting reviews and answering them. Most businesses do a little of the first and almost none of the second.
Not sure what your reviews say about you right now?
The free audit reads your recent reviews and replies the way a customer would, and checks your request process against the rules above.
What is included
What our review management services include
Ten parts, run every month. Getting reviews and answering them are both in it, because a business that only does one of the two leaves most of the value on the table.
01
Review audit
Your Business Profile, your reviews on Google, Yelp, Facebook and the industry sites that matter to you, your replies, and how you ask for reviews today, checked against the rules above.
ProfilesRecent reviewsRepliesRequest process
02
One request for every customer
A short, friendly request with your Google review link, sent the same way to every customer by text message or email, with no filter that decides who is invited.
Review requestText messageEmailNo gating
03
Timing that fits the job
Requests sent soon after the work is finished, from your CRM or booking system where it can be connected, with one polite reminder and no more.
After the jobCRMOne reminderNo pestering
04
QR codes and links
A review link and QR code for receipts, invoices, vans and the counter, so customers who would rather do it there and then can, without anything attached to it.
QR codeReview linkIn personNothing offered
05
Monitoring
Every new review on the platforms you appear on, with alerts for anything under four stars, so a problem is seen the same day rather than at the end of the month.
MonitorAlertsAll platformsSame day
06
Replies in your voice
Every review answered, written to sound like you, with set lines for the situations that need care: complaints, refunds, health and anything that could reveal a customer’s private details.
ReplyYour voiceApprovalsPrivate details protected
07
Negative review handling
A calm public reply, an offer to take it offline, and a note to you about what went wrong, so the same complaint does not appear again next month.
Negative reviewPublic replyOffline follow upRoot cause
08
Flagging what breaks the rules
Reviews that genuinely break a platform’s content policy, such as spam, conflicts of interest or off topic posts, flagged through the platform’s own process, with the reason recorded.
FlagContent policyRecordedOnly when it qualifies
09
Staff and terms check
A short guide for your team on what they may and may not do, and a check of your contracts and forms for review gag clauses the Consumer Review Fairness Act makes illegal.
EmployeesGag clauseTermsTraining
10
Monthly reporting
New reviews, average rating, replies and response time, the themes customers mention most, and what changed in your business because of them.
ReportingSentimentThemesResponse time
Bad reviews
What we do with a negative review
Every business gets them. What decides the damage is the reply, and whether the problem behind the review is fixed before the next customer runs into it.
The reply
Short, calm and specific. We thank the customer, acknowledge the problem without arguing about the details, and offer a direct way to put it right. A reply is written for the next person reading it as much as for the reviewer, and the next person is deciding whether you are reasonable to deal with.
The fix
You get a note on what the review says went wrong. If three customers mention the same late arrival or the same confusing invoice, that is worth more than any reply, because fixing it stops the next review being written.
Removal, honestly
A negative review that is genuine stays up, and anyone who promises otherwise is promising something Google does not offer. A review that breaks the content policy, such as one from a competitor or an employee, or one about a different business, can be flagged. Under the FTC’s rule, review suppression through threats or false accusations is itself a violation, so a legal letter to a reviewer is the one response we will never recommend.
A calm reply is written for the next customer reading it.
Replies
Replies that sound like you, checked before they post
Google reviews every reply against its content policies before it appears. Its help page says that usually takes up to ten minutes and can sometimes take up to thirty days, so a reply that breaks a rule simply never shows, and the reviewer sees silence. We write replies to pass that check the first time.
Each one is written from your notes and your tone: the way you would answer if you had the time. Positive reviews get a thank you that mentions the job, not a template that reads the same under every review. Negative ones are drafted for your approval before they go out, unless you would rather we answer straight away.
For health and legal practices the rules are stricter. A reply that says when someone visited, what they were treated for or what their case involved can disclose information the business is required to protect, even when the reviewer mentioned it first. Our replies for those practices never confirm that a reviewer is a patient or a client.
Every reply written the way you would answer, if you had the time.
Copy these
Three review requests you can copy today
Short, the same for every customer, and nothing offered. These are the kind of requests our review management service sends; change the words in brackets and they work as they are.
By text message
"Hi [name], thanks for choosing [business] today. If you have a minute, a Google review helps other people find us: [link]. Thank you, [your name]."
By email
"Hi [name], thank you for letting us [do the job]. We read every review and reply to each one. If you have a moment, you can leave yours here: [link]. Whatever you write, thank you for telling us."
In person
"We read every review, good or bad. If you would like to leave one, the code on this card goes straight to our Google page." Said the same way to everyone, at the counter or at the end of the job.
What makes a request work
It arrives soon after the job, while the customer still remembers it. It is short, it names the business and the person, and the link goes straight to the review box rather than a page they have to search. One polite reminder a few days later is enough; a third message turns a happy customer into an irritated one.
What breaks the rules
Sending it only to customers who scored you highly on a survey, adding a discount or a prize draw, asking for Yelp reviews, or asking staff, friends and family to post. Each one is covered in the rules above, and each one is easy to slip into when the rating is the only number anyone watches.
The awkward ones
What to write when a review needs care
Most reviews need a short thank you. These six need more thought, and they are where online review management earns its fee or loses a customer for good.
| Situation | What the reply does | What it never does |
|---|---|---|
| A five star review | Thanks them, mentions the job, invites them back | Copies the same line under every review |
| A complaint about price | Explains what the price covered and offers to talk it through | Argues the numbers in public |
| A complaint about a member of staff | Apologises and says it is being dealt with privately | Names or blames the employee |
| A review you think is fake | Says calmly that you cannot find the visit and invites contact; flagged if it breaks policy | Accuses the reviewer of lying or threatens them |
| A patient or a legal client | Thanks them in general terms and invites a phone call | Confirms they are a patient or client, or mentions their care |
| A demand for a refund | Moves the conversation offline with a named contact | Negotiates in the reply |
Every reply is checked by Google before it appears, so one that breaks a rule is simply never seen. The calm version is also the one that gets published.
Check the numbers
How your rating and review count change in six months
Your current numbers are on your Business Profile. The share of customers who leave a review when asked is yours to estimate; it varies more by trade than by anything else.
Every input is yours; nothing here is a forecast or a published average. The rating is the arithmetic of old and new reviews together, which is how the average on your profile moves.
These are your estimates. The audit shows your real review history.
Get a free review auditPricing
Review management pricing
A flat monthly retainer set by the number of locations and platforms we cover. Most clients start at around $1,000 a month, with the scope set after the free review audit.
Why not a price per review
Paying per review creates exactly the wrong incentive: more reviews by any means. A flat retainer pays for asking every customer properly and answering every review well, however many arrive.
What sets the scope
How many locations, which platforms matter in your trade, how many customers a month need a request, and whether your booking system or CRM can be connected to send them automatically.
Small business review management
A single location with one main platform is the simplest case, and the one we built the starting price around. Business review management for groups of locations is quoted after the audit.
Terms and ownership
A monthly arrangement with notice. Your Business Profile and every other listing stay in your name, and we work with access you grant and can remove.
Software, service or reputation management
Review management software, a managed service, or online reputation management?
Three different things are sold under similar names. Knowing which one you need saves money and, in the case of the third, a lot of disappointment.
| Question | Review software | Managed review service | Reputation management |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you get | A dashboard that sends requests and collects reviews in one place | People who run the requests and write the replies | Work on what appears when people search your name |
| Who writes the replies | You | We do, in your voice | Varies |
| Review gating | Often a setting, and sometimes on by default | Never | Varies |
| Removing reviews | No | Only flags reviews that break a platform's policy | Often promised; genuine reviews cannot be bought off a platform |
| Best for | A business with time to run it | A business that wants it done properly without the hours | A business with a problem beyond reviews, such as press coverage |
What is review management?
Review management is the work of asking customers for reviews, watching what they write and answering it, on the platforms where your customers decide. Customer review management, done well, also feeds what customers say back into the business. It is the part of reputation that a local business can actually control week by week.
Reputation management is wider
Online reputation management usually means changing what appears when someone searches a name: news articles, complaint sites, social posts. We do not suppress search results or remove content, and we say so plainly. If your problem is reviews, a review service fixes it for far less. If it is more than reviews, you need a different kind of firm.
Choosing a provider
How to choose between online review management companies
Six questions that sort the careful providers from the risky ones. Ask them of anyone, ourselves included.
Who gets the request?
Every customer, or only the ones a survey marks as happy? The second is review gating.
Is anything offered?
Discounts, draws or gifts for a review break Google's rules and can bring in the FTC's.
What about Yelp?
A provider that asks for Yelp reviews has not read Yelp's guidelines.
Who writes the replies?
A person who knows your business, or a template that reads the same under every review?
What happens to a bad review?
A calm reply and a fix, or a promise to make it disappear?
Who owns the profile?
Your listings should stay in your name, with access you can take back.
The removal promise
Google review management cannot include removing genuine reviews, because Google does not take them down on request. A provider that guarantees removal is either flagging reviews that do not qualify, which wastes your time, or doing something worse. Ask how, specifically, before you pay for it.
Software dressed as a service
Some services are review software with a monthly fee on top. That can be fine, but ask who reads your reviews and who writes the replies. If the answer is that you do, you are buying software, and should pay software prices.
By industry
Review management for the businesses we work with
The rules above apply everywhere. What changes by trade is which platform matters, how customers write, and what a reply must never say.
Dental and healthcare
Healthcare review management starts with what a reply cannot disclose. Search and reviews for dental practices.
Home services
Home services review management lives on the van, the invoice and the follow up text. Search for firms running several trades.
Restaurants and hotels
Restaurant and hotel review management means Yelp and travel sites, where asking is often against the rules.
Auto repair
Trust is the product, and a reply to a complaint about a bill is read closely. Search for repair shops people trust.
Law firms
Replies have to protect client confidences as well as the firm's reputation. Search inside the bar's advertising rules.
Several locations
One process, one voice, and a report per branch. Search for brands with many branches nearby.
Why Moha
Why businesses choose Moha for review management
We built our process around the rules first and the rating second, because a rating built on gating, incentives or staff reviews is a rating that can be taken away. The reviews we help you earn are the kind that stay.
And we treat replies as half the job, not an extra. Every review answered, in your voice, with the care the awkward ones need, is what customers notice when they compare you with the business next door.
Everyone asked
The same request to every customer, no filter.
Nothing offered
No incentives, no staff reviews, no shortcuts.
Every review answered
In your voice, good and bad alike.
Your profiles
Listings in your name, with access you control.
Reviews earned the slow way are the ones that stay.
How it works
How we set up your review management
Five stages. Nothing is sent to a customer until you have seen the request and the reply style.
01
Week 1
Audit
Profiles, reviews, replies, request process, staff habits and terms checked against the rules.
02
Week 1
Voice
Your reply style written down, with set lines for complaints and anything sensitive.
03
Week 2
Requests
Review link, QR codes and the request message set up, connected to your CRM where possible.
04
Weekly
Answer
New reviews monitored, replies written, anything urgent sent to you the same day.
05
Monthly
Report
Reviews, rating, replies and the themes worth acting on.
Free review audit
See your reviews the way a customer does
Send your website and we will read your recent reviews and replies, compare them with the businesses ranking beside you, and check how you ask for reviews against the rules on this page.
You get a written summary and the first three changes we would make. No commitment and no access needed to get it.
Free
We reply from hello@gomoha.io, usually the same working day.
FAQ
Review management questions, answered plainly
From what owners ask in Google's Business Profile community and on small business forums, and the questions people type into a search box.
What is review management?
Asking customers for reviews, monitoring what they write on the platforms that matter, and replying to every review. Done well it raises the number and recency of your reviews and shows the next customer how you treat people.
What does a review management company do?
A review management company sets up and runs the requests, watches every platform where you are reviewed, replies on your behalf and reports what customers are saying. Some sell software and leave the work to you; a managed service does the work.
How do I get more Google reviews without breaking the rules?
Ask every customer, soon after the job, with a direct link or QR code, and offer nothing in return. Reply to the reviews you get, because customers notice businesses that answer.
Is review gating illegal?
It breaks Google's policy, which forbids selectively soliciting positive reviews, and Yelp's guidelines. The FTC's rule bans suppressing reviews and misrepresenting that the reviews shown are all or most of those submitted. Whatever the legal position in a given case, it puts your profile at risk.
Can I offer a discount for a review?
Not on Google, which calls incentives strictly prohibited. The FTC's rule also bans offering anything in return for a review that expresses a particular sentiment. Ask without offering anything.
Can I ask customers for Yelp reviews?
Yelp asks businesses not to, and says its software may not recommend reviews that seem prompted. We do not send Yelp requests; we monitor and reply there instead.
Can you remove bad reviews?
Not genuine ones. Google acts on reviews that break its content policies, through its flagging process, and we flag those when they qualify. Anyone who guarantees removal of a genuine review is promising something the platforms do not offer.
How should I respond to a negative review?
Briefly and calmly: thank them, acknowledge the problem, offer a direct way to sort it out, and do not argue the details in public. Then fix whatever caused it.
How much do review management services cost?
Ours is a flat monthly retainer set by locations and platforms. Most clients start at around $1,000 a month. We do not charge per review.
How many reviews will I get?
That depends on how many customers you serve and how many respond when asked, which varies by trade. The calculator above shows the arithmetic with your own numbers. We do not promise a number.
Can my staff leave reviews?
No. Google treats current or former employment as a conflict of interest, and the FTC's rule restricts insider reviews that do not disclose the connection.
Do you reply to every review?
Yes, positive and negative, in your voice. Negative replies are sent to you for approval first unless you ask us to answer straight away.
How fast do replies appear on Google?
Google checks replies against its policies first. Its help says that usually takes up to ten minutes and can sometimes take up to thirty days.
Is a review management platform enough?
Review management software works if you have the time to run it and write the replies. A service suits businesses that want it done without the hours.
What is the difference between review and reputation management?
Review management covers reviews: asking, monitoring, replying. Reputation management is wider and usually concerns what appears when people search a name. We do the first, not the second.
What about healthcare and dental practices?
Replies must not confirm that a reviewer is a patient or mention their care. HHS has settled with a dental practice over social media disclosures of patient information, so we keep health replies general.
Can a contract stop customers reviewing us?
No. The Consumer Review Fairness Act makes form contract terms that restrict honest reviews, or penalise people for them, illegal.
Which platforms do you cover?
Google first, then whichever matter in your trade: Yelp, Facebook and the industry sites your customers use. The audit decides the list.
Do reviews help local SEO?
Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help local ranking, as part of prominence. Distance and relevance still matter, so reviews are one part of local SEO rather than all of it.
Should we reply to old reviews?
Yes, starting with the recent ones and any negative review that was never answered. A reply months later still tells the next reader that someone is listening, and it costs nothing but care.
Can we show our reviews on our own website?
Genuine ones, yes. What the FTC's rule forbids is implying that the reviews you display are all or most of those submitted when you have left out the negative ones. A page of hand picked quotes should not be labelled as every review you have.
Is there a long contract?
No. It is monthly with notice, and your profiles stay in your name throughout.
Ready when you are
Earn reviews the way that lasts
Send your website and we will show you how your reviews and replies read to a customer, where your process breaks a rule, and the first three things we would change.
Photographs via Pexels, each cropped with the Moha logo added: a cafe counter by Andrea Piacquadio, a woman on her phone by Ninthgrid, a man on his phone and a worried owner by Vitaly Gariev, a workshop by Gustavo Fring, a florist on the phone by Amina Filkins and a hotel front desk by cottonbro studio.