Ask ten customers to "leave us a review on Google" and most will nod, mean it, and never do it. Not because they don't want to — because the path is too long: search the business, find the listing, scroll, find the reviews section, click the right button. Every step loses people.
A direct review link collapses all of that into one tap. A QR code on your counter or invoice collapses it into one scan. Here's how to set up both, free, in under two minutes.
Step 1: Find your Google review link
You have two ways in:
The easy way. Sign in to the Google account that manages your Google Business Profile, then search your own business name on Google. In the profile panel, click Ask for reviews. Google shows you a short share link — usually starting with g.page. That's your direct review link. Anyone who opens it lands straight on your review form, stars ready to tap.
The backup. If you can't get into the profile right now, every business on Google Maps has a Place ID — a unique code like ChIJpTvG15DL1IkRd8S0KlBVNTI. Google's free Place ID Finder will show you yours: type your business name, copy the ID. The review link is then https://search.google.com/local/writereview?placeid=YOUR_PLACE_ID.
Or skip the URL assembly entirely: paste either one into my free review link & QR code generator and it builds everything for you.
Step 2: Turn it into a QR code
A link works brilliantly in texts and emails. But the best moment to ask for a review is in person, right when the work is done — and nobody types a URL off a business card.
That's the QR code's job. The generator takes your review link and gives you:
- a download-ready QR code (high-resolution PNG, good for print)
- a printable counter card — "How did we do? Scan to leave us a Google review"
- copy-paste ask-scripts for text and email, with your link already in them
The QR code encodes your link directly — no middleman service, no subscription, nothing that expires. Print it once and it works for as long as your business profile exists.
Step 3: Put it where the happy moment happens
The pattern behind every business with hundreds of reviews is the same: the ask happens immediately after the work, every time. Put the code where that moment lives:
- The front counter — beside the card machine, where people pay.
- Invoices and receipts — bottom corner, every single one.
- Leave-behind cards — trades especially: hand one over as you pack up.
- The service van or storefront window — your happiest customers walk past daily.
- Your email signature — the link version, on every message you send.
Keep it inside Google's rules
Asking for reviews is fine — Google encourages it. Two things are against policy: offering incentives (discounts, draws, freebies) in exchange for reviews, and "review gating" — only showing the link to customers you think were happy. Ask everyone, and let the reviews land where they land. For the full system — timing, wording, and automating the ask — see how to get more Google reviews.
Why this is worth two minutes
Reviews do double duty: they convince the next customer to pick you, and they're one of the strongest signals deciding who shows up in the Google Maps pack. A direct link plus a QR code is the cheapest local-SEO upgrade there is — it costs nothing and starts working the same day.
Make your review link and QR code free →
And if the reviews are flowing but the customers still aren't, the problem is usually the profile or the website behind it — that's what the free website review is for.