Can You Offer a Discount for a Google Review? What Google and the FTC Actually Say

Short answer: don't. Google prohibits it, and the FTC has its own rules and guidance on incentives and review manipulation. This page summarises the published rules; it is not legal advice.

What Google says

Google's Business Profile Help says that reviews must reflect a genuine experience, and that offering incentives, like free or discounted goods or services, in exchange for customers to post reviews, change reviews, or remove negative reviews is considered fake and misleading content and is strictly prohibited. [1]

Google's Maps content policy goes further. Under "Rating Manipulation" it lists content posted due to an incentive from a business (payment, discounts, free goods or services) as not allowed, and says merchants may not: [2]

• offer incentives in exchange for posting a review, or for revising or removing a negative review;
• "discourage or prohibit negative reviews, or selectively solicit positive reviews from customers";
• require or pressure users to leave ratings or reviews while on the premises, or request specific content, including content that identifies a staff member.

What merchants may do, per the same page: solicit or encourage the posting of content that represents a genuine experience, without offering incentives or attempting to influence the rating or contents of the review. [2]

"Review gating" is the same issue from a different angle

"Gating" means asking customers privately how satisfied they were and only sending happy ones to Google. Google's policy language against selectively soliciting positive reviews [2] and the FTC's staff guidance both point away from it. The FTC's Q&A says that asking for reviews only from customers you think are happy isn't specifically banned by the rule, but could violate the FTC Act, and that only asking customers who are more likely to be happy would be misleading if it substantially skews the favourability of the reviews. [3][4]

Practical takeaway: send the same review request to every customer.

What the FTC says

The FTC's Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule took effect October 21, 2024. [3] Among its provisions:

• Buying reviews with a sentiment condition is banned. A business can't provide compensation or incentives conditioned on reviews expressing a particular sentiment; the FTC's example is offering a $5 coupon for telling "how much you loved your visit". [3]
• Incentives themselves are not banned by the rule if there is no express or implied requirement that the review be positive, but failing to disclose incentives could violate the FTC Act. [3] That's the FTC's position; Google's own rules are stricter and prohibit incentives outright, so follow Google for Google reviews.
• Review suppression: you can't use intimidation or unfounded legal threats to get a review removed or changed. [3]
• Fake reviews: writing or buying fake or false reviews is prohibited. [3] The FTC says family members may be asked to review if they clearly and conspicuously disclose the relationship (on platforms where that's allowed) [3], but on Google you should assume reviews should come from genuine customer experiences. [1][2]

In BrightLocal's 2026 survey, 11% of consumers said they'd been offered an incentive to write a positive review, which BrightLocal says would land law-breaking businesses with a fine under the FTC rule if caught. [5] (Self-reported survey.)

"Clever" ideas that cause trouble

Idea	Why it's a problem
"10% off your next job if you leave us a 5-star review"	Incentive and conditioned on sentiment [1][2][3]
"Show us your review for a free tune-up"	Incentive for a review [1][2]
Only texting customers you know were happy	Selective solicitation / gating [2][4]
"Please mention Sam the technician"	Dictating content, identifying staff [2]
Asking staff to get X reviews a week	Google lists requesting staff to solicit a certain number of reviews as not allowed [2]
Offering a refund or credit if they take a review down	Incentive to remove a review [1][2]; the FTC says paying to change or remove truthful negative reviews may be an unfair or deceptive practice [3]

What to do instead

1. Ask everyone. The same message, every job, every time. Use a link or QR code. [6]
2. Make it easy. Receipts, thank-you emails, a printed QR code. [6]
3. Don't mention the rating. Invite an honest review; don't hint at stars.
4. Fix problems privately. If a customer raises an issue, resolve it; if the review then changes, that's their choice. You may ask a customer to add an update to a review, but the FTC says asking them to change or delete the original could mislead readers. [4]
5. Reply to every review. BrightLocal found 80% of consumers say they're more likely to use a business that responds to all reviews. [5]
6. Report reviews that actually break the rules (spam, profanity), not ones you just dislike. [7]

About replies

Replying is where many owners get stuck. Google asks for short, professional, non-promotional replies, and says not to use them to offer deals. [8] Gladhear's free reply generator drafts a reply from a pasted public review: https://gladhear.com/free-review-reply-generator (free beta; nothing is posted for you).

Sources (all fetched/verified 2026-10-01)

1. Google Business Profile Help, "Tips to get more reviews": https://support.google.com/business/answer/7035772
2. Google Maps User Generated Content Policy, "Prohibited & restricted content": https://support.google.com/contributionpolicy/answer/7400114
3. FTC, "The Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule: Questions and Answers": https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/consumer-reviews-testimonials-rule-questions-answers
4. FTC, "FTC's Endorsement Guides: What People Are Asking": https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/ftcs-endorsement-guides-what-people-are-asking
5. BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026: https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/
6. Google Business Profile Help, "Create a Google link or QR code to request reviews": https://support.google.com/business/answer/16816815?hl=en
7. Google Business Profile Help, "Report inappropriate reviews on your Business Profile": https://support.google.com/business/answer/4596773
8. Google Business Profile Help, "Tips to get more reviews" (reply tips): https://support.google.com/business/answer/3474122

Editorial note: the table and the "what to do instead" list are editorial summaries of the cited rules. This is not legal advice; laws differ by country/state (Gladhear's audience is global, but the FTC rule is US law).