Asking for reviews is normal, and Google allows it. Trouble starts with the shortcuts. A discount for a 5-star review. A "were you happy?" survey that only sends the happy people on to Google. Your nephew posting a glowing review from his couch. Since October 2024, some of those shortcuts can bring US federal penalties on top of a deleted review.
Not legal advice. This is general information; check with a lawyer for your situation.
The US federal rule: FTC 16 CFR Part 465
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the US consumer protection agency. In August 2024 it finalized the Trade Regulation Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials, codified at 16 CFR Part 465. The FTC's Q&A page gives the effective date as October 21, 2024.
In plain English, it bans:
| Practice | What the rule says |
|---|---|
| Fake reviews | Writing, buying or selling reviews from people who don't exist (including AI-generated ones) or who had no real experience with the business, when you knew or should have known. |
| Conditional incentives | Offering payment or any incentive "conditioned expressly or by implication" on a review "expressing a particular sentiment, whether positive or negative" (§ 465.4). |
| Undisclosed insider reviews | Reviews by owners, managers or employees without a clear disclosure of the connection. Managers also must not solicit reviews from relatives or employees without the right disclosure safeguards (§ 465.5). |
| Company-controlled "independent" review sites | Presenting a site you control as independent. |
| Review suppression | Groundless legal threats, physical threats, intimidation or knowingly false public accusations to stop or remove a review (§ 465.7). |
| Fake social media indicators | Buying bot followers or views to fake influence for a commercial purpose. |
Owners trip over two details:
- The rule doesn't ban every incentive. The FTC's Q&A says it "does not prohibit giving incentives for reviews, as long as there isn't an express or implied requirement that the reviews have to express a particular sentiment." Undisclosed incentives can still break the broader FTC Act. And Google bans incentives outright (more below), so for Google reviews the answer is still no.
- Review gating isn't named in the rule, but it's still risky. On asking only happy customers, the FTC's Q&A says the rule "does not contain a specific prohibition against such conduct. But this practice could violate the FTC Act."
Penalties. The FTC can seek civil penalties against anyone who breaks the rule knowingly. The inflation-adjusted maximum was $53,088 per violation as of 2025 (it is updated each year). Law firms reported that the FTC sent warning letters to ten companies about the rule in December 2025.
One more federal law to know: the Consumer Review Fairness Act. It makes it illegal to put terms in your standard contracts that stop customers from reviewing you, fine them for a review, or take the rights to what they wrote.
Google's rules: no incentives, no gating, no selective asking
Google's Maps user-contributed content policy (the "Prohibited and restricted content" page) lists several practices as fake engagement. Merchants must not:
- "Offer incentives – such as payment, discounts, free goods and/or services" for reviews;
- "Discourage or prohibit negative reviews, or selectively solicit positive reviews from customers";
- ask staff to collect a set number of reviews.
Google also removes reviews with a conflict of interest, including ones from "current or former employment" or a contractual relationship. Put simply, owners, staff and their families shouldn't review the business.
Google's own "Tips to get more reviews" page repeats that incentives are prohibited and says reviews "must reflect a genuine experience." It also hands you the tool to do this properly: a review link or QR code from your Business Profile.
What "review gating" looks like
Review gating means deciding who gets the review link based on how happy they seem. It usually looks like one of these:
- A text asks "How did we do? 1–5". Fives get the Google link; everyone else gets a private feedback form.
- Staff only hand the QR card to customers who seem pleased.
Under Google's policy, both count as "selectively soliciting positive reviews". Asking for private feedback is fine. Sending the public link only to happy people isn't.
What happens if Google catches it
Google can remove the reviews. Its "Business Profile restrictions" page says it may also block new reviews for a set period, unpublish the ones you have, and show customers a notice that fake reviews were removed. You'll get an email before a restriction kicks in, and you can appeal.
Yelp is different: don't ask at all
Yelp's support page "Don't Ask for Reviews" says: "Don't ask anyone to review your business, be it customers, mailing list subscribers, friends, family, etc." It also says not to ask for reviews after surveys or contact forms, and not to offer "freebies, discounts, or payment."
Yelp says its software tries to spot requested reviews and "not recommend them". It also runs a Consumer Alerts program that can put a pop-up warning on your business page. So ask for Google reviews, and let Yelp happen on its own.
Outside the US
UK. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCC Act) added fake reviews to its list of banned practices (Schedule 20, paragraph 13). The CMA's guidance says these provisions apply to practices "from 6 April 2025 onwards." Traders must not submit or commission fake reviews or reviews that conceal they were incentivised, must not publish reviews in a misleading way, and must take "reasonable and proportionate steps" to prevent and remove fake reviews they publish. From the same date the CMA can enforce consumer law directly, including fines that law firms report can reach 10% of global turnover. In a separate deal, Google agreed with the CMA in January 2025 to put warning alerts on UK profiles that boost ratings with fake reviews and to block them from getting new reviews.
EU. Since 28 May 2022 the Omnibus Directive (EU) 2019/2161 has banned submitting or commissioning fake consumer reviews, and requires traders who show reviews to say whether and how they check that reviews come from real customers.
Australia. The ACCC says it's illegal to create fake reviews or arrange for others to, and that any incentive must be given "regardless of whether the reviewer leaves a positive or negative review" and be clearly disclosed. Google's own ban on incentives still applies there, as it does everywhere.
A local example: the dental office script
A family dental practice wants more Google reviews. This is what changes when it follows the rules:
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| "Leave us 5 stars and get $10 off your next cleaning!" | No incentive of any kind. |
| Post-visit survey; only 9s and 10s see the Google link | Every patient gets the same message with the Google link. The survey stays separate and private. |
| Office manager's sister reviews the practice | Staff and family don't review. |
| Front desk "aims for 20 reviews a week" | No quotas; the goal is to ask everyone. |
Now every patient gets this message by text or email on the day of their visit:
Thanks for visiting [Practice] today. If you have a minute, we'd appreciate a Google review: [link]. Reply STOP to opt out.
It fires at the same moment for everyone, when the appointment is checked out. It uses the link from the Business Profile. It names no treatment, which matters for health businesses (see lesson 3). It says nothing about stars and offers nothing in return. If you text customers, US texting rules apply as well; see Texting customers in the US.
Do this now
Is it legal to ask customers for Google reviews?
Yes. Google provides a review link and QR code for this purpose. What's banned is offering incentives, asking only happy customers, and fake or insider reviews.
Can I offer a discount for an honest review?
Not for Google reviews: Google prohibits any incentive. The FTC rule allows incentives that don't depend on sentiment, but undisclosed incentives can still violate the FTC Act, and Yelp also bans them.
What is review gating?
Sending the public review link only to customers who said they were happy, usually after a rating question. Google's policy prohibits selectively soliciting positive reviews.
Can my employees leave reviews for our business?
No. Google removes reviews based on a conflict of interest, including employment, and the FTC rule requires insider reviews to disclose the connection.
Sources
- Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule: Questions and Answers, FTC (checked Oct 2026)
- Federal Trade Commission announces final rule banning fake reviews and testimonials (Aug 14, 2024), FTC (checked Oct 2026)
- 16 CFR Part 465, eCFR (checked Oct 2026)
- Trade Regulation Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials (Aug 22, 2024), Federal Register (checked Oct 2026)
- FTC publishes inflation-adjusted civil penalty amounts for 2025, FTC (checked Oct 2026)
- FTC warns 10 companies about possible violations of new consumer review rule (Dec 2025), Greenberg Traurig (checked Oct 2026)
- Consumer Review Fairness Act: what businesses need to know, FTC (checked Oct 2026)
- Prohibited and restricted content, Maps User Generated Content Policy Help (checked Oct 2026)
- Tips to get more reviews, Google Business Profile Help (checked Oct 2026)
- Business Profile restrictions for policy violations, Google Business Profile Help (checked Oct 2026)
- Don't Ask for Reviews, Yelp Support (checked Oct 2026)
- Unfair commercial practices (CMA207), CMA, GOV.UK (checked Oct 2026)
- Fake reviews (CMA208), CMA, GOV.UK (checked Oct 2026)
- CMA secures important changes from Google to tackle fake reviews (Jan 2025), GOV.UK (checked Oct 2026)
- No more faux five-stars: the DMCC Act bans fake reviews, CMS (checked Oct 2026)
- Directive (EU) 2019/2161 (Omnibus Directive), EUR-Lex (checked Oct 2026)
- Online reviews for products and services, ACCC (checked Oct 2026)
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