● Customer reviews
Google Review QR Code (QR code for Google reviews)
A Google review QR code is a scannable code that opens your Google review form when a customer points a phone camera at it. You create it from your Business Profile, on a computer. Customers must be signed in to a Google Account to post. You can print it or add it to digital messages.
Full definition
How to create a Google review QR code
You create the code from your Business Profile in three steps, as Google's help page describes them.
- Open your Business Profile and select Read reviews.
- Select Get more reviews.
- Copy the link, or right-click the QR code and choose Save image as.
The link and the code open the same review form. Use the QR code for print and screens, and the Google review link for emails and messages. Name the file clearly and keep the original image, because you will need it each time you print a new card. Scan the code with your own phone before you print anything, and check that it opens your business and not another listing. The same Google page also lets you share the request by email, WhatsApp or a Facebook post.
It only works from a computer
Google currently generates review QR codes in a computer browser only, not on mobile devices. If you manage your profile from your phone, open it on a laptop or desktop to get the code. Once you have the image, you can send it to your phone, your printer or your designer.
Where to place it
Put the code where customers finish something and feel good about it. Google lists these places.
- On a receipt, close to the total.
- In a thank-you email, sent right after the purchase.
- At the end of a chat conversation with your support team.
- On a printed display in your store, at the counter, the door or the waiting area.
Online stores can add a card to each parcel. If you are weighing tags against codes, our comparison of NFC vs QR code covers both. Choose the spot your customers actually look at, and keep the area around the code clear so phone cameras can read it. A receipt takes one short line. A display has room for a full sentence.
What the invitation should say
Ask for an honest opinion in one short line, placed next to the code. For example: "Enjoyed your visit? Scan to tell us how it went on Google." Do not ask for five stars and do not promise anything in return. Say what the review is for, for example that it helps other customers choose, and tell people that their phone camera is enough.
Customers must be signed in to a Google Account to post a review. Those without one can create it with a non-Gmail email address. When reviews arrive, reply to them: a scan starts the exchange and a reply finishes it.
Test your QR code before printing
Scan the code yourself on both an iPhone and an Android phone before you print anything.
Check that it opens the review form for the right business, and that you can write a review straight away when you are signed in to a Google Account. Then check the print: a dark code on a light background gives the best contrast, and a clear blank margin around the code helps cameras read it. Print a single proof, scan it from the distance a customer would use, and only then order the full run.
What Google does not allow
Google prohibits incentives for reviews, such as free or discounted goods or services in exchange for posting one. Its contribution policy also bars you from selectively soliciting positive reviews or discouraging negative ones. Doing so is called review gating. The code therefore goes to every customer, and the invitation never mentions a reward or the rating you hope for. The same policy bars you from pushing staff to hit a review quota or to steer what customers write.
Concrete example
Three illustrative setups, with no figures.
Restaurant. The server brings the check with a small printed card. It carries the QR code and one line: "Enjoyed your meal? Tell us on Google." Guests scan it at the table while they wait to pay.
Online store. The store slips a card into each parcel with the code and a thank-you note. The customer scans it after unboxing, once the product is in their hands.
Clinic or salon. The reception desk has a small stand with the code, and the receptionist mentions it when the client pays. Staff do not choose who gets asked, and the owner reads the new reviews each week.
In all three, the code sits at a moment when the customer is pleased, and everyone gets the same invitation. Next step in each case: read the new reviews and reply to them.
With Review Collect
A QR code only reaches the people who see it. Everyone else needs a message. Review Collect sends automated review requests after purchase by email, SMS or WhatsApp. On average, SMS and WhatsApp requests get a 40% response rate.
The requests go out after each order without anyone having to remember them. Satisfied customers are directed to one review platform that you choose, never to several at once. The customer keeps the choice to publish.
Use the QR code to complement this in store, at the counter or on a parcel card, and use the messages for everything else.
