How to get a Google review link and QR code
Find your Google review link, test it as a customer would, make QR codes for receipts and counters, and ask for reviews within Google’s rules.
To get your Google review link, go to your Business Profile, select Read Reviews, then Get more reviews, and copy the link. It opens the review form directly, so customers don’t have to look for it on your Google Maps listing. The same panel offers a QR code, but only in a computer browser.
This guide follows a made-up bike repair shop that asks for reviews on receipts, a counter sign and a thank-you email, within Google’s rules. Links can redirect to your review link and count clicks, but it doesn’t connect to Google or know who posted a review.
Find the review link in your Business Profile
Google’s help page on review links gives these steps:
- Go to your Business Profile.
- Select Read Reviews, then Get more reviews.
- Select the Copy icon to copy the review link.
- To keep Google’s QR code, open the code’s context menu in your browser and choose Save image as.
Google’s link for the first step opens business.google.com; sign in with the Google Account that manages your profile. Google says review QR codes can currently be made only in a computer browser, so do this on a computer. With several locations, use the link from the shop the customer visited.
Test the link the way a customer will
Open the link on a phone, not only on your computer. The bike shop tests on an iPhone and an Android phone, once signed in to Google and once signed out in a private browsing window.
Google’s tips for getting more reviews say customers must be signed in to a Google Account to leave a review, though the account can use a non-Gmail address. The signed-out test shows that extra step. Check that:
- The business name and address belong to the right location.
- The page leads to a star rating and a review box, after sign-in if needed.
Stop before posting. Google’s content policy doesn’t allow reviews based on a conflict of interest, such as reviews from staff.
Decide between Google’s QR code and your own short link
| Compare | Google’s link and QR code | Your short link and QR code |
|---|---|---|
| The code opens | Google’s review link | A reunified.link address that redirects there |
| Cost | Free | Free to create; 0.05 credits per counted click |
| Change the destination | No | Yes, without reprinting |
| Numbers per placement | No: one link everywhere | Counted clicks for each link |
Google’s link and code are enough if you don’t need numbers for each placement. A short link helps when you want those numbers, or when a printed code may need to lead somewhere else later. But it pauses if your Links account runs out of credits.
Create a short link and QR code for each placement
In the Links app, create one link per placement. Give each the review link as its destination and a title naming the placement: “Reviews · receipt”, “Reviews · counter” and “Reviews · email”. Open each link, press QR code and choose Download PNG or Download SVG. The email needs only the short link.
A receipt and a counter sign are read from different distances, so check the QR code size guide for each. The guide to changing a QR code’s destination covers testing a printed proof.
Ask for reviews within Google’s rules
Google’s Maps content policy doesn’t allow merchants to offer incentives, such as payment, discounts or free goods or services, for posting a review or changing or removing a negative one. Merchants also can’t discourage negative reviews, ask only customers likely to be positive, pressure people to review on the premises or ask for specific content. For the bike shop, that means:
- Every receipt carries the code, and every finished repair gets the same email.
- No discount, free service or payment for a review.
- The counter sign invites people to review. Nobody waits beside a customer, suggests what to write or asks them to name a mechanic.
- No first question such as “Were you happy?” that sends only satisfied customers on to Google.
Don’t add destination rules to these links either: a visitor’s country, language, platform or device shouldn’t decide who reaches the review page.
Test the printed codes and compare clicks with reviews
After printing, scan a real receipt and the counter sign with both phones, and open the link from a test email.
Links shows each link’s counted clicks per day, with breakdowns by referrer, platform and device. A QR scan has no referring site and shows as Direct, and so can a link opened from an email app, which is why each placement gets its own link. Bots and link previews aren’t counted. Repeat opens by one person are, and so are your own test scans.
A counted click isn’t a posted review. A month later, the bike shop compares the clicks on each placement with the number of new reviews in its Business Profile, and doesn’t expect the two numbers to match. The UTM and click analytics guide covers wider measurement.
Creating links is free, each counted click costs 0.05 credits (current pricing), and new accounts start with 100 credits. When credits run out, links pause and a scan shows a page saying the link is unavailable, so keep credits available while the codes are in print. Links gives each placement its own address, code and count; your Business Profile shows what customers wrote.