How Dentists Can Get More Google Reviews (Ethically): Rules, Timing and Templates

You can ask patients for Google reviews. The important part is giving people a genuine choice: an honest review, no review, or private feedback without pressure. You do not need a reward, a five-star script, or a survey that hides the Google link from unhappy patients.

This guide covers the rules, the difference between Google's policies and federal law, and a practical request routine. It also includes short text, email, and checkout templates your team can adapt. The suggested timing and frequency are operating recommendations, not legal requirements or proven response-rate formulas.

TL;DR

• Invite honest feedback from eligible patients using the same neutral rules, not only from patients you expect to be happy.
• Google prohibits review incentives, selective positive solicitation, and pressure to review on the premises.
• The FTC's consumer reviews rule took effect October 21, 2024. It covers specified fake-review, incentive, insider, suppression, and other deceptive practices.
• Use a direct Google review link or QR code. Do not put a satisfaction test in front of it.
• Start with one optional invitation and a patient-level frequency cap. A reminder is optional, not an obligation.
• Keep treatment details out of requests and public replies. Handle individual concerns privately.

What Google allows dentists to do

Google's own guidance encourages businesses to remind customers about reviews and share a review link or QR code. It also encourages valuing honest, balanced feedback. The invitation should concern a real experience, without instructions about what rating or specific content to provide.

Source: Google Business Profile Help, Tips to get more reviews; Google Maps, Prohibited & restricted content policy.

For a dental practice, that means asking about the patient's experience with the office, not asking them to endorse a clinical result or follow a script. “Would you share your honest experience?” is enough. Leave the rating and wording entirely to the person writing the review.

Use the same invitation policy for new and established patients. Apply neutral contact and frequency rules. Do not make staff decide who seems grateful enough to ask, and do not tie the request to whether someone accepted treatment.

What Google prohibits

Google prohibits incentives for posting a review, changing one, or removing a negative one. It also prohibits discouraging negative reviews or selectively soliciting positive reviews. Its policy says merchants should not require or pressure users to review while on the premises or request specific content.

Source: Google Maps, Prohibited & restricted content policy.

• Do not offer a gift card, discount, free service, or prize entry in exchange for a Google review.
• Do not say “If you loved your visit, leave us five stars.”
• Do not ask patients to include a provider's name, procedure, city, or keyword.
• Do not ask staff or relatives to manufacture patient feedback. Google's policy includes conflicts of interest.
• Do not make checkout, treatment, or complaint resolution depend on posting, changing, or removing a review.

Source: Google Maps, Prohibited & restricted content policy, sections on fake engagement and rating manipulation.

Google says violations can lead to removal of violating reviews and restrictions on the Business Profile. Its listed examples include temporarily blocking new reviews, temporarily unpublishing existing reviews, and displaying a warning about removed fake reviews. Do not assume a particular penalty is automatic, or that a missing review proves wrongdoing.

Source: Google Business Profile Help, Business Profile restrictions for policy violations.

Review gating: judge the workflow, not the label

Review gating is the common name for screening people before deciding whether to invite a public review. For example, a survey asks for a satisfaction score. High scores receive the Google link; low scores receive only a private complaint form. That selectively invites positive reviews.

Calling the same process “sentiment routing” does not fix it. Nor does adding a hard-to-find public link to the unhappy-patient branch while actively encouraging only the happy group to post. The practical test is whether everyone gets the same neutral public-review invitation, independent of sentiment.

Source: Google Maps, policy prohibiting selective positive solicitation.

You can collect private feedback separately and ask a manager to contact people who report problems. Keep that service-recovery process independent of access to the Google invitation. Do not require a survey answer, a call with the manager, or resolution of a complaint before offering the review link.

A simple design is to make the Google invitation available to all eligible recipients and provide the same office contact option to everyone. If you use a private survey, test every answer path yourself. Look at the messages, buttons, reminders, and staff instructions, not just the first screen.

What the FTC's 2024 final rule actually covers

The FTC's Trade Regulation Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials is codified at 16 CFR Part 465. It was published August 22, 2024, and became effective October 21, 2024. The rule addresses specified unfair or deceptive practices; it is not a requirement that dentists collect reviews.

Source: Federal Trade Commission, 2024 final rule, 89 FR 68034.

Fake or false reviews

Section 465.2 addresses reviews and testimonials that materially misrepresent whether a reviewer exists, had experience with the business, or had the experience described. It prohibits specified creation, sale, purchase, procurement, and dissemination practices, with knowledge standards that depend on the provision.

Do not buy fabricated patient reviews or publish invented patient stories. Using AI to create a nonexistent patient does not make the review genuine. A vendor's claim that reviews look natural is not evidence that they reflect real experiences.

Source: FTC, 2024 final rule, 16 CFR 465.2.

Buying sentiment and undisclosed insider reviews

Section 465.4 prohibits compensation or incentives conditioned, expressly or by implication, on a review expressing a particular positive or negative sentiment. Section 465.5 addresses specified insider reviews and testimonials without clear disclosure of material relationships, including duties involving officers, managers, employees, agents, and certain relatives.

Source: FTC, 2024 final rule, 16 CFR 465.4–465.5.

Do not confuse that federal incentive provision with Google's broader policy. Section 465.4 focuses on sentiment-conditioned compensation. Google prohibits incentives for any Google review. Offering a reward for an “honest review, any rating” does not solve the Google policy problem.

Source: FTC, 2024 final rule, 16 CFR 465.4; Google Maps, Prohibited & restricted content policy.

Suppression and false independence

Section 465.7 prohibits specified suppression practices, including unfounded or groundless legal threats, physical threats, intimidation, or public false accusations used to prevent or remove reviews. It also addresses materially misrepresenting that displayed reviews represent most or all submitted reviews when reviews are suppressed based on rating or negative sentiment, subject to the rule's qualifications.

Source: FTC, 2024 final rule, 16 CFR 465.7.

The rule also covers company-controlled review websites falsely presented as independent and specified buying or selling of fake social-media influence indicators. Those provisions are additional reasons to examine what a marketing vendor actually does, not just the rating it promises.

Source: FTC, 2024 final rule, 16 CFR 465.6 and 465.8.

Be precise about review gating. Google's prohibition on selective positive solicitation directly addresses that workflow. Do not describe every gated invitation as automatically violating the FTC rule's separate suppression provision. Federal liability depends on the conduct and the applicable provision; other consumer-protection requirements may also matter. Get legal advice about a specific campaign.

Make the Google review link easy to use

On a computer, open your Google Business Profile, select “Read reviews,” then “Get more reviews.” Google provides a link you can copy and a QR code you can save. Its guidance suggests sharing these through receipts, thank-you emails, and displayed QR codes.

Source: Google Business Profile Help, Create a Google link or QR code to request reviews.

Our Google review link tool is another place to start. Test the destination before adding it to a template. Confirm that it points to your actual office, not another location or an individual provider's profile you did not intend to use.

Google says people must sign into a Google Account to leave a review, and that the account can use a non-Gmail email address. Do not promise an anonymous review or a process with no sign-in. Let patients use their own accounts and their own devices.

Source: Google Business Profile Help, Tips to get more reviews.

For a QR sign, use a short line such as “Share your honest experience on Google. Optional.” Put it somewhere patients can notice without being watched or asked to prove they posted. Print a small test copy and scan it before ordering signs.

Keep profile details current as well. Our Google Business Profile guide for dental practices covers that separate housekeeping task.

Ready-to-use text templates

Replace the placeholders and test the final link. Use these only with the appropriate permission and a working opt-out process. Keep clinical information out, and do not assume that adding “Reply STOP” alone makes a campaign lawful.

Simple invitation

Hi [First Name], this is [Practice Name]. Would you share your honest experience on Google? [Review Link] It's optional. Reply STOP to opt out.

Without name personalization

[Practice Name]: We welcome your honest feedback. If you'd like to leave a Google review, here's the link: [Review Link]. Reply STOP to opt out.

Optional reminder

[Practice Name]: One optional reminder to share your experience on Google: [Review Link]. If you've already reviewed us, thank you. Reply STOP to opt out.

The reminder is not a default requirement. Skip it when the patient declines, opts out, or is known to have reviewed. Do not write “We noticed you haven't reviewed us” unless you actually have a reliable basis for that statement; even then, it is unnecessary pressure.

Ready-to-use email templates

Short post-visit invitation

Subject: Optional feedback for [Practice Name]

Hi [First Name],

Would you share your honest experience with [Practice Name] on Google?

[Google Review Link]

Leaving a review is optional. Thank you for considering it.

[Practice Name] team

Invitation with a private contact option

Subject: Share your experience with [Practice Name]

Hi [First Name],

We welcome honest feedback. If you'd like to write a public Google review, use this link: [Google Review Link].

If you'd prefer to contact our team directly, call [Office Phone]. Both options are available to everyone, and neither is required.

Thank you,

[Practice Name]

Established-patient version

Subject: An optional review invitation

Hi [First Name],

Thank you for choosing [Practice Name]. If you'd like to share your experience on Google, here's the link: [Google Review Link].

Please use your own words and share only what you're comfortable making public.

[Practice Name] team

Single follow-up email

Subject: A final optional review reminder

Hi [First Name],

Here is the Google review link for [Practice Name], in case you'd like it: [Google Review Link].

If you've already reviewed us or would rather not, no action is needed. We won't send another reminder for this invitation.

Thank you,

[Practice Name]

Keep your actual sender information, unsubscribe controls, and preference handling in the sending system. Confirm that “final reminder” matches the configured sequence. Do not use a subject line about treatment or an account problem to get a review email opened.

How to ask at checkout without pressure

Give the team one neutral sentence: “If you'd like to share your honest experience, our Google review link is on this card. It's completely optional.” Then finish checkout. Do not ask for a specific rating or wait while the patient writes.

Google's policy does not allow requiring or pressuring users to review on the premises. An available QR code is different from a staff member standing over a phone or asking to inspect the finished review.

Source: Google Maps, Prohibited & restricted content policy.

If someone asks for help, show them where the link is rather than handling their account or composing the review. If they decline, accept it. Do not repeat the invitation at the chair, at checkout, and again by multiple messages.

When and how often should you ask?

My starting recommendation is one invitation after a verified completed visit, during an appropriate daytime send window. Same day or next day are sensible choices to test. There is no universal two-hour rule or verified text-versus-email response multiplier offered here.

Set a patient-level cap across visits and channels. A 90-day interval between new invitation campaigns is a conservative starting choice, not a Google requirement. For frequent visitors, use a longer gap if needed rather than restarting the sequence at every appointment.

Start without a reminder. If your office later adds one, send a single optional follow-up several days later, with the same neutral invitation and opt-out handling. Suppress it when someone declines, opts out, or is known to have already reviewed.

“Ask everyone” still allows neutral exclusions: no actual completed visit, missing contact permission, an incorrect recipient, a recent invitation, or an opt-out. It does not justify excluding complaints, low survey scores, unpaid balances, or patients whose treatment outcome you expect to affect the rating.

For the appointment triggers, duplicate controls, and testing behind this routine, see our dental review automation guide.

Keep privacy and service recovery separate from promotion

Do not put procedure names, diagnoses, insurance details, or balances into a review invitation. Tell patients to share only what they want public. Keep the message useful even without sensitive personalization.

HHS has taken enforcement action against a dental practice for disclosing protected health information when responding to online reviews. A patient's public post is not permission for your office to publish its side of the clinical record.

Source: HHS Office for Civil Rights, December 2022 dental review-response settlement announcement.

Use a general reply and invite private contact without confirming patient status or treatment. Our guide to responding to negative dental reviews covers that boundary. Address complaints because they deserve attention, not in exchange for changing a rating.

A simple office routine

1. Approve one neutral request template and the correct location link.
2. Document permission, exclusions, caps, and opt-outs.
3. Test every public and private feedback path.
4. Assign an owner to review deliveries, failures, and duplicates.
5. Track new reviews separately from message clicks.
6. Review recurring feedback and assign improvements to the team.

If you use software, require a demonstration of those controls. Aron's review automation page describes PMS-connected text and email requests with timing, messaging, and follow-up controls. Ask to see your exact workflow rather than assuming a feature name settles consent or policy questions.

Source: Aron, Review Automation & Management feature page; checked against the current marketing-page source.

FAQ

Can we offer a discount for an honest Google review?

No. Google prohibits incentives for any review, not just positive ones. The FTC rule's sentiment-conditioned incentive provision is a separate standard and does not override Google's policy.

Is private feedback a form of review gating?

Not by itself. Keep the public-review invitation equally available and independent of the private feedback score. Do not direct only happy patients toward Google.

Does the FTC rule ban every form of review gating?

Do not reduce the rule to that statement. It prohibits specified conduct involving fake reviews, sentiment-conditioned incentives, insider disclosures, suppression, and other practices. Google's selective-solicitation rule directly addresses gating; assess federal-law questions against the actual conduct and provision.

How often should a returning patient receive a request?

Use a patient-level cap rather than asking after every appointment. A 90-day interval is a conservative starting recommendation, not a required or proven optimum. Respect declines, opt-outs, and known completed reviews.

Can we ask a patient who complained?

Use the same neutral eligibility rules as for everyone else. Do not withhold the public invitation because you expect criticism. Work on the complaint privately without conditioning help on a review change.

Can we ask patients to mention Invisalign or a dentist's name?

Do not request specific review content. Google's policy says merchants should not ask users to include specific content when soliciting reviews. Let patients decide what to say and what to keep private.

Want to check how reviews fit into your broader marketing? Start with the free AI Marketing Scorecard.