How to make a Google review QR code

What is a Google review QR code?

It is an ordinary QR code whose payload is the web address of your business’s Google review form. Scanning it opens that form directly: the customer is already signed in to their Google account on their phone (most people are), so what stands between the scan and a published review is typing the review itself. The code does not add reviews, gate them, or talk to Google in any way; it is a shortcut with your business’s name on it.

The reason it matters is friction. “Search for us on Google and scroll to reviews” loses most people at the first step. A scan-to-review card turns a thirty-second instruction into a two-second gesture, at exactly the moment goodwill is highest.

You need a Google Business Profile first

Reviews live on a Google Business Profile, and the review link comes from that profile, so no profile means nothing to point a code at. If you serve customers at an address or within a service area, the profile is free to create at business.google.com. Verify it (Google posts a card or calls the number), and reviews become available.

Honest limit: a few categories cannot carry reviews at all (Google switches them off for some service types), and a suspended profile stops accumulating them. If your profile shows no “Ask for reviews” option, that is a profile-side question to settle before any QR code can help.

How to get your Google review link

Where to put the code

• Counter cards: the classic. A5 tent card, code in the lower half, one line of instruction above it.
• Receipts, invoices and quotes: the job is fresh in the customer’s mind when the paperwork arrives. PDFs and emails can carry the code too.
• Table tents and delivery packaging: for hospitality, at the end of the meal or when the order lands. (The retail and salon use-case pages carry placement patterns by trade.)
• Vehicles and workwear: for trades, the hours after the job is finished are when the review writes itself.
• Email signatures: a small code under the sign-off of the “job done” email, next to the plain link for people who will not scan.

One placement rule beats all the others: put the code where the happy moment happens, not where the traffic is. A code by the till of a shop that just frustrated someone invites the wrong review.

How to ask without breaking Google’s rules

Google has two policies that bear directly on review collection, and both exist to keep ratings trustworthy. Neither prevents you asking; both prevent you steering.

• No incentives. Discounts, freebies or entries into a prize draw in exchange for reviews are prohibited, and reviews bought that way get removed when spotted. You can ask anyone who has actually used the business; you cannot pay them to answer.
• No gating. Deciding who gets asked based on how happy they seemed (survey first, review link only for the satisfied) is review gating, also prohibited. Ask everyone the same way.
• Do not ask people to write it for you. Staff can hold the card; they should not hold the phone and type.

Stating the honest expectation helps too: most satisfied customers will not review, and that is normal. Moving one in twenty to one in ten doubles your review flow, which is what a well-placed code realistically does.

Does a static code do, or do I need dynamic?

A static Google review QR code encodes the review link directly. Since the link rarely changes, static is the honest default: free, no account, works forever. If the profile is ever rebuilt (new owner, re-verification, a merged listing), the old link can die and the print with it.

A dynamic QR code encodes a short URL that redirects to your review link. Two things follow: you can repoint the same printed code if the review link ever changes, and every scan is counted with a date and rough location, so two placements (counter card versus delivery slip) can be compared by scans rather than guesswork. A worked example of scan-to-review measurement is in how to track QR code scans.

Review QR codes for other sites

The code is a link and nothing more, so a review page anywhere with a public web address can be encoded the same way: Trustpilot profile pages, Facebook recommendation prompts, TripAdvisor listing pages. Two honest notes. First, a code per site multiplies the asking problem: one code, one ask, one site is cleaner for the customer than a menu of places to rate you. Second, Facebook and some others need you to be signed in and sometimes block direct deep links, so test the scan-to-form path on the phone of someone who is not you before printing.

Troubleshooting: Google review QR code not working

• Scan opens Google search, not a review form: the link used was your ordinary business page URL, not the review link. Regenerate with the g.page/r/…/review address.
• “Reviews aren’t available” or no stars shown: the profile’s reviews are switched off for its category, or the profile is unverified or suspended. That is a profile-side fix; no QR code change affects it.
• Form opens for the wrong business: a copied link from a nearby or previous listing. Re-copy from your own profile.
• Scanner lands on a sign-in wall: the phone has no Google account signed in. Nothing is broken; the customer signs in and continues.
• Printed code will not scan: size and contrast, as with any QR code. At least 2 × 2 cm for a counter card, a clear quiet zone, dark code on light ground. The print size guide covers the arithmetic.
• Link died after a profile change: rebuilt or merged listings retire old g.page links. Re-copy the current link, regenerate, and consider a dynamic code so this never needs a reprint again.

Frequently asked questions