If you have ever stared at a half-typed text message wondering whether asking for a review makes you look needy, or worse, whether your ask might quietly break a rule you did not know existed, this guide is for you. You want the exact words. You also want to stay on the right side of the line. Both are reasonable.
The good news: an ethical, FTC-aware review ask is usually shorter and warmer than the awkward version most operators default to. The words are easier when the rules are clear. So we start with the rules, then give you copy-paste scripts timed to the moment a customer actually feels good about the work.
This is a spoke in the Industry Playbooks and Templates: CX Systems Built for Your Business Type hub, so the scripts below are sorted by business type. If you want the full reasoning behind ethical solicitation, read how to ask for reviews ethically alongside this one.
The Rules First: What Review and Referral Asks Need to Consider
Three rules cover almost everything you need to do correctly. None of them are hard. They mostly require you to not do clever things.
Rule 1: No review gating
Gating means routing only customers predicted to be happy to public review platforms while steering others to a private channel. A common version is a survey that sends high raters to Google and everyone else to a “tell us privately” form. The FTC's updated Endorsement Guides address procuring, suppressing, and organizing reviews in ways that distort what consumers think, so use one neutral review-request process instead.
The fix is simple. Ask everyone the same way. Send the same review invitation to the customer who loved the job and the customer who was lukewarm. You do not get to pre-screen who is allowed to leave a public review.
Rule 2: No buying reviews, no fake reviews, no fake testimonials
You cannot purchase reviews, write reviews about yourself, have staff post as customers, or publish testimonials describing experiences that did not happen. This is the clearest line in the entire space. Do not cross it, and do not hire anyone who offers to.
Rule 3: Check the platform and keep review requests free of incentives
Google prohibits incentivized reviews. Yelp prohibits asking for reviews. Use the review scripts only on platforms that allow neutral requests, with no reward or rating filter. Referral rewards are a separate subject; they require clear terms and disclosure and should not be attached to public reviews.
These scripts reflect the FTC's current endorsement and testimonial guidance. Because the rules and enforcement details depend on the facts, treat this as a practical starting point and confirm specifics for your business with a qualified attorney before you scale a program. Our own editorial policy holds us to the same standard we are asking you to follow.
The Timing Principle: Ask at the Journey Moment of Peak Satisfaction
Most review asks fail not because the words were wrong but because the timing was. You asked a week late, after the warm feeling faded, or you asked before the customer had anything to feel good about.
The principle: ask at the moment of peak satisfaction, the point in the journey where the customer most clearly feels the value they paid for. That moment is different for a dentist than for a roofer than for a marketing agency. Matching the ask to that moment is the single highest-leverage move in this whole playbook.
A quick map before the scripts:
| Business type | Peak-satisfaction moment | Best channel | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clinic / practice | Just after a successful visit or result | Text or email | Same day or next morning |
| Home service | Standing in front of finished work | In person, then text | At completion, follow-up within 24h |
| Restaurant | End of a good meal, before the check fades | Table card to QR, or receipt email | Same evening |
| Agency / consultant | Right after the first measurable win | Email or call | Within a day of the win |
Review Request Scripts by Industry
Use these as a base, then change the names and details so they sound like you. Asking everyone the same way is the point, so pick one script per situation and send it to every customer, not just the ones you expect to rave.
Clinic or practice (post-visit)
Channel: text or email, same day or next morning.
Hi [First name], it was good seeing you today. If you have a minute, a short review really helps other people in [town] find us when they need care. Here is the link: [review link]. And of course, if anything about your visit was not right, reply here and tell me directly so I can fix it.
The closing line matters. It invites honest feedback through the same message, which keeps you out of gating territory because you are not routing by sentiment, you are offering both doors to everyone.
Home service (post-job)
Channel: in person at completion, then a text within 24 hours.
In person, while the work is visible:
I want to make sure you are happy with how this turned out before I head off. Anything look off to you? [Pause and listen.] If you are happy with it, the biggest help to a small crew like ours is a quick honest review. I will text you the link so it is easy.
The follow-up text:
Thanks again, [First name]. Here is that review link I mentioned: [review link]. Honest feedback either way is genuinely useful to us.
Restaurant (post-meal)
Channel: a small table card or receipt with a QR code, plus an optional email if you capture addresses.
On the card:
Enjoyed your meal? A short, honest review helps our neighbors find us. Scan here: [QR]. Something not right tonight? Please ask for the manager before you go, we would rather fix it now.
You are giving the unhappy diner a real path that is not a public review and not a suppression trick. Everyone sees both options.
Agency or consultant (post-first-win)
Channel: email or a quick call, within a day of the first measurable result.
Hi [First name], seeing [the specific win, e.g. the new landing page convert at the rate we hoped] is exactly what we were aiming for. While it is fresh, would you be open to a short review about working with us? Here is where it goes: [link]. Honest is all I am after, including anything you would want us to do better.
Referral-Ask Variants and When to Use Them
A referral ask is a different request than a review ask, and it usually lands better a little later, once the result has held up over time. A review captures the moment; a referral asks the customer to put their own reputation on the line, so they need confidence the outcome was durable.
Use a referral ask when:
- The result has stuck for a few weeks or a full cycle.
- The customer has already volunteered something positive.
- You can point them at a specific person they might know who has the same problem.
Referral variants of the scripts above:
| Vertical | Referral ask |
|---|---|
| Clinic | "If you know anyone looking for a [dentist / physio / vet] in the area, I would be glad to take good care of them. Feel free to pass along my number." |
| Home service | "Most of our work comes from neighbors telling neighbors. If someone on your street needs [the service], send them my way and I will look after them." |
| Restaurant | "If you have friends who would enjoy this, bring them next time, first round of [item] is on me for the table." (Note: this is an incentive, so see the disclosure section.) |
| Agency | "Do you know another [founder / operator] wrestling with [the same problem]? A warm intro is the highest compliment, and I will treat them well." |
Notice that none of these pressure the customer or imply a positive review is expected. A good referral ask is an open door, not a tollbooth.
Keep Review Requests Separate from Referral Rewards
Do not offer money, discounts, drawings, or gifts for a public review. The FTC's review-rule FAQ does not replace the platform's rules, and a disclosure does not make a prohibited review incentive acceptable.
If you choose a referral reward, publish clear terms and have the referrer disclose the relationship to the person they recommend you to. A reward must not depend on leaving a public review. Check requirements for your profession and location before using a referral program.
What to Do When the Experience Was Mediocre
This is where good operators get tempted, and where gating sneaks in. The job was fine, not great. You hesitate to ask for a public review because you are not sure what you will get. So what do you do.
You do not gate. Routing only the confident wins to public platforms is exactly the behavior the rules prohibit, and it is also self-defeating, because a profile full of suspiciously perfect reviews reads as fake to customers.
Here is the ethical path instead.
Ask privately for feedback first
When you sense an experience landed at "okay," ask for honest input through a private channel, the same way you would offer the unhappy customer a direct reply. "How did we do, and what would have made it better?" You are allowed to learn from a customer privately. You are not allowed to use that private question as a filter that decides who gets the public link.
Fix the experience, then the reviews follow
A mediocre review rate is usually a mediocre experience problem wearing a marketing costume. If lukewarm is your baseline, the fix is upstream: the onboarding, the handoff, the last five minutes of the visit. Strengthen the experience and the honest reviews improve on their own. For the systems side of this, the retention pillar covers how to turn satisfied customers into repeat ones, which is the same engine that produces voluntary reviews.
When reviews still are not coming
If asks are going out correctly and reviews still trickle in, the problem is usually timing, friction in the link, or an inconsistent ask. The referrals and reviews hub goes deeper on diagnosing a stalled program without resorting to shortcuts.
In Plain English
This post is a set of ready-to-send scripts for asking customers for reviews and referrals in a way that stays inside FTC endorsement guidance: no gating, no fake or bought reviews, and clear disclosure whenever you offer an incentive.
It helps any operator who deals with customers directly and relies on word of mouth: clinics and practices, home-service crews, restaurants, and agencies or consultants. Use it when you have a repeatable moment of customer satisfaction you can attach an ask to (after a visit, a finished job, a good meal, a first win) and you want words that are warm without being pushy.
What to do next: check whether the platform allows review requests, choose the script for your business, and use a consistent completed-transaction trigger. Do not add a review incentive or filter customers by expected rating.
Download the Review Request Script Pack
Open the free workbook for a neutral review request script you can adapt. The industry examples above remain available in this guide.
For the broader system these scripts plug into, return to the industry playbooks and templates hub and pair this with the retention work that turns one good review into a steady stream of them.
A brief note: review, referral, and incentive rules can change and depend on your specifics. Use this as a practical starting point and confirm the details with a qualified attorney before you build an incentive program at scale.