Is it against the rules to offer a discount for a review?
Short answer
Yes. Google's review policies prohibit offering discounts, money, gifts or free services in exchange for reviews, and that applies even when you don't ask for a positive one. Other platforms have similar rules, and consumer protection rules can apply as well. Ask every customer for an honest review and offer nothing in return.
Offering a discount for a review breaks Google’s review policies, which prohibit incentives such as payment, discounts, free goods or free services in exchange for a review. It doesn’t matter how small the discount is or how politely it’s offered. If the customer gets something for posting, the review is incentivized, and Google doesn’t allow it.
What the rule covers
Any reward tied to posting, changing or removing a review falls under it. Here are common practices set against the rule:
| Practice | Within Google’s rules? |
|---|---|
| Asking every customer for an honest review | Yes |
| Texting your Google review link after the job | Yes |
| A discount on the next visit in return for a review | No |
| A gift card or prize drawing for customers who review | No |
| Offering something to have a negative review changed or taken down | No |
| Asking only the customers you expect to be happy | No |
The last row is a separate rule, the one against review gating.
Fixing a customer’s problem isn’t an incentive. If you go back and make a job right and the customer decides to update the review, that is their choice. The line is crossed when the fix or the refund is offered on condition that the review changes.
What if the discount is for any review, good or bad?
It’s still not allowed. Owners often reason that a reward is fair as long as it doesn’t ask for five stars. Google’s policy is about the exchange, regardless of the star rating. A customer who has just been given a discount isn’t reviewing on the same footing as one who wasn’t, and that is what the rule exists to prevent.
What can happen if you do it anyway
Google can remove the incentivized reviews, and it can restrict the profile itself. Google has said it may take action against profiles that break its fake engagement policy, including limits on new reviews and a notice shown to the public. The details of enforcement change, so read Google’s current policy and don’t rely on my summary of it.
These offers are easy to notice. A customer may mention the discount in the review itself. A flyer or an email carrying the offer can reach a competitor, and anyone can report a review to Google. An offer like this is one of the answers to why Google reviews disappear.
Other platforms and the law
Other platforms are at least as strict. Yelp tells businesses not to ask for reviews at all, with or without a reward. Sites tied to lead marketplaces have their own terms, and they are worth reading before you run one process across all of them.
There are also consumer protection rules about reviews and endorsements in the United States, enforced by the Federal Trade Commission. I’m not a lawyer and this isn’t legal advice. If you’re considering any kind of reward program that touches reviews, read the current rule or ask an attorney first.
What to do instead
Ask every customer, make it easy, and offer nothing. That’s slower than a discount campaign, but the reviews stay up. The steps are the same ones in how to get more Google reviews, and keeping them going is the job of review management.
If you have already run an offer, stop it, and don’t ask those customers to edit anything. Then start asking the plain way. A hypothetical plumbing company in Santee that swaps a “review us for a discount” card for a simple request and a QR code gives up a shortcut that was putting its whole profile at risk.