How to create a Google review link and QR code for your Business Profile

How to create the link and QR code

Google Business Profile generates the reviews QR code and link for you; there is no need for a third-party generator. These are the steps Google gives:

1. On a computer, go to your Business Profile at business.google.com and sign in with an account that manages the profile.
2. Open the reviews section and select the option to get more reviews (shown with a share icon).
3. To copy the link, select the copy icon.
4. To save the QR code, right-click it and choose "Save image as".

Google states that review QR codes can currently be generated only in a computer browser, not on mobile devices. If you are on a phone, use a computer instead.

Test before you print

• Open the link on a phone that is not signed in to the business account, and check it opens the review form for the right store.
• Scan the printed QR code from a normal reading distance and in the light where it will be placed.
• Check the store name and address on the form. In a city with several of your stores, a wrong link is easy to miss.
• Keep a quiet margin of white space around the QR code when you add it to a design, and do not stretch it.

Where to put it

Google suggests receipts, thank-you emails, the end of a chat conversation and a printed code in store, and says you can also send requests by email, WhatsApp or Facebook. Use the channels that reach every customer, so the request is not limited to the ones staff choose to ask.

• Printed and digital invoices.
• Post-purchase WhatsApp, SMS and email messages.
• Delivery and order-complete notifications.
• Table cards, counter stands and packaging inserts.
• Checkout emails for hotels and service confirmations for repairs.

Managing links for many stores

A brand with dozens or hundreds of stores needs a small register, not a folder of images.

• One row per store: store code, store name, Business Profile, review link and the date the link was last tested.
• Feed the link into billing and messaging systems by store code, so each receipt and message picks up the right one automatically.
• When a store moves, closes or its profile is merged, update the register the same day. Google notes that after profiles are merged, reviews from both can take a few days to appear.
• Re-test a sample of links every quarter.

If customers say the link does not work

• The customer's Google Maps app may be out of date. Google notes that customers on older phones or software can have trouble posting reviews and recommends updating Google Maps.
• The review may have been posted but held for a policy check. Google says checks can delay a review's appearance by a few days.
• The profile may have been merged, suspended or moved. Check the profile and regenerate the link.

Designing the printed card

A QR code that nobody scans does nothing. On printed material, the words around the code matter as much as the code.

• Say what happens when they scan: "Review [store] on Google", not just "Scan me".
• Name the store, especially in cities where you have several. Customers trust a request that clearly comes from the place they visited.
• Keep the code large enough to scan from where a customer stands or sits, with clear space around it.
• Put it where people wait or finish: the billing counter, the table, the delivery bag, the back of the invoice.
• Avoid wording that steers the rating or content, such as "Loved it? Give us 5 stars!". Google's policy prohibits trying to influence the rating or the contents of a review.
• Do not combine the code with an offer on the same card, even for a separate promotion, so it cannot be read as a reward for reviewing.

Tracking which channel works

Google's review link does not tell you which channel a review came from. You can still learn a lot by changing one thing at a time.

• Note the date each channel went live for each store: invoice QR, WhatsApp message, table card.
• Compare each store's monthly review count before and after.
• Roll a channel out to a few stores first, and compare them with similar stores that have not changed yet.
• Watch the mix of ratings as well as the count. A new channel that brings in a wider range of customers often changes what reviews talk about.

Common questions

Doing this with Falcon

Once the links are live, Falcon shows the effect store by store: review volume, sentiment and the themes customers mention, per month, for every location's public Google Maps reviews. A store whose volume flattens after a rollout is usually a link problem worth checking.