Asking Clients for Google Reviews

Key takeaways

• The moment is settlement day, when the outcome has just landed.
• Ask for a specific detail - the awkward version is the vague one.
• Never offer anything of value in exchange for a review.
• Reply to every review, especially the critical ones.

When is the right moment to ask?

Settlement day, or the day the unconditional approval lands. The emotional peak of a home loan is not when the paperwork finishes - it is when the client learns they can buy the house. Ask within a day of that and the request feels like a natural continuation of the conversation.

Ask three weeks later by automated email and you are asking a stranger for a favour. Same client, same service, completely different response rate.

Ask by voice if you can - a phone call or in person - and follow up with the link by text, because the link is the part they need on their phone.

What do you actually say?

The reason "could you leave us a review?" feels awkward is that it asks the client to do the hard part: work out what to write. Do that part for them by naming the specific thing you helped with.

"I'm really glad that came together. One thing that genuinely helps other people find us - would you mind putting a couple of lines on Google about how we handled the self-employed income side? That's the bit most people are worried about and they trust another borrower more than they trust me. I'll text you the link now."

Three things are doing the work there: a specific topic, a reason that is about other borrowers rather than about you, and the link arriving immediately while the conversation is still live.

What are the rules on testimonials?

Reviews are advertising, and advertising by a credit licensee is regulated. Get these wrong and a review strategy becomes a compliance problem.

• Do not incentivise. No gift cards, discounts, entries into draws, or anything else of value in exchange for a review. This breaches Google's policies and risks misleading-conduct exposure under the Australian Consumer Law.
• Do not review-gate. Asking happy clients and quietly diverting unhappy ones to a private form is the practice regulators and platforms have moved against.
• Do not write or edit them. A fabricated testimonial is a false representation, full stop.
• Watch what the review claims. A client saying you "got them the lowest rate in Australia" sits on your public profile as a representation. Reply and add context where a review overstates something.
• Keep the general advice boundary. Your reply should not turn into personal credit advice on a public profile.

Your licensee or aggregator will have its own marketing policy on top of the law. Check it before you roll out any review process - approval is much easier to get before launch than after.

Frequently asked questions

Can I offer a gift card for a Google review?

No. Incentivised reviews breach Google's policies and risk misleading or deceptive conduct exposure under the Australian Consumer Law, because the review does not disclose that it was paid for. Ask without an incentive.

Can I ask only my happy clients for reviews?

Asking every client is the safe practice. Deliberately screening clients so that only positive reviews reach the public profile - review gating - is the practice platforms and regulators have moved against, and it distorts the average that consumers rely on.

How should I respond to a negative review?

Publicly, promptly, and without disclosing anything about the client's financial circumstances. Acknowledge, offer to take it offline, and do it. Privacy obligations apply to your reply just as much as to your file notes.

Do Google reviews actually help a broker get found?

Review count and recency are among the signals that influence local map results, and reviews also affect whether someone who has already found you makes contact. Treat them as both a ranking input and a conversion input.

Related reading

• Google Business Profile: The Underrated Local Lead Source
• NCCP Marketing Rules: What Brokers Can and Cannot Claim
• SEO for Mortgage Brokers: Suburb Pages That Actually Rank

Sources

• Advertising financial products and services (RG 234) — ASIC
• Australian Consumer Law - false or misleading representations — ACCC