27 September 2026 · 6 min read · Oscar Markham
How to get your first ten Google reviews
Ten reviews is the point where a business stops looking new. Getting from zero to ten is disproportionately hard, because there is no social proof to borrow and no habit of asking. Here is how to do it in about three weeks without annoying anybody or breaking Google's rules.
Ask at the moment of relief
There is a window, usually a few minutes long, when a customer is visibly pleased that the thing is fixed. That is when to ask, in person, once.
An email three weeks later asks somebody to reconstruct a feeling they have stopped having. The in-person ask at the right moment converts several times better and costs nothing.
Make it one tap
Nobody is going to search for your business, find the reviews tab and work out how to write one. You need a direct link, and Google provides one.
In your Google Business Profile there is a 'Ask for reviews' option that gives a short link straight to the review box. Put it in a text message you send the same day. That single change does more than any wording.
- Get the short review link from your Google Business Profile
- Save it in a text template on your phone
- Send it the same day, while the job is fresh
- One follow-up after three days, then stop
- Thank everyone who leaves one
Go back through the last six months
You have customers from earlier in the year who were happy and were never asked. They are the easiest reviews you will ever get.
Send ten messages on a Tuesday morning. Mention the specific job so they remember. Expect three or four to land, which gets you a third of the way in an afternoon.
What gets reviews removed
Offering a discount, a voucher or a prize in exchange is against Google's policies and the reviews can be deleted along with, in bad cases, the profile's standing.
So is asking staff or family to leave them, and so is gating — asking happy customers for a review and unhappy ones for private feedback. That last one is common advice and it is against the rules.
Reply to every one
A short, human reply under each review is read by everyone deciding whether to ring you, and it signals to Google that the profile is actively managed.
Two sentences. Name the job if you can. It takes a minute and it is the cheapest reputation work available.
Written by Oscar Markham, founder of Dublin Growth Digital. We run lead generation for Irish estate agents and trades, reported every Friday in enquiries and booked work.