Can you offer incentives for Google reviews?

Short answer: no. Offering anything of value in exchange for a review breaks Google's rules and, in New Zealand and Australia, can amount to misleading conduct. This applies whether the reward is tied to a positive review or "any" review.

This is general information, not legal advice.

What counts as an incentive

• Discounts, vouchers, or account credit for leaving a review.
• Entry into a prize draw or competition.
• Free products, upgrades, or add-ons.
• Loyalty points.
• Anything where the customer gets something they would not otherwise get, because they left a review.

It does not matter if you say "honest review only". The presence of a reward changes who reviews and what they say, and that is the problem.

Why it is not allowed

Google's policies. Google's prohibited content rules treat incentivised reviews as fake engagement. Reviews collected this way can be removed, and repeat offending can affect the whole listing.

New Zealand. Under the Fair Trading Act, a review profile built on rewarded reviews misrepresents genuine customer sentiment, which is misleading conduct.

Australia. The ACCC has taken action against businesses and platforms for incentivised and fake reviews under the Australian Consumer Law, and lists it alongside review gating as a form of review manipulation.

The one narrow exception, and its rules

Some businesses run review or testimonial programmes where a reward is given for any feedback, positive or negative, and the reward is disclosed in the review itself. This is heavily conditioned and easy to get wrong. Even where it is technically defensible, Google will still often remove the reviews, so the effort rarely pays off. For a small business it is not worth the risk.

What you can do instead

• Just ask. Most happy customers will leave a review if you ask at the right time and make it one tap. You do not need to pay for it.
• Make it effortless. A direct link, pre-filled, on their own phone.
• Ask everyone, every time. Volume comes from consistency, not bribery.
• Thank people afterwards. A genuine thank-you message with nothing attached is fine and builds goodwill.
• Reward staff, not customers. If you want to drive review numbers internally, a team incentive for sending requests (not for the reviews themselves) is fine.