Create a Google review link and QR code: a guide for your business
Reading time: about 5 minutes for the main text. Use templates and details as needed.
Full version with templates, calculations and further checks
To request a review, you need the review link from your own Google Business Profile. In an email, customers can click it directly. On a printed handover document, a QR code can serve the same purpose. Google provides both options for reviews. [1]
Start with a template your business actually uses. By the end, you should know whether its link leads to the right business and whether the printed code works. You do not need to publish a test review to check this. [b]
Get the correct review link from your profile
Open your Business Profile on a computer. Sign in with the Google Account linked to the profile. You can find the listing by searching for your business name and location, or for “my business”. [3] If the management controls are missing, first check which account you are signed in to. If you have several locations, use the visible details to identify the business; this does not require a publicly displayed business address. [b]
The route described in Google's help guide is:
- Open “Read reviews”.
- Select “Get more reviews”.
- Use “Copy” to copy the review link. [2]
Save the full web address, or URL, in a note alongside the business and location. Create separate notes for any other locations. This will help you see which link belongs in which template later. [b]
Keep the saved address exactly as Google provides it. Do not build a new link from the business name. For an initial check on a computer, use a private browser window, also called an incognito window. This lets you open the destination separately from the profile you are managing. The smartphone test comes next. [b]
Use the review link from this menu. The standard Share function in Maps is intended for sharing places, maps or directions. [4] You should therefore check any address copied from a browser before using it as a direct review link. [b]
Check the link on a smartphone
Open the saved link on a smartphone, for example from your own test note. Check the business name and visible location details. They must match the intended business. If a different business appears, return to the correct profile and copy the link again. [b]
If only a general profile view opens, compare the saved URL with the review link from your own profile. Then check the process again on a smartphone. Creating a new QR code at this stage would be premature: first establish where the address you are using leads. [b]
You need to sign in to a Google Account to write a Google review. [1] A sign-in prompt may therefore be part of the process. After signing in, check that you can review the correct business. Stop before publishing; do not submit stars or any test text. If you do not sign in, mark this part as “untested”. The full process has yet to be checked. [b]
The screen may look different depending on the browser and whether you are signed in. Record the device you used and the step you reached. [b] The Google Maps help guide to writing reviews explains how to write a review and sign in. [5]
Google reviews are public and cannot be published anonymously. [5] This condition applies to the review process even when your link works perfectly.
Save Google's QR code and test the printed version
Google provides the QR code in the same section for review requests. According to Google's help guide, it can currently only be created in a desktop browser. Right-click the code and select “Save image as…”. You do not need an additional QR code program for this method. [2]
If the image is missing, check the desktop browser, account and selected profile against the Google instructions linked above. Do not use another business's code, even in an initial draft. It would point to a different business. Save your own image in the format offered. [b]
Keep the original file and use a copy for the design. Including the business and location in the file name helps identify it. Display the saved image on another screen or print it for an initial test. Scan it with a smartphone and check the business at the destination again. [b]
Now test the finished document at its intended print size. Only this test print shows whether the code is readable in the actual layout. Test it at the lighting and distance of its intended location, using a second device if possible. A blanket minimum size cannot replace this test. [b]
If the direct link works but the scan fails, check the original image and the test print separately. If the image scans, continue working on the print layout. Adjust the size or appearance, for example, and repeat the print test. [b]
Change one part at a time when troubleshooting. Replacing the link and revising the layout together makes it harder to compare the next test with the previous one. Check the contrast in the print layout too. [b]
You can start your working note with the following extract from the detailed test record. Leave the fields blank until you carry out your own test; they contain no assumed results. [b]
- Business and its location: [enter details]
- Direct link checked on a smartphone; device and date: [enter details]
- Correct business identifiable after opening: yes / no
- Route to leaving a review checked after signing in: yes / no / untested
- Google QR code image saved and scanned: yes / no
- QR code checked in the final test print: yes / no
- Test ended without publishing a review: yes / no
- Approved for the intended use; name and date: [enter details]
When you next open the note, you can see whether you checked only the address or the finished paper version too. A general “works” would hide that distinction. You can add the second device and its result to the full test record. [b]
What a test print shows in practice
A fictional bathroom renovation business is preparing an email to send when the job is complete and a printed handover document. During testing, the link opens the correct business. The saved QR code image scans too. But on the reduced-size test print, the smartphone does not recognise the code. This scenario is an editorial example, not a client test that was carried out. [a]
The note “QR code does not work” would be too vague here. It would leave open whether the destination itself is wrong or only the printed version is causing problems. Recording the observations separately shows the office which version needs more work. The printing problem alone gives no reason to change a URL that works. [a]
The office keeps the link and original image, revises the print layout and tests the new print again. In the working note, it records which version was checked and where it is to be used. This allows the problem on paper to be addressed without replacing a link that already works. [a]
Each check applies to the version tested. If the handover document is redesigned later, the new test print needs checking again. If the link or location changes instead, the office must also check again that it matches the business. Keep the note with the relevant files. [b]
Make the tested template available for voluntary feedback
In a digital message, use a clickable link with a clear label such as “Share your experience on Google”. Someone reading the message on a smartphone then has no need to scan a code on the same screen. Use the tested QR code on paper; a digital PDF can also include a clickable link. Test the finished template too, as it may still contain an old address. [b]
Open the finished email template or digital PDF and follow the link included there. Compare the destination with your location note. This checks the exact version you will use, even if you have already tested the original address successfully. [b]
A card or display stand needs a short explanation beside the code. Test this version in its intended position. On your website you can also give the link a clear label and make it directly clickable. For a post on a social platform, also check whether the link you add is clickable at all. [b]
Before sending invitations by email or SMS, check whether you have the consent needed for that channel. Having a contact address saved does not settle this. The guide to collecting Google reviews covers neutral invitations and the appropriate contact channel.
Ask for honest feedback about actual experiences. Google prohibits incentives for reviews and selectively asking for positive ratings. Negative reviews must not be prevented. Do not give the link only to satisfied customers after first asking how happy they are. Requests or pressure to leave a review while still on site are also prohibited; the code remains an optional way to give feedback later. [6] The detailed rules for use expand on these limits.
After testing, record what works and what remains unresolved. The full test record provides a template you can copy. Then use the version you have tested for its intended purpose. [b]
Sources for the previous version checked as at 16 October 2026; editorially revised on 17 October 2026. Numbers link to sources; letters explain editorial examples or recommendations. Each source note states what that source supports.
[b] Practical recommendations. The suggested steps and decision aids are editorial applications of the cited guidance. Their specific effect on enquiries or jobs has not been measured here.
[c] Editorial illustration. The illustration explains a relationship. It is neither a real client reference nor evidence of a measured effect.
[a] Editorial examples. Content identified as a sample or fictional illustrates possible situations. It does not describe real client cases or provide evidence of a measured effect.
Sources and context (6 sources)
- Tips for getting more reviews — Google Business Profile Help
Confirms that customers can click a Google link or scan a QR code to leave a review, and that they must sign in to a Google Account. The article does not draw on any claims about trust, rankings or conversions. A help guide is not empirical evidence of additional reviews. Checked: 2026-10-16.
- Create a link or QR code to request reviews — Google Business Profile Help
Confirms the review link and QR code, the menu steps, the current restriction of QR code creation to desktop browsers, saving with a right click and the suggested places to use them. It guarantees no particular image file type, vector file, minimum print size or effect on review numbers or ratings. Device, print and template checks are practical editorial guidance, not a testing standard approved by Google. Checked: 2026-10-16.
- Find your business on Google — Google Business Profile Help
Confirms that the profile can be found in Search and Maps, that you sign in with the linked account, and that you can search by name and town or city, or for “my business”. The location note, separate files and identity checks are our own suggestions for organising the work. The source is not interpreted as requiring a business address to be displayed. Checked: 2026-10-16.
- Share, send or print directions from Google Maps — Google Maps Help
Describes sharing directions, places and maps. The comparison with a review link concerns the documented purpose of these functions. It does not establish a general rule that every Maps URL must open a particular screen on every device. Checked: 2026-10-16.
- Add, edit or delete reviews and ratings on Google Maps — Google Maps Help
Confirms that reviews are public and cannot be published anonymously, and shows the “Write a review” step with sign-in. The original article link without a platform parameter remains unchanged in the body text. The same official German help page was successfully read with a desktop platform parameter; earlier attempts to access the plain German and English links directly were blocked by Google. This does not document an actual smartphone test or account sign-in. Checked: 2026-10-16.
- Prohibited and restricted content — Google: Maps user-contributed content policy
Fake engagement and review manipulation: genuine experiences, no incentives for reviews or for changing or removing negative reviews; no preventing negative reviews or selectively requesting positive ones; no requests or pressure to leave a review while still on site, and no prescribed content. It is also prohibited to instruct staff to ask customers for a specific number of reviews or particular content. Screening customers by satisfaction is an editorial example of the ban on selectively requesting positive reviews. A QR code displayed for customers to use voluntarily is not subject to a blanket ban; the other Google help guide explicitly mentions it. The article recommends it as an optional way to give feedback later. This is not legal advice and makes no promise of particular star ratings or review numbers. Checked: 2026-10-16.