Someone asked you to leave them a Google review and you are not sure where to start. It is a short job. You need a Google account, the business listing, and a minute of attention.
Here is the path on a phone, on a computer, and from a review link someone sent you.
First, the one requirement
You have to be signed in to a Google account. Google does not accept anonymous reviews and there is no guest option, so anyone telling you otherwise is describing a workaround, not a feature. Your review posts under the display name and profile photo on your Google account, and the business owner sees both.
You do not need a Gmail address specifically. Google lets you create an account using an email address you already own, so a work address or an old provider address is fine.
On a phone
- Open the Google Maps app, or search the business name in Google.
- Tap the business to open its listing.
- Scroll to Reviews and tap it.
- Tap the stars. One tap sets the rating.
- Write a sentence or two, add a photo if you have one, and tap Post.
On a computer
- Go to Google Maps, or search the business name in Google.
- Open the business listing.
- Click Reviews, then Write a review.
- Pick your star rating, type your review, and click Post.
The Google Search route is the same idea. The business panel that appears beside the search results has a review section with the stars inside it.
If someone sent you a link
The fastest version is the one where the business hands you a direct review link. It looks like this:
https://search.google.com/local/writereview?placeid=ChIJN1t_tDeuEmsRUsoyG83frY4
That link skips the searching entirely. It opens the review box for that one business with the stars ready to tap. The long string on the end is the business's Place ID, the code Google uses to identify a single listing.
Worth knowing if you are the one sending links: a Google Maps browser URL is not the same thing. Maps URLs carry Google's internal map id, which starts with 0x, and pasting one of those into a review link produces a dead link. It has to be a real Place ID.
What to write
Short and specific beats long and vague. Name what you actually bought or had done, name the person who did it if you remember them, and say plainly what was good or bad about it. That is the review a stranger can use.
Leave out anything Google is likely to strip: promotional links, phone numbers, and complaints about a business you have not actually used.
Changing or deleting your review
A Google review is not permanent. You can edit the text and the rating, or remove the review altogether, from your own contributions in Google Maps. Google's own step-by-step for this, with separate instructions for a computer, Android and iPhone, is Add, edit, or delete Google Maps reviews and ratings.
If your review does not appear right away
Google screens reviews both before and after they go live, so a new review can sit for a while before the public sees it. Reviews carrying links, promotional text, or content that breaks Google's review policies may never appear. If yours is an ordinary honest review, waiting is usually the entire fix.
If you are the business owner reading this
You probably landed here because a customer asked you how to do it. The answer is to stop writing instructions and send the link.
Generate yours with the free Google review link generator. Paste your Place ID or your Google Maps link and you get a one-tap review URL plus a printable QR code. Put the code on the counter using the QR code generator, and put the link at the bottom of every invoice.
Not sure what your Place ID is? Here is how to find it. For the rest of the playbook, how to get more Google reviews covers the asking.
Want this to happen without you chasing anyone? ReviewKit sends every customer your review link after the job is done. No contract, cancel in one click. Start free.