To get more Google reviews compliantly, ask every patient after their visit with a short, neutral message and a direct link. Do not filter out unhappy patients, offer incentives or tell patients what to write. Reply to every review without confirming the person is a patient or mentioning their care, and track rating, volume and recency monthly.
Why do patient reviews matter so much for a practice?
Reviews are often the deciding factor when a patient compares practices. 97% of consumers still lean on reviews to guide their purchase decisions[1], and 55% of patients have walked away from at least one doctor based on what they read online, up 15 percentage points from 2025[2].
The star rating sets a threshold. 75% of patients would not book with a provider rated below 4.0 stars on review sites[3]. Google is the main place people read them: 71% of consumers use Google to read local business reviews, down from 83% in 2025 but still far ahead of other platforms[4]. Reviews also feed local rankings; see local SEO and Google Business Profile.
How do you ask for reviews without breaking the rules?
Ask every patient, in the same way, at the same point in their care. Google's policies prohibit review gating (sending the review link only to patients who said they were happy) and incentives of any kind, and Federal Trade Commission rules add limits on incentives and on suppressing negative reviews.
Keep the request short, neutral and free of health details. A text such as "Thanks for visiting [Practice name] today. If you have a minute, we'd appreciate an honest review on Google: [link]. Reply STOP to opt out." works because it names the practice, not the treatment. Send texts only to patients who agreed to receive them.
- Do: send the request to every patient after the visit, with one direct link to your Google review form.
- Do: say "an honest review," not "a five-star review."
- Do: let patients post from their own phones rather than an office tablet or office Wi-Fi.
- Don't: screen patients with a satisfaction survey first and send only happy ones to Google.
- Don't: offer discounts, gift cards, raffle entries or free services for a review.
- Don't: suggest wording, keywords or a star rating, or write reviews for patients.
- Don't: mention the procedure, diagnosis or provider seen in the request message.
When is the best time to ask for a review in each specialty?
The best time is the first moment the patient can judge the experience, set by the stage of care, not by how happy the patient seems. Pick the trigger once, apply it to every patient at that stage, and automate it so nobody has to decide case by case.
| Specialty | When to send the request | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Dental | Same day, after the visit | Works for cleanings and completed treatment alike |
| Orthodontics | After braces or aligner treatment ends, and at a mid-treatment milestone | For minors, send to the parent or guardian |
| Med spa | At the follow-up, once results are visible | Many treatments show results days or weeks later |
| Optometry and eye care | After glasses or contacts are picked up | The patient has now seen the full experience |
| Orthopedics | At a follow-up visit or end of physical therapy, not right after surgery | Patients judge care once recovery is underway |
| Dermatology | Same day for medical visits; at follow-up for cosmetic treatments | Keep the message free of any condition |
| Plastic surgery | At a post-op follow-up once the patient is comfortable | RealSelf may matter alongside Google |
| Chiropractic and primary care | Same day, after the visit | Ask once per period, not after every visit |
| Mental health | Use a general, non-targeted invitation such as a website or office notice | Professional ethics codes often restrict soliciting testimonials from current clients |
How do you reply to a review without violating HIPAA?
Reply as if you do not know who the reviewer is. Do not confirm that the person is a patient, and do not mention a visit, treatment, condition, provider or date, even if the reviewer shared those details first. A reply that confirms a patient relationship is itself a disclosure of patient information.
Reply to every review, positive and negative: 89% of consumers expect a business to respond to their reviews[5]. Short, generic replies are safest and still show care.
- Positive review, safe: "Thank you for taking the time to share this. Our team works hard to make every visit easy, and we're glad to hear it."
- Positive review, unsafe: "So glad your implant healed well, see you at your six-month check."
- Negative review, safe: "We take every concern seriously. Privacy rules prevent us from discussing any situation here. Please call our office manager at [phone] so we can talk directly."
- Negative review, unsafe: "Our records show you missed appointments before your procedure."
What should a practice do about a negative review?
Respond calmly with a short public reply, then handle the issue offline. Do not argue, correct facts in public or threaten legal action, since that draws more attention and risks disclosing patient information.
Some reviews break Google's policies, such as spam, reviews from people who were never at the practice, conflicts of interest from competitors or former staff, or offensive content. Flag those through Google Business Profile; Google removes reviews that violate its policies, not reviews that are simply unfavorable. The long-term answer to a bad review is a steady flow of new, honest ones.
- Read the review and check internally what happened, without replying from emotion.
- Post a short, HIPAA-safe reply inviting the person to call a named role, such as the office manager.
- Fix the underlying issue if there is one, such as wait times, billing or phone access.
- Flag the review only if it breaks a specific Google policy.
- Never offer anything in exchange for removing or changing a review.
How many reviews does a practice need, and how recent should they be?
There is no fixed number; what matters is a steady flow of recent reviews and a rating at or above what patients expect. 74% of consumers look for reviews written in the last three months[6], and 68% will only use a business with four or more stars, up from 55% in 2025[7]. A practice with many reviews but none in recent months can look less active than a competitor with fewer, newer ones.
For practices with more than one location, each location needs its own Google Business Profile, its own review link and its own replies. Send each patient the link for the location they visited, and compare locations in one report so a drop at one office is visible.
How should a practice monitor its reviews?
Monitor every site where patients review you, with alerts for new reviews and a monthly summary. Google matters most, but Healthgrades, Zocdoc, Yelp, Vitals and Facebook also appear in search results, and RealSelf matters for plastic surgery and med spas.
Review requests and follow-up messages can run from the same system as recall and reminders; see patient recall and outreach. For a step-by-step example in one specialty, see generating more reviews for a primary care practice, and for how reviews fit with other trust signals, see what makes patients choose a dermatology practice online.
- New reviews per month, per location and per provider.
- Average rating and its trend over time.
- Days since the most recent review.
- Share of reviews answered and average time to reply.
- Recurring themes in negative reviews, such as wait times or billing.
What DAS sets up
How it works
- Free audit. DAS reviews your ratings, review volume, recency and current replies across sites to see if your practice is a good fit.
- Set the request flow. We choose the trigger for your specialty, write the request message and connect it to your scheduling system.
- Set up replies and monitoring. We set up alerts and HIPAA-compliant reply templates, and train your team on what never to say.
- Report and adjust. We send a monthly report and adjust timing or channel if request responses drop.
Frequently asked questions
Is it legal to ask patients for Google reviews?
Yes. Asking patients for honest reviews is allowed. What is not allowed is asking only satisfied patients, offering anything in return, or pressuring or scripting patients.
Can we offer a discount or raffle entry for leaving a review?
No. Google's policies prohibit incentives for reviews, and Federal Trade Commission rules restrict them as well. This applies even if the incentive is offered for any review, positive or negative.
Can we thank a reviewer by name or mention their treatment?
Avoid both. Using details from your records or mentioning treatment confirms the person is a patient. Keep replies general and invite any follow-up by phone.
Can we get a negative review removed?
Only if it violates Google's policies, for example spam, a review from someone who was never at the practice, or offensive content. Unfavorable but genuine reviews stay up, so the best response is a calm reply and more new reviews from other patients.
Should we ask for reviews on Healthgrades or Zocdoc instead of Google?
Google is usually the first priority because most patients read reviews there and they affect Maps rankings. Some practices alternate the link for a share of patients to build reviews on a second site that matters in their specialty.
Do reviews affect whether AI assistants recommend a practice?
They can. 45% of consumers used ChatGPT or other AI tools for local business recommendations in the past year, up from 6% the year before[8], and those tools draw on public information about businesses, including reviews.
Sources
- BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (2026)
- rater8 2026 Patient Choice Report (2026)
- rater8 2026 Patient Choice Report (2026)
- BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (2026)
- BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (2026)
- BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (2026)
- BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (2026)
- BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (2026)