Glossary
Review gating
Review gating is screening customers before asking for a review, then sending only the ones who seem happy to a public review site. The name is industry shorthand; Google describes it as selectively soliciting positive reviews.
What it looks like
It usually starts with a friendly question after the job: how did we do, on a scale of one to five? Customers who pick a high score are shown a link to your Google profile. Customers who pick a low one get a private form that goes to you, and never see the link.
Some versions are quieter. Staff are told to ask only the customers who seemed pleased, or requests go out only after the jobs that went smoothly. The method varies; the effect is that unhappy customers are steered away from the public page. Google's policy for reviews on Maps names this directly: businesses may not selectively solicit positive reviews (Google Maps content policy).
The rules
Google's rules reach further than gating. A business may not discourage negative reviews or offer an incentive for any review. It should not pressure customers into reviewing while they are on the premises, ask them to include particular content, or give staff a quota of reviews to collect (Google Maps content policy).
The Federal Trade Commission announced its own rule on reviews in 2024. It bans fake reviews, including ones written by AI. It also bans paying for reviews that must be positive or negative, and using threats or false accusations to suppress reviews. The FTC can seek civil penalties from businesses that break it knowingly (FTC announcement). The announcement does not use the word gating. Google's policy does describe it, and that policy governs the reviews on your profile.
What to do instead
Ask every customer, in the same way, at the same point after the job. A short message with a direct link to your profile is enough for most businesses. Some of the reviews will be critical, and a calm reply that deals with what went wrong shows the next reader how you handle a problem.
If a customer tells you privately that something went wrong, fix it; that is good service. It turns into gating only when the private route takes the place of the public one.
This is the work of our Review Engine: review requests after every job, drafted replies to every review within one business day, and monitoring. Reviews themselves sit outside the free scan, on its list of what it does not measure.
Questions
Can we send unhappy customers to a private feedback form first?
Not as a filter. You can offer a private way to reach you, but every customer has to get the same public review link whatever they answered. A form that only low scores see, placed where the review link would have been, is the practice Google's policy bars (Google Maps content policy).
Is a discount fine if we give it for any review, good or bad?
No. Google bars incentives for any review, not only for positive ones (Google Maps content policy). Money off counts, and so does a free service. Ask without offering anything.
Where this fits in our work
We handle this as part of Review management: Review requests after every job and a drafted reply to every review, within the rules Google and the FTC set.
Related reading
Guides
- Is local SEO worth it for a small business? How to tell whether local SEO can pay for itself, using your own numbers, and when it is not the right spend.
- How do you choose a local search agency? Honest questions to ask any local search agency, the answers that should worry you, and where we are still new.
Posts that use this term
- What should I do about a fake review of my business? Report it for the policy it breaks and reply once without accusing anyone. If Google keeps it, appeal once. Never answer a fake review with a fake one.
- Should I answer every Google review, even the good ones? Google calls replying a best practice. What a short, specific reply says, how to handle a bad review inside the rules, and the time it takes.
Related terms
- Review replies: Answering reviews on your Business Profile, what Google and the FTC say about replies, and what a health practice must never write.
- 10DLC registration: The verification a business needs before it texts customers from an ordinary ten-digit number, who registers it, and the consent rules that come with it.
Sources
- Google Maps User Generated Content Policy Help: Prohibited & restricted content. Checked September 27, 2026.
- Federal Trade Commission: Federal Trade Commission Announces Final Rule Banning Fake Reviews and Testimonials, updated August 14, 2024. Checked September 27, 2026.