for reviews

How to make a QR code for a Google review link

Send customers straight to your Google review box with a QR code — how to get the real link, keep it within Google's rules, and make it scan.

Yes — a QR code that drops a customer straight onto your Google “write a review” screen is one of the highest-converting little things a small business can print. The job is really two steps: get the right link (the one that opens the review box, not just your listing), then turn it into a code. Beyond that, the one thing to get right is staying on the correct side of Google’s rules.

Get your official review link

Google gives you a ready-made review link — you don’t have to build one. In your Google Business Profile, open the reviews area and choose “Ask for reviews” (sometimes labelled “Get more reviews”). A share box appears with your unique link, ready to copy.

• On a computer: sign in with the Google account that manages the business and search your own business name — the management panel appears in the results, with the “Ask for reviews” button. The link looks like https://g.page/r/XXXXXXXX/review and opens the review dialog directly.
• In the Google Maps app: tap your profile photo → Your Business Profile → your business → Get more reviews / share. (The exact button wording shifts between app versions.)

Two things worth knowing. Google only lets you download the ready-made review QR from a computer, not a phone — but you can copy the plain link anywhere and make the code yourself. And copy the exact string Google gives you: trim the /review off the end and it opens your profile instead of the review form, so don’t hand-type it.

The build-it-yourself alternative

If the button isn’t showing, you can construct the link from your Place ID:

https://search.google.com/local/writereview?placeid=YOUR_PLACE_ID

Get the Place ID from Google’s own Place ID Finder (search your business and it shows an ID, usually starting ChIJ…). One honest caveat: this version can be inconsistent on some phones — iPhone and Safari sometimes show the profile rather than the review box — so the official g.page link above is generally the more dependable of the two.

Turn the link into a QR code

Paste whichever link you’ve got into a generator and that’s your code. The g.page/r/…/review link is short enough to make a sparse, forgiving code that scans well even on a small receipt. The writereview?placeid=… link is longer and denser — that’s where putting a short link in front helps, keeping the code clean and letting you re-aim it later. That’s optional, though: the raw Google link works directly, with no middleman that could break.

Good places for it, where the phone’s already out and the experience is fresh: receipts, table tents, a “leave us a review” card, the back of a business card, or your email signature. It’s a natural companion to the codes in the restaurant guide.

Stay on the right side of the rules

This matters, so it’s worth being plain about. Google’s review policies prohibit:

• Review gating — screening customers first and only showing the QR to the happy ones. The code has to be an open ask to everyone you served, with no “were you satisfied?” step in front of it.
• Incentives — no discounts, freebies or prize draws in exchange for a review. Ask for honest feedback; don’t dangle a reward.

Breaking these can get reviews removed or your review history wiped — and it isn’t only a platform rule: in some places it’s now the law (the US fines businesses for suppressing honest reviews). The safe, honest design is one plain ask to every customer.

A couple of gotchas before you print

• Your profile has to be verified and live on Google first, or the link leads nowhere.
• The customer needs to be signed into a Google account to actually post — that’s inherent to Google reviews, nothing you can change.
• Test it in a private/incognito window (ideally on a phone signed into a different Google account) before you commit it to print, so you know it lands on the write-a-review box and not your profile.

Make the code at dottr

Once you’ve got the link and checked it, make the QR at dottr — paste it in, download a crisp PNG or SVG, and check it against what makes a good QR code so it scans first time. It’s free, runs entirely in your browser, and nothing you paste ever leaves your device.