Most salons are sitting on hundreds of five-star Google reviews they never got. The clients were happy, the results looked great, but the moment passed without anyone asking. Getting more Google reviews isn’t about luck or being pushy. It comes down to timing, a simple ask, and a repeatable system that works after every appointment. Salons that show up at the top of Google Maps aren’t always better than everyone else;  they’re simply better at collecting consistent reviews that signal trust and activity to Google.

In this blog, you’ll learn:

• The best moment to ask for a Google review
• Word-for-word scripts that don’t feel pushy
• How to use a QR code card to make reviews effortless
• How many reviews salons actually need to rank higher
• What to do when clients say yes but forget
  

Quick Answer: How to Get More Google Reviews for Your Salon

To get more Google reviews consistently, ask at the right moment, within five minutes of a client seeing their finished result. Use a short verbal script followed by a QR code card that takes them directly to your review page. Send a follow-up text within 24 hours for clients who did not leave one in person. Respond to every review you receive. Repeat this after every appointment, not occasionally. Salons that treat reviews as a weekly habit rather than a one-time push always outperform those that ask randomly.

Why Google Reviews Matter More Than Any Other Marketing for Salons

According to BrightLocal's 2024 Consumer Review Survey, 97% of consumers read online reviews before visiting a local business. That means almost every new client who finds you on Google will read your reviews before they decide whether to book. Your star rating is doing sales work on your behalf around the clock.

Beyond influencing decisions, reviews directly improve where you rank. Google measures three things: how many reviews you have, how recently they came in, and what the review text actually says. A salon with 30 reviews collected steadily over six months will frequently outrank one with 200 reviews where the most recent is two years old. And when a client writes, "I came in for a balayage and the colour was exactly what I wanted," that word "balayage" becomes a ranking signal. Google reads your review text as content about your business, which means detailed reviews quietly help you appear in searches for those exact services.

Why Most Salons Struggle to Get Google Reviews Consistently

It is not laziness. It is not forgetfulness. It is timing and framing.

Most salon owners either ask too late or frame the ask in a way that makes clients feel obligated.

Asking too late looks like this: a follow-up email three days after the appointment, saying "Hope you loved your visit! Would you mind leaving us a review?" By then, the emotional high of the appointment has faded. The client has gone back to her regular life.

Poor framing sounds like this: "Could you do me a favour and leave a Google review?" The word "favour" signals that you are asking for something that benefits you. Clients who are happy to help suddenly feel an obligation rather than an invitation. The request feels transactional.

Both of these are fixable. Not by being more persuasive, but by understanding when your client is most likely to want to do this, and making it so easy that the only effort required is two taps on their phone.

The Best Time to Ask Clients for a Google Review

There is a specific window in every salon appointment when a client is at her happiest. It is not when she books or when she pays. It is the moment she sees the finished result for the first time.

She is looking at herself in the mirror, the color is exactly right, the cut falls perfectly, and she ecstatically picks up her phone to take a photo. 

That is your window.

This is when asking for a review feels completely natural because it aligns with what she is already feeling. You are not interrupting her day or asking her to do something she was not already thinking about. You are simply giving her a way to express something she already wants to express.

Miss this window and the energy drops quickly. She steps outside, gets a call, deals with parking, picks up her kids, and by the time she gets home the impulse is gone.

Ask in the right moment and the review happens within minutes, often before she has even left your car park.

Word-for-Word Scripts to Ask for Google Reviews Without Feeling Pushy

The way you ask for a review should be a natural connection to your conversation and not a formal request. Here are four scripts for different situations. Use them exactly as written or adapt them to your own voice.

Mirror moment script

"I am so glad you love it. If you ever get a second, a quick Google review genuinely helps people find us. It takes about thirty seconds. I can send you the link right now if you want?"

Then pull out the QR code card. Hand it to her while she is still holding her phone.

Checkout script

"Before you head off, do you have one minute? A Google review would mean a lot to us and it really helps new clients find our salon. I have a card here with a direct link."

Hand the QR card. Do not wait for a verbal confirmation. The card being in her hand is the next step.

SMS follow-up script

“Hi [Name], so glad you loved your [service] yesterday. If you have thirty seconds, a Google review helps people find us. Here is the direct link: [link]. Thank you!”

Keep it short. One sentence of warmth, one ask, one link. No paragraph of context.

Email follow-up script

"Hi [Name],

It was so lovely having you in yesterday. If you enjoyed your [service], we would be really grateful if you could leave us a quick Google review. It takes less than a minute and helps new clients find us.

[Button: Leave a Review]

Thank you so much. [Your name] at [Salon Name]"

What to Encourage Clients to Write

You cannot tell clients what to say, but you can gently guide them. When you hand over the QR card, add:

"If you want to mention the specific service you had, that really helps people searching for the same thing find us."

That one line is why some of your reviews will say "Got a balayage here and the colour was stunning" instead of "Great salon!" Both are appreciated. Only one helps you rank for specific searches.

How to Ask New Clients vs Returning Clients for Google Reviews

The ask is not the same for every client and treating it that way is a missed opportunity.

New clients are actually your best chance for a review. They came in having found you somewhere, tried you for the first time, and if they loved it, that experience is fresh and vivid. The emotional contrast of "I did not know this place before and now I love it" makes for detailed, enthusiastic reviews. Ask every new client, without exception, at the mirror moment. Do not assume they will come back and you can ask next time. The next time may never come.

Returning clients are equally valuable but for a different reason. A long-term client who writes "I have been coming here for two years and my colour has never looked better" builds the kind of trust that a first-time review cannot. With returning clients, the ask can be softer: "You have been coming to us for a while now, it would honestly mean so much if you ever shared that on Google." Most loyal clients will be happy to and feel good about doing it.

The mistake salons make is only asking new clients or only remembering to ask when someone mentions they loved the result. Build it into every appointment regardless.

What to Do When a Client Says Yes But Never Leaves a Review

This happens more than you think. A client says "of course, I will definitely leave one!" You hand her the card,  she leaves and the review never comes.

She was not lying. She meant it. Life just got in the way.

This is exactly where the SMS follow-up earns its place. Send it the next morning, not the same evening, and keep it brief:

"Hi [Name], it was so lovely having you in yesterday. If you still have a second, here is the direct link to leave us a Google review: [link]. No pressure at all, we just appreciate you!"

The "no pressure at all" line matters. It removes any guilt she might feel for not having done it yet and makes it easier to act rather than avoid. Send this once. If she does not review after the follow-up, let it go. Chasing further crosses the line from warm to pushy.

One follow-up message, sent the morning after every appointment where the client verbally said yes, will recover a significant portion of your intended reviews every single week.

Can You Offer Incentives for Google Reviews?

This is one of the most common questions salon owners ask and the answer is no, but it is worth understanding exactly why.

Google's review policies explicitly prohibit offering anything in exchange for a review. That includes discounts, free treatments, loyalty points, product samples, or anything else of value. If Google detects a pattern of incentivised reviews, it can remove them entirely or, in serious cases, penalise your profile.

Beyond the policy risk, incentivised reviews tend to be less useful. A client who leaves a review to get ten percent off her next appointment is not the same as a client who leaves one because she genuinely wanted to. The review text tends to be shorter, less specific, and less convincing to future clients reading it.

The good news is that you do not need incentives. Clients who had a great experience and are asked at the right moment with the right words will leave reviews willingly. The system in this guide works without offering anything in return.

What you can do is thank clients after they leave a review. A short message saying "We saw your review and it genuinely made our day, thank you so much" costs nothing, builds loyalty, and makes that client more likely to recommend you to someone else.

Google Reviews vs Other Review Platforms: Where to Focus First

There are several platforms where clients can leave reviews for your salon such as Yelp, Facebook, Fresha, Treatwell, and others. But Google should always be your first focus. Reviews here directly affect your visibility on Google Search and Google Maps, which is where most new clients discover salons. Other platforms like Facebook or booking apps help with credibility, but they do not influence your Google ranking in the same way.

The practical advice is simple: get your Google review system working first. Once you are consistently getting two to four Google reviews per week, you can start directing the occasional client to Facebook or Fresha for variety. Until then, every ask should go toward Google.

How to Set Up a Google Review QR Code Card for Your Salon

A QR code card removes every barrier between asking and getting the review. The client does not need to search for your salon on Google, navigate to your profile, or find the review button. One scan takes them directly to the review form.

Here is how to set it up in four steps:

Step 1: Get your Google review link

Log into your Google Business Profile at business.google.com, go to your dashboard, and click "Get more reviews." Copy the direct link Google generates.

Step 2: Create your QR code

Paste the link into a QR code generator and download the image.

Step 3: Design and print your card

Keep it simple by adding your salon name, a short line like "Loved your visit? Leave us a review," and the QR code. 

Already a Zoca customer? Your review setup is taken care of after onboarding. Skip this step entirely.

Step 4: Hand it out after every appointment

The card only works if it reaches your client. Keep a small stack within arm's reach so the ask never gets skipped.

How Many Google Reviews Does a Salon Need to Rank?

Short answer: Most salons start seeing ranking impact after 20+ reviews, but consistency matters more than total count.

The first threshold: 20 reviews is where Google begins treating your business as genuinely established. Below 20, your profile is effectively invisible to the algorithm for competitive searches. If you are under 20, this is your only priority right now. Get there as fast as possible.

The second threshold: Once you have 20 reviews, recency becomes more important than total count. A salon with 25 reviews, three of which came in this week, will frequently outrank a salon with 150 reviews where the most recent is from eight months ago.

Use this as a weekly target based on your size:

• Smaller salons (1 to 3 stylists): 1 to 2 new reviews per week
• Mid-size salons (4 to 8 stylists): 2 to 4 new reviews per week
• Larger salons and spas (9 or more staff): 4 or more new reviews per week

Salons that hit these numbers consistently are the ones you see sitting in the Google Map Pack week after week.

These numbers are achievable without pressure. A four-stylist salon doing 30 appointments a week only needs one review for every seven to eight clients to hit the target. Most happy clients will say yes when asked properly and at the right moment.

One important warning: Never ask multiple people at once or run a "review drive" where you message your entire client list on the same day. A sudden spike in reviews triggers Google's authenticity filters and can get reviews removed or temporarily suppress your profile. Steady and consistent always wins over bursts.

What Makes a Google Review Actually Help Your Salon Rank Higher

Not all reviews are equal from an SEO perspective. A review that says "Amazing!" is better than nothing. But a review that says "I came in for a lash lift and brow lamination and honestly it is the best my brows have looked in years, worth every penny" is doing several things at once:

It mentions specific services such as lash lift, brow lamination that people search for. It expresses genuine satisfaction which influences the decision of readers. It adds keyword content to your Google Business Profile that strengthens your relevance for those searches.

You cannot control what clients write, but you can increase the chances of detailed reviews by asking them to mention what services they got done. That one sentence makes a measurable difference over time.

Star rating also matters. Aim to maintain above 4.5 stars. The occasional 3 or 4 star review will not hurt you significantly as long as you respond thoughtfully. What damages your ranking is a pattern of low ratings or a sudden drop in your average.

How to Respond to Google Reviews as a Salon Owner

Responding to reviews is not optional if you want to rank. Google treats response rate as a signal of how active and engaged your business is. A profile that responds to reviews consistently ranks higher than one that does not, all else being equal.

Here is the approach for both situations:

Responding to Positive Reviews

Do not just write "Thank you so much!" for every review. That reads as automated and impersonal. Instead, respond with something specific to what they said and naturally include your location and service.

Example: Sarah wrote: "Best highlights I have ever had. Will be back."

Response: "Thank you so much Sarah! We absolutely loved having you in. Highlights are one of our favourites to do and we are so glad you loved the result. See you at your next appointment!"

Keep it warm, keep it specific, and keep it short. Two to three sentences is enough.

Responding to Negative Reviews

Never get defensive and never argue. The person reading your response is not the person who left the negative review. It is every future client deciding whether to trust you.

A calm, professional response to a negative review often does more for your reputation than ten positive reviews. It shows that you take feedback seriously and handle problems with care.

Formula for negative review responses:

1. Thank them for the feedback
2. Acknowledge the issue without over-apologising or admitting fault for things outside your control
3. Invite them to contact you directly to resolve it

Example: "Thank you for taking the time to share this [Name]. We are sorry your experience did not meet expectations. That is never what we want for anyone who visits us. Please reach out to us directly at [phone/email] and we would love to make it right."

Then move on. Do not go back and forth publicly.

Common Mistakes That Stop Salons From Getting Google Reviews

Asking too broadly:  Sending a generic "please review us" message to your entire client list at once produces a brief spike and then nothing. It also risks triggering Google's spam filters. Ask individually, after each appointment.

Making it too many steps: If a client has to search for your salon on Google, find the reviews section, scroll to the review box, and then write something, most will not do it. The QR code exists to remove every one of those steps. One scan, one tap, done.

Not asking at all: Some salon owners feel that asking is pushy. It is not. Your clients are happy, and they want to support your business. They just need a gentle prompt and a direct path. Not asking is the biggest mistake of all.

Asking the wrong clients: If you had a difficult appointment or a client who seemed unhappy, do not ask for a review. This sounds obvious but in the moment it can be easy to default to your usual script. Read the room. Only ask clients who you are confident had a genuinely good experience.

Giving up after one ask: Some clients mean to leave a review and forget. One SMS follow-up the next day, sent once and not repeatedly, recovers a significant number of these. Set a reminder the morning after every appointment to send the follow-up to anyone who did not review in person.

How Salons Get Google Reviews on Autopilot With Zoca

Most salon owners know exactly what needs to be done. The hard part is doing it consistently while running a full schedule of clients every day.

Asking for a review after every appointment, sending the follow-up text the next morning, and responding to every review within 24 hours. Each of these takes only a few minutes, but when you are managing bookings, staff, supplies, and clients all at once, those minutes disappear fast.

That is exactly the problem Zoca was built to solve.

Zoca handles the work that actually moves your review count, automatically sending review requests to clients after their appointments, following up with those who did not respond, and making sure your profile stays active with fresh signals that Google rewards. 

Instead of remembering to ask, remembering to follow up, and remembering to respond, your review system runs in the background while you focus on the clients in your chair.

See how Zoca works and book your free demo at zoca.com/demo. Most salons see results within the first 30 days.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get more Google reviews for my salon?

Ask every happy client in person immediately after their appointment, while they are still in the salon and at their most satisfied. Hand them a QR code card that takes them directly to your Google review page. Follow up with a short SMS the next day for anyone who did not leave one in person. Respond to every review you receive. Repeat this consistently after every appointment rather than in occasional bursts.

How many Google reviews does a salon need to rank?

Twenty reviews is the first threshold where Google starts treating your business as genuinely established. Beyond 20, consistency matters more than total count. A small salon should aim for one to two new reviews per week. A medium salon should target two to four. What matters most is that reviews keep coming in steadily. A recent flow of reviews will outperform a large total count that has gone stale.

Does asking for Google reviews feel pushy?

Not when it is done well. Asking at the right moment, when a client is looking in the mirror and genuinely happy with their result, feels like a natural continuation of the conversation, not a sales pitch. The key is timing, keeping the ask short, and making it easy with a direct link or QR code. Most happy clients are glad to help when it takes less than thirty seconds.

What should I do if I get a bad Google review?

Respond calmly and professionally. Thank the person for their feedback, acknowledge that their experience fell short of what you want for your clients, and invite them to contact you directly to resolve it. Never argue publicly. Future clients reading your response care more about how you handle problems than about the negative review itself. A thoughtful response to a bad review often builds more trust than ten five-star reviews.

Do Google reviews actually help my salon rank higher on Google Maps?

Yes, directly. Google uses the volume, recency, and content of your reviews as ranking signals for local search results. A steady flow of genuine, detailed reviews tells Google your salon is active and trusted. Reviews that mention specific services such as balayage, lash lift, or gel manicure also add keyword relevance to your profile, which helps you appear in searches for those exact terms. 

Can I ask friends and family to leave reviews?

Google's guidelines prohibit incentivised or fake reviews. Asking friends and family who have not genuinely visited your salon violates these guidelines and risks having your reviews removed or your profile penalised. Focus on building reviews from real clients who have had genuine experiences. It is the only approach that holds up long term.

How quickly should I respond to Google reviews?

Aim to respond within 24 hours. Google notices response rate as a signal of how actively managed your profile is. For negative reviews, responding quickly also prevents a single unhappy comment from sitting unanswered where potential clients can see it.

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