The Google review rules changed in 2026, and most businesses missed it
Reviews are one of the biggest levers a local business on the Fylde coast has. They sway where you land in Google’s map pack, they sway whether a customer picks you over the next firm along, and increasingly they sway what Google’s AI says when someone asks it who to hire.
So it matters that the rules on how you’re allowed to collect them changed in early 2026. And Google isn’t just publishing the new rules, it’s enforcing them with AI that removes offending reviews silently, sometimes ones you collected months ago.
This catches out a lot of well-meaning businesses, so it’s worth getting right. It’s one of the Google Business Profile basics I go through with every client, and it’s the one that’s changed most. And reviews are one of the very first things a customer reads once an AI points them your way, so getting them right is inseparable from making sure your social feed and listing don’t quietly let you down at that same moment.
What you can still do
Asking for reviews is fine. Google actively wants you to. The compliant way looks like this:
- Send a follow-up text or email after the customer has left, with a direct link to your review page.
- Put a QR code or review link on your invoices, receipts, or email signature.
- Ask verbally whether they’d be happy to share their experience, using open wording like “we’d love to hear how we got on.”
- Reply to every review, good or bad. Google reads your responses, and a natural mention of the job and the town in your reply is a genuine relevance signal.
What will now get your reviews removed
These used to be common advice. In 2026 they’re violations, and following them can cost you the reviews you’ve already earned:
- Offering anything in return. No discounts, freebies, prize draws or loyalty points for leaving a review. Even “leave a review for 10% off” is out.
- Telling customers what to say. Don’t ask them to name a staff member or drop in specific keywords like “best roofer in Lytham.” Let them use their own words.
- The on-site hand-off. Don’t push someone to review while they’re still with you, and don’t hand over a tablet or phone to do it there and then. Wait until they’ve left.
- Review gating. Don’t screen for the happy customers and only send them the link. Everyone gets the same invitation, whatever their experience.
- Staff quotas. Don’t set your team a target number of reviews to chase.
The through-line is simple. Ask everyone, ask openly, ask after they’ve gone, and never dangle a carrot or put words in their mouth. Genuine reviews, collected cleanly, are what Google now rewards, and they’re the ones that stick.
Why bother getting it exactly right
Because the alternative is watching reviews you worked for quietly disappear, with no warning and no note to say why. Google’s AI doesn’t send you a telling-off. It just takes them down.
Get it right instead and you build the thing that genuinely moves you up the map pack and wins you the click: a steady, recent, real review history that both customers and Google trust. Do that alongside pulling your real keywords out of your Performance data and sharpening the profile text AI now reads, and you’ve covered ground most of your competition hasn’t touched.
Keeping that flow of genuine reviews coming, cleanly, month after month, is the kind of thing we handle on our monthly plans so you’re not the one remembering to ask.
Want help getting reviews coming in the right way, without falling foul of the rules? Get your free audit and I’ll tell you straight where your profile stands, or book a call if you’d rather talk it through. It’s the sort of thing our local SEO work is built around. Either way you’re dealing with me, and I read every message myself, so drop me a line at hello@inkon.co.uk.