The Hopla! team
Google reviews work on two fronts at once. First, trust: before they push your door open, people read about what others experienced at your place. Then, visibility: Google takes the number of reviews and good ratings into account when ranking businesses in the area. For a neighbourhood shop, it's one of the most cost-effective levers there is, and it's free.
What customers really look at
BrightLocal's annual local consumer review survey (February 2026, 1,002 consumers in the United States) gives some useful benchmarks, even though it wasn't carried out in Belgium:
- 97% of respondents read reviews before choosing a local business.
- 74% look for reviews less than three months old. A glowing review from 2023 isn't enough any more.
- 47% avoid a business with fewer than 20 reviews.
- 83% of those who were asked for a review went on to leave one.
Above all, remember that last figure: most customers leave a review when you ask them. The problem is that hardly anyone asks. And Google confirms it from its side: in its help on local ranking, it lists the number of reviews and positive ratings among the things that push a profile up, and makes it clear that there's no way to pay your way there.
Ask everyone, at the right moment
The right moment is the end of the visit: when the customer pays, picks up their order or gets up from the table. Three simple rules:
- Face to face, in one sentence. No speech, no awkwardness: a simple request at the counter.
- Show that it's easy. “It's just a quick scan, it takes thirty seconds.” The fewer steps there are, the more reviews you get.
- Aim for regularity. Two or three reviews a week are worth more than one big wave once a year, since customers look at recent reviews.
Template to say at the counter
“Thanks for coming in. If you've got thirty seconds, a quick Google review helps us enormously, whether it's good or not so good: you just scan here.”
Adapt the words to the way you speak. What matters is saying it to every customer, not just the ones who look delighted, and not just now and then.
The QR code, your best ally
From your Google Business Profile, get the direct link to the review form and turn it into a QR code. Put it where customers wait or pay: on the counter, next to the card machine, on the table, on the receipt. The customer scans, writes, done. It's the simplest way to collect reviews every week without having to think about it.
A card or a small stand by the till works better than a poster on the wall: it's right in front of the customer at the moment you mention it.
Reply to every review, no exceptions
Again according to BrightLocal, 80% of respondents are likely to choose a business that replies to all of its reviews, and generic replies put half of them off. A “Thanks for your review!” pasted everywhere barely counts. A reply that picks up on a detail from the review shows that a real person read it.
- Positive review: thank them by first name, mention the detail they picked out (the croissant, the haircut, the welcome), invite them back.
- Negative review: stay calm, thank them for the feedback, acknowledge what deserves it without justifying yourself for ten lines, and offer to talk it through in person.
- Timing: within the week. A reply three months later mainly shows that nobody was looking.
Future customers read these replies as much as the reviews themselves. A good shopkeeper isn't one who never gets a negative review, it's one who replies to it with class. We've gathered some examples in our article on negative reviews.
What you should never do
The traps
Buying reviews: Google detects and removes fake reviews, and can penalise the profile. Customers can also tell when a rating rings false.
Filtering customers: don't ask only the ones who look delighted for a review while steering the others away with a “happy or not happy” form. Google's rules forbid it. Simply ask everyone.
Offering a discount in exchange for a review: a paid review, even paid with a free coffee, isn't allowed either.
How many reviews do you need?
There's no magic number, but there is a concrete benchmark: your direct competitors. Open Google Maps, search for your trade in your neighbourhood and note the number of reviews and the rating of the top three businesses. Your goal for the next three months is to catch up with them, then overtake them, by keeping at it steadily.
To do this week
- Get your review link and print a QR code for the counter.
- Reply to every review less than three months old that doesn't have a reply yet.
- Ask every customer for a review for seven days, then count.
Collecting reviews is mostly about consistency, like the rest of your marketing. To go further on your Google Business Profile, reviews and videos, read the 2027 survival guide for local shops, free (in French) and easy to read on your phone.
