How to get Google reviews for your business in Peru (no tricks)

Why reviews weigh so much on Maps

Picture someone searching «chifa in Surco» on their phone. Google builds the map from what they typed, the distance, and how well known each business is. Reviews count towards that last one, and Google says so in its own help pages: the number and the rating affect where you show up.

But the person makes the final call. Faced with two chifas four blocks away, one with three reviews from 2023 and one with forty recent, answered ones, they tap the second. You can't move the distance. You can move the reviews, and almost nobody works on them: they wait.

How to ask so people actually leave one

Happy customers don't leave reviews because nobody asked, or because they were asked late and without a link. Remove those obstacles and the number goes up.

1. Get the direct link from your profile

   Your Business Profile gives you a short link that opens the review window directly, so the customer doesn't have to find you on Maps. Google moves the option around now and then; if you can't see it, look for «ask for reviews» or «share profile». Save it in your phone's notes. You'll use it daily.

2. Ask when the customer is already happy

   When they pick up the order, when you hand back the repaired phone, when they message «thanks, everything arrived fine». A week later they've forgotten. Ask in person and plainly: «could you help us with a Google review? For a small business like ours it really helps».

3. Put a QR code on the counter and the bag

   Turn the link into a QR code with any free generator and print it: a small sign by the till, a sticker on the delivery bag. Most people won't scan it, to be honest. But it costs next to nothing and works while you serve.

4. Send a WhatsApp after delivery

   It's what works best here, because your customer already talks to you there. A short message with their name and the link, a few hours later. Just one. If they don't answer, leave it: a second message is a nuisance.

5. Put it on your website

   A «Leave us a review» button at the bottom of the page, next to your contact details, keeps working without you having to remember.

A typical case: a chicken place in Los Olivos that delivers sends this message only at weekends, when orders peak, and forgets during the week. It works better to send it every time, even if there are fewer. Consistency counts, not a big start.

How to reply, bad reviews included

Someone torn between you and another business reads the reviews and reads how you answer. Replying is free and almost nobody does it.

• Thank good reviewers by name and mention something specific they said. «Thanks, Rosa, glad the lomo saltado reached Chorrillos still hot» beats ten copy-pasted «thank you for your preference» replies.
• Answer bad ones within a day or two, calmly. Acknowledge what happened, skip the long excuses, and offer to fix it on WhatsApp. The next hundred customers will read that reply, not just the one who complained.
• If a review breaks Google's rules (from someone who was never a customer, abusive, from a competitor), report it from your profile. Google decides whether to remove it. You can't delete it.
• Never threaten the customer, post their details, or offer them something to delete it.

A three-star review among many fives won't sink you. It makes the others believable. What scares people off is a complaint with no reply.

What you should never do

When Google detects cheating it can remove reviews, block new ones for a while, or put a notice on your profile saying it found fake reviews. Everyone who looks you up sees that notice, and it doesn't go away quickly.

• Buying reviews. Packs of «50 five-star reviews» come from accounts with no history and arrive all at once. Google spots them, removes them, and your money is gone.
• Giving discounts or gifts in return. «10% off if you leave a review» or «a free soft drink for your review» looks harmless, but incentivised reviews are against Google's policies, even if you don't ask for a particular rating.
• Asking only happy customers. First asking «were you satisfied?» and sending the link only to those who say yes is also prohibited. Ask everyone the same way.
• Making them up. Not from relatives who never bought anything, not from staff, not written by you from another account. And no bad reviews for the competition.
• Asking for all of them at once. If a hardware shop that had eight reviews suddenly has forty in a week, it looks odd, to Google and to customers.

So it doesn't eat your time

• Save the message as a quick reply in WhatsApp Business. Two taps to send.
• Open your profile once a week to reply to anything new. If you have staff, show them how to ask without pressure.