Get more salon reviews: how to ask (and what is not allowed)

You get more reviews by asking every client shortly after their appointment, in the same way, with a direct link, without a reward and without choosing who you ask. That is also what the rules require: Google bans incentives and selectively asking happy clients, and since 28 May 2022 fake reviews are banned across the EU. Lookster handles this automatically: after every appointment a review request goes out by email and push notification, and only clients who actually visited can post a review.

Why do reviews weigh so heavily when choosing a salon?

Because a new client has little else to go on. You can't test a haircut or a gel manicure in advance, and the photos on your own page were chosen by you. Reviews are the only thing that comes from someone else.

Reliable figures specifically about salons don't exist, and we won't invent them here. What regulators do establish: in its October 2020 sector inquiry, Germany's Bundeskartellamt called user reviews "a very central decision aid" for online purchases, and found at the same time that fake reviews are widespread and that consumers struggle to tell real from fake. In an EU-wide check of 223 websites in 2021, authorities could not confirm for 144 of them that the trader did enough to ensure reviews came from real users.

For your salon that means two things. A new client reads your reviews and weighs them heavily. And that same client has become suspicious, so a handful of real, specific reviews from recognisable people works better than thirty generic five-star lines.

When do you ask a client for a review?

Within a day of the appointment, while the client is still happy with what they see in the mirror. Wait a week and the moment has passed; the request then feels like a random advert.

So the best moment is not in the chair but shortly after, through a channel where the client can tap a link. In the chair you can announce it: "You'll get an email with a link in a bit, would you mind writing a review?" That raises the chance the email gets opened.

Ask everyone. Not just the client you are sure is happy. That is sensible for two reasons: it is Google's rule (see below), and a review page with nothing but five stars looks less credible to new clients than a page with a 4.7 and a few critical remarks.

Which channel do you use to ask for reviews?

The channel where the client reaches the review form in one tap. In practice that is email, a push notification from your booking app or a WhatsApp message. A verbal request without a link rarely turns into a review, because the client has to go looking later.

The automatic request by email and push notification wins on consistency. Lookster sends a review request after every appointment by email and push notification, without you having to decide who to ask. For a Google review you need a separate link; put that in your email signature, on a QR code at the till and in a quick reply in WhatsApp Business.

How do you ask for Google reviews within Google's rules?

Google wants you to ask for reviews, but sets three hard limits. They are in the Google Maps user generated content policy and apply to merchants:

1. No rewards. You may not offer payment, discounts, free goods or services in exchange for posting a review, changing it, or removing a negative one. Google calls this fake engagement and removes such reviews.
2. No selection. You may not discourage or prohibit negative reviews, and you may not selectively solicit positive reviews. A system that first asks "how satisfied are you?" and only forwards the happy clients to Google is often called review gating and falls under this.
3. No conflict of interest. Reviews from yourself, your staff or former staff are not allowed.

What is allowed is stated too: you may encourage clients to post content that represents a genuine experience. Google itself suggests giving clients a link or QR code.

How to create that link:

1. Open your Google Business Profile in a browser on a computer (the QR code can't be generated on mobile).
2. Select Read reviews, then Get more reviews.
3. Copy the link, or save the QR code as an image.

Google suggests using the link on receipts, in thank-you emails and printed in your salon. Keep in mind that the client has to be signed in to a Google account to write a review. Clients without a Google account can still leave a review on your Lookster salon page.

What does the law say about fake reviews and asking for reviews?

Since 28 May 2022 the same rules apply across the EU, from the Omnibus Directive (Directive (EU) 2019/2161). In the Netherlands the ACM (the Dutch consumer and markets authority) enforces them. The core:

• Fake reviews are always banned. The directive's blacklist prohibits "submitting or commissioning another legal or natural person to submit false consumer reviews or endorsements, or misrepresenting consumer reviews or social endorsements, in order to promote products". The ACM says the same applies to bought likes, views and followers.
• If you show reviews, you have to do something for it. Claiming that reviews come from consumers who actually used the service, without taking "reasonable and proportionate steps" to check that, is on the same blacklist. Whether and how you ensure reviews come from real customers counts as material information you must give consumers. The ACM adds: say where reviews come from, how you treat positive and negative ones, how the average score is calculated, and whether a reward was involved.
• A reward must be disclosed. The ACM writes that paid reviews must state the writer received something, and that paid reviewers must still be able to give their honest opinion. If you only pay for a positive story, it is advertising, not a review.
• No cherry-picking. The ACM is clear: do not show only the reactions that suit you, and show everything, positive and negative.
• Fines can be substantial. In August 2024 the ACM announced action against sellers of fake reviews and against businesses that use them, with fines of up to 900,000 euros per violation. The website owner stays responsible even if an agency collects the reviews.

For a salon it boils down to this: ask real clients, don't reward, don't delete criticism, and use a review system that only admits clients who actually visited. Then you comply with Google's rules and with EU and Dutch law at the same time.

How do you respond to a negative review?

Fast, short and without defending yourself. Future clients read your reply as a sign of how you handle problems; they read the complaint itself as one opinion. Google says as much in its own tips: negative reviews aren't necessarily a sign of poor business practices, and a constructive reply is the way to go.

A reply that works has four parts:

1. Thank and name. "Thanks for your message. Sorry the colour turned out differently from what you expected."
2. Give context without piling up excuses. One sentence on what happened, if useful. No details about the client or the treatment that others don't need to read.
3. Say what you are doing. "From now on we discuss the regrowth in advance with an example."
4. Invite. "Feel free to call or message me, and we'll see what we can do together."

What you don't do: publicly contradict a client about facts, mention personal details, or ask the client to take the review down in exchange for a free treatment. That last one is a violation with Google and under EU law.

Got a review that is demonstrably fake, for example from someone who was never a client? Report it to Google through the review itself and reply briefly and factually, so readers see you noticed.

How does Lookster help with reviews and your portfolio?

Lookster collects reviews in a way that stays within the rules by design:

• Automatic request after every appointment. The client receives a review request by email and as a push notification in the client app. Because everyone gets it, you are not selecting.
• Verified reviews only. A review can only be posted by a client who actually had an appointment with you. That is exactly the kind of check the law asks for, and you can say so on your page.
• Portfolio next to your reviews. Your salon page shows photos of your work next to the reviews, so a new client sees the result and reads what others thought of it.
• Findable through Google. Your salon page is findable through Google, so the reviews also count for people searching your name.

Gabriel of Aiyo the Barber says about the dashboard (translated): "It takes a lot of the work around planning and administration off my hands, so I can focus on my core work." Asking for reviews is part of the work you don't want to do by hand every day.

Google reviews remain important for people who search through Google Maps. Use both: the automatic Lookster reviews for volume and verification, and the Google review link on your QR code and in your email signature for visibility in Maps. How to use that link on Instagram and WhatsApp as well is in get more online bookings for your salon.

Checklist: asking for reviews without hassle

1. Review request sent automatically through Lookster after every appointment, to everyone.
2. Google review link created through your Business Profile and hung at the till as a QR code.
3. The same link in your email signature and in a WhatsApp Business quick reply.
4. No discount, free treatment or prize draw in exchange for a review.
5. No pre-screening on satisfaction before sending people to Google.
6. Reply to every review within a few days, including the positive ones.
7. Leave negative reviews up and answer them professionally.
8. Explain on your page that only clients with an appointment can post a review.

Want to see what reviews, portfolio and the salon page look like? Have a look at the Lookster features. For beauty salons and nail studios, beauty salon software covers what else comes in handy.