How to Get More 5-Star Google Reviews for Your Restoration Company

To get more Google reviews as a restoration company, ask every customer at the same point in the job: the day the drying equipment comes out and the readings show the house is dry. Send the link by text that day, triggered from your job software, and ask the same way every time, whether the claim went smoothly or not.

When and how to ask

1. Do not ask on the first visit. The homeowner has just had a flood, a fire or a sewage backup. They are thinking about their house, their insurance and where the family sleeps tonight. A review request then lands badly and rarely gets done.
2. Tell them at the start that you will ask. When the crew lead walks them through the work authorization, add one line: at the end, we will ask how we did. It sets up the request without pressure.
3. Ask in person at equipment pickup. This is the moment the problem visibly ends. The air movers and dehumidifiers go back on the truck, and the crew lead shows the final moisture readings. Ask then, in plain words.
4. Send the direct link by text the same day. Use the review link from your profile, so the homeowner lands on the form in one tap (Google's review tips).
5. Ask for an update after the rebuild. If your company also does the reconstruction, the homeowner's review covers only half the job. After the final walkthrough, invite them to edit the review they already left so it covers the whole job, rather than writing a new one.
6. Use the same words for everyone. The ask goes to every customer, whether the claim went smoothly or the adjuster made it painful.

Automating requests

Automate the request so it depends on the job status, not on whether a busy crew lead remembers. Most restoration job management software and field service CRMs can send a text when a job moves to a stage such as "equipment removed" or "mitigation complete".

• Trigger it from a status every job passes through. Then no job is skipped and no one decides who gets asked.
• Send one reminder, a few days later, then stop. Two messages are a request. Five are a complaint waiting to happen.
• Send it to the person who hired you. On rental and commercial jobs that may be the property manager, not the tenant.
• Register your texting number. Business texting over a regular 10-digit number needs A2P 10DLC registration through The Campaign Registry, or carriers may block your messages (The Campaign Registry). Every text must honor STOP.
• Do not build a filter. A rule that skips customers who complained, or who had a claim dispute, is review gating, which Google bans.

The marketing automation guide for restoration companies covers the rest of the follow-up sequence.

Responding to reviews

Reply to every review within a few days, and write for the next homeowner reading it as much as for the reviewer. Restoration replies carry a risk most trades do not: the review is often about a stressful claim, and the details are private.

• Never name the insurer, the policy, the claim amount or what was damaged at the address. Thank them for trusting you with their home, and leave the rest private.
• Do not argue about the payout in public. If the complaint is about what the carrier paid, say what your company controls and offer to talk directly.
• Answer delays honestly. During a freeze or a storm surge, arrival times stretch. A reply that owns it reads better than one that explains it away.
• Keep health out of it. On mold jobs, do not make or dispute health claims in a reply.

Example reply to a critical review (illustrative wording, not a real case): "Thanks for telling us. You waited longer than we said for the crew that night, and that is on us. We'd like to hear the rest directly. Please call the office and ask for me. [First name], operations manager."

What Google prohibits

Google bans incentives for reviews and review gating, meaning asking only customers you expect to be happy (Google's review policy). The FTC's rule on consumer reviews bans fake reviews, buying reviews and suppressing negative ones (16 CFR Part 465). In restoration, these lines are easy to cross by accident:

• No discount for a review. That includes money off the invoice or help with the homeowner's out-of-pocket costs.
• No reviews from people who were not customers. A plumber or property manager who refers you work has a relationship with you, not a customer experience. Their reviews can be removed and put your profile at risk.
• No crew-written reviews. A technician typing a review on the homeowner's phone in the driveway is not the homeowner's review.
• No pressure to take a bad review down. Threats or deals to remove negative reviews are review suppression.

Reviews that describe real water and fire jobs also help your Map ranking, as explained in how to rank in the Google Map Pack as a restoration company.

How VETS Growth Marketing helps

We set up the review request inside your own CRM, triggered at equipment pickup, with registered texting and wording your crews can say naturally. We draft replies for your approval that never touch claim details. It is a short project with a date, everything stays in your accounts, and we report review pace next to calls and booked jobs. Book a growth consultation and we will look at your reviews against the restoration companies you compete with.