How real estate agents get more Google reviews.
Before the seller calls someone else.

Why do Google reviews matter when you already have reviews on real estate sites?

Because when a seller hears your name, the easiest place to check you out is Google. They type your name, or "real estate agent near me," and what they see first is a map with a few agents and a row of stars next to each one.

Reviews you've earned on a real estate site are great, and they stay on that site. The stars on Google come from your Google Business Profile. If you have 4 reviews there and the agent down the road has 60, that's the first impression, before anybody reads a word you wrote.

It works the same for referrals. Somebody's cousin says you're great. The seller still looks you up before they call.

Can a real estate agent have their own Google Business Profile?

Usually, yes. Google's guidelines for representing your business treat real estate agents as individual practitioners. You can have your own profile if you work in a public facing role and can be reached at the verified location during the hours you list. A few rules that trip agents up:

• One profile per person. Not one for buyers and one for luxury listings.
• Your name only. If you work out of a brokerage office with other agents, your profile name carries just your name, and the office has its own separate profile. Put your brokerage in the description, or wherever your state requires it.
• Solo at a branded office? Google suggests one shared profile named like "Brokerage: Your Name."
• Meet clients at their place or the listing, never your home? Set it up as a service area business. Google says those should hide their address.

Before you build anything, ask your managing broker what the brokerage's policy is on agent profiles and reviews, and get the answer in writing. Some brokerages already manage a profile for you. Find out who owns it before you send a single client to it.

When should a real estate agent ask for a review?

The day it closes. For buyers, that's the day the keys are in their hand. For sellers, it's the day the sale closes and they can finally breathe.

Think about where their head is. You just walked them through one of the biggest money decisions of their life. They're relieved, they're grateful, and they're telling everybody about it anyway. That's the easiest day there is to ask.

Then go back through your past clients from the last few years. One friendly text each, once. A lot of agents have happy past clients who were simply never asked.

How should a real estate agent ask for a Google review?

Text the link. Email gets buried. A text gets read, they tap the link, and it takes them about 30 seconds.

To get the link, open your Google Business Profile, look for Get more reviews or Ask for reviews (the name depends on where you open it), and copy the link it gives you. Save each text as a shortcut on your phone so it's one tap every time. If your brokerage reviews client messages, run the wording past them first.

Can you give a closing gift for a review?

If you give a closing gift, give it to every client and never tie it to a review. Google's prohibited and restricted content policy doesn't allow businesses to offer money, discounts or free services in exchange for a review, or to ask only their happy clients. The FTC's rule on consumer reviews and testimonials also bans offering anything in exchange for a positive or negative review, even if that's only implied. Some states also limit closing gifts, so check with your broker.

So the gift basket goes to every client, the text goes to every client, and the two never touch. Don't pick and choose who you ask. Ask everybody the same way.

What should you say, and leave out, when you reply to a review?

Reply to every one, and especially the good ones. Thank them by first name, mention one thing about the experience, and let them know you'd be glad to help again.

Here's what to leave out:

• The price, the terms and the address. That's their business, not the public's.
• Who the home or the neighborhood is "perfect for." Lines like "perfect for a young family" or "great for retirees" describe people, not the property. Fair housing rules judge your words by how an ordinary reader takes them, not what you meant, and a review reply is public marketing like anything else. Keep it about the home, the work and the experience.
• Anything a past client told you in confidence. A divorce, a job loss, a death in the family. Never.

If a bad review comes in, keep the reply calm and short, own what's fair, and offer to talk it through by phone. Never argue in public. The next seller reads your reply more closely than the review.

What does your brokerage need to sign off on?

Ask your managing broker three things before you start: who owns and manages your Google Business Profile, whether there's a policy on asking for reviews and replying to them, and what needs to appear on anything that counts as advertising in your state. Many states have rules about showing your brokerage's name, and your broker will know yours. Get the answers in writing and work inside them. Most of what makes an agent look trustworthy on Google fits easily inside those rules.

What does a seller see when they compare you?

Pull up your profile next to the top agents in your town. Count the reviews. Look at the photos, the hours, the replies, and whether the phone number goes to you. Same market, same listings. The seller still picks one of you, and a lot of that choice is made before anybody picks up the phone.

That side by side is exactly what our free Real Estate X-Ray does. Your reviews next to the top 5 agents near you, scored out of 100, with the fixes in order.

New agent with no closings yet? Where do you start?

Get the profile set up and verified the right way now, with hours you actually answer. Then ask people you helped as a licensed agent, like buyers you showed homes to on your team, once your team lead and broker say it's OK. Only ask people who worked with you, and ask them all the same way. Every closing after that gets the text the day it closes.

Free tools that go with this

Questions agents ask about Google reviews