# Google review QR codes — how they work

> A Google review QR code links to Google's write-a-review endpoint for your Place ID, which opens the star-rating dialog straight away instead of your business listing. Removing those two taps is the entire reason it works. Never offer anything in exchange for a review.

Source: https://useqr.app/google-review-qr-code · Last reviewed 2026-08-21 · UseQR is free forever, MIT licensed, no signup.

---

## The payload

```
https://search.google.com/local/writereview?placeid=ChIJN1t_tDeuEmsRUsoyG83frY4
```

This opens the review dialog directly. The common alternative — linking to your Google
Maps listing — costs the customer two extra taps, and a meaningful share of people stop
at each one.

## Finding your Place ID

1. Google's **Place ID Finder** (`developers.google.com/maps/documentation/places/web-service/place-id`) — search your business, copy the id.
2. Your **Google Business Profile** dashboard has a share link containing it.
3. A `maps.app.goo.gl` short link resolves to a URL containing the id.

Place IDs are stable in normal operation but can change if the listing is merged,
moved or re-verified. Re-scan your own code after any change to the listing.

## Where to put it

Placement determines everything:

- **On the receipt or bill folder** — the strongest moment, because the experience just
  finished and the customer is stationary.
- **On the table, at the end of the meal** rather than the start.
- **On the delivery packaging or thank-you card.**
- **At the exit**, at eye level.

Not on the door, not in the window, not on a poster across the room. A review code
needs the customer to be seated, unhurried and finished.

## The rules, which matter

Google's policies prohibit **review gating** — asking about the experience first and
only routing happy customers to the public review — and prohibit **incentivised
reviews**. A discount in exchange for a review risks the review being removed and the
listing being penalised.

What is allowed: asking every customer, at the right moment, with no filter and nothing
offered. That is also what produces a rating people trust.

## Pair it with private feedback

Print two codes, clearly labelled: one for a public Google review, one for a private
[feedback form](/feedback-qr-code). That is not gating — the customer sees both and
chooses. Unhappy customers get a route that fixes the problem instead of a public
argument, and you learn things a star rating never tells you.

## FAQ

### How do I find my Google Place ID?
Use Google's Place ID Finder tool, or take it from the share link in your Google Business Profile. A maps.app.goo.gl short link also resolves to a URL containing the id.

### Can I offer a discount for leaving a review?
No. Incentivised reviews violate Google's policies and risk both the review being removed and your listing being penalised. Ask everyone, offer nothing.

### Is it against the rules to only ask happy customers?
Yes. Review gating — screening customers and only routing positive ones to the public review — is prohibited. Showing both a public review code and a private feedback code side by side is fine, because the customer chooses.

### Where should the review QR code go?
On the receipt, the bill folder, the delivery packaging, or at the exit — anywhere the customer is stationary and has just finished. Codes across the room or on the door do not get scanned.

## Try it

- https://useqr.app/google-review
- https://useqr.app/feedback
- https://useqr.app/url