how to get google reviews for a new business

Published by Madloba Consult Published Updated

A new business gets Google reviews the way any business does: create and verify the Business Profile, take the review link from "Read Reviews" and "Get more reviews", and give it to every customer after the visit. Reviews from an older Google profile move only in the cases Google lists, and Google's pages describe no import from other sites.

Answered on this page

Checked against Google's help on 5 September 2026. From our practice, 5 September 2026

The Business Profile is the listing that shows your business on Google Maps and in Google Search, with the stars and the review count next to the name. Google’s page for new owners says that with it “you can manage how your business shows up on Maps and Search at no charge” and “collect and respond to reviews from customers”. A business with no profile has nowhere for a review to land. So the order is fixed: profile first, verification second, the review link third, and the customers do the rest.

how to create a new business profile on google

Start by checking whether Google already has a listing for you, because the first customers, delivery drivers and map users often create one before the owner does. Google’s page “Add or claim your Business Profile” gives both routes. To add a new one on a computer: go to business.google.com/add, select “Add your business to Google”, follow the on-screen steps for the business details, then “Select a verification option, and follow the on-screen steps”. To claim one that already exists on Maps: search for your business’s name and city in Google Maps, select “Claim this business” and then “Manage now”, then choose a verification option. On a phone, Google says to open the Google Maps app, search for the business, select it, tap “About”, then “Claim this business” and “Manage now”. Google adds: “You can add or claim your business at no charge.”

If the listing is already verified by someone else (a previous owner, an agency, a former employee), do not create a second one. Google’s page “Request ownership of a Business Profile” says to go to business.google.com/add, enter the name and address, choose the business from the list, select “Request Access”, fill out the form and select “Submit”. The current owner “has 3 days to respond”. Google says: “If you don’t get a response after 3 days, you may have the option to claim the profile”, by opening the confirmation email, selecting “View request” and then “Verify”. It also warns that “The option to claim a profile isn’t always available.”

Three rules from Google’s “Guidelines for representing your business on Google” matter most on day one. Who may have a profile: “If your business either has a physical location that customers can visit, or travels to customers where they are, you can create a Business Profile on Google.” What to call it: “Your name should reflect your business’s real-world name, as used consistently on your storefront, website, stationery, and as known to customers.” So the name is the name on the door, not the name plus the services you hope people search for: the same guidelines bar adding service, location or marketing information to the name field, and say of the separate category field, “Do not use categories solely as keywords or to describe attributes of your business.” And how many: “There should only be one profile per business, as this can cause problems with how your information displays on Google Maps and Search.”

Not open yet? Google’s page “Add a business opening date” says: “If your business hasn’t opened yet, you can create a Business Profile on Google to let your community know when your business will open at the given address.” You “can enter a date up to one year in the future”, and “Only the year and month of your opening date are required.” The steps are “Go to your Business Profile”, “Select Edit profile”, then next to “Opening date” select “Edit”, enter the fields and “Select Save”. Google says that “After you enter the date and verify your business, your profile shows up on Google 90 days prior to your opening date”, and that “Once your business opens, your profile will show a ‘Recently opened’ tag on Google for 90 days.”

What verification changes and how long it takes

Verification is the step that turns a listing into something you can run. Google’s page “Verify your business on Google” says: “To edit your business info on Google, such as business name or business hours, and interact with customers, you need to verify your business.” Reviews are part of that: Google’s reply page says “Before you can reply to reviews, you must verify your business”, and the review link lives inside the profile you manage.

The page lists the methods Google may offer: phone or text, email, live video call, and mail. Take whichever the screen offers you. Two timelines are Google’s own. “After you complete the verification steps, Google reviews the info you provided. To help maintain the integrity of your Business Profile, verification review can take up to 5 business days.” For mail: “Most codes arrive within 14 days.” Plan the opening around that, and do not create a second profile while you wait for the first.

How to ask the first customers

Ask every customer after the visit, with the same link, and offer nothing in return. Google’s page “Tips to get more reviews” says: “Remind customers to leave reviews: To leave reviews, you can ask customers to visit a Google link or scan a QR code.” The link is ready-made. “Go to your Business Profile”, then “Select Read Reviews and then Get more reviews”. A box opens with the link and a QR code. “To copy the review link, select Copy.” For the code: “Right-click the QR code” and “Select Save image as…”. Google notes that “Currently, reviews QR codes can only be generated on a computer browser, not on mobile devices.”

Then put the link where every customer passes. Google’s suggestions: “Include it on your receipts”, “Include it in thank you emails”, “Add it at the end of a chat interaction”, “Print and display the QR code in your store”. A new business has one advantage here: the habit can be built into the receipt and the confirmation message from the first day, so nobody has to remember later.

The customer’s side is short. Google’s Maps help says the customer signs in to their Google Account, opens the place, taps “Reviews”, then taps “the 5 empty stars” and can write under “Share more about your experience”. “All reviews are public and anyone can find what you add”, and a customer is “unable to add an anonymous review”. That is why the first reviews of a new business cannot come from the owner’s circle: Google’s content policy treats reviews based on “current or former employment, a contractual or consultory relationship, or other professional or personal affiliations” as a conflict of interest, and removes them.

The rest of the policy is the same for a new business as for an old one. Merchants may “Solicit or encourage the posting of content that does represent a genuine experience, without offering incentives to do so or attempting to influence the rating or the contents of the review.” They must not “Discourage or prohibit negative reviews, or selectively solicit positive reviews from customers”, must not “require or pressure users to leave ratings or write reviews while on the premises”, and must not have “staff solicit a certain number of reviews”. Google’s owner page adds that “Offering incentives, like free or discounted goods or services, in exchange for customers to post reviews, change reviews, or remove negative reviews is considered fake & misleading content and is strictly prohibited.” An opening discount for everyone is fine; a discount for a review is not.

When the first review lands, answer it. Google’s steps: “Select Read reviews”, then “Next to the review you want to reply to, select Reply”, type in the box and “Select Reply”. Google says “Replies usually take up to 10 minutes to review, but sometimes a review can take up to 30 days”, and that “The person who wrote the review is notified when you reply.”

how to transfer google reviews to a new business

Google moves reviews only between its own profiles, and only in the cases on its page “Move your reviews across Business Profiles”. The clearest one is a move: “If you move to a new address and keep the same business name, Google will transfer your reviews automatically.” The page adds a caveat: “For certain business categories, like hotels, golf courses, or scenic attractions, reviews might not be automatically moved.”

Several cases need no transfer at all, because the reviews never leave. “If a business has a new owner or manager but keeps the same name, the reviews remain.” “If a business makes a minor name change or if a business with multiple locations changes its name, the reviews remain.” “If your business closes for a while or permanently, the reviews remain on the profile.” The instruction that follows from all of this is on the same page in plain terms: “Do not create a new Business Profile because of a change in a physical location or ownership.”

If that already happened, Google offers a way back: “If you unintentionally created and verified a new profile due to a change in physical location or ownership change, contact us to transfer your reviews from the old profile to the new one.” The words “contact us” on that page open Google’s form for moving reviews. The page gives no timeline for the transfer.

Two situations count as a genuinely new business. First, a name change that goes beyond what Google calls rebranding. The guidelines say a profile “may be eligible for rebranding (defined as an eligible name change without creating a new Business Profile) if you make a minor name change, in which the proper nouns and services described in the business name remain unchanged and the business category remains unchanged.” Otherwise: “If your business changes its name but doesn’t meet the criteria above, then it’s considered a new business. You must mark the existing Business Profile as closed and then create a new Business Profile with your new business name.” The old reviews stay with the closed profile. Second, a duplicate: when two profiles exist for one business, Google’s page on duplicates says “To request a merge when 2 or more Business Profiles for the same business exist on Maps, report a suggestion on Google Maps”, and “When 2 profiles are merged, their reviews are combined, but replies to reviews may be lost.” Google’s page on delayed reviews adds that after a merge “it might take a few days for reviews from both profiles to display”.

And reviews from other sites: nothing on Google’s pages moves them in. A Google review is written on Google, by a signed-in customer, in public. A new profile starts at zero, and the way up is the section above.

What works when you ask, from our practice

There is no one channel that works for everyone, and the trade decides it. A QR code on the counter does most of the work in a place people walk into. SMS works well where you already have the number and the visit is over. A letter suits some trades and is ignored in others; nobody who just bought a bicycle answers an email about it, and the same person answers a text.

What matters more than the channel is the moment. From our practice, asked while the person is still with you, most people write the review; asked to do it later, most do not. People say yes and mean it, and then the day carries them off. Negative reviews get written without any prompting at all; positive ones have to be asked for, every time.

For a new business the second habit matters more than the first burst. The question is not how many reviews are enough, it is whether they keep coming, and a small number arriving every week is worth more than a crowded opening month followed by nothing.

What not to do in the first months

Do not open a second profile, whatever the reason. Google’s duplicates page: “You can have only one Business Profile for each business. Multiple profiles for the same business may mislead your customers and are against our policies.” If a new profile is suspended and you appeal, Google’s page on suspensions says: “Do not create a new Business Profile for the same business while your appeal is under review.”

Do not buy the first reviews to “get started”. Google’s content policy lists “Reviews or ratings that have been paid for, directly or in kind” and “Content that has been posted from multiple accounts by or at the request of one person” as fake engagement. Its page on restrictions says a profile caught doing this “will not be able to receive new reviews or ratings for set period of time”, that “existing reviews or ratings will be unpublished for set period of time”, and that it “will display a warning to let consumers know that fake reviews were removed”. For a business that opened last month, that warning is the whole first impression.

Do not remove the old profile from your account thinking the reviews go with it. Google’s page on removing a profile says that after removal “User-generated content and review remains”, while “Any posts, photos, videos, and review replies by owners and managers are permanently removed.” If the old business is closed, mark it closed; Google says a closed business “will slowly disappear from search results”.

And do not expect the first reviews to appear the minute they are written. Google says “Reviews are checked to ensure they comply with our policies. In some cases, this process might take a few days”, and that “Reviews removed for policy violations won’t be restored.”

How to check this yourself

  1. Open Google Maps and search for your business name and city. You will see either nothing (add a new profile) or an existing listing (claim it, or request access if it is already verified).
  2. Sign in to the Google Account you used and search Google for “my business”. You will see the profile panel at the top of the results; if it asks you to verify, no reviews can be answered yet.
  3. Select “Read Reviews” and then “Get more reviews”. You will see the review link and, in a computer browser, the QR code. Select “Copy”.
  4. Paste the link into a private browsing window. You will see what a customer sees: a sign-in request, then your listing with the empty stars.
  5. If you are not open yet, select “Edit profile” and look for “Opening date”. You will see where the date goes, and Google’s page tells you the profile appears 90 days before it.

If you would rather have someone set the link up on the receipt and the messages, read the reviews every week and answer them while you run the opening, that is what monthly review management is.

This article is part of the Reviews guide.

Questions

how to create new business profile on google

On a computer, go to business.google.com/add, select “Add your business to Google”, follow the on-screen steps, then select a verification option. If the business already shows on Google Maps, search for it, select “Claim this business” and then “Manage now” instead of adding a second listing. Google says you can add or claim your business at no charge, and that you need to verify it before you can edit its details or interact with customers.

how to transfer google reviews to a new business

Google moves reviews between its own profiles only in the cases it lists. If you move to a new address and keep the same business name, Google says it transfers the reviews automatically. If you created and verified a new profile by mistake because of a move or a change of owner, Google’s page gives a contact form to ask for the old reviews to be moved. A new owner who keeps the name keeps the reviews without doing anything. A different name that is not a minor change is a new business in Google’s rules, and its reviews start from zero.

Can I bring reviews from Facebook or another site into my new Google profile

No. The Google help pages read for this article describe moving reviews between two Google Business Profiles and nothing else; none of them describes an import from other sites. Google reviews are written by customers on Google, from their own Google Accounts, and Google says every one of them is public and none can be anonymous. A review copied from elsewhere would not be a Google review.

How long does verification take for a new business

Google says that after you complete the verification steps it reviews the information you provided, and that this review can take up to 5 business days. If you verify by mail, Google says most codes arrive within 14 days. Until verification is done you cannot reply to reviews, because Google’s page says you must verify your business before you can reply.

Can I list the business on Google before it opens

Yes. Google says that if your business has not opened yet, you can create a Business Profile to let people know when it will open at the given address, with an opening date up to one year in the future. After you enter the date and verify, the profile shows up on Google 90 days before the opening date, and once you open it shows a “Recently opened” tag for 90 days.

I took over an existing business and kept the name. Do the reviews stay

Yes. Google’s page on moving reviews says that if a business has a new owner or manager but keeps the same name, the reviews remain. Google also says not to create a new Business Profile because of a change in ownership; ask the previous owner to transfer the profile to you, or request access from inside the profile, which Google says gives the current owner 3 days to respond.

Sources

  1. add or claim a Business Profile: business.google.com/add, "Add your business to Google", "Claim this business", "Manage now", "About" tab on mobile, verification option, no charge, checked 5 September 2026
  2. request ownership of a profile someone else verified: "Request Access", "Submit", 3 days to respond, "View request", "Verify", claiming not always available, checked 5 September 2026
  3. why verification is needed; methods phone or text, email, live video call, mail; review can take up to 5 business days; most postcard codes arrive within 14 days, checked 5 September 2026
  4. opening date: profile can be created before opening, date up to one year ahead, shows 90 days before opening, "Recently opened" tag for 90 days, "Edit profile", "Opening date", "Save", checked 5 September 2026
  5. eligibility (physical location or travels to customers), real-world name, no keywords, one profile per business, rebranding criteria, name change beyond them means a new profile and the old one marked closed, checked 5 September 2026
  6. move reviews across profiles: automatic transfer on address change with same name, reviews remain with new owner or minor name change or closure, do not create a new profile for a move or ownership change, contact form for an unintended new profile, checked 5 September 2026
  7. only one profile per business; duplicates; merged profiles combine reviews but replies may be lost; request a merge by suggesting an edit on Maps; request access from the current owner, checked 5 September 2026
  8. missing or delayed reviews: policy check can take a few days; merged profiles need a few days; removed reviews are not restored, checked 5 September 2026
  9. suspended profiles: appeal steps, do not create a new profile for the same business while an appeal is under review, checked 5 September 2026
  10. removing a profile from your account: reviews remain, owner replies and posts are removed; a closed business slowly disappears from results, checked 5 September 2026
  11. review link and QR code: "Read Reviews", "Get more reviews", "Copy", QR code only in a computer browser, where to share, checked 5 September 2026
  12. tips to get more reviews; incentives are fake and misleading content; reply tips, checked 5 September 2026
  13. verification required before replying; "Read reviews", "Reply"; replies checked in up to 10 minutes or up to 30 days, checked 5 September 2026
  14. fake engagement, conflict of interest (employment, affiliations), what merchants may and may not do when asking for reviews, checked 5 September 2026
  15. restrictions after fake engagement: no new reviews, reviews unpublished, warning shown, email, appeal, checked 5 September 2026
  16. Business Profile at no charge; collect and respond to reviews, checked 5 September 2026
  17. find your profile: search "my business", Maps app "Business" tab, checked 5 September 2026
  18. customer side: sign in, "Reviews", "Tap the 5 empty stars", reviews are public, no anonymous reviews, checked 5 September 2026

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