Short answer: Review gating is inviting only the customers who seem pleased to post a public review. Google’s policy for Maps doesn’t allow merchants to “selectively solicit positive reviews from customers”. The FTC’s reviews rule has no specific ban on it, but the FTC says the practice could violate the FTC Act. In an example in its Endorsement Guides, inviting all recent purchasers to provide feedback on third-party websites would not have been unfair or deceptive.
Before you read: We based this guide on the review policies and guidance that Google and the FTC publish. We read them on November 10, 2026. It is general information, not legal advice.
What review gating looks like
The FTC’s Endorsement Guides describe one version of it in an example. A marketer contacts its recent online, mail-order and in-store purchasers and asks them for feedback.
It then invites the purchasers who give very positive feedback to post reviews on third-party websites. Less pleased and unhappy purchasers are simply thanked for their feedback.
The example says that practice may be unfair or deceptive if the posted reviews end up substantially more positive than they would have been without it.
In our view, a tool that asks for a rating first and shows the review link only after a high score is gating, whatever its maker calls it.
What Google’s policy says
Google’s Maps content policy lists what it doesn’t allow merchants to do under rating manipulation. One item reads: “Discourage or prohibit negative reviews, or selectively solicit positive reviews from customers.”
The same list bans incentives, like payment, discounts, or free goods and services, in exchange for posting a review, or for revising or removing a negative one.
Google also asks merchants not to require ratings or reviews, or pressure people into them, while they are on the premises, and not to request specific content.
The policy says incentivized or biased reviews, part of rating manipulation, aren’t allowed and will be removed from Maps.
Its tips for getting more reviews suggest asking customers to visit a Google link or scan a QR code. They also say a mix of positive and negative feedback often feels more trustworthy.
In our view, ask every customer in the same words, with no hint about the stars you hope for.
What the FTC’s rule says, and what it leaves out
The FTC’s reviews rule doesn’t mention gating by name. The FTC’s questions and answers on the rule take it up directly.
Asked whether a business may limit its review requests to customers it believes are happy, the FTC answers that the rule doesn’t contain a specific prohibition against such conduct.
It adds that the practice could violate the FTC Act, and points to the Endorsement Guides: their paragraph on consumer reviews and the gating example above.
The rule does cover incentives tied to a sentiment. It calls it a violation to provide compensation or other incentives in exchange for, or conditioned expressly or by implication on, reviews expressing a particular sentiment. That holds whether the sentiment is positive or negative.
What the FTC’s guides say
The Endorsement Guides say advertisers shouldn’t take actions that have the effect of distorting or misrepresenting what consumers think of their products. That applies when they procure, suppress, boost, organize, publish, upvote, downvote, report or edit consumer reviews.
The gating example belongs to the same section, among the examples that follow that paragraph. It adds that simply inviting all recent purchasers to provide feedback on third-party websites would not have been unfair or deceptive, even with a stated hope for positive reviews.
The FTC’s answers on the Endorsement Guides take up a closer case: sending the review link only to customers in the regions with the highest satisfaction. The answer starts with “No”. Asking only customers you think are more likely to be happy “would be misleading if it substantially skews the favorability of the reviews”, it adds.
The FTC’s guidance on soliciting and paying for reviews dates from January 2022. Its rules of thumb include not limiting review requests to customers who are likely to leave positive ones.
The same guidance says to know the rules of the platforms and websites where the reviews may appear before you ask for them.
In our view, if you send a satisfaction survey, send the review link to every customer, whatever they answered.
Reviews on your own website
The rule also covers review suppression in a part of a business’s website that receives and displays reviews. It bars materially misrepresenting, expressly or by implication, that the reviews shown represent most or all of those submitted. That applies when reviews are being suppressed based on their ratings or their negative sentiment.
Reviews withheld under criteria applied equally to all, without regard to sentiment, don’t count as suppressed for this purpose. The rule’s examples include defamatory content, another person’s personal information and reviews the seller reasonably believes are fake.
The FTC’s answers add that organizing reviews, such as putting the most helpful ones first, is not suppressing them under the rule. Ordering them by rating isn’t covered by the rule either.
But organizing reviews so that negative ones are hard to find could be an unfair or deceptive practice under Section 5 of the FTC Act, the same answers say.
The FTC’s answers on the Endorsement Guides give an example of deceptive organizing: all 5-star reviews first, then 4-star and on down, regardless of date. They say that holds even when visitors can re-sort the reviews.
The same answers cover delays too. If you delay posting reviews to have time to respond, they say to delay all of them, positive and negative, for the same reasonable period of time.
Our social proof guide covers what Google allows when you show reviews and stars on your site.
In our view, publish every review that meets your posted criteria, and sort them the same way for every visitor.
When a customer is unhappy
The FTC’s answers on the Endorsement Guides also say you’re welcome to contact unhappy customers and respond to their concerns. You can also ask them whether they’ll add updates to their reviews.
Asking them to change or delete their initial negative reviews could mislead readers, the answers add.
Google’s tips say constructive replies and following up on concerns can show you care, and may even encourage the customer to update the review. Our guide to responding to negative reviews has reply templates.
Under the rule, nobody may respond to a review with intimidation, a public false accusation, a physical threat or an unfounded legal threat, to block it or have it removed. For the accusation, the rule means one made knowing it was false, or with reckless disregard for whether it was true.
The FTC’s guidance on soliciting reviews also warns against misusing a platform’s reporting tools against honest negative reviews. Our guide to removing a Google review explains when Google removes a review and how to report one.
Asking every customer instead
Google’s policy allows soliciting reviews that represent a genuine experience, without offering incentives and without trying to influence the rating or the contents of the review.
Our guide to getting more Google reviews has your Google review link, the QR code and a message to copy.
In our view, send the same link and message to every customer after each job, as part of your usual follow-up.
Before you ask for reviews
- Every customer gets the same review link and the same message.
- No rating or survey answer decides who sees the review link.
- No discount, gift or payment depends on a review or on its stars.
- Nobody is pressured to review on the spot or asked for specific words.
- Your site shows reviews under criteria applied equally to all of them, without regard to sentiment.
- Unhappy customers get a reply, never a request to delete their review.
RememberGoogle’s Maps policy doesn’t allow merchants to selectively solicit positive reviews. The FTC says gating could violate the FTC Act, and its example says inviting all recent purchasers wouldn’t have been unfair or deceptive.
With our local SEO service, we answer your reviews, publish your posts and keep your listings on the same name, address and phone. The review link and the QR code go to everyone.
Questions about review gating
Is review gating illegal?
The FTC’s reviews rule doesn’t contain a specific prohibition against asking only happy customers for reviews. The FTC says the practice could still violate the FTC Act. Its answers on the Endorsement Guides add that asking only customers likely to be happy “would be misleading if it substantially skews the favorability of the reviews”.
Does Google allow review gating?
No. Among the things Google’s Maps content policy doesn’t allow merchants to do is to discourage or prohibit negative reviews, or selectively solicit positive reviews from customers. The policy says incentivized or biased reviews aren’t allowed and will be removed from Maps.
Can I send a satisfaction survey before asking for a review?
The FTC’s example of gating starts with a feedback request and invites only purchasers who give very positive feedback to post reviews. That may be unfair or deceptive if it makes the posted reviews substantially more positive. In the same example, simply inviting all recent purchasers to provide feedback on third-party websites would not have been.
Can I ask an unhappy customer to change a negative review?
The FTC’s answers on its Endorsement Guides say you can contact unhappy customers, respond to their concerns and ask whether they’ll add updates to their reviews. Asking them to change or delete their initial negative reviews could mislead readers, the same answers say.
Can I hide negative reviews on my own website?
The FTC’s rule covers the parts of a website that receive and display reviews. There, it bars a business from materially misrepresenting that the reviews shown are most or all of those submitted, when some are suppressed for their ratings or negative sentiment. Criteria applied equally to every review without regard to sentiment, such as reviews you reasonably believe are fake, don’t count as that kind of suppression.
Sources
All read on November 10, 2026. From Google: Prohibited & restricted content, from its Maps user-generated content policy, and Tips to get more reviews, from Google Business Profile Help. The FTC’s rule: Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials (16 CFR Part 465, on eCFR). Its business guidance: The Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule: Questions and Answers, and Soliciting and Paying for Online Reviews: A Guide for Marketers. The Endorsement Guides: Guides Concerning Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (16 CFR Part 255, on eCFR), and FTC's Endorsement Guides: What People Are Asking.