There are hundreds of articles on “how to get more Google reviews”. There are almost none on what is forbidden — and that is where restaurateurs put themselves at risk, often in good faith, by applying advice found online.
A necessary disclosure: Klarr offers a visibility audit, so we are not entirely outside the subject. We do not, however, sell review management or search-optimisation services.
The four things that are plainly illegal
1. Writing fake reviews, or having them written. That includes what does not feel like fraud: asking your family, your friends or your staff to post a review when they have not eaten with you. Article L121-4 of the consumer code covers “publishing or having another person publish […] false consumer reviews”.
2. Buying reviews. Same thing, worse, because the trace of the transaction exists somewhere.
3. Offering something in exchange for a review, without declaring it. A coffee, a discount, a dessert: that is a benefit. This is not harmless commercial practice but a review obtained in exchange for consideration.
4. Review gating. This is the most widespread practice and the least perceived as a fault: you survey the customer first — “how was your meal?” — and send the Google link only to those who said something good. Google explicitly forbids it. And legally, a rating built by filtering out the unhappy is hard to defend.
What you are perfectly entitled to do
The list is longer than people think, and it is more than enough:
- Ask for a review. Nothing forbids it. The only rule is to ask all your customers, without sorting them.
- Make the gesture easy: a QR code on the bill, a link in the thank-you message. What matters is that the link goes to everyone.
- Choose the moment. As they leave, not three weeks later.
- Reward loyalty, provided the benefit has no connection at all with leaving a review.
- Reply to every review, good and bad alike.
A negative review: what you can do, and what you cannot
An opinion is protected. “The welcome was cold”, “it's too expensive for what it is”, “I wouldn't recommend it”: unpleasant, but not a wrong. Freedom of expression covers judgement, even unfair judgement, even apparently bad-faith judgement.
Defamation begins with the imputation of a specific fact that damages honour or standing: claiming that you poisoned someone, that your kitchen is unsanitary, that you defraud your customers. At that point it is no longer a review but an accusation.
Two limits to know before losing your temper:
- The defence of truth. If the customer is telling the truth, there is no defamation.
- Good faith. A measured statement, resting on verifiable facts, without personal animosity, is protected even if it harms you.
Replying: who you are really talking to
This is the most expensive misunderstanding. People write their reply to the customer who left the review, trying to win the argument.
Your reply is not addressed to them. They will probably never read it. It is addressed to the hundreds of people who will read that review before deciding whether to book with you.
What follows from that:
- Reply to everyone, the good reviews included. A page where only negative reviews get a reply tells a story of its own.
- Keep it short. A long reply gives the review weight and makes people read it twice.
- Never counter-attack. The reader is not looking for who is right: they are watching how you behave when things go wrong, because that is what could happen to them.
- No details about the customer. Do not say what they ordered, what time they came, who with. It is personal data, and everyone reading perceives it as a betrayal.
- Offer to continue in private. An address, a number, and you are off the stage.
What to check yourself
- Your current practices. Is anyone on your team sorting customers before sending the link? Often nobody decided that — it just settled in.
- What your provider does in your name. Some “review management” tools filter out the unhappy without saying so clearly. You are the one who will answer for it, not them.
- The three months, if you are considering action over a serious review.
- How your replies are written, in the light of what they reveal about your customers.
On what the law otherwise requires of your menu and your shopfront: Menu or à la carte: what your choice does to your margins.