How to Get More Patient Reviews Ethically
Written by Jessica Freeman, Web Designer and SEO Strategist since 2011 • Post Last Updated October 2026
You get more patient reviews by asking every patient the same way: soon after their visit, with a link that drops them straight into the review box. Most practices skip asking for reviews because asking feels a little like asking for a tip.
You should want more patient reviews because patients can’t judge your clinical skill, so they judge what other patients say about you. Google also uses review count and rating as part of how it ranks local businesses.
That adds up to visibility. Zocdoc says providers with at least 10 reviews see about three times more monthly bookings than providers with none (that’s their own data, so take it as a direction and not a promise).
I’m Jess Freeman, a web designer and SEO strategist at Jess Creatives, and since 2011, I’ve been helping private practice owners get found online.
How do you get more patient reviews without being pushy?
Ask every patient, in the same words, every time. A short, honest request (“if you have a minute, a review helps other people find care”) lands better than a speech about your marketing goals. Patients don’t need to know about your Google ranking.
Don’t pre-screen anyone. Asking only the patients you think were happy is the quickest way to land in trouble, and the FTC’s staff guidance says that practice could violate the FTC Act. If you ask everyone, you’ll get a normal mix of reviews!
What is the easiest way to get more patient reviews?
The easiest way is to send patients a direct link or QR code to your Google review box, so nobody has to search for you. Google lets you generate both from your Business Profile for free.
Every extra step the client has to take will cost you reviews. “Find us on Google and leave a review” is expecting a patient to take time to open a browser, search your name, scroll past other practices, and hunt for a button, and unfortunately most clients won’t.
A dental client of mine used a text message template like this one and saw a 15% increase in reviews in one month.
Hi [First Name], thank you for coming in to [Practice Name]. If you have a minute, a quick review helps other people find care they can trust: [Google review link]. Reply STOP to opt out.
Send it to every patient, and only to patients who’ve given written consent to receive texts.
Here are a few different strategies to request testimonials:
| Method | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Email after the visit | Routine appointments | One link only, no social icons or portal buttons competing with it |
| Text message | Patients who live on their phones | You need their written consent to text before you send anything |
| QR code at the front desk or on aftercare sheets | In person visits | Put it out for everyone, not just the patients who seem pleased |
| Asking in the room | Patients you already have rapport with | Follow up with the link, and don’t ask for a specific star rating |
| Review software connected to your records | Busy, multi provider practices | You’ll need a business associate agreement, and any “happy or unhappy” screening step has to be turned off |
When is the best time to ask patients for a review?
For routine visits, ask within a day, while the appointment is still fresh. For a procedure with recovery time, wait until the patient has healed enough to have an opinion about the result.
Sending a review request the same afternoon as a surgery is how you get a review that says “ow.”
The research I pulled suggests weekday mornings around 10:00 AM tend to get the best open rates for these emails. Treat that as something to test with your own patients, not a rule. Reputation.com, a review management company, says its own data shows about 5% more responses in the morning than the afternoon, and 8 to 10% more midweek.
What should you ask patients to write about?
Invite patients to describe their experience in their own words, and give them a few things to think about. Something like “How did our team communicate with you?” or “What stood out about your visit?” works well.
Patients who describe what they came in for, and how it went, give Google and the next patient something specific to read. A review that says “my knee recovery was smooth and the team explained everything” does more than five stars with no text.
Don’t write the review for them, and don’t hand them a script. People can smell a script from the waiting room.
What can you not do when you ask for patient reviews?
You can’t offer anything in exchange for a positive review, and you can’t screen out unhappy patients before they reach the review link. The FTC’s rule on consumer reviews has been in effect since October 21, 2024, and it bars buying reviews that express a particular sentiment. Google treats incentives for reviews as fake engagement too.
“Get $20 off your next copay for a five star review” is the obvious example, but even implying that the review has to be positive counts against you as well.
Staff and family can write reviews, but the FTC says they need to clearly disclose the relationship.
How do you respond to patient reviews without breaking HIPAA?
Reply with a generic message that never confirms the reviewer was your patient. Even if the reviewer shares their own diagnosis in public, you can’t repeat or acknowledge it.
This has cost real practices real money. A New Jersey psychiatry practice paid $30,000 and took on a corrective action plan after replying to negative Google reviews with patient details.
For negative reviews, a safe template is: “Thank you for your feedback. We care about every person who contacts our practice, and we’d like to talk this through offline. Please call us at [phone number].” For a positive review, a plain “thank you” is enough. It’s important to remember that replying to reviews can help your SEO in the Google map pack!
Will more patient reviews help if your website is the problem?
Not as much as you’d hope. A review gets someone to your name, and your website decides whether they book.
If the site loads slowly, buries your contact info, doesn’t say plainly who you help, or looks like it was built the year the iPad launched, those reviews are sending people to a locked door. The same goes for search visibility, because Google and AI tools read your site to figure out what you do and where you do it. Reviews support that, but they can’t replace it.
If you put patient testimonials on your own site, they have to be real. The FTC says businesses can be liable for fake testimonials they publish themselves.
This is the kind of thing I look at when I work with practice owners on their website!
What should you do first to get more patient reviews?
Grab your Google review link today, drop it into whatever email you already send after appointments, and ask every patient for the next 30 days. That’s a small enough task to finish before lunch, and it will do more than any software you haven’t bought yet. Once the reviews start coming in, take a look at the website they’re sending people to.
