How to Get More Google Reviews for Your Salon or Barbershop

A salon lives and dies by its chairs. An empty chair at 2pm on a Tuesday is money you’ll never get back — and increasingly, what fills it isn’t a sign in the window. It’s your Google reviews.

When someone moves to a new suburb or finally decides to ditch their old barber, they don’t ask around like they used to. They search “barber near me” or “balayage Brunswick,” and they scan the reviews. What they find there decides whether they book you or the shop two doors down. Here’s how to make sure it’s you.

Why reviews decide who sits in your chair

Hair and beauty is personal. People are trusting you with how they’ll look for the next six weeks, so they do their homework — and reviews are the homework.

For a salon, recent reviews do something a portfolio can’t: they’re proof from people like the searcher that you’ll get it right. A wall of recent five-star reviews mentioning “great with curly hair” or “best fade in town” is worth more than any amount of advertising — and it’s free.

The best moment to ask is at the chair

Here’s the mistake most salons make: they mean to ask for reviews, then never quite do, because asking feels awkward. The fix is timing.

The perfect moment is the spin-around — when your client is looking in the mirror, running a hand through the fresh cut or colour, and says some version of “oh, I love it.” That’s the peak. Their enthusiasm will never be higher than right then.

So ask right then. Not by text the next day, when the feeling has faded and your message is buried under twenty others.

How to ask without feeling pushy

You don’t need a script that sounds like a telemarketer. You need something natural that fits how you already talk:

• “So glad you love it! If you’ve got a sec, a quick Google review honestly makes a huge difference to a small shop like ours — no pressure at all.”
• “It would mean the world if you’d leave us a quick review — here, I’ll text you the link so it’s easy.”

Two things make this work: you only ask the genuinely happy ones, and you make it specific and human. People help small businesses they like — they just need the nudge and an easy path.

Remove every ounce of friction

Enthusiasm fades in the time it takes to find your business on Google. So don’t make them search:

• A QR code at the counter and the mirror station that opens your Google review page directly.
• A short link in your booking-confirmation or thank-you SMS (“Loved your visit? Review us here: …”).
• A saved link on the front-desk tablet so you can hand it over while they’re paying.

The rule: from “yes, I’ll do it” to a posted review should take under thirty seconds.

Don’t buy reviews — earn them

It’s tempting to offer 10% off the next blow-dry for a review. Don’t. Incentivising reviews breaches Google’s policies and risks your reviews being wiped or your profile penalised — and Australian Consumer Law takes a dim view of misleading reviews too. The good news: you don’t need to. A genuinely happy client asked at the right moment will say yes for free.

Reply to every review — especially the tricky ones

Getting reviews is half the job; what you do with them is the other half. Replying to a five-star review with a warm, specific thank-you (“So glad Mia nailed your colour — see you next time!”) makes that client more loyal and shows browsers you’re attentive.

And when a less-than-perfect one lands? Stay calm and constructive — it’s the reply future clients judge you on. (We wrote a full guide on responding to negative reviews, and on why replying to every review pays off.)

Turn your best reviews into more bookings

Your reviews shouldn’t only live on Google. Screenshot the best ones for your Instagram stories, stick a favourite in the shop window, add a few to your booking page. Social proof compounds — every place a glowing review appears is another reason for someone on the fence to book.

Full chairs aren’t luck. They’re the quiet compounding of happy clients, asked at the right moment, and reviews you actually keep up with. See how Fivy works for salons & barbers.