5 review mistakes that keep good practices stuck at 3 stars

Five review mistakes keep good practices stuck at 3 stars on Google: never asking for reviews, making the review journey too long, ignoring the reviews that arrive, taking policy shortcuts like incentives or gating, and leaving complaints with nowhere private to go. None of them are about the quality of care – which is exactly why fixing them moves the rating. Here are all five, with the fix for each.

Mistake 1: never asking – so only the angry speak

An unprompted Google page is a complaints book. Frustrated patients are motivated to write; satisfied patients simply go home. A practice that never asks ends up rated by its worst mornings, not its typical ones. And that page is read: 76% of consumers regularly read online reviews when browsing local businesses (BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 2023), and 71% of patients check online reviews as the first step in finding a new doctor (Software Advice).

The fix: ask routinely and neutrally – a short text or email after appointments: “Thanks for visiting [practice name]. If you have 20 seconds, we’d value your feedback: [link].” Ask everyone you legitimately can, not a hand-picked few.

Mistake 2: making the review journey too long

“Search for us on Google and scroll down to reviews” is a five-minute job on a small screen, and most goodwill doesn’t survive it. Every step between the intention and the stars loses patients.

The fix: one short link that opens the rating directly – tap, stars, done, in about 20 seconds. Put it in texts, email footers, a QR poster by the door and on your website, then test it on an ordinary phone.

Mistake 3: ignoring the reviews you already have

A page of unanswered reviews – especially unanswered complaints – tells every reader that nobody is listening. The reply is not really for the reviewer; it is for the hundreds of prospective patients reading over their shoulder. Businesses that respond to reviews are seen as 1.7× more trustworthy (Google/Ipsos).

The fix: reply briefly and courteously to every review, and never include clinical or personal detail – a public reply must not even confirm someone is a patient. “Thank you for the kind words” and “We’re sorry this fell short – please contact the practice manager so we can put it right” cover almost every case.

Mistake 4: shortcuts that breach Google’s rules

Two tempting shortcuts make things worse. Offering incentives – vouchers, prize draws, free extras – for reviews breaches Google’s review policy and can get reviews removed. So does “review gating”: quietly asking only patients you know are happy, or blocking unhappy ones from reaching the public review box. Under the UK’s Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act – in force for reviews since April 2025, with CMA guidance in CMA208 – hiding negative reviews or selectively soliciting positive ones is a banned practice in its own right, not just a Google-policy issue. Beyond the policy risk, a page that looks curated reads as curated – 46% of people trust online reviews as much as recommendations from friends and family (BrightLocal 2023), and that trust is precisely what gating spends.

The fix: invite everyone, reward no one, and keep the public option open to all. An honest page with a few imperfect reviews outperforms a suspicious wall of five-star ones.

Mistake 5: giving complaints nowhere to go but public

When the only place a frustrated patient can be heard is Google, Google is where they go. Most complainants want acknowledgement and a fix, not an audience – but only if the private route is easy and visibly leads somewhere.

The fix: pair your review link with a private feedback form that lands in the practice manager’s inbox the same day, and make sure someone owns responding to it. You are not hiding from criticism – patients can always still post publicly – you are simply making it easier to tell you first.

Why this matters more since 2025

NHS.uk closed its public star-ratings in 2025, leaving Google as the main public rating for UK practices. There is no longer a second scoreboard. Fix these five habits and the rating starts to reflect the practice you actually run – no tricks, no promises of overnight numbers, just the silent majority finally being asked.