What to ask a review management company before you sign

Ask a review management company eight things before you sign: whether every customer gets your Google link or only the happy ones, whether anything of value rides on a review, and whether they will be a manager on your Business Profile or take ownership of it. Then ask what consent they rely on to text your customers, who writes the replies, what the monthly report counts, what the contract locks you into, and what you keep when you leave. That is the list, and below is why each question is on it and what a good answer sounds like.

The eight cover the two ways a review vendor can hurt a business. The first is breaking a rule in your name (Google’s review policy, Canada’s anti-spam law or the Competition Act), and the second is quieter: a contract and an access setup that make it hard to leave. Most of the sales call will be about how many reviews you will get, while these questions are about what happens to your profile while you get them.

The questions about Google’s rules

Google writes the policy, and the penalty lands on your profile rather than on the vendor’s, and I start with it for that reason.

1. Does every customer get the Google link?

Google’s Maps policy says merchants may not “discourage or prohibit negative reviews, or selectively solicit positive reviews from customers”, and the second half is the one to test. Why the second half? A review tool can ask the customer how the job went first and then send only the satisfied ones on to Google. Ask the vendor to walk you through what a customer sees after they tap the unhappy answer. If that screen has no route to your Google review page, ask how the setup fits a policy against selectively soliciting positive reviews. Then listen for whether the answer names the policy or changes the subject.

Why does this matter beyond the rule itself? Google’s own help page says it plainly: “A mix of positive and negative feedback often feels more trustworthy”. In my judgment, a profile with nothing but five-star reviews can read as curated to the next owner who compares you against two other plumbers. If reviews you expected never show up at all, that is a separate problem, and I walk through it in the post on a Google review not showing up.

2. Does anything of value ride on a review?

A draw, a coupon or a loyalty credit can be built into the ask to lift the response rate. Google’s policy does not allow that kind of trade for a review of any rating. I cover where that line sits (including the ways owners cross it by accident) in whether you can offer discounts for Google reviews. Ask to read the exact message text the vendor will send, and look for any reward that depends on the customer posting.

Staff quotas and review bonuses

The same policy tells merchants not to ask staff to collect a set number of reviews, and not to ask staff for reviews that name them. If the vendor’s dashboard ranks your technicians by reviews collected, ask how that ranking is meant to be used. I would not pay staff a bonus per review either, because to me it reads as a quota by another name (that is my judgment, not Google’s wording).

The questions about your Google Business Profile

3. Will you be a manager or an owner?

Google’s help page describes two roles. An owner has full control and “can add or remove users, manage profile info, and even delete the profile”. A manager has “mostly the same access”, and Google says the only exception is they “can’t add or remove users or remove the profile”. Managers can still “respond to reviews, and manage posts”, which covers all of the review work a vendor needs to do.

The answer you want is “manager”, with you staying the primary owner. Google also notes that each user needs their own Google Account, which means nobody needs your password. If a vendor asks for your Google login, or asks to be made primary owner, that is the moment to slow down. What happens when you leave a vendor who owns your profile? It turns into a recovery job rather than a cancellation.

Who holds the review link and the QR codes

Your review link comes from your own profile, and Google’s help page tells businesses they can ask customers to “visit a Google link or scan a QR code”, and it explains how to create both. Ask whether the vendor’s link points straight at Google or at a page on the vendor’s domain first. A redirect through their domain is not a breach on its own. The catch is the printed Google review QR code on your truck, which then works only while the vendor keeps that redirect alive. A code that points straight at Google keeps working after you cancel.

The questions about texting your customers

4. What consent do you rely on to text my customers?

A review request goes out under your business name, usually by text. Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) prohibits sending a commercial electronic message unless the recipient “has consented to receiving it, whether the consent is express or implied”. Is a review request one of those messages? Treat it as one unless a lawyer tells you otherwise. Implied consent from a purchase covers the “two-year period immediately before the day on which the message was sent”.

The question for the vendor is what they check before they send, not whether they call themselves “CASL compliant”. A plumber in Wasaga Beach who imports every customer since the business opened into one review blast is the case to ask about. Ask how the vendor handles customers whose last purchase falls outside that two-year window and who never gave express consent.

Sender identity and the unsubscribe

CASL also requires the message to “set out prescribed information that identifies the person who sent the message”. When a customer unsubscribes, the sender has to act on it “no later than 10 business days after the indication has been sent”. Ask to see the text, and ask what happens when a customer replies STOP. A good answer names a system that records the opt-out, not a person who checks the inbox when they have time.

The questions about the work itself

5. Who writes the replies, and do I approve them?

Replies post under your business name, and a vendor reply that answers a furnace complaint with “Thanks for your feedback, we value every customer” tells the next reader that nobody read the review. Ask whether replies are written per review or drawn from a template, whether you see them before they go live, and who handles a one-star. My view on what a good reply holds is in how to respond to Google reviews, and I would hold any vendor (mine included) to the same standard.

6. What does the monthly report count?

A report full of “review requests sent” and “click rate” measures the vendor’s activity rather than your result. What should it count instead? What you need is new Google reviews this month, your rating trend, and where you stand against the two or three businesses above you in the Map Pack. Ask for a sample report from a real month, and if the vendor will not show one, that is an answer too.

Promised review targets

Treat a promised number of reviews per month with suspicion. Review count depends on how many jobs you finish and how many customers act on the ask, and neither of those is in the vendor’s hands. For local context on review counts by category, see the Collingwood Review Index. A vendor that names a number without first asking your monthly job count is guessing.

The questions about the contract

7. What am I signing, for how long, and in what currency?

A starting price on a pricing page is not the price you will pay if the demo showed you add-ons. Ask each vendor for the monthly price with every feature you were shown in the demo, and compare the quotes line by line.

Ask three things in writing:

Question	The answer to want
How long is the term, and does it renew on its own?	Month to month, or a renewal date you can see
Is the price in CAD or USD?	Known before you sign, so the exchange rate does not surprise you
Is there a setup fee, and what does it pay for?	A named list of setup work, or no fee

The person behind the software

Ask whether you are buying software you run yourself or a service someone runs for you. Then ask who sets it up, who writes the message in your voice, and who you phone when a text goes out wrong. A roofer in Barrie who is on a roof all day needs a different answer than a dental office with a front desk. A vendor who gives both the same answer has not asked which one you are.

8. What do I keep when I leave?

Will any of your reviews leave with the vendor? Ask, because the answer should be no. What can be lost is everything around them: your customer list, your message history, the QR cards that point at the vendor’s domain, and any feedback customers sent privately. Ask how you export each one, and in what format, before you sign rather than after.

Where Review Engine fits

Can you not just run the ask yourself? Yes, and plenty of owners should: the review link and QR code come from your own profile, and a list of eight questions costs nothing to ask. Review Engine is my Google review management service for owners who keep forgetting to ask, which is a shortage of time rather than of knowledge. Georgian Bay SEO lists it at $149 a month with no contract and no setup fee. The page sets out what is included (setup, the post-job text, the monthly report and reply templates). The page also states that the system never texts the same customer twice in 30 days and honours every opt-out. Put the same eight questions to every vendor on your list, this one included, and hold each answer against those published terms.

If reviews are one part of a wider problem, the Georgian Bay local SEO blueprint shows where reviews sit next to categories, citations and the website.

Frequently asked questions

What does a review management company actually do?

In general, it asks your customers for a Google review after each job and tracks what comes back. A vendor may also draft replies and send a monthly report, but the ask is the part that produces reviews, and the rest is how you see it working.

Is review gating illegal in Canada?

This is general information, not legal advice, and I am not a lawyer. Google’s policy says merchants may not “selectively solicit positive reviews from customers”, and that is what review gating does. Separately, the Competition Bureau has warned that a person who writes or allows misleading reviews could be liable under the Competition Act, so for a specific setup, ask a lawyer.

Should a review company have my Google password?

No. Google lets you add a vendor as a manager on your Business Profile, and each user signs in with their own Google Account. A manager can “respond to reviews, and manage posts”, and the only exception Google lists is that a manager “can’t add or remove users or remove the profile.”

Can I run review requests myself instead?

Yes. Google’s help page explains how to create a review link and a QR code for your own profile. In my view the part worth paying for is a system that sends the ask after every job (busy weeks included). If you can keep that habit on your own, you do not need a vendor at all.