How to improve your restaurant's online reviews
Ratings are slow. What to watch instead, how to respond, and what you can't do to get more five-star reviews.
A store's overall rating is years of reviews, so a few bad months barely move it. By the time it drops, the problem is old. The way to improve reviews is to find operating problems while they're new — and the recent window shows them first.
What to watch
- The last 30 and 90 days against the store's own history. A store that has run 4.3 for years and now runs 3.9 has changed.
- Themes: wait time, order accuracy, cleanliness, staff. Three mentions of wait times in a week point at a shift, not the menu.
- Time of visit, where the review gives it, matched to who was working.
How to respond
- Within a day or two, from someone at the store.
- Short and specific: thank them, acknowledge the problem, say what you've changed.
- Take details offline. Don't argue in public, and never share order, payment or employee details.
- Answer good reviews too, briefly.
How to get more reviews, safely
Ask every guest for honest feedback the same way — a card with the bag, a line on the receipt. Don't offer anything in exchange for a review, don't ask only happy guests, and never write, buy or suppress reviews. Google's policies prohibit incentivised reviews, and the FTC's rule on consumer reviews and testimonials, in effect since October 2024, prohibits fake reviews, buying reviews and suppressing negative ones. Check each platform's current policy before running any review request.
For franchisors
Recent rating by store is one of the earlier warnings of an operating problem across a brand. It often moves before sales do.
Where Franlever fits
When a reviews source is connected, Franlever reads each store's recent rating beside its sales and labor, rather than the lifetime average.
Common questions
- Can I offer a discount for a Google review?
- No. Google's policies prohibit offering incentives for reviews, and the FTC's rule bans buying reviews that express a particular sentiment. Ask every guest for honest feedback instead.
- How quickly should a restaurant respond to reviews?
- Within a day or two, briefly and specifically, and with details taken offline.
General information for restaurant and franchise operators, not legal, tax, accounting or financial advice. Figures in examples are illustrations, not predictions or promises of results. Laws and platform policies change and differ by location, so check the current rules and talk to a qualified advisor about your situation.