Last updated: 6 October 2026
TL;DR
- Dealerships may not ask customers for five stars on Google: Google's policy prohibits trying to influence the rating, inviting only happy customers, and offering any reward for a review.
- Google does allow dealerships to invite every customer to share their genuine experience, as long as there is no reward and no hint about which rating or wording is expected.
- An importer KPI based on the star rating alone distorts the signal: customers leave five stars with a complaint in the text, and the dealership loses sight of what needs fixing.
- Dealer groups using Repmanager invite every customer and track response rate and response time per dealership on the dashboard, alongside the average rating.
Can you ask customers for five stars on Google?
No. Google's Maps content policy lets businesses ask for reviews, but only without trying to influence the rating or the content. "Would you give us five stars?" is exactly that. Asking only satisfied customers, and discouraging negative reviews, are explicitly prohibited as well.
The same Google policy on prohibited content names two more things that happen on the showroom floor. You do not set staff a target number of reviews, and you do not ask for specific content, such as the sales advisor's name. Rewards are ruled out entirely: no discount, no free valet, no prize draw. For the plain-English version, read our guide to Google's review policy. For gifts and promotions specifically, see whether you can offer a reward for a review.
One distinction matters here. The importer's own customer survey has its own rules, and those differ by brand. This article is about public reviews on Google.
Why do importers want a 4.7?
Because the star rating is the most visible number. The brand rides on every dealership's profile, and a floor somewhere between 4.3 and 4.7 is a common pattern in the agreements we come across. Most importers also track response rate and response time. How those targets fit together is covered in importer KPIs for reviews.
A dealer consultant who works with many groups put the intent simply: importers want a 4.7 as the KPI, but "it is about improving". That is the point. The 4.7 is meant as a thermometer, not a goal in itself. Once everyone at the dealership starts fiddling with the thermometer, it stops measuring anything.
What does a score-only KPI do to your reviews?
It pollutes your own signal. In practice we see customers leave five stars with a complaint in the text, because they do not want the dealership punished by the importer. Stars and sentiment drift apart. The dashboard shows a fine rating, while the complaint about a missed call-back or an invoice goes unaddressed.
The second effect is pressure on the sales advisor. If you are judged monthly on a rating, you start choosing: the happy customer gets the QR code, the customer with a messy handover does not. That is review gating, and Google does not allow it. The third effect is slower. An average built over years barely moves, so a dealership doing well now only sees it months later. For what a realistic rating looks like, read what a good average review score is.
| What you do | Allowed on Google? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Invite every customer after handover or a workshop visit | Yes | You ask for a genuine experience, with no filter |
| Give the review link to happy customers only | No | Selectively asking for positive reviews is prohibited |
| "Could you give us five stars?" | No | You are trying to influence the rating |
| Ask the customer to mention the sales advisor by name | No | You are asking for specific content |
| A discount, valet or prize draw for a review | No | Rewards for reviews are ruled out |
| Give staff a quota of reviews | No | Google names this explicitly as not allowed |
What should you steer on instead?
On what you control: how many customers you invite, how many reviews you answer and how quickly. The rating is the outcome of your service and of who chooses to post. Response rate and response time are behaviour, and behaviour can be managed per dealership. The rating follows.
This is how dealer groups working with Repmanager do it. They invite everyone, not just the customer who has just driven off smiling. That brings in more reviews, and a broader picture is also more credible: a wall of nothing but five stars looks suspicious to a car buyer. Groups also set the bar for replying above the importer's minimum. A response rate of 80 percent is often the floor, with 99 to 100 percent as the internal ambition. What is achievable across several sites is covered in a realistic response rate for multi-location businesses.
There are two schools on timing. One asks at handover, with a QR code or a sign at the desk. The other sends an email invitation afterwards, once the customer has driven the car for a few days. Both work, as long as everyone gets asked.
How do you set this up in Repmanager?
You set up Repmanager so every customer gets an invitation and you can see per dealership how replying is going. The rating stays visible, but next to the numbers you can actually move.
- Open Invites and send invitations by email, per location and per platform (Google or Klanten Vertellen). The overview shows when each invitation was sent and whether the link was clicked.
- Generate a printable QR code per location for the front desk or the workshop, so every customer gets the same chance. More on review invitations is on the feature page.
- On the Dashboard, check average rating against target, response rate against target and average response time against your SLA. The dashboard also shows unanswered reviews per dealership.
- Use Top complaints with the trend against the previous period. That is where the improvement sits, even when the stars stay high.
- Watch sentiment alongside the stars. A five-star review hiding a complaint shows up in the AI summary on the review.
- Switch on reply rules for four and five stars, so your response rate does not depend on a quiet week. See automatic replies with reply rules for how that works.
Which reviews to answer automatically, and which go past a person first, is covered in which reviews to answer automatically.
What usually goes wrong when you steer on the rating?
Four mistakes come back again and again. Nearly all of them start with good intentions and a KPI that is too narrow.
Handing the QR code only to happy customers. It feels clever, but it is selective asking. Give it to everyone.
Explaining which score counts. A line like "anything below a 10 counts as a fail for us" sounds harmless at handover. It is exactly the kind of steering on the rating that Google does not allow.
Looking only at the average. A 4.6 can hide dozens of unanswered complaints. Look at what is still open too.
A bonus per review for the sales advisor. That rewards volume and outcome, which is precisely what Google wants to prevent.
Frequently asked questions
Can you remind customers to leave a review?
Yes, a reminder is fine, as long as everyone gets it and it contains no reward and no expected score. Keep it to one reminder, or it starts to feel like pressure.
Can you catch negative feedback internally first?
You can always resolve complaints internally. What you cannot do is deliberately keep unhappy customers away from Google and send only happy ones there. That is selective asking.
What if the importer only judges the star rating?
Put response rate and response time on the table with the importer as well. They show what the dealership actually does, including in a busy workshop month with more complaints.
Does this apply to Klanten Vertellen too?
Klanten Vertellen has its own rules. The principle is the same: ask everyone for an honest experience and do not steer the outcome.
Ready to set it up?
Want to see, per dealership, how many customers you invite, how many reviews you answer and how fast? In a 15-minute demo we show it with your own dealerships.
