Med spa Google reviews
To get more Google reviews, ask every patient, the same way, right after their visit: a text with your direct review link, a QR card at checkout and a quick ask from the provider. Many clinics only ask when someone remembers. In our team's data, a text after the visit took the share of patients leaving reviews from 2.1% to 11.8%. Adding the QR card and the provider ask took it to 18.4%.
Reviews, across the clinics our team measured
Patients leaving a review after a post-visit review text (88 clinics)
Patients leaving a review with a text, a QR card and a provider ask (31 clinics)
New reviews per month at the median clinic, before and after the full system
Why it matters
People choosing a med spa are choosing who touches their face. They read reviews closely, and Google uses them in the map results where most of those searches end.
Across the 52 med spas our team runs SEO for, each additional 100 reviews went with about 3.2 more top-3 map rankings (r = 0.61). That's a correlation, not proof of cause.
A clinic with 400 reviews and none this year looks closed. A steady weekly flow matters more than one push. The median SEO client in our team's data went from 112 reviews to 528 over 18 months.
Before any system, 2.1% of patients left a review at the median clinic. Patients aren't unwilling. Nobody asked them at the right moment, with a link that takes one tap.
Our review data
Each row is a separate measurement across a different group of clinics, so the gains don't simply add up.
The text did most of the work. The QR card and the provider's ask added more on top.
Methodology: before = a clinic's first 90 days, after = months 4 to 6. Figures are medians across clinics, January 2024 to June 2026. Full method and limitations are in our med spa speed-to-lead study.
The method
Every patient who completes a visit gets the same ask. No picking the happy ones, no skipping the quiet ones. This is the rule the rest depends on.
The checkout or completed-appointment status triggers a short text with your direct Google review link. One tap from the text to the review box.
A small card at the desk with a QR code that opens your review link. Google's own advice is to "ask customers to visit a Google link or scan a QR code."
One sentence at the end of the visit: "If you have a minute, a Google review really helps us. We'll text you the link." The text then arrives as a reminder, not a surprise.
Thank people, keep replies short and specific to the clinic, and never mention treatments or confirm that someone is a patient. More on that below.
Message example
Short, from a named person, with the link and nothing else to do. Only text patients who agreed to receive texts, and keep treatment details out of it.
After the visit
"Hi {first name}, thanks for coming in to {clinic} today. If you have a minute, would you leave us a Google review? It helps other people find us: {review link}. {Staff name}"
One reminder, a few days later
"Hi {first name}, a quick reminder in case you missed it. Here's the link if you'd like to share how your visit went: {review link}." Then the sequence stops, whether they review or not.
The systems we set up
Most clinics we work with get two systems from us. Review automation asks every patient after every visit, without anyone at the front desk having to remember. Review management catches negative reviews the moment they're posted, so your team can deal with them the same day.
We set this up for our clients in GoHighLevel. When a visit is marked complete in your booking system, GoHighLevel sends the patient a review request with your direct Google review link.
For many of our clients we also connect GoHighLevel to Airtable, so every review is tracked in one place and no negative review sits unanswered.
Both systems treat every patient the same. Automation asks everyone; management only acts after a review is posted. That's the difference between review routing and review gating, explained next.
Review routing vs review gating
Some review tools send a "How was your visit?" survey first, and only send the Google link to patients who answer positively. That's review gating. It breaks Google's rules. We build review routing instead.
In review routing, every patient is asked for a review, the same way. The routing happens after a review is posted: when a negative review comes in, your internal team is notified and contacts the patient to resolve the problem. Nobody is filtered out of the ask. The patient decides whether to update the review. Never ask them to, and never offer anything in exchange for a changed or removed review.
Our team's data put review routing at about two hours to set up. Its effect is indirect: cost per lead was about 8% lower.
The rules
These are the rules that matter most for a clinic asking for reviews. Breaking them can get reviews removed from your profile, and some carry FTC penalties.
If your website shows patient testimonials, don't present a hand-picked set as your full review record. This is a summary, not legal advice.
Replying
Google recommends replying to reviews, including negative ones, and keeping replies professional and short. For a med spa there's one more rule: never confirm that someone is a patient or mention their treatment, even if they mentioned it first. HHS has fined a practice for revealing patient details while replying to negative online reviews (HHS, 2023).
Positive review
"Thank you for taking the time to share this. We're glad you had a good experience at {clinic}."
Negative review
"Thank you for the feedback. We take every concern seriously and would like to talk this through. Please call {manager name} at {number}."
Take the conversation private, by phone or a secure channel. Don't argue details in public. More on replying on social media without breaking patient privacy.
Case studies
Work led by our team, shared with each clinic's consent.
Northside's top-3 map keywords went from 2 to 34 over the same 12 months, alongside its SEO work, so the gain can't be credited to reviews alone. Lumiere's before = first 90 days, after = months 4 to 6.
How we build it
We look at your review count, review pace, rating and reply coverage, and how many patients you see a month, so we know what "more reviews" should mean.
The post-visit text and reminder on your checkout trigger, QR cards, the provider script, and alerts to your team when a negative review lands. We build it in GoHighLevel, connect it to your booking system and track negative reviews in Airtable.
New reviews, share of patients reviewing, replies sent and negative reviews resolved. Reviews feed your local rankings, so we track map positions too.
Where it fits
Reviews are one of the core parts of med spa SEO, next to your Google Business Profile and treatment pages. If you want to see where your profile stands, our med spa local SEO audit guide shows how to read reviews as evidence, not just a star rating.
The review text runs inside your med spa CRM with the rest of your patient follow-up. Patients who come back through patient reactivation get the same ask after their visit.
As a med spa marketing agency, we build review requests into every system we set up, and we report on booked patients, not star counts.
FAQ
Ask every patient, the same way, right after their visit: a text with your direct review link, a QR card at checkout and a quick ask from the provider. In our team's data, that combination got 18.4% of patients to leave a review, up from 2.1%.
Right after the visit, while it's fresh. We trigger the text from the checkout or completed-appointment status, send one reminder a few days later and then stop.
No. Google prohibits offering payment, discounts, free goods or services in exchange for a review, and the FTC's 2024 rule bans incentives tied to a positive or negative review.
Review gating means asking patients how their visit went first and sending only the happy ones to Google. Google's review policy prohibits selectively soliciting positive reviews, so gating can get your reviews removed.
In review routing, every patient gets the same review request. When a negative review comes in, your team is notified and contacts the patient to resolve it. In review gating, only patients who seem happy are asked. Routing is allowed; gating is not.
Reply briefly and politely, don't confirm that the person is a patient or mention any treatment, and invite them to call a named manager. Then resolve it privately.
Yes. We set up Google review automation in GoHighLevel: when a visit is marked complete, the patient gets a text with your direct Google review link and one reminder. Every patient gets the same ask. For many clients we also log every review in Airtable, so negative reviews are flagged to your team straight away and tracked until they're resolved.
It depends on your booking setup and what else is in place. We share exact pricing after a free audit.
Get a free marketing audit of your ads, follow-up and booking flow. No pressure, just a clear picture.
Book a free marketing audit