How to Ask Customers for a Review by Email: 11 Templates

Every review request email fails for one of two reasons: it goes out too late, or it asks for the wrong thing. The templates below fix both — one per platform, because a Google Business Profile ask and a G2 ask are not the same email.

Below: when to send each one, what a good ask actually contains, all eleven templates, the harder version for a customer whose experience wasn't smooth, and what the rules say about incentives.

When to send this#

Timing matters more than wording. Ask while the win is still fresh — a resolved ticket, a completed onboarding, a renewal — and the reply rate is highest in the first 48 hours after that moment.

Wait two weeks and the customer has moved on; the email reads as a chore instead of a chance to say something true. Ask mid-problem, before it's resolved, and you'll get a review of the problem, not the fix.

What a good one contains#

A review request that works is short, specific, and asks for one thing. Four parts do the job:

• A one-line reason it's happening now — "you just renewed," not "we'd love your feedback"
• Exactly what you want reviewed — the product, the support interaction, the onboarding — not a vague "your experience"
• A direct link to the review form, not a link to your homepage they then have to hunt from
• One sentence of what to mention, if the platform allows guidance (most do — steering the topic isn't the same as steering the rating)

The templates#

Eleven templates, one per situation. Fill the brackets, keep the length — three to five sentences reads as a real request; ten reads as a campaign.

1. Google Business Profile#

Subject: Quick favor — 60 seconds on Google?

Hi [NAME], thanks for [SPECIFIC INTERACTION — booking with us, picking up your order, the visit on Tuesday]. If you have a minute, a Google review helps other people in [CITY/AREA] find us: [REVIEW LINK]. If you could mention [WHAT TO MENTION — the thing that actually happened], that's the most useful kind of review. Thanks either way.

2. B2B software review site (G2, Capterra)#

Subject: Would you review us on G2? (5 min)

Hi [NAME], you've been using [PRODUCT] for [TIME PERIOD] now, and I'd genuinely like to know how it's going for your team. G2 reviews are one of the few things buyers actually trust when they're evaluating a tool like ours — could you write one here: [REVIEW LINK]? If you mention [WHAT TO MENTION — the specific workflow or integration they use], it'll help someone in a situation like yours decide faster.

3. App store (Apple App Store, Google Play)#

Subject: (in-app prompt, not email — see note below)

If you loved [SPECIFIC FEATURE], a quick rating helps other people find [APP NAME]: [DEEP LINK TO REVIEW PROMPT]. Takes about 20 seconds.

4. Post-support-resolution ask#

Subject: Glad we got that sorted

Hi [NAME], glad we got [ISSUE] resolved. If the support experience was good, a review helps other customers know what to expect when something goes wrong: [REVIEW LINK]. And if anything about it wasn't good, just reply here — I'd rather hear that first.

5. Amazon or marketplace product review#

Subject: How's [PRODUCT] working out?

Hi [NAME], it's been [TIME PERIOD] since [PRODUCT] arrived. If you have two minutes, an honest review — good or not — helps other buyers know what they're getting: [REVIEW LINK]. No need to sugarcoat it either way.

6. SaaS trial-to-paid conversion#

Subject: You just upgraded — mind sharing why?

Hi [NAME], thanks for moving to a paid plan. Since you decided [PRODUCT] was worth paying for, would you write a quick review of what made the difference: [REVIEW LINK]? It's the most credible kind of review — someone who tried the free version and paid anyway.

7. Local service business (contractor, salon, clinic)#

Subject: Thanks for having us out

Hi [NAME], thanks for choosing us for [SERVICE]. If [TECHNICIAN/STAFF NAME] did right by you, a review helps your neighbors find someone they can trust for the same job: [REVIEW LINK]. Mentioning [WHAT TO MENTION — response time, the specific fix] is the most helpful detail for people comparing options.

8. Repeat customer, second or third purchase#

Subject: You're back — thank you

Hi [NAME], this is your [Nth] order with us, which tells me something's working. Would you put that into a review for people who haven't decided yet: [REVIEW LINK]? A repeat customer's review carries more weight than a first-time buyer's.

9. Free-tool or lead-magnet user (Product Hunt, review directories)#

Subject: You used [TOOL] — got 60 seconds?

Hi [NAME], you tried [TOOL] a few days ago. If it did what you needed, a short review on [PLATFORM] helps other people deciding whether to try it: [REVIEW LINK]. And if it didn't, tell me what was missing — that's just as useful to me.

10. Post-onboarding, B2B#

Subject: One month in — how's it going?

Hi [NAME], it's been about a month since your team got set up on [PRODUCT]. Now that the initial setup dust has settled, would you share how onboarding went in a review: [REVIEW LINK]? Specifically useful: what almost made you give up, if anything did.

11. Employee or candidate review request (Glassdoor)#

Subject: Would you share your experience on Glassdoor?

Hi [NAME], as you [move on / complete your first 90 days], would you consider writing a Glassdoor review: [REVIEW LINK]? Honest reviews — the good and the frustrating — are what make Glassdoor useful to the next candidate.

The hard version of this situation#

The hardest ask is the customer whose start was rocky and who you fixed, not the customer who was happy from day one. Both are real, but the templates above assume the easy case. Here's the harder one.

The move is to name the rough start plainly instead of skipping past it — pretending the friction didn't happen reads as tone-deaf, and the reader notices the gap between the email's cheerfulness and their actual experience.

Template: after a bumpy start#

Subject: About the rocky start — and where things landed

Hi [NAME], I know [WHAT WENT WRONG — the delay, the bug, the mixup] wasn't the experience we want anyone to have, and I appreciate you sticking with us while we sorted it out. If you think the resolution was fair and you'd be willing to share the full picture — the rough patch and how it got fixed — a review helps other customers know what actually happens when something goes wrong here: [REVIEW LINK]. If it doesn't feel fair yet, tell me that first; I'd rather fix it than have you write around it.

Is it against the rules to offer an incentive for a review#

Yes, on every major platform, and the FTC treats it as a deceptive practice under its endorsement guidance: a review written in exchange for money, a discount, free product, or any other compensation must disclose that exchange, and most platforms simply ban incentivized reviews outright rather than allow a disclosed version.

Amazon, Google, and G2 all separately prohibit review-gating — asking only customers you expect to be happy, or routing unhappy customers to a private form while routing happy ones to the public review page. The Google Business Profile ask above ('a Google review helps other people find us') is compliant because it goes to everyone; a version that first asked 'were you satisfied?' and only sent the link on 'yes' would not be.

What to do if there's no reply#

One follow-up, five to seven days later, is normal and doesn't read as pushy. A second one does. If the first email had a subject line, the follow-up should feel like a nudge, not a repeat of the same pitch.

Subject: One more nudge — no worries if not

Hi [NAME], following up in case this got buried — no pressure either way, but if you have a minute: [REVIEW LINK]. If now's not a good time, that's completely fine.

After that, stop. A third email moves the interaction from 'reasonable ask' to 'pressure,' and it's the kind of pattern that gets a domain flagged as spammy by inbox providers, independent of platform rules.

1. 1

   Send the ask

   Within the timing window from the table above, tied to the specific moment.

2. 2

   Wait five to seven days

   Long enough that a follow-up doesn't look impatient.

3. 3

   Send one follow-up

   Shorter than the original, explicitly low-pressure.

4. 4

   Stop

   No review after two asks means this isn't the customer to keep chasing — move to the next one.

A faster way to run this at scale#

The pattern above — trigger off a real moment, ask once, follow up once, then stop — is easy to do for one customer and hard to do consistently for a thousand. Most teams either send review requests to everyone on a timer (which catches people mid-problem) or forget to send them at all once the initial excitement about the tactic fades.

AI Emaily's drafting agent can watch for the actual signal — a support thread just got marked resolved, a renewal email just landed — and draft the matching template above in your voice, ready for one approve-before-send click rather than a blanket automated blast. We build AI Emaily. It won't gate the ask by sentiment for you; that call, and the honesty of it, stays yours.