How to Build a Google Review Request Email Sequence

Why a single email usually underperforms

Most customers who don't leave a review after one ask aren't refusing — they meant to, got distracted, and never came back to it. A short, respectful sequence catches that group without pestering the ones who've already reviewed or made clear they'd rather not be asked again.

The goal isn't to maximise emails sent — it's to maximise the number of genuine customers who get a fair, low-friction chance to leave a review before you stop asking.

A sequence that works without feeling pushy

Two emails is usually the right number. A third rarely lifts response rates enough to justify the risk of feeling like nagging.

• Email 1 — sent within a day or two of the purchase or job finishing, while the experience is still fresh. Personal tone, one clear link, no pressure.
• Email 2 — a short reminder five to seven days later, only to contacts who haven't clicked through or reviewed yet. Shorter than the first, and the last one you send.
• Stop — anyone who reviews, clicks the link, or unsubscribes comes out of the sequence immediately, not at the next scheduled send.

What each email should actually say

Email 1: thank them by name for the specific thing they bought or the job you did, ask directly for a Google review, and give one link — not several platform options split across the message, which tends to lower completion. Sign it from a real person, not "the team".

Email 2: shorter still. Acknowledge you know they're busy, repeat the same single link, and don't reference the fact that this is a reminder in a way that reads as guilt-tripping — "you never got back to us" lands worse than silence would have.

Keeping the sequence compliant

In Australia, review-request emails to past customers fall under the Spam Act 2003: you need consent (an existing customer relationship generally qualifies), accurate sender identification, and a working unsubscribe that's honoured promptly — not just included as a formality.

• Suppress anyone who unsubscribes immediately and permanently, not just from the current sequence.
• Suppress anyone who bounces, rather than retrying.
• Never offer an incentive tied to leaving a positive review, or to leaving a review at all in exchange for a discount — that risks both Google's review-gating policy and misleading-conduct exposure under the Australian Consumer Law.

When to stop sending, for good

• After the second email, regardless of response — don't add a third "final reminder".
• The moment someone reviews, unsubscribes, or asks not to be contacted again.
• For any contact who's already flagged as unhappy elsewhere — a complaint, a support ticket — ask once you've resolved it, not while it's still open.