How Do Law Firms Get More Google Reviews? (Without Breaking the Rules)

We have seen a 4.4 star rating turn prospects away. The ads did their job, the person searched the firm's name before they called, and the reviews undid it. On the other side we've watched firms with a few dozen reviews hold the top spot in the Melbourne map pack because they kept getting new ones every month while the firm next door stopped asking years ago.

Reviews are one of the few marketing levers a law firm fully controls, and most firms run them on memory. Someone remembers to ask a happy client, a few reviews come in, then nothing for six months. The firms at the top of the Australian legal map packs have a system instead, and it's a fairly simple one.

The trouble is the advice that ranks for this question. Most of it is written for US firms, and half of it recommends things that break Google's review policy or Australian consumer law: asking friends and family, paying staff per review, giving clients a discount, or filtering out the unhappy ones before you send the link. This guide is the Australian version, written for firms that want more reviews without putting the profile or a practising certificate at risk. It sits alongside our guide to Google Business Profile for lawyers, which covers the rest of the profile.

How many Google reviews does a law firm need?

Enough to beat the three firms in your local pack, with a rating of at least 4.5 and new reviews arriving every month. That's the honest answer, and the number behind it changes a lot by practice area and city.

We pulled the top five map pack results for eight legal searches on Google Australia in the first week of October 2026. The chart shows the median review count of those five profiles.

A few things stand out once you look at the individual profiles.

Every one of the 40 profiles was rated 4.6 or higher. A firm sitting at 4.3 or 4.4 isn't in these packs at all, and when a prospect compares three firms side by side the one with the lower star rating is the one they skip.

Count matters, but it's only part of the picture. The firm in first place for "family lawyers Melbourne" had 28 reviews and the firm in first place for "criminal lawyers Melbourne" had 25, both ahead of firms with several hundred. Distance from the searcher and how well the profile and website match the search do a lot of the work, which our map pack guide covers in detail. Reviews are what get you over the line once you're in contention.

Personal injury is the hardest market for this. The biggest injury firms have hundreds or thousands of reviews from sheer volume, and one Sydney profile in our check had 1,577. You can still win your local area, but be realistic about the major city results.

Here's how we set targets depending on where a firm starts.

The first step is ten minutes of homework. Search your main practice area and suburb on your phone, then write down the rating, review count, date of the latest review and whether the owner replies for yourself and the top three firms. That tells you what you're up against.

Are lawyers allowed to ask clients for Google reviews?

Yes. Google's policy allows businesses to "solicit or encourage the posting of content that does represent a genuine experience", and the Queensland Law Society's guidance on online reviews says clients "should be encouraged to provide feedback, testimonials and reviews. These must, however, be genuine."

What gets firms into trouble is who they ask, what they offer and what they do with the reviews afterwards. Three sets of rules apply at once: Google's own content policy, the Australian Consumer Law as the ACCC enforces it, and the solicitors' conduct rules.

The conduct rule worth knowing is rule 36 of the Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules, which says a solicitor's advertising must not be false, misleading or deceptive, or likely to mislead or deceive. Fake, bought or staff-written reviews put you on the wrong side of it. The QLS is blunt that fake reviews "would contravene a solicitor's fundamental duty of honesty".

The ACCC has also shown it will act on reviews in professional services. HealthEngine, a health booking platform, was ordered to pay $2.9 million in penalties in 2020, partly for withholding around 17,000 negative patient reviews and editing about 3,000 others to remove the negative parts.

When is the best time to ask a client for a review?

At the moment the client tells you they're happy, and if that moment doesn't come, when the matter wraps. People review on the day they feel relieved. A week later the feeling has faded and the request is one more thing on their list.

The natural moment is a little different in each practice area, and some clients need more care than others.

Whatever the practice area, the in-person moment is the strongest. When a client says thanks on the phone or in a meeting, ask there and then and send the link while you're still talking. The line we teach our clients' teams is short:

"That means a lot. Would you mind putting that in a Google review? I'll text you the link."

It works because it's a natural response to what the client just said, it asks for something small, and the link arrives before they've hung up.

What should the review request actually say?

Short, personal and from someone the client knows. The message should name the lawyer, thank the client, say what you're asking for and give the direct link. Use the direct review link from your Google Business Profile (in the profile, choose "Ask for reviews" or "Share review form") so the client lands straight on the star rating instead of hunting for your firm in Google.

SMS, sent when the matter closes:

"Hi Sarah, it's Michael from [Firm]. Thanks again for trusting us with your matter. If you have a minute, would you leave us a Google review? It really helps other people find the right lawyer. [link]"

Email, for clients who prefer email or when the matter closed by letter:

Subject: Thank you, and a small favour

"Hi Sarah, now that everything is finalised I wanted to say thank you for working with us. If you'd be happy to share your experience in a Google review, here's the link: [link]. It takes about a minute, and it helps other people in a similar situation decide who to call. Either way, all the best for what comes next. Michael"

The reminder, about a week later, if they haven't left one:

"Hi Sarah, just a quick follow-up in case my last message got buried. Here's the review link again if you have a minute: [link]. Thanks, Michael"

After that, leave it. One reminder is polite. A third message starts to feel like pressure, and pressure is exactly what Google's policy and the ACCC are worried about.

Notice what the messages don't say. They don't ask for five stars, they don't ask the client to mention anyone by name, and they don't offer anything in return.

Tell clients early that the request is coming. A line in the engagement letter or the first meeting ("at the end of your matter we'll ask how we went") means the text doesn't come out of nowhere.

How do you get reviews from past clients without a sudden spike?

Send the request to a few past clients a day over a couple of months instead of all at once. A firm that goes from two reviews a month to 60 in a week looks odd to Google and to anyone reading the profile, and a burst of messages to clients you haven't spoken to in years gets a lot of "who is this?" replies.

Start with clients whose matters closed well in the last two years, then work further back. Personalise the opening line ("It's been a while since we finalised your matter, and I hope things are going well") and send each one from the lawyer who ran the matter.

For new clients, automate it so nobody has to remember. In GoHighLevel, or most CRMs that send SMS, the workflow looks like this:

If you send review requests by SMS, the Spam Act still applies: identify the firm and give people a way to opt out. A firm that already uses a CRM for intake can usually add this in an afternoon. Our guide to the best CRM for law firms covers which systems handle SMS well.

Is review gating illegal in Australia?

Review gating means checking whether a client is happy before deciding whether to send them the Google review link. Happy clients get the link and unhappy ones get a private feedback form. It's banned by Google, and the ACCC has named it as a practice that can mislead consumers.

Google's policy says businesses must not "discourage or prohibit negative reviews, or selectively solicit positive reviews from customers". In its December 2023 sweep of online reviews, the ACCC flagged businesses that send positive customers to public review sites while routing negative feedback to private channels, and businesses that only display 4-star and higher reviews. The ACCC's position is that a review profile built that way gives people a false picture of the business.

This matters because gating is still sold to law firms. Several review tools sell a "net promoter" filter that asks a satisfaction question first and only shows the Google link to people who score you highly. Some of the US guides that rank for this question recommend tagging clients as happy or unhappy in the CRM and only messaging the happy ones. Even Google's own AI answer for "how to get Google reviews for a law firm" has recommended tools that filter out unhappy clients. Each of those would put an Australian firm offside.

There's nothing wrong with asking for private feedback. Ask every client for it if you like. The rule is that every client gets the same chance to leave a public review, whatever they said privately.

Can you reward staff or clients for Google reviews?

You can't reward clients, and you can reward staff for following the process but not for the number of reviews.

The test is simple. If the reward or pressure only makes sense because the review will be positive, don't do it.

What are the review rules for personal injury firms in Queensland and New South Wales?

In Queensland, getting reviews on your Google profile is fine. Republishing those reviews as advertising is where the risk sits. In New South Wales, there's no injury-specific ban, and the general advertising rules apply.

Queensland's Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 limits advertising of personal injury services to the firm's name, contact details and area of practice, published by an allowed method. Advertising under the Act is any statement likely to encourage someone to make a claim or use a particular practice, and the internet is included. The maximum penalty is 300 penalty units, and the Legal Services Commission treats a breach as possible misconduct. The Commission's guideline also says that "a person viewing or browsing a website or social media pages is not a client or genuine enquirer", so the existing client exception doesn't cover your social media audience.

A review a client writes on Google is the client's own statement. The moment you take that review and put it in a Facebook ad, a Google Business Profile post, an Instagram tile or a "5 star rated" banner on your website, you're publishing it to encourage claims. That's advertising, and a glowing review about a great result says far more than name, contact details and area of practice.

The Commission is actively prosecuting. In February 2026 QCAT upgraded a matter to professional misconduct with $30,000 in fines over a hospital billboard and "No Win, No Fee" on a website and social media. In May 2026 a Gold Coast injury principal was reprimanded over website lines like "we walk with you every step of the way". A review widget on an injury page sits in the same risk category. Our article on whether personal injury lawyers can advertise in Queensland covers the wider rules.

Treat Queensland workers compensation work the same way as personal injury, as it has its own advertising limits, and get advice if you're unsure where a particular piece of content falls. Nothing here is legal advice.

How should a law firm reply to a Google review?

Reply to every review within a few days, keep it short, and never confirm that the reviewer was a client or say anything about a matter. BrightLocal's 2025 consumer survey found 63% of people expect a business to reply within two to three days.

The confidentiality point catches a lot of firms out. Rule 9 of the conduct rules stops a solicitor disclosing a client's confidential information, and there's no exception for defending yourself against a bad review. The QLS guidance says you can't use a client's confidential information to rebut criticism online. Even confirming that someone was your client, or that they weren't, tells the world something about that person.

That's why we'd avoid the common US reply to fake reviews, "we have no record of you being a client". It discloses who is and isn't a client, and if the reviewer was a former client under another name you've just told everyone they weren't.

For positive criminal and family reviews, keep outcomes out of the reply even if the client mentioned them. "So glad we got the charges dropped" in your reply confirms the matter in your words.

Reply to positive reviews too. The person reading your profile before they call is looking at how you treat people, and a profile where the firm answers every review reads very differently from one that's gone quiet.

Can you get a bad Google review removed, or sue over it?

Sometimes, if it breaks Google's rules or the law. Not if it's a genuine, honest opinion from a real client that you'd rather wasn't there.

The QLS also cautions that demand letters over "defamatory" reviews need to be proportionate. A heavy-handed letter that gets screenshotted and posted is usually worse for the firm than the review was.

The best fix for one bad review is twenty good ones. A 4.9 profile with one angry review and a calm reply looks more trustworthy to most readers than a perfect 5.0.

Do Google reviews actually bring in clients?

Yes, though mostly by making your other marketing work harder. Reviews won't replace your ads. Most people who enquire act on the ad itself. Strong reviews add a few extra enquiries every month and lift how many people who see your ads go on to call.

Where reviews matter most is when a prospect compares firms side by side. On Google Ads, people searching "family lawyer near me" see several firms, click through to a couple and check their star ratings, and the firms with more reviews tend to do better. On Facebook ads, most prospects act on the ad, but the ones who search your name first are often the most careful buyers and frequently the higher-value ones.

The map pack is the direct effect. Track calls from your Google Business Profile with a dedicated tracking number and many firms are surprised to find more of their organic enquiries come from the profile than from the website. Reviews are a big part of what keeps that profile in the pack.

Reviews also do a different job from case studies. A review tells the next client people were happy. A case study proves you can solve their problem, with numbers and the client's permission. Ask your team each month who's had a great result lately, and you'll find material for both.

Your 30-day review system

Most firms don't need a cleverer approach to reviews. They need to ask every client, at the right moment, by text, every time, and keep doing it after the first good month. That's how a firm with 30 reviews ends up ahead of a firm with 300 that stopped asking.

If you're running ads and want the reviews, the profile and the intake to work together, our growth system for law firms covers how we set the whole thing up.