What is review gating?

Checking whether a customer is happy before asking for a review, then sending only happy customers to the review site. Google does not allow it.

Is it gating to ask “How was your visit?” first?

Yes, if the answer decides whether the customer sees your review link. Ask the question if you like, but give every customer the same link.

Is review gating illegal in the US?

The FTC rule does not specifically ban asking only happy customers, but FTC staff say it could break the FTC Act. Hiding negative reviews you received is banned by the rule.

Can I have a private feedback form?

Yes, as an extra channel offered to everyone. It must never replace the review link or be shown instead of it to unhappy customers.

Does a multi-review card count as gating?

Not if every customer gets the same card and the page lists every platform equally, with no rating question first.

What happens if Google finds gating?

Google can remove the reviews and, under its rules for businesses, restrict the profile for a period — for example, stopping new reviews.

Review rules

Review Gating Explained: Why Filtering Unhappy Customers Backfires

By NFC Online Editorial Team · Published 2026-11-01 · Updated 2026-11-01

Review gating means checking whether a customer is happy before you ask for a review, then sending only the happy ones to Google. Google bans it, and in the US hiding negative reviews can break the FTC’s rule on reviews. The honest way is simple: every customer gets the same review link.

What review gating is

Review gating is any system that decides who gets asked for a public review based on how happy they seem. The aim is a better rating. The effect is a rating that no longer reflects what customers think.

It comes in several forms. Some are obvious, and some are built into review software that promises “more five-star reviews”:

A “How was your visit?” question with stars or smiley faces comes first. Customers who choose a high score are sent to Google; the rest see a private form.
Review tools that route low scores to a “tell us how we can improve” page and high scores to your review profile.
Staff who hand the review card only to customers who smiled or said thanks.
Follow-up emails sent only to customers who rated you well in an earlier survey.
A review page that asks for a rating first and shows the review links only afterwards.

All of these filter customers before the review. That is what makes them gating, whatever the software calls it.

Gated flow vs honest flow

How a gated review request differs from an honest one
Step	Gated flow	Honest flow
First thing the customer sees	A rating question: “How did we do?”	Your review link, or a card that opens it
Who gets the review link	Only customers who gave a high score	Every customer
Unhappy customers	Sent to a private form instead of the review site	Get the same link; can also contact you directly
What your profile shows	Mostly praise, filtered by you	What customers actually think
Google’s policy	Not allowed	Allowed and encouraged
Risk	Reviews removed and possible restrictions on your profile	None from the request itself

The honest flow is what an NFC review card, stand or sticker supports by default: it opens one link for whoever taps it. A multi-platform review card does the same for businesses that use several review sites, as long as the page it opens treats every customer alike.

Why Google bans it

Google’s policy on fake engagement and rating manipulation does not allow businesses to “discourage or prohibit negative reviews, or selectively solicit positive reviews from customers”. Gating does both: it pushes unhappy customers away from the review site and invites only the happy ones.

Google removes content that breaks the policy. Its page on Business Profile restrictions for policy violations gives examples of what can follow, including a period when the profile cannot receive new reviews and a warning shown to people who view it. Our plain-English guide to Google’s review policy for businesses covers the full list of rules.

What the US FTC rule says

In the US, the Federal Trade Commission’s Trade Regulation Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials (16 CFR Part 465) has been in force since 21 October 2024. According to the FTC’s announcement, it bans review suppression in two ways:

Using unfounded legal threats, physical threats, intimidation or certain false public accusations to stop or remove a negative review.
Claiming that the reviews on the review part of your own website show all or most of the reviews you received, when some were hidden because of their rating or negative tone.

The rule also bans offering a reward that depends on the review being positive (or negative). On gating itself, the FTC’s questions and answers on the rule say the rule has no specific ban on asking only customers you think are happy — but that the practice could still break the FTC Act. In short: in the US, filtering who reviews you is risky, and hiding the reviews you get is banned outright.

Other countries have their own rules. Our guide to fake review laws in the UK, US, EU and Australia sets them side by side. This is general information, not legal advice.

Why gating backfires in practice

Even before the rules, gating tends to hurt the business that uses it:

It can undo itself. If Google removes reviews it believes were collected this way, the rating changes with them, and you may lose genuine reviews too.
It hides problems from you. A critical review sent to a private form is easy to file and forget. The same review in public gets an answer.
It teaches staff to judge customers. Once the team is told to pick who gets the card, they also learn to skip the quiet customers, who are often happy.
It makes replies impossible. You cannot answer criticism you have hidden, and readers notice when a profile shows only praise.

The honest alternative

The fix is not a better filter. It is no filter:

Everyone gets the same review link: the same card, the same stand, the same follow-up message.
Staff say the same neutral line to every customer, with no mention of stars.
Nothing is offered in return — no discount, no freebie, no prize draw.
Problems are fixed when they happen, without linking the fix to a review.
Every review gets a reply, positive or critical.

Our guide on how to get more Google reviews without breaking the rules turns this into a routine you can start this week.

A feedback channel that is never a filter

You can still give customers a private way to tell you something. Many do: an email address on the receipt, a comment form on your website, a manager who walks the floor. That is good practice, as long as it stays separate from the review request:

Offer it to everyone, not only to customers who look unhappy.
Never put it in front of the review link, and never let a rating decide which one a customer sees.
Never present it as a replacement for a public review.
If a customer uses it, fix the problem — and leave them free to review you publicly as well.

A simple test: if a customer who would give you one star sees exactly the same review link as a customer who would give you five, you are not gating.

Using a multi-review card without gating

A multi-review card opens one page that lists your review profiles, so each customer picks the site they already use. That page is where gating can creep in, so keep it plain. List every platform with the same size of button, add no rating question before the links, and do not write “happy with us? choose Google”. Our guide to choosing between Google, Tripadvisor and Trustpilot review cards shows how to build the page.

Hand the card to every customer, including the one who complained about the wait. That is what keeps it honest.

Checking your current setup

If you already use review software or a routine, ask these questions:

Does any customer see a rating question before they see the review link?
Does the software send different customers to different pages depending on their answer?
Do staff choose who gets the card, or does everyone get it?
Do follow-up messages go to every customer, or only to some?
Is anything — a discount, a gift, a draw — linked to leaving a review?

If the answer to any of the first four is “it depends on the customer”, or the answer to the last is yes, change it.

If you have been gating

Stop the filter first: switch off the rating step, or point the tool straight at your review link. Do not delete or hide the reviews you already have, and do not ask customers to remove reviews. Brief the team on the new routine, the same day. Our retail shop guide shows how a till team handles returns and complaints without gating.

The rules, in short

Never offer incentives for reviews. Never ask only happy customers or filter them first — that is review gating. Never write, buy or swap fake reviews. Owners, staff and their families must not review their own business. The source for all four is Google’s policy on fake engagement. A review card cannot promise stars or a number of reviews; it only makes asking everyone easier.

Questions

What is review gating?: Checking whether a customer is happy before asking for a review, then sending only happy customers to the review site. Google does not allow it.
Is it gating to ask “How was your visit?” first?: Yes, if the answer decides whether the customer sees your review link. Ask the question if you like, but give every customer the same link.
Is review gating illegal in the US?: The FTC rule does not specifically ban asking only happy customers, but FTC staff say it could break the FTC Act. Hiding negative reviews you received is banned by the rule.
Can I have a private feedback form?: Yes, as an extra channel offered to everyone. It must never replace the review link or be shown instead of it to unhappy customers.
Does a multi-review card count as gating?: Not if every customer gets the same card and the page lists every platform equally, with no rating question first.
What happens if Google finds gating?: Google can remove the reviews and, under its rules for businesses, restrict the profile for a period — for example, stopping new reviews.