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Lesson B201.4 · Business Finance 201: Grow Without Breaking

Getting found: Google, reviews and AI search

5-minute read · Figures checked October 2026

Aerial view of a curving road and a freshly striped parking lot

Photo: Jack Taggiasco / Pexels, Pexels License

The short answer

Contractors get found when their business information is accurate and matches everywhere, and when real customers say real things about them. Start with your Google Business Profile, ask every customer for an honest review, post photos of your own work and keep a simple website. Never buy, fake or cherry-pick reviews. The Federal Trade Commission's rule bans fake reviews, and Google's policies ban them too.

Set up your Google Business Profile by the rules

Google's own guidelines cover the basics:

  • Your real name. Use the business name on your trucks and invoices. Don't add keywords, city names or slogans to it.
  • Service area. If you work at customers' sites and don't serve customers at your shop, Google says to hide your address and set a service area. It says a service area generally shouldn't reach farther than about 2 hours' drive from your base.
  • One profile, real places. One profile per business. No profiles for towns where you have no real location, and no virtual offices or remote mailboxes.
  • Your own phone. A number you control that rings your business directly.
  • Real photos. Your crews, trucks and finished lots. Add your services, keep your hours current, and update them when winter work changes your schedule.

Reviews: ask everyone, fake none

Ask every customer, right after the job, with a direct review link or a QR code on the invoice. Ask all of them, including the ones you're unsure about. Google's policies ban selectively asking for positive reviews, and the FTC says that practice could violate federal law.

Don't offer anything in exchange for a review. Google prohibits incentives like discounts or free work, and the FTC's rule bans incentives tied to a positive review. The FTC rule, in effect since October 21, 2024, also bans fake reviews, including AI-generated ones, and reviews from insiders who hide their connection. The FTC can seek civil penalties from knowing violators. Google treats current or former employment as a conflict of interest, so your crew and office shouldn't review the company.

Reply to every review. Thank people by name. On a bad review, reply once, calmly and briefly, and offer to make it right offline. Never threaten a reviewer; the FTC rule also bans using threats or intimidation to get reviews taken down.

Example (made-up numbers): Lena's company finished 40 jobs in May. She emailed each customer a review link the day after the job and put a QR code on every invoice. Fourteen customers left reviews: 14 ÷ 40 = 35%. One was a 2-star review about overspray on a curb. She replied the same day, the crew cleaned the curb, and the customer updated the review on their own.

Your Move

Do this week

  1. Open your Google Business Profile and check the name, service area, phone, hours, services and photos against the rules above.
  2. Make your name, address and phone match on your website, social pages and online listings.
  3. Ask your five most recent customers for an honest review, with a direct link. Ask all five, whatever you expect them to say.
  4. Reply to every review you already have.

Log it: Profile finished and five honest review requests sent.

Common questions

How do I get more Google reviews for my business?

Ask every customer right after the job with a direct link or QR code, make it easy, and reply to every review you get.

Can I offer a discount for a review?

Not on Google; its policies prohibit incentives for reviews. Federal rules also ban rewards tied to a positive review. Ask, and leave it there.

What should I do about a bad review?

Reply once, calmly, and offer to make it right offline. Fix what's fair to fix. If a review breaks Google's content rules, you can flag it.

Watch out for

  • Anyone selling reviews, or "reputation" services that only ask happy customers.
  • Anyone promising first place on Google or in AI answers.
  • Paying for a virtual office or mailbox to get a listing in another town.
  • Keyword-stuffed business names. They break Google's rules.

Free help

Members: tools for this Move (after sign-in)

  • Your National Pavement Maintenance Contractors Association (NPMCA) company page: claim it, then add real photos, your service area, and the same name, address and phone you use on Google.

NPMCA may be paid by partners listed here. The lesson above is the same either way.

Free practice

Lesson check

5 questions on this lesson, one at a time, with the answer and the reason after each. Pass with 4 right, including every must-know question.

This is general education, not tax, legal, investment or insurance advice. Rules change and every situation is different. Check the sources below, and talk to a qualified professional before you act on it.

Sources

All lessons in Business Finance 201: Grow Without Breaking →