How to get more Google reviews for a hospital (without breaking the rules)

Google lists prominence as one of the factors in local ranking, and its help documentation says review count and score are part of prominence. More practically, patients and their families read reviews before choosing a hospital, especially for planned procedures, maternity and paediatrics. A hospital with a large number of recent, detailed reviews and thoughtful replies looks more trustworthy than one with a handful of old ones.

Reviews also tell you what to fix. Recurring complaints about billing, parking or waiting time are free operational feedback.

Before you start asking, understand what Google and Indian consumer rules expect. Breaking them can lead to reviews being removed or, in serious cases, a profile being restricted.

Google's review policies in brief

• No incentives. You cannot offer discounts, free consultations, gifts, lucky draws or any benefit in exchange for a review, even for an "honest" one.
• No review gating. You cannot ask only happy patients, or send patients to a private feedback form first and then direct only positive ones to Google. Google's policy prohibits selectively soliciting positive reviews.
• No reviews by staff or the hospital. Employees, doctors and their families should not review their own hospital.
• No bulk posting from one device or location. Asking patients to post a review on a tablet at reception can trigger Google's spam filters. Let them post from their own phones.
• No staff quotas, content requests or pressure. Google's review policy does not allow a business to ask staff to collect "a certain number of reviews", to ask for reviews with specific content such as a staff member's name, or to pressure patients into reviewing while they are still on the premises.
• No fake or purchased reviews. Apart from Google's policies, fake reviews are a consumer-protection concern in India. The Bureau of Indian Standards published a standard on online consumer reviews (IS 19000:2022) that sets out principles for genuine review collection.

NMC guidelines for doctors and hospitals (October 2026)

The National Medical Commission's Guidelines on Ethical Advertising and Public Communication, issued on 6 October 2026, bar doctors and hospitals from soliciting, buying or manipulating fake, paid or misleading reviews, ratings or testimonials. They also say a doctor must not request or share patient testimonials or reviews for professional promotion on social media. The safer pattern is a neutral request from the hospital about the patient's experience of the hospital, not doctors asking for reviews of themselves. Our guide to hospital advertising rules in India covers the guidelines in detail.

Patient confidentiality

Patients can say what they like in their own review. The hospital cannot. Never confirm in a reply that someone was a patient, never mention a diagnosis, procedure, doctor's notes or dates, and never respond with details from their records. The same applies to your staff on WhatsApp and social media.

1. Open your Google Business Profile while signed in as an owner or manager.
2. Choose "Ask for reviews" or "Get more reviews". Google gives you a short link.
3. Copy the link and create a QR code from it.
4. Test the link on an Android phone and an iPhone.

If you have separate profiles for departments, create a separate link for each and make sure staff use the right one.

Timing is the biggest difference between hospitals that collect reviews and those that do not. Ask once care is complete and questions are answered, not when the patient is anxious or in pain.

Do not send a review request to a family after a patient's death. Otherwise, ask every patient the same way; skipping patients because their outcome or experience may have been poor is selective soliciting.

• QR standees at the discharge desk, pharmacy and OP exit, with a short line: "Tell others about your experience. Scan to review us on Google."
• Discharge folder insert with the QR code and a thank-you note.
• Front-desk cards with the QR code on the back, handed over with the receipt or discharge papers.
• Bill or receipt footer with the review link.

Train staff to say one sentence to every patient: "If you have a minute, a Google review of your visit really helps other patients. The QR code is here." Then stop. Asking only patients who seem happy counts as selective soliciting, and pressure backfires.

Most patients in Kerala prefer WhatsApp to email. Send review requests only to patients who have shared their number with you for communication, and keep the message short. Make sure your privacy notice covers this type of message.

English script: after an OP visit

Hello [Name], thank you for visiting [Hospital Name] today. If you have a minute, we would be grateful if you could share your experience on Google. It helps other patients and helps us improve. [Review link]
Please do not include any personal health details in the review.
Team [Hospital Name]

English script: after discharge

Hello [Name], we hope you are recovering well at home. Thank you for trusting [Hospital Name]. If you would like to share your experience, good or bad, you can review us on Google here: [Review link]
If you have any concerns about your care, please reply to this message or call [number] and our patient relations team will help.

The second line matters. It gives unhappy patients a direct route to you without filtering who gets the Google link, which keeps you within Google's rules.

Malayalam script

നമസ്കാരം [പേര്],
[ആശുപത്രിയുടെ പേര്] തിരഞ്ഞെടുത്തതിന് നന്ദി. ഞങ്ങളുടെ സേവനത്തെക്കുറിച്ചുള്ള നിങ്ങളുടെ അനുഭവം Google-ൽ പങ്കുവെക്കാമോ? നിങ്ങളുടെ അഭിപ്രായം മറ്റു രോഗികൾക്കും ഞങ്ങൾക്കും സഹായകരമാകും.
ലിങ്ക്: [Review link]
ദയവായി നിങ്ങളുടെ ആരോഗ്യ വിവരങ്ങൾ റിവ്യൂവിൽ ചേർക്കേണ്ടതില്ല.
നന്ദി, [ആശുപത്രിയുടെ പേര്]

Ask a Malayalam-speaking colleague to adjust the tone for your patients; a hospital in Kozhikode may phrase it differently from one in Thiruvananthapuram.

Follow-up

Send one reminder at most, three or four days later, only if the patient has not reviewed. More than that becomes spam.

Reviews grow when one person owns them. Usually this is the patient relations or marketing executive. Their weekly routine:

• Check that discharge and OP teams are sending requests.
• Reply to all new reviews.
• Share positive reviews that mention staff by name with those staff, but never ask patients to name a staff member in a review.
• Pass complaints to the right department head.
• Record the weekly review count and average rating.

Department heads can compare review volume and themes, but do not set review targets for staff. Google's policy does not allow asking staff to collect a certain number of reviews, and targets lead to pressure on patients or fake reviews.

Replies show future patients how you treat people. Keep them short, warm and free of any health information.

Template: positive review

Thank you for taking the time to share this, [first name]. We will pass your kind words to the team. Wishing you good health.

Template: positive review mentioning a staff member

Thank you for your kind words. We have shared your message with [staff first name] and the team. It means a lot to them.

Template: negative review about waiting time or service

Thank you for your feedback, and we are sorry the experience did not meet your expectations. We would like to understand what happened. Please contact our patient relations team at [number or email] so we can look into it.

Template: negative review about treatment or a clinical outcome

We are sorry to read this. Because of patient confidentiality, we cannot discuss any details here. Please contact our patient relations team at [number or email] so that a senior member of our team can speak with you directly.

Template: review that may not be from a patient

We take all feedback seriously, but we are unable to find any record matching this description. Please contact us at [number or email] so we can understand your concern.

Be careful even with this one. Saying "we have no record of you" can still reveal information if the person was a patient. Use neutral wording.

What never to write in a reply

• "As per our records, you were admitted on…"
• "Your surgery went as planned, the complication was…"
• Any doctor's clinical notes or test results.
• Anything that argues, blames the patient or threatens legal action publicly.

Hospitals sometimes get reviews from people who were never patients, from competitors, or abusive reviews about staff.

1. 1
   Do not reply angrily. Use the neutral template above or do not reply until checked.
2. 2
   Report the review from your Business Profile using the "Report review" option, choosing the reason that fits (spam, conflict of interest, offensive, off-topic).
3. 3
   Use Google's review management tool to check the status of reported reviews and appeal once if the first decision does not go your way.
4. 4
   Keep evidence. Screenshots, dates and any pattern (several one-star reviews in an hour) help your case.
5. 5
   For defamation or threats, speak with your legal adviser.

Google generally does not remove genuine negative reviews just because the hospital disagrees with them. The better answer to a fair complaint is a calm reply and a fix.

If your hospital has profiles for departments or doctors, think about where reviews go. Sending every patient to the main hospital profile is the simplest and safest rule. Steering patients to an individual doctor's profile to help that doctor rank carries more risk: the NMC's October 2026 guidelines say a doctor must not request reviews for professional promotion on social media, bar hospital communication that portrays an individual doctor promotionally, and bar using a third party to do indirectly what is prohibited directly, so take legal advice first. See our guide to Google Business Profile for hospitals for how to structure these profiles.

Google is the most visible, but patients in India also check Practo, Justdial and Facebook. Keep information consistent on these and reply to reviews there too. You do not need to ask for reviews on all of them; focus on Google first.

• Asking only once a year in a "review drive".
• Offering a free check-up for a five-star review.
• Using a tablet at reception for patients to post.
• Copy-pasting the same reply to every review.
• Revealing patient details in a reply.
• Ignoring old negative reviews instead of replying calmly.

If your hospital wants help setting this up, Adserr's online reputation management for hospitals service covers review systems, staff training and reply guidelines for hospitals across Kochi and Kerala. For the bigger picture, see our healthcare marketing agency in Kerala home page.

How can a hospital get more Google reviews quickly?

Create a short review link and QR code, put it at discharge, pharmacy and OP exits, and send a WhatsApp request after OP visits and discharges. Make one person responsible for it each week. The volume grows quickly once asking becomes routine.

Can we offer patients a discount for leaving a review?

No. Google's policies prohibit offering any incentive for reviews, including discounts, free services or gifts, even if you ask for honest feedback. Incentivised reviews can be removed and may put your profile at risk.

Is it allowed to ask only satisfied patients for reviews?

No. Google prohibits selectively asking for positive reviews, often called review gating. Ask all patients in the same way, and give everyone a route to contact your patient relations team with concerns.

How should a hospital reply to a negative review?

Thank the reviewer, apologise for their experience without admitting clinical details, and invite them to contact patient relations privately. Never confirm they were a patient or mention any health information. Keep the reply calm and short.

Can Google remove fake reviews about our hospital?

Google may remove reviews that break its policies, such as spam, conflicts of interest or offensive content. Report the review from your Business Profile and use Google's review management tool to follow up. Genuine negative reviews usually stay, so a calm reply is the best response.

Can our staff write reviews for the hospital?

No. Reviews from employees, doctors or their family members are a conflict of interest under Google's policies and can be removed. Staff can help by asking patients, not by reviewing.