Positive realtor reviews come from real clients who are asked honestly, with no reward and no script. Federal rules bar fake reviews and rewards tied to a positive one, and Google bars any incentive. The builder below writes your request and your replies. It will not write the review.
Free realtor review request builder
Enter a client and a closing date to get a request you can send today, with dates for one ask and one reminder. Paste your current wording to check it against the rules. Then write a reply to any review, good or bad. If you are a client writing one, skip to the formats at the bottom.
Realtor review request builder
1. Ask a real client
Hi Maria, it's Dana Cole. Thank you for trusting me with buying your home. If you have a few minutes, would you share an honest review on Google? Good, bad or in between, whatever is true helps the next person. It is completely up to you. [your review link]
First ask, 2026-11-05: Two days after closing, once the keys have settled. Not at the closing table.
One reminder, 2026-11-12: One short note if there is no review yet. Then stop.
Send the same note to every client, not only the happy ones.
2. Check a request you already use
- Incentive: "$25". Google bars payment, discounts or free goods or services for a review. The FTC rule bars any reward tied to a positive review.
- Asks for a rating or sentiment: "5 star". Google says not to try to influence the rating. Ask for an honest review instead.
- Filters who reviews: "If you loved". Google bars discouraging negative reviews or selectively asking for positive ones. Send the same note to every client.
- Requests specific content: "mention my name". Google says merchants should not ask that specific content be included in a review.
- Writes the review for them: "Here's a draft". Google bars content that is not a genuine experience. The FTC rule covers writing or creating reviews that misrepresent the reviewer or their experience.
3. Reply to a review
Sam, I am sorry this was your experience, and I take it seriously. I would like to talk it through and see what I can do. Please call me at (512) 555-0188. Dana Cole
No private details, no personal attacks. Never threaten legal action without a real basis: the FTC rule covers groundless legal threats and intimidation used to get a review removed.
4. For the client writing one: formats with blanks
Illustration of the format. Not a real review. Fill in your own experience or do not post it.
[What you needed, and your timeline] [One thing the agent did, with a detail you remember] [Something that was hard, if anything was] [Who you would recommend this agent to]
[The home and why you were selling, as much as you care to share] [How pricing and prep were handled] [How the offers and the closing went] [What you would tell another seller]
[What went well, specifically] [What did not, specifically] [Whether it got fixed] [Who this agent would or would not suit]
[What you expected] [What happened, with dates if you have them] [What you did about it, and the response] [What a reader should ask an agent first]
Runs in your browser. Nothing you type is stored or sent, and the names are samples. This tool does not write reviews and will not. It writes requests to real clients and replies to reviews they posted. It is a drafting aid, not legal advice.
Key takeaways
- The FTC's rule bars writing or buying fake reviews, and paying for reviews on the condition that they express a particular sentiment.
- Google goes further: no payment, discount or free service for any review, even an honest one.
- Google also says not to selectively solicit positive reviews, or to ask that specific content be included.
- Reply to every review, briefly, and share nothing private. The FTC rule covers false public accusations and groundless legal threats against reviewers.
| Practice | FTC rule | |
|---|---|---|
| Writing a review for a client, or inventing one | Barred if it misrepresents the reviewer or their experience | Barred, must be a genuine experience |
| A reward for a positive review | Barred | Barred |
| A reward for any honest review | Not barred by the rule, if no sentiment is required. Failing to disclose it could violate the FTC Act | Barred |
| Asking only happy clients | Not a named rule item | Barred |
| Asking for specific content or a staff name | Not a named rule item | Barred |
| Asking every real client for an honest review | Not barred | Allowed, with no incentive |
| Threats or false accusations to remove a review | Barred | Offering anything to remove one is barred |
What to say in a good review for a realtor
A good review for a realtor says what you needed, what the agent actually did, what was hard and who you would recommend them to. One detail you remember beats five adjectives. Write only what happened, in your own words, and give the rating you think is fair.
If your agent sent you here, you owe them nothing but the truth. A future buyer reading your review wants to know how the agent acted when the inspection came back ugly. Nobody learns anything from a line about being professional and responsive.
- Say what kind of deal it was. First home, a sale after a move, an investment.
- Give one specific moment. A weekend showing, a repair negotiation, a call that came back fast or did not.
- Include what went wrong. That part may help the next reader most.
- Leave out what is private. Your income, your address and other people's details do not belong there.
Examples of positive realtor reviews: why we show formats
Examples of positive realtor reviews are easy to find, and many pages offer sample reviews to copy and edit. We show formats with blanks instead. A review copied from a page is not a record of what happened. An agent who hands one to a client takes on the risk.
The FTC rule at 16 CFR 465.2covers a business writing or creating a review that misrepresents the reviewer's experience. Google's policybars merchants from soliciting content that does not represent a genuine experience. So the builder's formats are labeled as illustrations, and every line is a blank. Nobody can post one by accident. To see real reviews, read the Google profiles of agents you respect, including the critical ones.
The FTC rule on fake reviews and incentives
The FTC's rule on consumer reviews and testimonials, published in August 2024, bars fake reviews and rewards conditioned on a particular sentiment. The FTC's announcement set the effective date at 60 days after publication. The FTC can seek civil penalties for knowing violations, according to its Q and A. These are the parts an agent is most likely to hit:
- Fake reviews. You may not write, create or sell one that misrepresents the reviewer or their experience. You may not buy one, or spread a testimonial, when you knew or should have known it was false.
- Paying for praise. Section 465.4 bars compensation conditioned, even by implication, on a particular sentiment. Asking for a five star review in exchange for anything is the plain case.
- Insiders. If your spouse, your sister or your assistant reviews you, the FTC says to ask them to clearly disclose the relationship. Google separately bars content based on a conflict of interest, so skip it there.
- Suppression. Section 465.7 covers groundless legal threats, intimidation and false public accusations aimed at getting a review removed. It also covers implying your site shows all or most reviews when you hide bad ones.
That last point reaches your testimonials page. Showing your favorite quotes is one thing. Claiming they are all your reviews while hiding the rest is another. NAR members also owe a true picture in their advertising under Article 12 of the Code of Ethics. This is general information, so confirm anything specific with your broker or a local attorney.
Google's review policies for agents
Google allows you to ask for reviews, and it suggests a link or QR code. But its policy, read November 2026, sets limits on merchants that go beyond the FTC's. Agents get caught on them because the common advice breaks them.
| Common wording | Problem | Use instead |
|---|---|---|
| If you loved working with me... | Selectively soliciting positive reviews | Send everyone the same note |
| Please leave a 5 star review | Trying to influence the rating | Share an honest review |
| Mention my name and how fast I responded | Requesting specific content, including a staff name | Whatever is true helps |
| I'll send a $25 gift card | Google bars any incentive, and a reward tied to praise breaks the FTC rule | Offer nothing |
| Here's a draft you can copy and paste | Not a genuine experience | Send the link and stop |
| Could you do it now, before we leave? | Pressure on the premises | Ask two days later |
Google also says honest and balanced reviews help customers, negative ones included, and that incentives are strictly prohibited. A customer must be signed in to a Google Account to leave a review, which is worth saying if your client is not a Google person.
How to ask a client for a review
To ask a client for a review, send every client the same short note within days of closing, with the link, an honest request and no reward. Send one reminder, then stop. Our two day and nine day timing is a suggestion, not a rule, so change it to suit your deals.
Picture the closing table. Your client has signed forty pages and wants a sandwich. That is the wrong moment, and asking there may count as pressure under Google's policy. A text on Thursday, once they have found the coffee maker, is a far smaller ask.
Asking belongs at the end of your client process, right after the last check-in. If you still need that process, the real estate lead follow-up guide lays it out, and the real estate marketing planner shows where reviews sit among your other channels. Once you have them, real ones make good posts, with the client's OK. Our content calendar has a slot for that.
How to respond to good and bad reviews
Respond to good reviews with a short, personal thank you, and to bad ones with an apology, no private details and a phone number. Google advises replies that are conversational, not promotional, with no deals and no personal attacks.
A bad review lands at 10 PM. You know the whole story, and you would like everybody else to know it too. Wait until morning. Your reply is not for the reviewer, who has decided. It is for the next seller reading it, who wants to know how you act when you are annoyed. Replies appear under the review as coming from your business, and Google says the check usually takes up to 10 minutes.
- Good review: thank them and add one small true detail. Skip the sales line.
- Mixed review: acknowledge the issue in their words and offer a call.
- Bad review from a client: apologize where it is fair, and move it to the phone. Client details stay private.
- A review you cannot match: say you could not find the record, and ask them to call. Report it through the platform if it breaks policy. Do not call it fake in public unless you know it is.
Where good reviews send people
A stranger reads your reviews on a Sunday and taps your number, which is the moment all that asking was for. You are at a showing. The call goes to voicemail, and the caller moves on to the next profile with good reviews.
callflo.ai answers that call. It picks up 24/7, answers from what you give it, captures the lead and texts it to you. On VIP it also books on your calendar. It does not ask for reviews or reply to them, so you still need the tool above. The page for real estate agents shows how it works, and pricing lists the plans. Starter is 39 dollars a month on annual billing or 49 dollars month to month, with 120 minutes and 0.98 dollars per extra minute.
If you answer every call yourself, or a teammate does, skip it. Reviews alone will keep you busy enough for now.
Hear what answers when a good review makes somebody call
Call callflo.ai's own AI agent and ask it anything about your business. When you are ready, pick a plan: no setup fee, no contract, and you do not pay unless you are satisfied.
Starter is $39 a month on annual billing. Live on your line about 5 minutes after you sign up.