How to get more Google reviews as a restoration company
Restoration is a trade where the customer meets you on the worst day of their year, and then picks you again only after reading what other people wrote about you on Google. Reviews are not decoration. They are the tiebreaker between three companies that all claim to be 24/7.
This guide uses two sources: our own count of Google reviews on 17,214 U.S. restoration company listings, and a published analysis of more than 1,000 one-star restoration reviews by Leighton Healey in Restoration & Remediation magazine.
How many Google reviews does a typical restoration company have?
Fewer than most owners assume. Across the 17,214 restoration companies in our database whose Google listing shows a review count, the median is 25 reviews, and 30% have fewer than 10.
| Google reviews on the listing | Companies | Share |
|---|---|---|
| None | 743 | 4% |
| 1 to 9 | 4,435 | 26% |
| 10 to 49 | 6,279 | 36% |
| 50 to 199 | 4,429 | 26% |
| 200 or more | 1,328 | 8% |
The practical reading: crossing 50 reviews already puts you ahead of roughly two thirds of the field, and the top tenth starts at about 164. That is a reachable target for a company doing a few jobs a week, if it asks every time.
Why do restoration companies get 1-star reviews?
Mostly because of how they communicate, not how they dry a building. In Healey's analysis of more than 1,000 one-star Google reviews of restoration companies across all 50 states, 37% were about communication, 29.9% about workmanship and 16.6% about delays.
| Reason for the 1-star review | Share | What it looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Communication | 37% | Calls not returned, no-shows, nobody explaining the next step |
| Workmanship | 29.9% | Incomplete or poor-quality work |
| Delays | 16.6% | Missed timelines, often with no warning |
Those three account for 83.5% of the one-star reviews. The same analysis found that 10% cited a quote request that was never returned. That is the cheapest review in the business to prevent: someone called, nobody called back, and they told Google about it.
It lines up with what we hear on the phone. When we called 159 U.S. restoration companies after hours, 54% never reached a person, as documented in the after-hours line test. Every one of those unanswered calls is a homeowner who may now be writing about it.
When is the best moment to ask a restoration customer for a review?
At relief, not at invoice. The customer is most generous on the day the drying equipment comes out, the moisture readings are back to normal, or the rebuild is handed over, and least generous when the insurance paperwork is still open.
Good moments to ask, in order:
- Equipment pickup. The house is quiet again and they can see progress.
- Final walkthrough. Ask in person, then send the link the same day.
- After a hard call goes well. If you answered at 2am and had a crew there in an hour, the customer remembers that more than the drying log.
Avoid asking during the mitigation-to-reconstruction gap, when the house is torn open and nobody has told them the next date. That gap is where the communication complaints come from.
How do you actually ask for a Google review?
Send a direct link that opens the review box, from a named person, by text, within a day. Google Business Profile gives every verified listing a share link for exactly this; copy it once and put it everywhere.
- One direct link. Not "find us on Google". Every extra step loses people.
- A text, not just an email. Homeowners mid-claim are drowning in email from adjusters.
- From a person they met. "It's Maria, the project manager on your basement" beats a no-reply address.
- One reminder. A single follow-up a few days later is fair. More than that is pestering.
- Ask what to mention. "If you can, say how fast we got there" gives them something specific to write without scripting them.
Make it a step in the job, not a favour someone remembers. If the review request is on the closeout checklist next to the final moisture reading, it gets sent.
What does Google not allow when asking for reviews?
Paying for reviews and asking only happy customers. Google's contributed content policy prohibits offering incentives for reviews and selectively soliciting positive ones, and reviews that break it can be removed.
The FTC's rule on consumer reviews and testimonials, 16 CFR Part 465, in effect since October 2024, also bans buying fake reviews and suppressing negative ones. So no gift cards for five stars, no "rate us first and we'll send the Google link only if you gave a 5", and no reviews written by employees or their relatives. Ask everyone the same way and let the work speak.
Should you respond to bad reviews?
Yes, briefly, calmly and in public. Future customers read your reply more closely than the complaint, because it shows how you behave when something goes wrong.
A workable pattern: thank them, acknowledge the specific problem without arguing the details, say what you changed, and give a named person to call. Never post claim details or anything the homeowner told you privately. If the review is about an unreturned call, the honest reply is to fix how calls get answered, and then say so.
Does answering the phone faster lead to better reviews?
It removes the largest single cause of bad ones. If 37% of one-star reviews are about communication and 10% are about a request nobody returned, the first call is where a lot of reviews are won or lost.
In our own line test, the restoration companies that answered after hours had a median of 67 Google reviews, against 57 for those that rang out and 46 for those that went to voicemail. With only about 150 companies, that is an observation, not proof. A practical starting point is what to say when a homeowner calls about water damage, then test your own after-hours line to see what a customer actually hears. To put a number on the calls you are missing, use the missed-call calculator.
Questions owners ask
How many Google reviews does the average restoration company have?
Across 17,214 U.S. restoration companies in EagleCallPro's database whose Google listing showed a count, the median was 25 reviews. 30% had fewer than 10, and the top 10% had about 164 or more.
What is the main reason restoration companies get 1-star reviews?
Communication. An analysis of more than 1,000 one-star Google reviews of restoration companies, published in Restoration & Remediation magazine in 2021, found 37% were about communication, 29.9% about workmanship and 16.6% about delays.
When should a restoration company ask for a review?
At a moment of relief, such as equipment pickup or the final walkthrough, with a direct review link sent by text from a person the customer met. Avoid asking while the insurance claim or rebuild schedule is still unresolved.
Can I offer a discount or gift card for a Google review?
No. Google's contributed content policy prohibits incentives for reviews and selectively asking only satisfied customers, and the FTC's 2024 rule on consumer reviews bans buying fake reviews and suppressing negative ones.
Should I reply to a negative review?
Yes. Thank the reviewer, acknowledge the specific problem, say what changed and give a named contact. Keep claim details private, and never argue in public.
Never be the unreturned call in someone's review
We build a working demo agent for your business before the call. On a free 15-minute call, phone it as a homeowner at 2am and hear every call get answered.