Reviews for moving companies: how to ask, and what the rules forbid

Moving Company SEO is an independent referral service, not a marketing agency. When you send the form, your details go to an independent marketing agency that prepares any proposal and does any work. This site shows no reviews and does not rate or review agencies.

The routine: ask every customer

1. At the end of every move, the crew lead thanks the customer and says a review request will follow.
2. Send the request by text or email soon after the move, with a direct link to your Google review form.
3. Send it to every customer, not only the ones who seemed happy.
4. Offer nothing for it: no discount, no gift, no entry into a draw.
5. Send one reminder if there is no reply, then stop.

That is the whole of it. A steady flow of honest reviews from every job reads as a real company, because it is one.

What Google does not allow

Google’s Maps user-contributed content policy sets out what is not allowed in reviews. In its words, prohibited content includes reviews or ratings:

• “that have been paid for, directly or in kind”;
• “posted from multiple accounts by or at the request of one person”;
• in exchange for “incentives – such as payment, discounts, free goods and/or services”.
• Businesses may also not “Discourage or prohibit negative reviews, or selectively solicit positive reviews from customers”.

The last point rules out review gating: sending a survey first and only passing happy customers to Google. Google says fake engagement “will be removed”.

What the FTC rule adds

The FTC’s Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule (16 CFR Part 465) has been in effect since October 21, 2024, and courts may impose civil penalties for knowing violations. In short, a business may not:

• Write, create or sell fake reviews, or buy them when it knew or should have known they were fake (465.2).
• Offer compensation or other incentives in exchange for reviews expressing a particular sentiment, positive or negative (465.4).
• Let officers or managers post reviews of the business without clearly disclosing the relationship (465.5).
• Run a website it controls as if it gave independent reviews of a category of businesses (465.6).
• Suppress reviews through unfounded legal threats, intimidation or false accusations (465.7).

The FTC notes that its rule does not ban incentives for honest reviews when no sentiment is required, but Google’s own policy still bans incentivized reviews on Google. The simple rule covers both: offer nothing.

Replying to reviews

Reply to reviews, good and bad, as the owner of the company. Thank people by name for good ones. For a bad one, stay calm, say what you will do, and take the details offline. Never argue in public, never reveal a customer’s private details, and never threaten anyone over a review: the FTC rule bars suppressing reviews by unfounded legal threats or intimidation. Readers judge a company by how it answers a complaint as much as by the complaint itself.

Reviews on your own website

Showing real reviews on your website is fine. Inventing them, editing them to say more than the customer said, or showing only selected reviews in a way that misleads is not. Under 465.2, a review must not misrepresent who wrote it or what their experience was. If you quote a customer, keep their words as written and get permission.

Reviews are one part of local SEO for movers and of the wider moving company marketing plan. To get a written proposal that covers them, send the form. Asking is free and you never have to hire anyone.

Questions movers ask