Review Gating Is Dead: How to Ethically and Effectively Generate Reviews for Your Practice
Online reviews play a crucial role in building trust and boosting visibility for any business, but can often be especially critical for medical and dental practices. Feedback on the Internet uniquely influences the decisions of current and future patients, underscoring the importance of accumulating authentic, positive reviews to reinforce credibility and local search rankings. However, the method by which these reviews are collected is just as important as the reviews themselves.
One tactic raising red flags in the world of online reputation management is review gating — essentially, the practice of filtering patient feedback in order to manipulate public perception. While review gating may seem like an efficient way to protect your online reputation, it’s a lazy strategy that does more harm than good in the long-term. Below, our team elucidates why review gating goes against Google’s guidelines and how the process can mean potential consequences for healthcare practices. We’ll also provide tips on how to ethically generate new patient reviews for the benefit of both your practice and your search rankings.
What is Review Gating?
“Review gating” refers to the act of selectively filtering patients before asking them to leave an online review — publicizing positive patient feedback while silencing negative sentiments online. In most cases, this involves sending a survey or question such as, “Were you satisfied with your visit?” If a patient responds positively, they’re directed to leave a review on major public platforms like Google or Yelp. If feedback is negative, the patient is either routed to a private form or discouraged from leaving a public review altogether.
At its core, review gating selectively solicits reviews only from happy patients while stifling the voices of those who may have had a less-than-ideal experience. This can backfire for medical and dental practices, which rely on credibility and patient trust to thrive.
Review Gating Violates Google’s Policies
There are guidelines when it comes to Google Business Reviews, and those terms explicitly prohibit review gating. According to Google’s policies, businesses are not allowed to discourage or prohibit negative reviews, or selectively solicit only positive feedback. In short, any form of review solicitation must not involve a pre-screening process that filters reviewers based on their initial sentiments. Violating Google’s ban on review gating can result in real penalties, such as:
- Removal of Online Reviews: Google may delete existing reviews that were obtained via gated practices.
- Suspension of Your Google Business Profile: Repeated violations can lead to serious penalties, including reduced visibility or suspension from Google Maps and Search.
- Loss of Patient Trust in Your Region: Patients may perceive your reviews as dishonest or deceptive, leading to an overall loss of credibility.
If the potential consequences listed above aren’t enough to convince you to avoid review gating, the black-hat SEO tactic can also harm your practice in other ways beyond reduced Google metrics.
How Review Gating Can Hurt Your Medical or Dental Practice
On top of risking your position in Google SERPs, review gating can diminish your standing in the following ways:
- Cultivating an Inauthentic Reputation: When all of your reviews are overly positive or are missing a human perspective, it can come across as disingenuous. In the highly competitive medical and dental fields, building genuine trust is essential — and that starts with honest, unbiased reviews from a wide range of patients.
- Suppression of Honest Feedback: While difficult to read, subpar online reviews provide valuable insight into areas for improvement in your business and shed light on what your patients are actually looking for with regard to their care.
- Increased Distrust in Patient Base: With the advent of social media, patients today are quite savvy. If they discover your practice selectively filters reviews, it could damage your reputation and discourage valuable word-of-mouth referrals.
- Less Visibility in AI Search Results: Ethical review generation is becoming increasingly important, not only for building trust with potential patients, but also for gaining visibility in AI-powered featured snippets. Search engines and AI assistants prioritize high-quality, trustworthy content, including authentic patient reviews. When reviews are gathered ethically — without filtering or manipulation — they contribute to a genuine online reputation that AI technology can confidently source in responses. By following best practices and avoiding tactics like review gating, your practice helps secure placement in AI-generated results, ultimately boosting your credibility and online reach.
Actionable Strategies for Review Generation
Fortunately, there are several ethical methods to encourage patients to leave reviews without violating guidelines. The key is to implement a sustainable system that makes it easy, convenient, and inclusive for all patients to share their feedback.
QR Codes
Place custom QR codes at your front desk, on appointment cards, or on printed materials in your waiting room. When scanned, the code leads patients directly to your Google review page. This is a simple and passive way to encourage feedback from anyone who is willing to share.
Direct Texts and Emails
Follow up with patients after their visit by sending a friendly text or an email thanking them for their visit and including a direct link to leave a review.
Subtle Verbal Encouragement
Train your front desk team and providers to ask for reviews during the checkout process or post-treatment conversations. Light encouragement, such as, “We’d really appreciate it if you’d share your experience online,” can go a long way, especially when paired with a convenient QR code or text link.
“Tap to Review” Technology
Tap-to-review systems use NFC (near-field communication) technology built into cards, keychains, or signs. Patients can simply tap their phone on the device, and it instantly opens your review page. It’s fast, user-friendly, and can be ideal for busy patients who appreciate convenience.
Streamlined Solutions for Reputation Management
The RM team understands that collecting, monitoring, and showcasing reviews in a meaningful and ethical way requires the right tools, which is why we’ve developed an entire suite of reputation management solutions:
- Review Generator: Our Review Generator makes it easy to request feedback from patients via automated, customizable emails and texts. It encourages honest reviews on sites like Google, Yelp, and Facebook without filtering responses, ensuring a compliant and transparent process.
- Review Rake: The Review Rake automatically monitors major platforms to track new reviews and “rake” them as they come in. This gives you a clear, real-time view of your online reputation and helps you identify positive feedback to promote across your marketing channels.
- Review Sprinkler: With our Review Sprinkler, you can highlight standout patient reviews directly on your website — whether on your homepage, service pages, or specific procedure content. It’s a powerful way to build trust and guide new patients through the decision-making process while still remaining user-friendly and convenient to your site visitors.
Our resources are designed to streamline review generation, monitoring, and promotion while staying fully aligned with Google’s guidelines. Together, these tools help your practice build a strong and authentic online presence.
Contact the RM Team
Online reputation management is a critical aspect of SEO, but you don’t have to navigate Google’s ever-changing guidelines alone. Don’t hesitate to contact our agency today for more information about how to build authority and trust for your practice online, or to explore our specialized range of web marketing services.