Google is finally tightening up how it detects fake or manipulated reviews, which is good news for honest businesses. However, that has created a complication for businesses which have followed Google’s own advice about how to solicit reviews via a QR code link. Because some methods, like QR codes that go straight to the “write a review” screen, can, if you are successful with this strategy, look suspicious (under the new versions of their algorithm) some businesses have found that their reviews are being filtered or removed. To reduce that risk, we have found a safer link structure based on your Google Place ID.
A Place ID is simply Google’s unique identifier for your business within Google Maps and Google Search. For most business owners and marketing managers, it’s a data point that they never notice. So, how do we find the ID and use it?
Step 1: Find your Google Business profile Place ID
a) In the Google search bar, type in your business name: the familiar local results and GBP dashboard will open.
b) Click the map section the result page to open up your own business map. Notice how there is nothing really obvious to reveal the Place ID.
c) If you have the Pleper Browser tool, its panel will open with information about your listing. See below.
If you don’t have Pleper available, it is easily installed to your browser in a couple of steps. To get the extension use this video to see how to add it to Chrome https://youtu.be/p0VL6GLKKUE or if you use Edge, this video will keep you right: https://youtu.be/q6W4blY1pCc
We use the PlePer SEO tools extension (or an equivalent tool, like GMB Everywhere or GMBspy) to pull your Place ID directly from your Google Business Profile in Google Maps. Once we have copied that Place ID, we can build a review link that is likely to be more trusted by Google’s algorithm, because it forces the visitor to interact with your listing – rather than simply arrive, review and depart.
Build The New Branded Search Review Link
Instead of a direct “write review” link, which drops customers straight into the review writing creenwe generate a branded search style URL that loads your business first, then lets the customer review you:
https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=Google&query_place_id=<PLACE_ID>
We paste your actual Place ID in place of the whole <PLACE_ID> chunk.
So, for Stanwix Community Centre. the final URL will look like this:
https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=Google&query_place_id=ChIJpzecsBgafUgRsKIrzlYUEaE
This tells Google Maps to show your business as if it’s come up in a normal search. This appears much more like normal user behaviour than a bare review form appearing, straight from a QR scan.
Turning The URL Link Into a QR Code
To keep things simple for staff and customers:
a) Open a straightforward, free QR generator (for example, QRStuff’s “Website URL” option). There’s a video walkthrough of setting up a QR code on QR Stuff here: https://youtu.be/XtM3SrO_2pc
b) Paste the full Place ID link from Step 2 into the URL field and generate your QR code image. Download it to your device.
c) Print or display the code for testing.
d) Test the QR code on a phone to confirm it opens your Google business on Maps, so that the visitor has to then click the option to leave a review, as a normal organic searcher might do. This is one extra step in the review process but that disadvantage should be outweighed by more secure reviews that aren’t “disappeared” by Google’s AI slaves.
e) Print or display that QR code on receipts, table cards, signage or follow‑up emails so customers can quickly scan and review you.
This video walks you through the process.
The Benefit of Asking For Reviews Via a Non-Direct Link
By asking people to review you through a Place ID‑based, branded search link, we are able to show Google clear engagement with your profile before the review is posted. This reduces the chance that genuine reviews collected via QR codes are treated as spam and removed in future review sweeps.
Acknowledgements: Darren Shaw’s Whitespark newsletter for the heads up about Claudia Tomina‘s study which demonstrated better results withy this method.