Murfreesboro grew from 108,755 residents in 2010 to roughly 168,000 in 2024, and most of those newcomers arrived without a plumber, a dentist or a favorite lunch spot. They choose one the way every new arrival does now: search, scan the stars, read the newest reviews. This playbook shows Franklin, Brentwood and Murfreesboro businesses how to get more Google reviews over the next 90 days, legally and on a schedule.
Quick answer: To get more Google reviews, a Middle Tennessee business should ask every customer within a day of finishing the work, send a direct review link by text or email, reply to every review within two business days, and never offer incentives or screen out unhappy customers. Repeated weekly for 90 days, that routine produces a steady stream of recent reviews.
Why do newcomers in Williamson and Rutherford County lean so hard on reviews?
Google reviews stand in for word of mouth when a customer has nobody nearby to ask yet. In fast-growing towns, a large share of the people searching for a service moved there recently, so the star rating and the latest reviews are often the only references they have.
The growth is real and recent. The U.S. Census Bureau puts Franklin at 89,142 residents as of July 2024, and Brentwood sits near 45,500. Rutherford County passed an estimated 386,000 people in 2025, up from 341,486 at the 2020 census. A family that moved to Spring Hill or Nolensville last spring has search results, not a list of trusted names. Related: eight myths about marketing to new residents in Nashville, with 2025 growth numbers for five counties.
Reviews also count toward where a business appears on the map. Volume, recency and replies all feed the prominence signal described in our guide to ranking in Google's map pack. One habit helps the ranking and the decision at the same time.
What customers expect from a review profile in 2026
As of 2026, local customers expect at least 20 reviews, a rating of 4.0 or better, and reviews written within the last three months. Those thresholds come from BrightLocal's Local Consumer Review Survey 2026.
| Consumer behavior (2026 survey) | Share |
|---|---|
| Read reviews for local businesses | 97% |
| Will not use a business with fewer than 20 reviews | 47% |
| Look for reviews from the last three months | 74% |
| Look for reviews from the last two weeks | 32%, up from 20% in 2025 |
| Require a rating of 4.0 stars or higher | 68%, up from 55% in 2025 |
| Only use businesses rated 4.5 stars or higher | 31%, up from 17% in 2025 |
| Expect the owner to respond to reviews | 89% |
| Left a review after being asked | 83% |
The row that changes strategy is recency. A Brentwood accounting office with 140 reviews and nothing new since 2024 now reads as stale to a 2026 searcher, while a newer competitor with 35 reviews from this summer looks busy. A slow, steady pace of reviews beats a single burst, and the survey's last row explains how to get that pace: people mostly leave reviews because someone asked.
Where Google and the FTC draw the line
A business may ask any customer for an honest Google review, but it may not pay for reviews, reward them, or ask only the customers it expects to be happy. Google's prohibited and restricted content policy covers the platform side. The federal side is the FTC's Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule, in force since October 21, 2024, which lets the agency seek civil penalties of more than $50,000 per violation.
- No rewards of any kind. Discounts, free services, gift cards and raffle entries all count. A drawing for Predators tickets among everyone who reviewed you in October is still an incentive.
- No review gating. Sending a "How did we do?" survey first and forwarding only the happy customers to Google is selective solicitation. The FTC's guidance on the rule treats suppression of negative reviews as a violation too.
- No staff quotas tied to content. Google does not allow asking employees to collect a set number of reviews or reviews that say specific things.
- No reviews from inside the house. Owners, current or former employees and relatives reviewing the business is a conflict of interest under Google's policy.
- No bought or written reviews. Purchased reviews and reviews drafted for customers to paste in are fake under both Google's policy and the FTC rule.
The 90 day review playbook, phase by phase
The plan below starts on day one with the profile and ends with a monthly review target the team can sustain.
| Days | Focus | Done when |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 7 | Profile cleanup, review link, QR card, one owner of the process | The link opens the review box in one tap on a phone |
| 8 to 30 | Ask every customer within 24 hours, using one short script | Every finished job or visit gets an ask, logged |
| 31 to 60 | Reply to every review within two business days; one polite reminder | No review older than 48 business hours sits unanswered |
| 61 to 90 | Measure the ask rate and review rate; set a monthly target | A target the team can hit every month through next year |
Days 1 to 7: tidy the profile and build the link
Confirm the business name, primary category, hours, service area and phone number on the Google Business Profile match the website exactly. Then open the profile, choose the option to ask for reviews, and copy the short link Google provides. Turn that link into a QR code and print it on a small counter card, the bottom of invoices and the back of business cards. Name one person who owns the process.
Days 8 to 30: ask every customer, every time
Ask within 24 hours of the finished job or visit, while the result is fresh and before the customer moves on. Ask everyone, not only the customers who smiled at the door, since selective asking is the gating Google and the FTC prohibit. A text works for most home service and retail customers; email suits professional offices. Keep the script short enough to read in five seconds:
Hi [first name], thanks for choosing [business] for [the job] today. If you have a minute, an honest Google review helps other folks in [town] find us: [link]
Naming the job and the town does two quiet jobs. It reminds the customer what to write about, and reviews that mention "the water heater in Nolensville" or "our closing in Brentwood" tell the next reader the business works nearby. Do not supply the wording itself; suggesting the topic is fine, scripting the review is not.
Days 31 to 60: answer everything within two business days
Reply to every new review, positive or negative, within two business days. Thank happy customers by first name and mention the work. For critical reviews, keep the reply to three moves: thank them, own whatever is fair, and invite them to call a named person. Send one reminder text to customers who were asked but did not respond after five days, then stop.
Days 61 to 90: read the numbers and set a monthly pace
By day 61 there is enough data to set a realistic target. Track three numbers each week: customers served, customers asked, and reviews received. The ask rate shows whether the process is being followed. The review rate, reviews divided by asks, shows whether the script and timing work. Survey respondents say 83 percent of them leave a review when asked, but real rates usually run well below that, so set the monthly target from your own numbers, not the survey's.
How the ask changes in Franklin, Brentwood and Murfreesboro
The plan works anywhere in Middle Tennessee, but the best channel for the ask shifts with each town's customers.
Franklin: catch visitors before they leave Main Street
Restaurants and shops in downtown Franklin and around Cool Springs serve a mix of locals and day visitors from across the region. A visitor heading back to Nashville or Columbia is unlikely to open a follow up email, so the ask belongs at the register: a QR card by the payment terminal and a staff member who says one sentence about it.
Brentwood: email after the appointment, and guard privacy
Brentwood's economy leans on professional offices, many clustered around Maryland Farms, where clients book appointments days ahead. An email the afternoon of the appointment fits that rhythm better than a text. Medical, dental, legal and financial practices need one extra rule: never confirm in a public reply that the reviewer is a patient or client, or mention anything about their case. Federal health privacy enforcers have penalized practices for exactly that.
Murfreesboro: text the same day
Murfreesboro's customer base skews younger and mobile first, helped by Middle Tennessee State University's fall 2025 enrollment of 21,025 students. Home service companies working Murfreesboro, Smyrna and La Vergne usually get the best response from a text sent the same afternoon the crew leaves, with the review link as the only link in the message.
Related: for contractors, reviews are one piece of a bigger plan. See home service marketing in Murfreesboro, Smyrna and the rest of Rutherford County, with 2026 lead costs and notes town by town.
What a good reply to a bad review looks like
The best reply to a negative Google review is short, calm and specific to what can be fixed, because it is written for the next reader more than the unhappy one. For example: thank the reviewer, acknowledge that the late arrival was a real problem, and give a name and number for setting it right. A profile with a few 3 star reviews and thoughtful replies reads as real; a perfect 5.0 with no replies reads as thin.
Reviews are one input in a bigger system that turns searches into leads worth answering. Cedar House Marketing builds review routines like this one into the local SEO work it runs for businesses across Williamson and Rutherford County.
Frequently asked questions
Can a business ask for Google reviews by text message?
Yes. A business can text a review link to customers who gave their number and agreed to hear from the business, which covers most home service and retail customers in Middle Tennessee. Keep it to one message and at most one reminder, name the business and the job, and make the review link the only link in the text so it opens in one tap.
What happens if a business buys fake Google reviews?
Google removes reviews it identifies as fake and can restrict a Business Profile from receiving new reviews or display a warning to searchers. The FTC's Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule, in force since October 2024, also allows civil penalties of more than $50,000 per violation. Buying reviews puts both the rating and the profile at risk.
Should a business reply to star-only Google reviews with no text?
Yes. A short thank you on a star-only review shows searchers that the owner reads every review, and 89 percent of consumers in BrightLocal's 2026 survey expect owners to respond. Keep it to one or two sentences, use the reviewer's first name, and skip any details about the work, since the reviewer did not share any publicly.
How long does it take to see more Google reviews after starting to ask?
Most businesses see new reviews within the first week of asking every customer, because the ask itself is the main driver. A dependable monthly pace usually takes 60 to 90 days, which is how long it takes for the team to make the ask automatic and for the owner to learn which channel and timing get the best response.
Can employees or family members leave Google reviews for the business?
No. Google's policy treats reviews from owners, current or former employees and relatives as a conflict of interest, and it can remove them. Staff can still help by asking every customer for an honest review and handing over the QR card or sending the link, as long as nobody is given a quota or told what the review should say.