Can I Offer a Discount or Gift Card for a Review?
See why discounts, gift cards, credits, and prize entries should stay separate from Google and Yelp reviews, where FTC rules differ, and how to fix an offer already sent.
For Google or Yelp, the answer is no: do not offer a discount, gift card, free or discounted service, account credit, payment, or prize entry in exchange for a review.
US federal law draws a narrower distinction for incentives that do not require positive or negative sentiment, but that does not override platform rules. For a local business deciding whether to send the offer, keep rewards separate from public reviews.
Last verified: August 10, 2026 (United States).
What counts as a review incentive?
Ask one question:
Would the customer receive the same discount, gift, credit, or drawing entry if they never posted, changed, or removed a review?
If the answer is no, the promotion is tied to the review. A small coffee card and a large invoice credit fail the same test.
Are discounts, gift cards, and other review incentives allowed?
| Scenario | Is value tied to a review? | Which rule matters most here? | Practical decision and safer next step |
|---|---|---|---|
| Post, change, or remove a Google review | Yes | Google’s incentive and rating-manipulation policy | Do not offer it; send a neutral Google request with nothing attached |
| Post or remove a Yelp review | Yes, and Yelp says not to ask | Yelp’s solicitation and incentive rules | Do not make the request or offer; let Yelp reviews arise organically |
| Complete private feedback that stays private | Only if a public-review route is added | Feedback and review gating are separate issues | Keep it private and do not forward only favorable customers to Google |
| Provide a testimonial used in the business’s advertising | Possibly | FTC truthfulness and disclosure requirements | Have the advertising and disclosure treatment checked before use |
| Receive an ordinary customer promotion unrelated to reviews | No | The promotion’s own eligibility rule | Give the same benefit whether or not the customer posts, changes, or removes a review |
The amount is not the deciding factor. The exchange is.
Can I offer an incentive for a Google or Yelp review?
Google names payment, discounts, free goods, and free services among prohibited review incentives. Its policy also covers value offered for revising or removing a negative review.
That means a business should not offer value for:
- Posting any Google review
- Changing the star rating or wording
- Replacing a negative review with a positive one
- Removing a negative review
A prize drawing is not a workaround when posting the review earns the entry.
Yelp draws the line even earlier. It tells businesses not to ask customers or anyone else to write Yelp reviews and separately prohibits freebies, discounts, and payment for reviews or removal.
Are incentivized reviews illegal under FTC rules?
The FTC Consumer Review Rule does not categorically prohibit every incentive for an honest review. FTC staff says an incentive may fall outside that specific prohibition when there is no express or implied requirement that the review be positive or negative.
The wording matters. “Tell everyone how much you loved the visit and get a coupon” ties the reward to positive sentiment even though it never says “five stars.” An undisclosed incentive may also violate the FTC Act.
That is a narrow federal distinction, not permission to run the offer on Google or Yelp. Disclosure does not override either platform’s rules.
Can I run a customer promotion and still ask for reviews?
Run a customer promotion under an eligibility rule that has nothing to do with reviews. Do not mention it in the review request, require a review to claim it, or check whether a review was posted before honoring it.
Private feedback needs the same clean break. Ask how the job went so the business can fix problems, but do not use the answer to send only satisfied customers to a public review page. That turns feedback into review gating.
If private feedback currently decides who sees the public link, the review gating guide shows how to remove that branch and return every eligible customer to one neutral rule.
What should I do if I already offered a review incentive?
Stop future sends first. Save the exact offer, landing page, recipient list, send dates, review destination, any resulting reviews, rewards already issued, vendor messages, and account permissions.
Do not offer another benefit for changing or removing a review, and do not delete the campaign records while trying to fix the problem. If nobody acted, cancel the exchange without sending a replacement incentive. If reviews were posted or rewards issued, use the platform’s current process and get US legal advice when the business may already have participated in conduct covered by the FTC rule or FTC Act.
If the offer may have created broader federal exposure or a vendor was involved, the illegal reviews guide helps separate platform risk from federal categories and preserve the right records.
Frequently asked questions
Can I give every customer a coupon and also ask for a review?
Yes, if the coupon is earned under a rule that does not depend on posting, changing, or removing a review. Keep the promotion separate from the review request, and give the same benefit to customers who never review the business.
Does disclosing a gift card make a Google or Yelp review allowed?
No. Disclosure may matter under FTC rules, but it does not override Google or Yelp’s broader incentive policies. For those platforms, do not attach a gift card or other reward to the review.
Sources
- review-incentives
- gift-cards
- discounts
- google-reviews
- yelp-reviews
- ftc-review-rules
