HVAC Google review request automation: two texts, no begging

The two texts, word for word

Here's the sequence I'd set up. I call it one ask, one nudge.

Text 1, within the hour after the tech closes the job.

Hi [name], it's [your name] at [company]. Thanks for having [tech] out today for the [job]. If you've got a minute, a Google review helps other people round here find us: [link]. And if anything's not right, reply to this text and I'll sort it.

Text 2, day three, only if they haven't clicked.

Hi [name], [your name] again from [company]. Last one from me. If you get a minute for a quick Google review of [day]'s [job], here's the link: [link]. If not, no problem. Thanks again.

Then nothing. No third text, no email on day seven, no tech ringing to ask.

Why each piece is there:

• Within the hour. The house is cooling down and they still remember the tech's name. Not at night, though. Jobber sends the first request by email only between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m., and I'd copy that rule whatever tool you use.
• The direct link. Google gives you a short review link and a QR code for this, as its tips page explains. One tap to the stars. Not your website, not a "leave us feedback" form.
• The tech's name, in your text only. Saying who did the job tells them who's texting. Asking them to mention him in the review is different, and Google bans it.
• The reply line. Everyone gets it, and everyone gets the link. That's the difference between customer service and review gating.
• Day three, then stop. Jobber sends up to two reminders, three and five days later. I stop at one. A third message stops being a reminder and starts being begging, and the people who mind are the ones you want back next summer.

Keep any offer out of it. A coupon on the end breaks Google's rules below, and it changes what kind of text you're sending. I wrote up the US texting rules for trade businesses separately.

The three nos: what Google, the FTC and the CMA all ban

I read Google's policy next to guidance from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). They land on the same three things. I call them the three nos.

1. No filter. Ask everyone, not just the happy ones. Google's policy says merchants may not "selectively solicit positive reviews from customers". The FTC's guide for marketers says: "Don't ask for reviews only from customers you think will leave positive ones." That kills the setup where happy customers get the Google link and unhappy ones get a form to the owner. It's called review gating. If your tool asks for a star rating first, check what a three-star customer sees next. If they never see the Google link, turn that step off.
2. No reward. No discount, no gift card, no prize draw. Google calls incentives for reviews "strictly prohibited" on its tips page. In the US, the FTC rule at 16 CFR 465.4 makes it unlawful to reward reviews that express a particular sentiment. Google goes further and bans rewards for any review, good or bad. That includes your own staff: Google's policy lists "merchants requesting that staff solicit a certain number of reviews" as rating manipulation. A per-review bonus for techs is a quota with a price on it. Pay them for the work that earns the review instead.
3. No script. Don't tell customers what to write. The same Google policy rules out requesting specific content, "including content that identifies a staff member." So "please mention Marco by name" on the invoice is out. Let them say what they want to say.

In the UK, read "boiler service" or "consumer unit change" for "AC repair" and the two texts work the same. The CMA's fake reviews guidance says asking customers generally whether they'd like to leave a review is not prohibited. It calls "encouraging just those who are satisfied to leave reviews" cherry-picking. It also warns against "arbitrarily stopping and starting review invitations". That last one matters for automation, because the sequence has to fire after the job that went badly too. The guidance covers trader recommendation platforms alongside search engines, so your Checkatrade reviews sit under the same rules as Google.

This is a tradesman's reading of the rules, not legal advice. If you're doing anything cleverer than two plain texts, check with your own advisor.

Your job software can probably do this already

Before you buy anything, open what you already pay for. Here's what three common US platforms say in their own help pages.

Software	What sends the first ask	Reminders
Housecall Pro	Tapping Finish on the job, or when it's paid	Not described in the help article
Jobber	Visit completed, job closed or invoice paid	Up to two, at 3 and 5 days
ServiceTitan	Job completion, or by hand	Manual resend, job by job

ServiceTitan lets each business unit send by text or email, not both. Jobber's Reviews works in the US, Canada and Great Britain. Whichever you run, check three things.

1. Trigger on completion, not payment, unless customers pay on the spot. On a commercial account paid on 30-day terms, a request that waits for the money lands a month after anyone remembers the tech.
2. Maintenance customers get asked once a season, not once a visit. Jobber already limits it to one request per client every six months, which fits a spring and fall tune-up. What you do with those customers the rest of the year is in my maintenance agreement renewal post.
3. The gating check. Does anyone get routed away from Google based on their answer? If yes, fix it before you switch it on.

If none of this fits your setup, it's a small build on top of whatever marks a job done. It doesn't need AI. It needs a trigger, two messages and a stop rule.

What automation can't fix

It can't make a bad job good. If the system is still blowing warm, fix that first. You still don't get to skip the angry customer's text: leaving out the unhappy ones is the cherry-picking all three rulebooks ban. The reply line gives them somewhere to go that isn't one star.

It can't reply to reviews for you. Google's tips page asks for replies that are personal and timely, especially to bad ones. In BrightLocal's survey, 37% named an owner's response as one of the most important things in a review. An AI can draft that reply. You should be the one who reads it, fixes it and posts it. A pasted "We're sorry to hear that" under a one-star reads worse than silence.

And never answer a bad review with a threat. In the US, 16 CFR 465.7 makes groundless legal threats or intimidation to get a review taken down unlawful. Reply once, calmly, offer to put it right, and move on.

It can't answer the phone the reviews make ring. That's my part. A shop with 54 fresh reviews and a phone that goes to voicemail at 4 p.m. in July has paid for attention and handed it to the next listing. Put your missed calls through the calculator if you want to see that number. If it's ugly, the HVAC page shows what the receptionist I build does: it answers, finds out the job, the address and how urgent it is, and texts that to you. It doesn't book, and it doesn't send review requests. Different job.

Do this this week

1. Write down your 90-day review count from the check above.
2. Open your job software, find the review request setting, and set it to fire on job completion, by text first.
3. Rewrite the message using text 1 above: your name, the tech, the job, the link, the reply line. No offer.
4. Set one reminder at day three. Check whether a star rating comes first, and make sure every customer sees the Google link.
5. Kill any tech bonus paid per review, and tell the crew why on Monday.

If you want a second pair of eyes on the setup, or on what happens when those reviews make the phone ring, book a growth call. Thirty minutes, free, and if your software already does all of it, I'll tell you that.