SMS vs Email for Google Review Requests: Which Gets You More Reviews?
TL;DR
- •Texts get opened far more than emails (around 98% vs 20%), and a review only happens if the request is read.
- •Timing matters as much as channel: ask within an hour of finishing the job, while the customer’s gratitude is at its peak.
- •In a GatherUp analysis, email alone produced about 15 reviews per 100 requests, SMS alone about 20, and both together 26.
- •Email still earns its place: it reaches customers with no phone number and gives room to explain.
- •Lead with SMS, follow with email a day or two later, get consent (CASL), and never gate or pay for reviews.
A Google review is the cheapest marketing a contractor will ever run. It shows up the moment someone searches your trade in your town, and it does the convincing before you pick up the phone. The hard part is not earning the review. It is getting the customer to actually leave one after the truck pulls away.
Most of the gap between a contractor with forty reviews and one with four comes down to an unglamorous decision: how you ask. Email is the default because it is free and it feels professional. But the channel changes how many reviews you collect, and the data here is not subtle. Below is what SMS and email each do well, the number that settles which to lead with, and how to run them together without bothering the customer who just paid you.
Why review-request emails get ignored
Nothing is wrong with the email itself. The problem is that most of them are never opened, and a review request only works if it gets read.
Text messages are opened around 98% of the time, usually within minutes, compared with roughly 20% for email.
Industry benchmarks (SMS vs email engagement)
That open-rate gap shows up everywhere, and it is worth being honest about it. Email opens are counted when a tracking pixel loads, which Apple Mail Privacy Protection and other filters now block or fire automatically, so treat the email figure as a soft ceiling rather than an exact reading. The direction is not in doubt. An email asking for a review competes with the promotions tab, the spam filter, and a hundred other unread messages. A text lands on the lock screen, next to messages from family. Sending the request by email and hoping is one of the most common review mistakes contractors make.
Why a text actually gets the review done
Getting seen is half of it. The other half is timing, and this is where a text pulls clearly ahead.
Asking within 24 to 48 hours of finishing the job gets the most reviews. Wait longer than two days and response rates fall by roughly 40%.
Industry benchmark (review-request timing)
People judge an experience by how it felt at its peak and at its end. In the trades that peak is sharp and specific: the AC kicks back on during a heat wave, the leak finally stops, the panel is safe again. That gratitude does not last. A text you send within an hour of finishing the job catches the customer while the relief is fresh. An email that lands in a crowded inbox two days later catches a memory that has already faded.
What email still does better
None of this means you should drop email. Email reaches the customers a text cannot.
If you never collected a phone number, email is the only channel you have. Email also gives you room to explain why a review helps a small business, to brand the message, and to send a respectful ask to a commercial client. A 160-character text is the wrong place for that. An email is the right place. And when you want to ask your whole back catalogue of past customers at once, email is how you reach them.
The number that settles it
It is tempting to treat this as a tie. The completion numbers say otherwise.
In one analysis of review requests: email alone produced about 15 reviews per 100 requests, SMS alone about 20, and both together 26.
GatherUp, analysis of its customers' review requests
The lift does not come from sending twice as much. It comes from catching the customer who ignored the text in their inbox a day later, and the one who never reads email but answers a text in seconds. SMS wins the head-to-head, and both together beats either alone, as long as you sequence them instead of blasting both at once. It is the same channel logic that gets invoices paid faster, applied to reviews.
How to ask, in the right order
Stop choosing a side. Run a short sequence that uses each channel for what it does best.
- Right after the job, send the SMS. Within an hour of marking the job done, while the relief is fresh. Keep it to one line and a direct link to your Google review page.
- A day or two later, send one email. Only to anyone who has not left a review yet. This one can be longer, with room to say why it helps.
- Then stop. One text, one email backup. A second nudge on the same day reads as pushy and raises opt-outs, so do not double up.
- Never gate or pay for reviews. Asking only happy customers or offering a discount breaks Google's rules and can get your reviews removed.
The language follows your client, not you. If your customer does business in French, the request goes out in French. For Canadian contractors, that bilingual reality also comes with consent rules.
Consent comes first
Texting a customer for a review is a commercial message, so Canada's anti-spam law (CASL) applies. You need consent and an easy way to opt out. A review request to a customer you just served, who gave you their number for the job, is generally fine, but collect the number with permission and honour every opt-out. This is general information, not legal advice. The same consent rules that govern SMS reminders apply here.
The bottom line
SMS does not replace email for reviews. It out-asks it. The text is what gets seen and gets tapped while the customer still remembers how good the job felt. Email catches everyone the text missed. Lead with the text, back it with the email, and ask every customer instead of the few you remember on a slow afternoon. That is how a contractor doubles their Google reviews.
Relanco Reviews asks every customer for a Google review by text and email, automatically, the moment a job is done. Built for Canadian contractors, in French and English.
Relanco Reviews is in private beta. Join the waitlist for early access.
Frequently asked questions
- Is SMS or email better for Google review requests?
- SMS wins head-to-head: a text is opened far more often and answered far faster than an email. But email reaches customers whose phone number you never collected. The most reviews come from sending both, with SMS first and email as the backup a day or two later.
- When should I ask a customer for a Google review?
- As soon as the job is done, ideally within an hour or two while the customer still feels the result. Industry data suggests waiting longer than 48 hours can cut response rates by around 40%, and after a week you are nearly starting from scratch.
- What is the open-rate difference between SMS and email review requests?
- Text messages are opened around 98% of the time, usually within minutes, versus roughly 20% for email. The two channels measure an open differently, so treat the email figure as directional, but the gap is large and real.
- How many more reviews does a text really get me?
- In one analysis of review requests by GatherUp, email alone produced about 15 reviews per 100 requests and SMS alone about 20. Sending both produced 26. The exact numbers vary by business, but SMS-led and dual-channel both beat email alone.
- Is it against Google’s rules to text customers for reviews?
- Asking by text is fine. What breaks Google’s policy is review gating (only asking happy customers) and offering payment or discounts in exchange for a review. Ask every customer the same way and never pay for a review.
- Is it legal to text customers for reviews in Canada?
- Yes, with consent and an easy opt-out. Canada’s anti-spam law (CASL) governs commercial texts, and a review request to a customer you just served who gave you their number is generally acceptable. This is general information, not legal advice.