A Google review QR code is free to download from your Business Profile, but only on a computer: open the profile, choose "Read reviews", then "Get more reviews", and right-click the code to save it. An NFC review card does the same job with a tap of the phone: on Amazon UK we counted 55 of them, with a median price of £18.18, and inside every one is that same link.
That's the easy part.
The part nobody tells you comes next, and it's where the money goes.
Searches have taken off in 2026. In the UK "google review card" went from 1,000 searches in April to 18,100 in August and September, and "nfc google review card" from 110 to 2,900 at its August peak (Google Ads data via DataForSEO). Italy shows the same curve: "nfc recensioni google" went from 30 searches in January to 590 in September.
So who answers all those searches?
Mostly people selling something. On the UK mobile results for "google review qr code", 4 of the 8 organic results are QR or review tool vendors, 2 are agency blogs, 1 is a YouTube video and 1 is a Google community thread. In Italy it's starker: 11 of 17 results across two searches sell codes, cards or stands.
That's how three mistakes keep repeating:
- printing a QR code that points to the vendor's server instead of Google, and finding out when the service closes or starts charging;
- training staff to "offer the card" at the till, with the right line at the right moment, which is exactly what Google's rules ask businesses not to do;
- buying tools where AI writes the review for the customer.
This guide is built on official sources (Google Business Profile Help, the Google Maps content policies and Apple's Core NFC documentation, all checked on 10 November 2026) and on two Amazon surveys we ran the same day.
Inside:
- how to download the official QR code and why you can't do it on your phone;
- QR or NFC, and when the card won't read;
- what the cards really cost and what's inside them;
- the in-store rule most guides leave out;
- how to tell whether the QR code brings in reviews.
Let's go.
How to create a Google review QR code from your profile (desktop only)
Google generates the official QR code itself, from the profile, for whoever manages it. Google Business Profile Help is explicit: "reviews QR codes can only be generated on a computer browser, not on mobile devices".
That single line explains half the questions in the help community. "I can't find the share button" is almost always someone trying in the app.
The steps, on a computer:
- open your Business Profile (search your business name on Google while signed in);
- select "Read reviews" and then "Get more reviews";
- for the link, select "Copy";
- for the QR code, right-click the image and choose "Save image as".
Always test the code before printing: scan it with two different phones and check that it opens the star-rating form, not the general profile.
The link is the same one you use in emails and WhatsApp. Where to find it and how to word the request is covered in how to get Google reviews: here we focus on what happens once that link is printed or written to a chip.
QR code or NFC card? (what changes for the customer)
The difference is the gesture: a QR code is scanned with the camera, an NFC tag is tapped with the phone. Both land on the same Google form.
So NFC is better?
It's quicker when it works. The catch is "when". According to Apple's Core NFC documentation, background tag reading works on iPhone XS and later, and only while the phone is in use: if it's locked, it asks to be unlocked first. It doesn't work while the camera is open, while Apple Pay Wallet is in use or in aeroplane mode. And even when it reads, the iPhone shows a notification the customer has to tap.
On Android it depends on the model and on how the user has set up NFC.
That's why every decent card also has a printed QR code. Buy one with only a chip and some customers won't manage to use it, and you'll never know how many.
| QR code | NFC card or stand | |
|---|---|---|
| What the customer does | Opens the camera and scans | Taps the phone while it's in use |
| iPhone | Any with a camera | iPhone XS and later, with a notification to tap |
| When it fails | Code too small, damaged or in glare | Camera open, Wallet in use, aeroplane mode |
| Cost | Nothing (download it from Google) plus printing | Median £18.18 on Amazon UK |
| Where it works best | Receipts, bills, invoices, vans, emails | Counter, till, reception |
How much an NFC Google review card costs (55 products, median £18.18)
On Amazon UK an NFC card or stand for Google reviews costs a median £18.18, ranging from £4.99 to £60.06 (the top end is multipacks). We surveyed the 57 organic results for "nfc google review card" on 10 November 2026, and ran the same check on Amazon Italy.
| What we counted | Amazon UK | Amazon Italy |
|---|---|---|
| Search | "nfc google review card" | "card nfc recensioni google" |
| Organic results | 57 | 48 |
| Products made for Google reviews | 55 | 38 |
| Median price | £18.18 | €29.90 |
| Lowest and highest price | £4.99 and £60.06 | €12.90 and €93.38 |
| "Reusable" or "programmable" in the title | 15 of 55 | 12 of 38 |
| Sponsored listings on the page | 12 | 14 |
Two things jump out.
First: the chip costs pennies. The same search returns blank NTAG215 tags, the type many review cards use, at roughly 15p to 27p each. What you pay for is printing, the stand and sometimes the set-up.
Second: 15 of the 55 UK products call themselves "reusable" or "programmable". Fine, but it raises a question.
Who decides where the tap goes?
The link inside the QR code: yours or the vendor's? (ask before you print)
A QR code or an NFC chip holds a web address. If that address is the link Google gives you, the code works for as long as your profile exists. If it's a vendor address that then forwards to Google, it works for as long as the vendor does.
That's the difference between a static QR code and a dynamic QR code (the one with a redirect):
- static: Google's link is written into the code; it doesn't expire, can't be changed and doesn't count scans;
- dynamic: there's an intermediate address inside; you can change the destination and see scans, but if the service closes or you stop paying, every sticker, card and receipt you've printed leads to a dead page.
"Reusable" cards follow the same logic: if they're reprogrammed from the vendor's dashboard, the tap goes through the vendor's server.
That isn't necessarily bad. It's a dependency, and it should be a conscious choice.
The test takes ten seconds: scan the code and read the address your phone shows before opening it. If it starts with a Google domain, it's yours. If it starts with the vendor's, ask what happens to the codes if the account closes.
For a single-site business we'd use the QR code downloaded from Google and a card with the Google link written straight to the chip. Dynamic codes make sense for chains that want to compare scans site by site.
Where to put the QR code and card (and what to write next to it)
A QR code works where the customer has their phone in hand and a few spare seconds, after the service. Google's own help page mentions receipts, thank-you emails, the end of a chat and a code on display in store.
By type of business, the spots that work best:
- restaurants and cafés: on the bill, not on the table when people sit down; someone who reviews before eating has nothing to say;
- shops: on the bag, the receipt or the back of the guarantee, as well as the stand at the till (more in SEO for retailers);
- trades and home services: on the signed quote, the van and the invoice, because by the end of the job the engineer is already heading to the next address;
- practices and professional firms: in the email after the appointment rather than in the waiting room.
What you write next to the code matters as much as the code.
Bad: "Leave us 5 stars!" (it suggests the rating, and Google asks businesses not to influence it).
Good: "How did we do? Tell people on Google: scan the code or tap your phone".
One sentence, one platform, nothing offered in return.
What Google prohibits when you ask for a review in store (require is not request)
Asking for a review is allowed; requiring or pressuring customers to write it while they're on the premises is not. That's in Google's policy on deceptive content, in the section on ratings manipulation.
The exact wording is that merchants "should not require or pressure users to leave ratings or write reviews while on the premises". Require, not request: Google itself suggests displaying the QR code in store. (The Italian translation of the same page uses "richiedere", which reads as "request", a useful reminder to check the English original.)
The same section bans two more things that hit QR codes and NFC cards directly:
- asking staff to collect a set number of reviews: a weekly "tap target" at the till falls here;
- asking for specific content, including staff names: "mention that Sarah served you" is out.
We'd add a position of our own. Some tools have the customer answer three questions and then let AI write the text. The policy requires a genuine experience and no attempt by the business to influence the content: text written by a system the business chose is a grey area that isn't worth the risk.
Then the rules for any request: no discounts or freebies in exchange, and no pre-screening. The classic "happy? Go to Google; unhappy? Email us" flow is selective solicitation, banned by the same policy. UK law adds its own layer: since April 2025 commissioning fake reviews is banned outright, with CMA fines of up to 10% of global turnover, as we explain in buying Google reviews.
Already printed the QR codes and the reviews aren't coming?
You've just seen where most requests get lost: links routed through someone else's server, staff pushing at the till, wording that hints at the rating. Let's look at your profile and where your customers come from, and build a review request flow that stays within Google's rules.
Book a strategy callHow to tell if the QR code brings in reviews (no UTMs)
The review form is a Google page, so you can't track it with UTM parameters the way you would a page on your site. There are two ways to measure it.
The first is counting reviews per month, before and after the code goes up, from the reviews section of the profile. Crude, but it's the number that counts.
The second is counting scans, if you use a dynamic code: you'll know how many people scanned, not how many wrote.
To take an example: if the code at the till is scanned 120 times in a month and you get 6 new reviews, the QR code isn't the problem. What happens after the scan is: the moment, or the message.
If it's the message, nine ready-made reply templates are in how to respond to Google reviews: a profile where the owner replies encourages the people who haven't written yet.
The other profile metrics (calls, directions, website clicks) are in Google Business Profile insights.
If new reviews don't appear, check they haven't been filtered before blaming the code: the usual causes are in Google reviews disappeared.
QR codes, reviews and AI answers (who cites whom)
Reviews collected through a QR code don't just move the star average: they're text that Google and AI assistants read when they answer questions like "a good plumber in Leeds". The more recent, detailed reviews there are, the more material a model has to describe the business.
There's a detail on this very topic. Google's AI Overview for the Italian query "nfc recensioni google" cites 9 sources, none of them an official Google page: card sellers, a Reddit thread, an Instagram reel and a YouTube video. For "google review qr code" in the UK, by contrast, the first source cited is Google's own help page.
In other words, on topics like this AI answers use whatever they find. A clear page that links to the official sources has a decent chance of being picked up; nobody can promise it.
How reviews feed into ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Overview answers is something we measured in local AI visibility. And if you use AI to reply to the reviews that come in, read AI review responses first.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Google generates it from your Business Profile at no cost: on a computer select Read reviews, then Get more reviews, and save the code image. You only pay for printing or whatever you mount it on.
No. Google Business Profile Help says review QR codes can only be generated on a computer browser. On a phone you can copy and share the link, but not download the QR code.
No. According to Apple, background NFC tag reading works on iPhone XS and later, while the phone is in use, and not while the camera or Wallet is open. That is why it is worth buying a card that also has a printed QR code.
It depends: you can ask and display the QR code, but Google Maps policy says businesses should not require or pressure customers to write reviews on the premises, set staff a number of reviews to collect or ask for specific content such as a staff member's name.
It depends: a static QR code holds Google's link and has no expiry of its own. A dynamic QR code goes through the server of the service that created it and stops working if that service closes or you stop paying for it.
In short (and what to do next)
The official QR code is downloaded on a computer, from the profile.
An NFC card costs a median £18.18; the chip costs pennies.
The link inside should be Google's, not the vendor's.
Asking is fine; requiring or pressuring at the till is not.
Measure reviews per month, not scans.
One last thing the card sellers have no reason to tell you: a QR code doesn't create the wish to leave a review, it catches it. If reviews haven't moved after two months, the code is in the wrong place or reaches people at the wrong moment. Move it before you buy another one.
The QR code is one piece of the profile, not the whole profile: categories, photos, replies and reviews work together, as we cover in Google Business Profile optimisation and in our local SEO guide. If you'd like someone to look at it with your own data, that's the work we do in SEO.
Speak soon!
