How to get more Google reviews for your golf simulator venue
Happy customers almost never leave a review on their own. Unhappy ones do. If you want your rating to reflect the good sessions, you have to ask, every time.
Why it matters for a sim venue
When someone searches "golf simulator near me", Google shows a map with a handful of venues and their star ratings. Number of reviews, rating and how recent they are all play into who appears and who gets the click. An unstaffed venue has no front desk to ask at the end of a session, so reviews drift towards the people with a complaint.
When we read 806 Google reviews of UK sim venues, only 50 contained any complaint at all. Most customers have a good time. They just don't think to say so unless you ask.
When to ask
Timing is most of it. Ask while the session is still fresh, not the next week.
- 30 minutes to 2 hours after the session ends works well. They're home, phone in hand, still buzzing.
- Not during quiet hours. Nobody wants a text at 11pm. Hold late sessions until the next morning.
- Once per visit. Regulars don't need asking every week.
How to ask
Short, personal, with a direct link to your review page. Use their name and their bay if you can.
- Use your direct review link from your Google Business Profile, so it opens straight on the stars.
- Text or WhatsApp beats email. It gets read.
- Send it automatically after every booking, so it happens whether or not you remember.
What not to do
- Don't offer anything in return. Free time or discounts for reviews break Google's rules. UK consumer law also bans fake reviews and incentivised ones that aren't disclosed.
- Don't only ask the happy ones. Filtering who you ask so that only good reviews come in is against Google's policy. Ask everyone the same way.
- Don't write them yourself or ask friends who haven't played.
Reply to every review
A quick, human reply shows the next customer that someone's paying attention, which matters more when there's no one on the desk. Thank people for good reviews. For bad ones, apologise, say what you've changed and take it offline. A frozen bay that was fixed in two minutes is a much better story when you tell it in the reply.
What happened when we automated it
At Bunkerbay we switched on automatic review requests after every session. In the first three days we gained 5 new Google reviews, without asking anyone in person.
Review requests on autopilot
BAYi sends a review request after every session, plus a "same time next week?" rebook prompt. Book a 20-minute video demo to see it running at Bunkerbay.