How Do Google Review Cards Work?
How do Google review cards work?
A Google review card is a plastic or printed card containing a small NFC chip and a printed QR code, both programmed with a link to your business's Google review form. A customer either holds their phone against the card or scans the code, and the review form opens directly on their screen with your business already selected. There is no app to download, no battery, and no subscription required for the card to work. The card contains a link, nothing more, and that is the whole mechanism.
What is physically in the card
- An NFC chip and antenna — a passive chip, roughly the size of a coin, sandwiched inside the card. Passive means it has no battery and no power source. It draws the tiny amount of energy it needs from the phone's own NFC reader for the fraction of a second it is in range.
- A printed QR code — the same link, encoded visually, for anyone who would rather scan or whose phone does not support NFC.
- Printing — on a branded card, your logo, colours and call to action.
That is all. There is no tracking of the individual customer, no data captured from their phone, and nothing installed on it.
What happens when a customer taps
- The customer holds the top of their phone against the card, usually for under a second.
- The phone's NFC reader wakes the chip and reads the URL stored on it.
- A notification appears asking whether to open the link. The customer taps it.
- The phone's browser opens your Google review form, with your business already selected and the star rating ready.
- They pick a rating, optionally type a comment, and submit.
The whole sequence takes about ten seconds. The step it eliminates is the one where the customer has to open Google, type your business name, pick the right listing from several similar ones, scroll to the reviews, and find the write-a-review button. That is where most review intent is lost, and removing it is the entire value of the product.
Which phones work
| NFC tap | QR scan | |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone | iPhone 7 and later, automatically from the lock screen on iPhone XS and later | Any iPhone with a camera |
| Android | Most devices from roughly 2015 onward, with NFC switched on | Any Android with a camera |
| Older or basic phones | No | Usually yes |
This is why every ReviewTap unit carries both. Around one in five customers will reach for the QR rather than tap, either from habit or because their phone will not. Having only one of the two costs you those customers for no saving.
Setting one up
On a card bought from ReviewTap, this is done before it ships. You send us your Google Business Profile or your business name, we find and verify the listing, programme the unit, and physically test it. It arrives working.
If you are programming a blank NFC tag yourself, the process is: get your Google review link from your Business Profile under Ask for reviews, confirm it opens the star-rating box, then write that URL to the tag with any NFC writer app. The same four steps, for the QR code version →
Where they fail
Worth knowing before you buy, because most of these are avoidable and none of them are the chip's fault.
- Nobody hands it over. By far the most common failure. A card sitting in a drawer or on a counter that staff never mention performs identically to no card at all. The hardware removes friction after the ask; it does not make the ask.
- It points at the listing instead of the review form. The customer lands on your business page and has to find the review button themselves, which reintroduces exactly the step the card was meant to remove.
- It is in the wrong place. By the exit is the worst spot. The customer is already leaving and has decided the visit is over.
- Metal or thick surfaces. NFC does not read reliably through metal. A card taped to a metal till surround may not work; move it or use a stand.
- One card for a business with several locations. Every review lands on one listing and the other branches stay at zero. Each location needs its own destination. Bulk orders configure a destination per location →
Cards or stands?
They are the same technology in a different form factor, chosen by where the review moment happens.
- Cards suit handover moments and mobile teams — a technician finishing a job, a salesperson at a desk, a card handed over with the bill. One per staff member or vehicle.
- Stands suit fixed points where the customer comes to you — a reception desk, a till, a restaurant table, a hotel check-in counter. They stay put and are visible without anyone remembering to produce them.
Most businesses need both, and the split is usually obvious once you have identified where your customers are happiest.
Questions
Do Google review cards need an app?
No. The card stores a web link. The customer's phone opens it in their normal browser. Nothing is installed on their phone or yours.
Do review cards need a battery or charging?
No. The NFC chip is passive and draws the small amount of power it needs from the phone reading it. There is nothing to charge and nothing to replace.
Is there a monthly subscription?
Not for the hardware. A ReviewTap card or stand is bought once and keeps working. Optional review management and reporting services are billed separately and the card works without them.
How long does a review card last?
The chip has no moving parts and no wear mechanism, so the practical lifespan is the physical durability of the card itself. In normal counter or pocket use that is years.
Can I change where the card points after it is printed?
Yes. ReviewTap units are repointed remotely, so if you move premises, rebrand or your listing changes, the same printed card is redirected without reprinting.
Does the card collect customer data?
The card itself stores only a URL and cannot read anything from a phone. It is a one-way link.
Can one card be used for Google and Tripadvisor?
A single unit points at one destination by default. If you need to offer several — Google, Tripadvisor, a booking link — the unit points instead at a landing page carrying all of them, which ReviewTap supplies as a separate option.
Are review cards allowed by Google?
Yes. They make an existing review form easier to reach and do not screen or incentivise anyone. The full answer →