The Practical Guide for Opticians

How to Get More Google Reviews as a Optician

If you've ever finished a appointment and forgotten to ask, this is for you. A short, honest guide to filling your Google profile with real reviews — without it feeling weird.

14-day free trial · No setup fees · Cancel anytime

Why More Reviews = More Work for Opticians

Before the how, here's the why. Independent opticians compete against national chains with massive advertising budgets. Reviews about personal service, expertise, quality frames, and taking time with each patient are how independents differentiate. Every extra review past your current count earns you a slightly better position in local search, which means slightly more phone calls — and the maths compounds fast.

"optician near me"

Google shows the top three results for this search based heavily on review count, rating, and recency. Most clicks go to those three.

Trust signal

For a optician practice, reviews are the first social proof potential patients see — long before they ever talk to you.

Permanent asset

Reviews are an owned, permanent asset — unlike paid leads that stop the moment you stop paying.

Why It's So Hard to Get Reviews as a Optician

The barrier isn't your work — it's the moment. Reviews happen when the asking is easy and the timing is right, and for most opticians both of those things are working against you.

You compete with Specsavers and Vision Express — massive national brands

Eye tests are routine — patients don't think to review

Online glasses retailers undercut on price

Independent opticians struggle for visibility against chains

Top-ranking opticians typically have 30-100 Google reviews.

The 5-Step System to Get More Reviews

This is the playbook we've watched work across hundreds of optician practice owners. None of it is clever — it's just consistent.

  1. 1

    Ask within 24-48 hours of finishing the appointment

    Response rates roughly halve after a week. The fresher the experience, the more likely they post.

  2. 2

    Send by SMS, not email

    SMS gets opened in minutes. Email gets opened, maybe, on Sunday night. SMS wins for opticians every time.

  3. 3

    Personalise the message

    Use the patient's name and reference the actual appointment. Generic templates underperform personalised messages by 2-3x.

  4. 4

    Give them a direct link to your Google review form

    Don't make them search for your business. One tap from SMS to review form is the gold standard.

  5. 5

    Filter out unhappy patients first

    Send a low-friction "how was it?" question first. Only patients who rate you highly should be funnelled to Google. The rest give you private feedback.

Or Let It Run Itself

The five steps above work. The problem is keeping them up when you're knee-deep in a appointment. Grow Our Reviews automates step 1 through step 4 — you just finish the job.

1

Finish a appointment

Wrap up the work the same way you always have. Nothing changes in how you operate.

2

Add the patient

Drop their name and mobile into the app — fifteen seconds, from your phone.

3

Reviews land

Happy patients post directly to Google. Unhappy ones give you private feedback first.

Examples From a Working Optician's Week

Picture a typical week — a eye test, a glasses fitting, maybe a contact lens fitting. Each one is a potential review. Here's how the asking fits each.

eye test

A patient who's just had a eye test from you is the easiest review you'll ever ask for — when the moment is right. The system catches that moment.

glasses fitting

A patient who's just had a glasses fitting from you is the easiest review you'll ever ask for — when the moment is right. The system catches that moment.

contact lens fitting

A patient who's just had a contact lens fitting from you is the easiest review you'll ever ask for — when the moment is right. The system catches that moment.

children's eye test

A patient who's just had a children's eye test from you is the easiest review you'll ever ask for — when the moment is right. The system catches that moment.

What It Costs (For a Optician)

14-day free trial on the plan you choose. Card required. Cancel from the dashboard anytime.

Lite

£19 / month

Enough credits for around 30 appointments a month.

  • Up to 30 message credits per month
  • SMS review requests
  • Automatic follow-up nudges (can enable/disable)
  • Sentiment gate (review filtering)
  • Analytics dashboard
  • Email support
Start Free Trial
Most popular

Starter

£49 / month

Enough credits for around 150 appointments a month.

  • Up to 150 message credits per month
  • SMS review requests
  • Automatic follow-up nudges (can enable/disable)
  • Sentiment gate (review filtering)
  • Analytics dashboard
  • Email support
Start Free Trial

Growth

£79 / month

Enough credits for around 300 appointments a month.

  • Up to 300 message credits per month
  • Everything in Starter
  • Priority support
Start Free Trial

Quick Answers

When is the best time to ask a patient for a review?+

Within 24-48 hours of finishing the appointment, while the experience is fresh. Wait a week and the response rate drops by more than half — we've measured it.

What's the highest-converting message to send?+

Short, polite, and personal. Mention the patient's name, what you did, and a direct link to your Google review page. The fewer clicks between SMS and review form, the higher the conversion.

Is it OK to offer an incentive?+

No. Google's policy explicitly bans incentivised reviews and they'll strip them — sometimes along with your whole rating. Don't risk it.

How many requests should I send per month as a optician?+

Send one to every patient you've genuinely served. The "right number" is whatever your real job volume is — the goal is steady, not bulk.

Ready to get your first wave of new reviews?

The guide above is what works. The fastest way to actually do it is to let the system ask for you — after every appointment, automatically.

Get Started Free

14-day free trial · No setup fees · Cancel anytime

Other Health & Wellness we work with

The same approach works for adjacent health & wellness — same automation, different defaults.

More for opticians

Same topic, different angles — useful if you're researching how reviews fit into your wider optical business.