How to Turn a Google Review into a Social Media Post: Phone Steps, Consent and the ACCC Rules for Gold Coast Trades

To share a Google review on social media, ask the customer first, capture the review as a screenshot or quote card without changing their words, and post it from your business Facebook Page or Instagram account with a caption about the job and the suburb. This guide walks Gold Coast and South East Queensland trades through each step on a phone.

It also covers what the ACCC allows, from edits to incentives. If you would rather hand it over, our social media management for trades turns your reviews into regular posts for you.

Key Points

• The ACCC says reviews can appear on a business's own website, social media or review platforms, so its review rules apply to your posts.
• The ACCC warns that a review edited or changed by someone else after it was written can mislead, so quote reviews as written, caveats included.
• Any discount or free gift offered for a review must apply whether the review is positive or negative, and it must be clearly disclosed.
• The ACCC's guidance lists penalties including a $6,600 infringement notice for Citymove, $600,000 in penalties for Service Seeking and $2.9 million in penalties for HealthEngine.
• On 20 August 2026 we found a client testimonial on our own home page that did not match what the client wrote, and we corrected it to the verbatim text.

How do I share a Google review from my phone?

Open the Google Maps app, find your business, open the review and look for the Share option. Signpost's Facebook walkthrough follows that route: find the review in Google Maps, click Share, then post from your Business Page rather than your personal profile.

Google changes these menus over time, so confirm the labels on your own phone before you build a routine around them. If Share is not where you expect, a screenshot of the review works on any phone and keeps the customer's exact words.

Google's Business Profile Marketing Kit is another option. ReputationStacker describes Marketing Kit steps that end in a downloadable ZIP of review images, but that is a secondary description, so check the live kit first.

A well-kept listing gives you more to share, and our guide to Google Business Profile optimisation for QLD trades shows how to build one. Pick one method and sharing a review becomes a two-minute job.

Four ways to turn a Google review into a post

Which platform should I post reviews on?

We recommend Facebook first for most trades, because a review post there can carry a clickable link to your booking page. Add Instagram if your work photographs well, such as renovations, landscaping, tiling or painting.

Google Business Profile posts suit a job story with photos, because your reviews already sit on that listing.

On Instagram, use the three formats below. Instagram updates its menus and recommended sizes, so check each step in Instagram's help centre before you set up a template.

• For a Story, crop the screenshot to the review alone, post it to your Story and add a location sticker for the suburb where you did the job.
• For a feed post, pair the review with photos from the job and add a location tag for the suburb, so people browsing that place can find your work.
• Use a branded quote card as the first image of a feed post with the job photos after it, so the review leads and the work backs it up.
• Links in an Instagram caption are not clickable, so point people to the link in your bio or ask them to call, and preview every post before it goes live.

Do I need the customer's permission?

Ask every time, even though the review is public. A Google review is the customer's own published words, but putting their name on your Facebook or Instagram is a new use of them.

The easiest way is to reply to the review on Google, thank them and ask if you can share it. Follow up by text so you have their yes in writing, and keep that message with the job notes.

Google also sets its own rules for using reviews in marketing through its Business Profile brand resources, separate from Australian law. Read Google's current wording on its own pages before you post, rather than relying on any summary, including this one.

Only tag the customer if they agreed to it. Otherwise, use their first name and add the suburb as a location tag.

Some reviews should not be shared at all. Skip any review you suspect is fake, any that looks like it came from family, staff or someone you rewarded without disclosure, and any that names a child, shows an address or mentions a medical or financial detail.

If most of your profile is negative, do not feature a few good reviews as if they reflect it. The ACCC says context matters when you display ratings.

To build up reviews worth sharing, our guide on asking customers for Google reviews without feeling awkward has scripts you can send from the ute. A written yes on file means you never wonder whether a post was okay.

Can I trim, fix or reword a review?

Quote the review exactly as written. The ACCC's guidance on online reviews says reviews can appear on your own social media, and that a review edited or changed by someone else after it was written can mislead.

If a typo makes a review hard to read, include the corrected version in your permission text and post it only once the customer agrees. That way the change is theirs, not yours.

We learned this on our own site. On 20 August 2026 we checked a client testimonial on our home page against what he wrote, and it did not match.

The home page read: "Their professionalism and outstanding service towards detail and support is unmatched." The client actually wrote: "i love digital has been a great experience for me with their professionalism and outstanding service towards detail and support." He never wrote "unmatched", and a sentence he did write had been dropped.

We replaced it with the verbatim text. Our rule since then is that words may not be added, sentences may not be merged and meaning may not be sharpened.

Keep the caveats when you shorten a review. If a customer wrote "a bit pricey but worth it", do not cut it to "worth it", and show any other cut with an ellipsis. A four-star review with honest context can be posted as it is.

It is against the law to create fake or misleading reviews or arrange for others to, and the ACCC lists penalties including a $6,600 infringement notice for Citymove, $600,000 for Service Seeking and $2.9 million for HealthEngine. The checklist below follows the ACCC's guidance.

Review post honesty checklist, based on the ACCC's online reviews guidance

What should the caption say for a trade job?

Lead with the job and the suburb, then let the customer's words do the selling. A good caption names the work, the place and the scope, and thanks the customer by first name.

Pair the review with before and after photos from the same job. For more ways to stretch one job across a week, see one job, five posts for Gold Coast tradies. Adapt these templates, replacing the square brackets with the real details.

• Bathroom renovation in [suburb], finished this week. Here is what [first name] said on Google: "[their words, as written]". Thanks [first name], it was a pleasure working on your home.
• Switchboard upgrade in [suburb] for [first name]. Their Google review says it better than we can: "[their words, as written]". Link in bio to book yours.
• Before and after from a roof restoration in [suburb]. Swipe to see the finish, then read [first name]'s Google review: "[their words, as written]". Call us to book a quote.

How often should I post reviews, and can I batch them?

Post a review weekly or every second week, mixed in with your other content. GR Widget suggests a weekly or twice-monthly cadence and lists four formats: quote card, screenshot plus caption, theme roundup and video reaction.

ServiceScale's social media guide for tradies places testimonials within roughly 20% of a proof, process and people content mix, and its 90-day plan includes sharing Google reviews on your page. Our piece on whether you have to post every day sets realistic targets.

Batch the work in one short weekly slot. Screenshot new reviews, send the permission texts, then schedule the posts once the replies come in.

Ask every new caller how they found you and note it on the job. That simple record tells you which review posts are bringing in work.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I share a Google review on Facebook without asking the customer? Ask first, even though the review is public. A reply on Google followed by a text gives you a written yes to keep with the job notes, and Google sets its own rules for using reviews in marketing that you should read on its own pages.

Can I fix spelling mistakes in a review before I post it? Only if the customer agrees to the fix first. The ACCC says a review edited or changed by someone else after it was written can mislead, so put the corrected version in your permission text, or quote the review exactly as written.

Can I post a four-star review that mentions the price? Yes, post it as written. Cutting a caveat such as "a bit pricey but worth it" changes the meaning, and the ACCC says an edited review can mislead.

Can I only post my five-star reviews? You can choose which reviews to feature, but do not present a hand-picked set as your overall rating. If you show an average, show the number of reviews behind it, as in the ACCC's example of 3 stars – 24 reviews, and never suppress genuine negative reviews.

Can I give customers a discount for leaving a review? Yes, but only if the discount applies whether the review is positive or negative and you disclose it clearly. That is the ACCC's position on incentives such as discounts or free gifts.

Get Your Google Reviews Shared the Right Way

We turn your Google reviews into consent-checked, honestly quoted posts for Facebook and Instagram, written around your jobs and your suburbs. You stay on the tools while your customers' own words appear where locals scroll.

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