Review Attribution

Knowing which review came from which marketing channel — whether a new Google review originated from your SMS request, your QR code on receipts, your email campaign, or organically. Practical attribution is messy because Google doesn't show the source.

Definition

Review attribution is the harder-than-it-sounds problem of knowing where new reviews came from. Google doesn't show the source — when a review appears, you only know the reviewer's name and content. Workable proxies: track clicks on review-request links (UTM parameters or unique short links per channel) and reconcile with new review timing. A spike in Google reviews 4–8 hours after an SMS blast probably came from the blast, even though you can't prove it review-by-review. Attribution matters because it tells you which channel deserves more budget — SMS vs email vs QR — but the data is always approximate.

Example

An HVAC company sends 200 review-request emails on a Monday. They watch their Google profile: 8 new reviews over the next 5 days. They also send 100 SMS on a Tuesday: 12 new reviews over 3 days. SMS attributes higher per send, so they shift budget. Neither attribution is bulletproof — some of those reviews might have come anyway — but the directional signal is enough to act on.

Related terms

  • Review Request →A message sent to a customer (usually via SMS or email) asking them to leave a review of their recent experience. The message typically links to a review funnel or directly to the business's Google review page.
  • Review Monitoring →The practice of tracking new reviews across all the platforms where a business has a presence (Google, Yelp, Facebook, industry-specific sites) so the business can respond quickly — usually via automated alerts.

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