What the FTC says about endorsements
The Federal Trade Commission’s endorsement guidance explains that endorsements and testimonials are subject to advertising principles, including the need to disclose material connections when they could affect how people evaluate a recommendation. Its questions and answers also discuss incentives and reviews.
The FTC source is not a substitute for every review platform’s rules, and it does not approve a business’s specific request workflow. It reinforces an important distinction: genuine customer expression should not be shaped into a misleading impression by hidden incentives or selective presentation.
Design a fair request process
For local marketing, send neutral review invitations based on an objective, consistently applied eligibility rule. Do not ask only happy customers, filter a rating before showing a public review option, or imply that a benefit depends on positive sentiment.
If a business offers an incentive in a context where that is permitted, the connection may require clear disclosure and platform rules may prohibit the practice. Have counsel and platform-policy owners review the design; the safer operational default is to request honest feedback without conditioning a reward on sentiment.
Respond without distorting the record
Keep responses factual, protect private information, and route serious complaints to the responsible team. Do not ask staff or partners to post as ordinary customers, and do not manufacture a pattern of praise to counter criticism.
The agency interpretation is to treat reviews as public customer feedback, not a campaign asset to curate selectively. FTC guidance explains endorsement principles; local teams should pair it with current platform policies and a consistent request process that leaves positive and critical experiences visible.
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