Why the timing is the whole mechanism
A review request sent while the guest is still seated is an interruption and often produces a rating of the request rather than the meal. A request sent three days later arrives after the memory has faded into a general impression. The window that works sits shortly after the visit ends, while the experience is specific and the guest is somewhere they can type. A WiFi portal is one of the few systems in a venue that knows when the visit actually ended, because the device stops holding a session when the guest walks out of range. Triggering on session end, with a short delay, puts the request in that window without anyone watching the door.
Filtering out the visits that should not be asked
Not every connection is a guest worth asking. Someone who connected for four minutes to check a message is not in a position to review anything, and asking them produces either silence or a shrug of a rating. Sensible triggers add conditions before the message goes out.
- A minimum dwell time, so passers-by and pavement connections are excluded.
- A cooldown per guest, so a regular who visits weekly is not asked every week.
- A per-location rule, so a guest who reviewed your other site is not asked again immediately.
- A quiet-hours window, so a request from a late bar session does not arrive at two in the morning.
The line you must not cross
Google prohibits review gating, which means you cannot route happy guests to the review form and unhappy guests to a private complaint box. You also cannot offer a discount, a free drink or a prize entry in exchange for a review. Both practices risk your reviews being stripped and your listing being penalised, and both are easy to build accidentally when a template offers a "how was it?" step before the review link. The compliant pattern is simpler: send the same request to everyone who qualifies, link straight to your Google review form, and offer nothing in return. If you also want private feedback, ask for it in a separate message that does not branch based on the answer.
What the operator actually sees
In practice you set this up once and then watch two things. The first is the send log: which sessions qualified, which were suppressed by the cooldown or dwell rule, and which messages bounced. The second is your Google listing, where the change shows up as a steadier trickle of reviews rather than a spike, because the trigger is tied to normal footfall rather than to a campaign. The useful discipline is to leave the rules alone for a full trading cycle before adjusting them. Changing the dwell threshold every week makes it impossible to tell which setting was responsible for anything.
What this does not do
A review automation improves the number of people asked. It does not improve the experience being reviewed, and it does not hide a bad one. If service is inconsistent, asking more guests simply surfaces that faster and in public. Venues that get value from this treat the first month of extra reviews as a diagnostic, read what comes in, and fix the thing that keeps getting mentioned. That is the actual return, and it arrives before any ranking effect does.
How to set it up
In order. Skipping a step here is usually why a portal ends up showing a spinner instead of a login screen.
- 1
Get the portal capturing consented email addresses first
A review request is an email or message to a person, so it needs the same consent basis as any other marketing. Start with a working portal and a consent checkbox before you build the trigger on top of it.
- 2
Find your Google review link
In your Google Business Profile, use the "Ask for reviews" share link. It opens the review dialog directly rather than dropping the guest on your listing and hoping they find the button. Test it on a phone while signed out of any staff account.
- 3
Set the trigger conditions
Choose the event, normally session end, a minimum dwell time that reflects a real visit at your venue, and a delay before sending. Add a per-guest cooldown measured in months rather than weeks.
- 4
Write the message
Keep it short, name the venue, thank them for the visit, and put the review link as the single call to action. No incentive, no satisfaction survey in front of it, no second ask lower down.
- 5
Run it on your own visit first
Connect as a guest, stay past the dwell threshold, leave, and confirm the message arrives when you expect and links where you expect. Only then let it run for everyone.
Who this suits
The venue types where this job comes up most often, and where the data the portal produces is dense enough to act on.
Run this on your own network first
The Starter plan is free forever: one location, 25 logins a month, a branded splash page and consent logging. Growth is $49 a month and covers up to three locations. Works with TP-Link Omada and Ubiquiti UniFi.
Common questions
Can I send the request by SMS instead of email?
Only if you collected a phone number with explicit consent to be texted for marketing, and only within the rules of the country you are sending to. SMS consent is stricter and more expensive to get wrong than email consent, so most venues start with email and add SMS later for the guests who specifically opted into it.
Will Google penalise me for automating this?
Automating the ask is fine. What Google prohibits is filtering who gets asked based on how happy they are, and offering anything of value in exchange for a review. Send the same unincentivised request to everyone who meets your dwell and cooldown rules and you are inside the rules.
How long should the delay after the visit be?
Short enough that the visit is still specific in memory, long enough that the guest is not still at the table. Many venues land somewhere in the half hour to two hour range and hold it steady. Pick one, leave it alone for a full trading cycle, then judge it.
What if a guest leaves a bad review?
Reply to it publicly, quickly and without arguing. A well-handled negative review reads as evidence that a real person runs the place. Trying to prevent negatives from reaching the listing is the gating behaviour Google prohibits, so the only real defence is fixing the underlying issue.
Read next
These jobs share the same plumbing, so operators normally set them up in sequence rather than one at a time.
Collect Emails From Your Guest WiFi
Turn the WiFi login that already happens hundreds of times a month into a consented, deliverable email address you own.
Run a Loyalty Programme Through Your WiFi
Recognise and reward guests who come back, without asking anyone to install an app or carry a stamp card.
Win Back Customers Who Stopped Coming In
Notice when a regular quietly stops coming in, and reach them before the habit belongs to somewhere else.
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