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How to set up the Google Reviews integration with CaptiFi
Follow the steps below to connect your Google listing so CaptiFi's review requests send guests straight to it. How the requests themselves behave (the delay, the star rule, text messages, the 90-day rule and what you receive) is covered on the Reviews page.
Time needed: about 10 minutes.
What this integration does
- A guest signs in to your WiFi through your splash page and gives marketing consent
- After the delay you set in Ask after (24 hours by default), CaptiFi asks them to rate their visit, by email and, if you switch it on, by text message
- The guest picks a star rating on CaptiFi's rating page
- A rating at or above your Minimum stars for a public review (4 by default) sends them to your Google listing, to Tripadvisor or Yelp, or offers the choice, depending on your destination setting
- A lower rating opens a private feedback form, which still shows your public review links. The rating and any feedback come to you by email
Before you start
- A Google Business Profile for your venue
- A CaptiFi plan that includes review requests (Essentials or above; not on Lite)
- A splash page that collects an email address (and a phone number, if you want to ask by text)
- Optionally, your sending domain verified, so the emails come from your own address. Until then they come from a CaptiFi venue address under your venue's name; see Who your guest emails come from
Part 1: Find your Google Place ID and review link
Step 1: Look up your Place ID
Open Google's free Place ID finder, type your venue name and address, and click your business on the map. Google shows a Place ID that looks like ChIJd8BlQ2BZwokRAFUEcm_qrcA. Copy it.
Step 2: Get your review link
In Google Business Profile, open your venue and click Ask for reviews. Google gives you a short link such as https://g.page/r/CQrcA/review. Copy it.
We can find these for you
If you cannot find either value, contact CaptiFi support with your venue name and address and we will fill them in for you.
Part 2: Enter them in CaptiFi
Step 3: Open the Review requests settings
Log in to my.captifi.io, click Reviews in the sidebar and open the Review requests tab. The entry is there before setup on any plan that includes Google Reviews. The same settings open from Manage on the Google Reviews card on the Integrations page.
Step 4: Pick the venue
Each venue links to its own Google listing and keeps its own settings, so choose the venue you are setting up.
Step 5: Enter your Google Business details
Paste the values from Part 1:
- Google Place ID from Step 1
- Business Name exactly as it appears on your listing
- Review URL from Step 2
Step 6: Set Ask after
Ask after controls how long after the visit the request goes out. The default is 24 hours. Enter a number and choose minutes, hours or days. See Timing for advice by venue type.
Step 7: Set Minimum stars for a public review
Minimum stars for a public review decides who is sent to your public listing. The default of 4 means guests rating 4 or 5 go to Google, and anyone rating 3 or below sees the private feedback form, with your public links still on it. The Star rule sentence under the field restates this for whatever number you choose.
Step 8: Optional, ask by text message too
Tick Also ask by text message to send the same link as a text. The text channel is its own switch, independent of the email channel. It needs SMS Marketing and a review link for the venue, and spends 1 SMS credit per message segment. See Asking by text message.
Step 9: Optional, restrict to attended reservations
Switch on Only ask guests with an attended reservation if you only want to ask guests who turned up for a booking. It needs Reservation Check-in and is ignored while that is off.
Step 10: Set Send private feedback to and the sender address
Send private feedback to is the address that receives every rating and any private feedback, usually the venue manager. Guests' replies to the request go to this address too. Under it, check the sender address the emails come from: your verified sending address, or a CaptiFi venue address until you verify one.
Step 11: Send yourself a test email
Click Send test email. Check the wording and the star buttons, and confirm the Google link opens your listing.
Step 12: Save and enable
Click Save, then switch the venue to Enabled. Enabled is the email channel; texts are switched separately in Step 8.
Step 13: Optional, send happy guests to Tripadvisor or Yelp
By default, guests who meet your minimum go to Google. The tab shows your Tripadvisor Listing URL, Yelp business link and Happy guests review on read-only, with links to the Tripadvisor Reviews and Yelp Reviews cards on the Integrations page where they are edited. See Tripadvisor and Yelp.
Part 3: Test it end to end
Step 14: Sign in as a guest
Forget the WiFi on a phone, reconnect, and complete the splash page with a real email address and marketing consent. To avoid waiting a day, set Ask after to a few minutes for the test and put it back afterwards.
Step 15: Wait for the delay, then check both paths
When the request arrives:
- Rate 4 or 5 stars and confirm you land on your Google listing
- Repeat with a second test guest, rate 1 to 3 stars, and confirm the private feedback form appears with your public links on it, that the feedback shows under Reviews → Guest feedback, and that it arrives at your Send private feedback to address
Best practice
- Leave Ask after at 24 hours unless your visits are short (ask sooner) or span several days (ask in days, after checkout)
- One call to action. Do not add offers or newsletters to the review email
- Do not over-ask. CaptiFi asks each guest at most once every 90 days per venue, across email and text together, matched by sign-in, email or mobile number
- Keep the minimum at 4. Routing 3-star guests to the private form gets you feedback you can act on, and they still see your public links
Troubleshooting
No review requests are being sent: check the venue is Enabled on the Review requests tab, that your splash page collects email addresses, and that the Ask after delay has elapsed.
Emails land in spam: verify your sending domain under Email Marketing settings so requests come from your own address.
The Google link opens the wrong business: the Place ID belongs to another listing. Repeat Step 1 and pick your venue carefully, then re-save.
Guests report a broken review link: re-copy the link from Ask for reviews in Google Business Profile; Google occasionally reissues it.
A regular was not asked: guests are asked at most once every 90 days per venue. Expected.
Texts stopped after I changed the links: removing a venue's last review link, or disconnecting Google Reviews, switches the text channel off and the dashboard shows a notice. Add a link back and tick Also ask by text message again.