Yes, financial advisors can use Google reviews. Reviews that clients post on your Google Business Profile generally aren’t your advertisement under the SEC marketing rule, so long as you let anyone post, don’t delete, edit or sort them, and have no hand in writing them. What changes the answer is what you do next: asking only happy clients, paying for reviews, replying in a way that endorses them, or copying them onto your website. Once a review is in your advertising, it needs disclosures right beside it. Most advisors have few reviews to manage: a 2024 study of advisory firms’ Google profiles, published by Kitces, found a median of 2 reviews per location.
This guide works through each step. For setting up the profile itself, see Google Business Profile for financial advisors. For the rule as a whole, see the SEC marketing rule for small RIAs.
The short answer, case by case
The test comes from the SEC’s adopting release for the rule. Third-party content becomes yours if you “adopt” it, by endorsing or approving it after it’s published, or if you’re “entangled” in it, by helping prepare it.
| What you do | Is the review your advertisement? | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Let clients post on Google, change nothing | Generally no | Leave reviews alone; report only ones that break Google’s policies |
| Ask every client, or a neutral group, without scripting | Generally no | Use the same short request for everyone |
| Ask only clients you expect to be happy | Likely yes (entanglement) | Don’t; Google bans it too |
| Pay or reward a review, even with a gift card | Yes, a paid testimonial | Don’t; Google bans incentives |
| Delete or bury negative reviews | Yes, the rest become yours | Remove content only under a written, neutral policy |
| Quote a review on your website | Yes | Add the client, paid and conflict disclosures inside the quote |
| Show “4.9 stars on Google” on your site | Treat it as yes | Add the count, date and disclosures beside it |
Leaving reviews on Google
The SEC said that “permitting all third parties to post public commentary” to an adviser’s page “would not, by itself, render such content attributable to the adviser,” so long as the adviser doesn’t selectively delete or alter comments and isn’t involved in preparing them. Having the power to sort reviews doesn’t count against you if you don’t use it.
The release also allows limited editing. Removing profanity, threats, spam, defamatory or unlawful content, or correcting a factual error, doesn’t make the rest yours, if you do it under “pre-established, objective criteria” written into your policies and “not designed to favor or disfavor the adviser.” A policy that removes only negative reviews fails that test, the SEC said.
On Google you can’t delete a review yourself in any case. You can report one that breaks Google’s content policy. Write down why you reported it.
Asking for reviews
Asking is allowed. How you ask decides whether you’re entangled.
- Ask everyone the same way. Every client, or a neutral group defined in advance, such as every household that finished its annual review this quarter.
- Don’t script it. “If you’re willing, we’d welcome a Google review of your experience” is fine. Suggesting phrases, or asking clients to mention a specialty, involves you in what they write.
- Don’t filter first. Sending a satisfaction survey and then asking only high scorers for a public review is the selective solicitation Google bans: its policy says merchants may not “selectively solicit positive reviews from customers.”
- Never reward it. Google bans incentives “such as payment, discounts, free goods and/or services.” Under the marketing rule a reward makes the review a paid testimonial. In December 2025, SEC examiners flagged advisers who gave clients gift cards to write reviews on third-party sites.
Replying to reviews
Advice here differs. Google encourages replies, and our Google Business Profile guide suggests keeping them short and general. The Kitces article cautions that replying publicly could be read as adoption, and suggests contacting the client directly instead.
A middle course: reply the same neutral way to every review, good or bad (“Thank you for taking the time to share this”). Don’t confirm details of anyone’s accounts, and don’t say “we’re so glad we could help with your rollover,” which repeats and approves the review’s content.
Putting reviews on your website
This is where the rule applies in full. On your own site, a review from a current client is a testimonial, and one from anyone else, including a former client, is an endorsement. Each needs, clearly and prominently and within the review itself:
- whether the person is a current client,
- whether they were paid, and
- a brief statement of any material conflict.
The SEC said a hyperlink doesn’t meet the clear and prominent standard, and the disclosure must be at least as prominent as the review. The December 2025 risk alert named exactly this problem: advisers who copied current and former clients’ reviews from third-party sites onto their own sites without saying who the reviewers were.
Three common setups need extra thought:
- Review widgets. A widget that pulls in every review as posted is closer to the neutral approach. One set to show only four- and five-star reviews selects the good ones by design.
- Star averages. Neither the rule nor the SEC’s marketing FAQ (updated January 15, 2026) addresses a line like “4.9 stars on Google.” It summarizes client reviews in your advertising, so the safer reading treats it like the reviews behind it: show the number of reviews and the date, and the client and paid disclosures beside it. In the 2024 Kitces study, about 92% of advisory firms’ reviews were five-star, so an average says less than a reader might think.
- “Read our reviews” links. The Kitces article notes that referencing a client’s review on a third-party site “would likely constitute adoption.” Treat a link that promotes your reviews as you would the reviews.
Reviews from staff, family and colleagues
Google’s policy bans reviews based on a conflict of interest, including “current or former employment” and “familial relationships.” Ask staff and relatives not to post. A CPA or attorney who isn’t your client can review you, but on your website that’s an endorsement, with its own disclosures, and if you pay them for referrals, the marketing rule’s paid-endorsement terms apply.
If you’re state-registered
The SEC rule covers SEC-registered advisers. State-registered firms follow their state’s rules, which have often been stricter about testimonials. On May 4, 2026, NASAA approved model rule amendments that give states a framework to allow testimonials and endorsements with guardrails. Each state has to adopt them, so check yours first.
Do Google reviews matter for AI answers?
Reviews show up most in local search, where Google ranks profiles partly on how many reviews they have. AI assistants lean more on review and directory sites they can cite. In our study of 600 AI answers, ChatGPT cited yelp.com in 32% of its answers, and Perplexity cited thumbtack.com in 55%, bbb.org in 39% and wealthtender.com in 23%. The same disclosure rules apply when you show reviews from any of those sites on your own.
Source: Kitces / Testimonial iQ, June 17, 2024; Kitces Research 2026 via Financial Planning, September 15, 2026
Firms that showed reviews on their site spent far less to win revenue in Kitces’ 2026 study. That’s a reason to do the disclosures properly, not to skip them.
A one-page review policy
- Who we ask: every client at a set point, using one written request.
- What we never do: script, filter, reward, or ask staff and family.
- What we remove or report: profanity, threats, spam, unlawful or false content, under this written list, never for being negative.
- How we reply: one neutral line to every review, or not at all.
- What we show on our site: reviews with client, paid and conflict disclosures inside each one; star averages with count and date.
- What we keep: a copy of each review we show, and the date we showed it.
Where Wellspent fits
Google reviews help in local search near your office. A Wellspent record covers the questions clients ask by need rather than place: it states your fees, specialties and the clients you serve, verified against SEC data, in the public graph AI assistants and search read. Membership is $89 a month and includes a monthly report on who AI assistants recommend when your ideal clients ask, introductions with no lead fees, and quarterly press placement with media partners. Wellspent doesn’t collect reviews. If reviews are central to your marketing, see Wellspent vs Wealthtender. See How it works.