Collecting verified customer reviews doesn't require technical expertise, a marketing team, or a large budget. If you process payments through Stripe, you can automate the entire process in about five minutes. Here's how.
# Step 1: Connect your Stripe account
The foundation of verified reviews is purchase verification. Connect your Stripe account to your review platform using Stripe's official OAuth flow. This grants read-only access — the platform can verify charges but cannot modify anything in your Stripe account.
What to look for: Make sure the integration is read-only. Some platforms request read_write access, which allows them to create charges and issue refunds. Signed Reviews uses charge_read, customer_read, and subscription_read permissions — no write access.
# Step 2: Configure your auto-request settings
Once connected, every new Stripe charge can automatically trigger a review invitation. Configure:
- Timing: Send immediately (digital products), after a delay (physical products that need shipping time), or on delivery via webhook (most accurate for shipped goods)
- Reminders: How many follow-ups and when. Standard cadences are 3 and 7 days after the initial request.
- Branding: Your logo, colors, and business name appear in every email
# Step 3: Set up your public review page
Your verified reviews need a public home. Configure:
- Page URL: Usually
yourbusiness.reviewsor a sub-path on your domain - Layout: How reviews are displayed (carousel, grid, list)
- Trust signals: Show the "Verified by Stripe" badge, transaction amounts, and review dates
- Widget: An embeddable review widget for your own website
# Step 4: Add the review widget to your site
Embed a review widget on your homepage, product pages, or a dedicated testimonials page. Most platforms provide a snippet you can paste into your site:
<script src="https://platform.signedreviews.com/widget.js"
data-business="your-business-slug"></script>
The widget displays your most recent verified reviews and links to your full review page.
# Step 5: Make it easy for customers
The easier it is to leave a review, the more reviews you'll collect:
- Mobile-first: Most customers open review invitations on their phone. Make sure the review form works on mobile.
- Short form: Ask for a rating and a few sentences. Don't require long essays.
- Photo uploads: Let customers add photos — visual reviews are more trusted and more engaging.
- Clear CTA: The email should have one obvious action: "Leave a review."
# Best practices
- Send at the right time: For physical products, wait until delivery. For services, send after the service is complete. For subscriptions, send after the first payment or after a milestone.
- Don't over-send: One invitation per purchase. Reminders should be limited (2 max) and stop when the link is clicked.
- Respond to reviews: Publicly thank positive reviewers and address negative feedback professionally. Responding to reviews shows you're engaged.
- Never incentivize: Don't offer discounts or rewards for reviews. This violates most platforms' terms and can get your reviews removed.
- Show your review count: Display the number of verified reviews prominently. A higher count builds trust.
# What to avoid
- Buying reviews: Never purchase reviews from review farms. They're always fake and will be detected eventually.
- Review gating: Don't ask happy customers to leave a public review while funneling unhappy customers to private feedback. This is against FTC guidelines.
- Editing reviews: Don't modify customer reviews. If a review violates content guidelines, report it — don't alter it.
# Start collecting today
The technical setup takes minutes. The hard part — building a reputation of authentic, verified reviews — happens over time, one real purchase at a time. But that's exactly what makes verified reviews valuable.