Episode Details

You know that email you send after a job — the one that says "leave us a Google review and get 10% off"? In this country, that might now be illegal. Not "Google's a bit annoyed with you" illegal. Actually illegal, with a fine on the end of it.

Hi, I'm Nikki Pilkington. My site is https://nikki-pilkington.com/ and in this episode of "SEO F**king What", I'm talking about the thing the SEO industry has completely missed. Everyone spent July losing their minds over one line Google added to its review snippet documentation. It's a documentation update. It isn't the story. The story is a British law that came in over a year ago and that almost nobody in this industry has mentioned, because most of what you read about SEO is written by Americans about America.

Here's what I'm covering:

— What Google actually added on the 24th of July, and why where they put that line matters more than what it says

— Why fake reviews have been illegal in the UK since April 2025 — not against the rules, not frowned upon, illegal

— Why the CMA no longer needs to take you to court, and can investigate, decide and fine you all by itself

— The numbers: up to £300,000 for the business, and up to £150,000 for the actual human who set it up

— Why "leave a review, get 10% off" is perfectly legal right up until the moment nobody reading it can see the discount existed

— Review gating, which loads of review software does by default and sells to you as a feature

— Your staff, your mates, your mum, and that untraceable "JS, Manchester" testimonial sat on your homepage

— Eight ways to get reviews properly, including the one that changes everything and almost nobody bothers with

I also give you a proper piece of homework. Not the "might do that one day" kind. The do-it-before-your-coffee-goes-cold kind.

If you know someone still running "review for a discount" campaigns, or using software that quietly filters out the unhappy customers before they ever reach Google, send them this. It might save them a very expensive letter.

Get found. Make money. Stop stressing. And go and ask a customer for a review — properly.

Links mentioned:

Non-Wanky SEO Courses — the On-Page SEO toolkit is completely free right now: https://nonwankyseo.com

The CMA's own fake reviews guidance (free, and worth twenty minutes of your life): https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67eeb64fe9c76fa33048c790/CMA208_-_Fake_reviews_guidance.pdf

Google's review snippet documentation: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/review-snippet

How to get your short Google review link: https://support.google.com/business/answer/16816815

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2024/13

Follow Nikki:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikkipilkington/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikkipilkington/

Bluesky: https: