Houzz Reviews: The Complete Guide for Home Professionals

By the Expert Reputation team · Updated September 30, 2026

On Houzz, reviews sit on your professional profile next to your project photos, and homeowners browsing for a remodeler, builder, designer or landscaper see them together. You can request reviews by email or text, Houzz moderates each one before it goes live, and you can respond from your profile. Houzz won't remove a genuine client's review just because it's negative. This guide covers the rules in the Houzz Review Policy, how to request and respond, and what to do about a review you believe breaks them.

Who Houzz matters for

Houzz focuses on home design and renovation: general contractors, remodelers, interior designers, architects, builders, landscapers and similar trades. For those businesses, a Houzz profile works as a portfolio and a review page at once. Houzz's help center says its own research found reviews are the top thing homeowners look for when choosing a pro. That's Houzz's claim about its own users, but it matches why a complete, well-reviewed profile is worth the effort.

Setting up your Houzz professional profile

Houzz's current help article on creating a business profile starts at houzz.com/pro. You sign up with a business email (or Google), answer questions about your business, fill out your profile, choose a Houzz Pro plan, add team members and start a free trial. Afterward, open your profile from the company icon (View Profile) and edit it under Account Settings. The article doesn't describe a separate profile-only path, so if you only want a listing, ask Houzz what's available for your business.

Fill the profile out fully, with accurate business name, service area, project photos and license details. The Review Policy requires reviews to match the business "as stated in their Houzz profile," so an accurate profile also helps when you need to show that a review describes a different company.

The Houzz Review Policy in plain English

By posting a review, the reviewer agrees that:

• They aren't an insider or a competitor. No directors, employees, officers or principals of the business being reviewed, or of a competitor.
• They aren't related to the business. No relatives by blood, adoption or marriage.
• It's first-hand. The review must be based on their own experience as a client, or with the business's products or services. Conversations as a potential client don't count.
• It's accurate, truthful and complete, and follows Houzz's Acceptable Use Policy (nothing libelous, defamatory, threatening, harassing, privacy-invading, abusive, hateful, discriminatory or obscene, as Houzz determines).
• Incentives are disclosed. If the reviewer received money or any other incentive, it must be clearly stated in the review, "even if the amount or value of such incentive is small."
• No extortion. They can't use posting or removing a review to demand payment. A genuine refund request after a bad experience is allowed.
• The pro isn't reviewing themselves through another profile.
• It's about the right company and project. No references to a different company (even a rebranded one), to other people's reviews, or external links promoting other companies.
• One reviewer per household or company for the project.

How to request Houzz reviews

From Houzz's help center:

On a desktop computer

1. Log in to your profile on Houzz.com.
2. Under your business name, click Get Reviews.
3. Add up to 50 email addresses separated by commas, and edit the pre-written message if you like.
4. Preview it and click Send. The client gets an email with a link to submit a review.

By text message (iOS only)

Open the client's thread in Messages, tap +, choose Houzz Pro, then Request Client Review. Edit the auto-filled message if needed and send.

Houzz's older (2021) advice on request emails still holds up: sign the request from the team member the client knows best, remind them of specific parts of the project, and thank them.

What to avoid when requesting reviews

• Review swaps with other pros. Houzz's 2021 blog suggests asking colleagues for reviews and writing one for them in return. Be careful. The Review Policy requires first-hand client experience. And under the FTC's rule on consumer reviews (16 CFR Part 465, in effect since October 21, 2024), providing "another review" in exchange for a review counts as purchasing one. Only a professional who actually hired you or worked with you on a project should review you.
• Incentives. Houzz's policy allows an incentivized review only if the incentive is disclosed in the review. The FTC rule separately bans incentives conditioned on a review being positive or negative. We recommend not offering incentives at all.
• Staff, family or your own second account. These are all prohibited by the Review Policy.
• Asking only the clients you know were happy. The FTC says this could violate the FTC Act. Houzz's negative-review article suggests inviting "past clients with positive experiences" to balance things out. We'd broaden that: send the same request to every client when a project wraps up.

Our review request templates give you neutral wording for any client.

Moderation: why a review hasn't appeared yet

Houzz verifies every submitted review for spam or false submissions, which can take up to 5-7 business days depending on volume. Once approved, reviews show in the Review tab of your profile. If a client says their review is missing, it's most likely still in moderation.

How to respond to Houzz reviews

From the Review tab you can respond with your own comments or choose a featured review for your profile. For negative reviews, Houzz recommends that you:

• Respond promptly. Ignoring it won't make it go away.
• Acknowledge the client's experience, even if you see it differently.
• Customize your reply to their specific concerns.
• Stay calm and professional. Avoid being defensive.
• Invite them to continue offline to find a solution.

Example: negative review

Thank you for your feedback, [First name]. We're sorry the schedule slipped on your bathroom remodel and that we didn't keep you updated the way we should have. We've changed how we communicate delays. I'd welcome a call to talk through the punch-list items. Please reach me at [Phone]. — [Name], [Business Name]

Example: positive review

Thank you so much! Your kitchen was a fun project, and your ideas for the island made it. We're glad you're enjoying the space. — [Business Name]

For more patterns, see how to respond to negative reviews.

How to report a Houzz review that breaks the rules

Houzz's position is clear: it does not remove reviews from genuine past clients that comply with the Review Policy. The route it gives professionals is to contact Houzz support (through Submit a support inquiry in the Houzz Pro Help Center) if you don't recognize the client or project.

A practical process:

1. Check your records for the name, address and project described.
2. Identify the specific rule you think the review breaks (see the table).
3. Submit a support inquiry. Include the review, which Review Policy point it breaks, and your evidence (for example, no matching client or job, or proof the reviewer is a competitor or former employee).
4. Reply publicly while you wait, calmly and without accusations.

Houzz decides what breaks its policy. No one, including us, can guarantee a removal, and you should never pay a third party who promises one (see review removal scams).

If Houzz leaves the review up

• Keep your reply professional. Homeowners weigh how you handle problems.
• Resolve it offline if you can. A reviewer who made a mistake or has changed their mind can edit their own review (Houzz documents the steps: Activity tab, Your Reviews, Read More, Edit Review). You can send them those steps if they ask. Don't pressure them or offer anything in exchange.
• Keep new reviews coming from every client so one review carries less weight.
• If you think a review is defamatory, talk to an attorney. See our overview of defamation vs. opinion, which is general information, not legal advice.

Common Houzz mistakes

• Swapping reviews with other pros you never worked with.
• Asking relatives or staff to post "just to get started."
• Leaving the profile incomplete or out of date, which makes wrong-business reviews harder to prove.
• Arguing in replies.
• Asking for reviews only from your happiest clients.

For another home-services platform with a formal complaint process, see our Angi guide.