Can an RIA use testimonials, Google reviews and awards under the Marketing Rule?

Yes, on conditions the rule spells out. A testimonial or endorsement needs disclosures when it is published, oversight by the firm and, for most paid promoters, a written agreement; a third-party rating or ranking needs diligence on how it was built, plus its own disclosures. Whether a Google review is your advertisement can turn on whether the firm adopted it or paid for it.

What this means for your firm

• List every place a client quote, review, star rating or award appears: your website, decks and emails, and any d/b/a site you run. The SEC Marketing Rule checklist for small RIAs has the items to check each against.
• If you copy a client's review from another site onto yours, say with it that it came from a current or former client, clearly and prominently. The December 2025 risk alert found advisers who put testimonials and endorsements from third-party websites on their own sites without doing so (p. 3).
• Put the required disclosures where a reader sees them with the testimonial; the staff observed hyperlinked disclosures and disclosures in a smaller or lighter font.
• For each rating or award that ranks you, file who gave it, the date and period, and what you did to learn how its survey was built. Keep its disclosures next to the rating; the staff observed them placed at the foot of the page.
• Decide in your marketing policy who may ask clients for reviews or pay anyone for one, and who checks the disclosures.

Turret's pre-screen flags testimonial and rating language in drafts you submit, and your approver decides.

Testimonial or endorsement

A testimonial is a statement by a current client; an endorsement is a statement by anyone else, such as a former client. Either can describe an experience with the firm, or solicit or refer clients (17 CFR 275.206(4)-1(e)(17), (e)(5); eCFR).

When disclosures are due

When the testimonial or endorsement is disseminated (17 CFR 275.206(4)-1(b)(1)). The items in (b)(1)(i) must be clear and prominent; the December 2025 risk alert contrasts hyperlinked and smaller-font disclosures.

Records

Documentation of your reasonable basis, (a)(15)(ii), and any rating questionnaire you obtain, (a)(11)(ii) (17 CFR 275.204-2; eCFR).

The Division of Examinations published a risk alert on testimonials, endorsements and third-party ratings on December 16, 2025. It is a staff document that "represents the views of the staff" and "has no legal force or effect." What the staff observed:

• "The most common observed reason that an endorsement or testimonial was observed to be non-compliant was that it did not provide the disclosures at the time the testimonial or endorsement was disseminated." (p. 2)
• Advisers "used hyperlinked disclosures rather than including the required clear and prominent disclosures within the testimonial or endorsement." (p. 3)
• Advisers "incorporated into advertisements current client testimonials or former client endorsements from third-party websites onto the advisers' websites without clearly and prominently disclosing that those testimonials and endorsements were provided by current or former clients." (p. 3)
• On ineligible persons, the alert's example: "promoters who were disqualified due to their disciplinary histories with state securities regulators received compensation." (p. 5)

The most common finding was disclosures missing at the time of publication.

Yes, if the rule's conditions are met: disclosures when it is published, a reasonable basis for believing it complies, and a written agreement with most paid promoters.

Say whether the speaker is a client, was paid, or has a conflict. Paragraph (b)(1)(i), clearly and prominently:

"(A) That the testimonial was given by a current client or investor, and the endorsement was given by a person other than a current client or investor, as applicable; (B) That cash or non-cash compensation was provided for the testimonial or endorsement, if applicable; and (C) A brief statement of any material conflicts of interest on the part of the person giving the testimonial or endorsement resulting from the investment adviser's relationship with such person;"

17 CFR 275.206(4)-1(b)(1)(i)

The firm must hold a written agreement covering the scope and compensation ((b)(2)(ii)) and may not pay a person it knows, or should know, is ineligible ((b)(3)). Some steps are relieved for no or de minimis compensation (defined in (e)(2)) and for certain affiliated persons ((b)(4)).

A rating or ranking of an adviser by a person who is not a related person, in the ordinary course of that person's business (17 CFR 275.206(4)-1(e)(18)). Using one needs a reasonable basis about its survey and clear disclosure of its date, period and rater.

"(c) Third-party ratings. An advertisement may not include any third-party rating, unless the investment adviser: (1) Has a reasonable basis for believing that any questionnaire or survey used in the preparation of the third-party rating is structured to make it equally easy for a participant to provide favorable and unfavorable responses, and is not designed or prepared to produce any predetermined result; and (2) Clearly and prominently discloses, or the investment adviser reasonably believes that the third-party rating clearly and prominently discloses:"

17 CFR 275.206(4)-1(c)

Items (i) to (iii) cover the rating's date and period, the rater's identity, and any compensation the adviser provided.

The December 2025 alert says the staff "observed advisers that did not appear to have sufficient information to form a reasonable basis about the design or structure of questionnaires that were used in the preparation of third-party ratings" (p. 6). Methods the staff saw advisers use to form that basis: "reviewed publicly disclosed information about third-party questionnaire or survey methodologies", "obtained any questionnaires or surveys used in the preparation of the rating", and "sought representations from the third-party rating agencies".

On placement, the deficiencies it lists include "placing the disclosures at the bottom of the website pages away from the actual ratings" (p. 7).

The April 2024 alert, an earlier staff document, listed "Advertisements publicizing the receipt of certain awards or accolades that were not received" (p. 5).

Learn how the rater built its survey, and put the rating's disclosures next to the rating.

Yes, on conditions. A current client's review in your advertising is a testimonial, so the testimonial conditions apply. The December 2025 SEC risk alert found advisers who posted third-party-site reviews without clearly and prominently saying they came from current or former clients (p. 3).

Separately, a review can become your advertisement through adoption or payment. The adopting release says an adviser "adopts" third-party information when it "explicitly or implicitly endorses or approves the information" (p. 21); an adviser "may have 'entangled' itself in a third-party communication if the adviser involves itself in the third party's preparation of the information" (p. 22).

A paid testimonial is an advertisement by definition: "Any endorsement or testimonial for which an investment adviser provides compensation, directly or indirectly" (17 CFR 275.206(4)-1(e)(1)(ii)).

Nothing quoted here names Google or any review site.

For how long advertisement records are kept, see How long must an RIA keep advertisements?

The adopting release, IA-5653, addresses third-party content on a firm's own pages. Letting all comers post does not by itself make their comments yours; curating them can. Permitting all third parties to post public commentary to the firm's website or social media page "would not, by itself, render such content attributable to the adviser, so long as the adviser does not selectively delete or alter the comments or their presentation and is not involved in the preparation of the content" (p. 23). It adds: "if an adviser substantively modifies the presentation of comments posted by others by deleting or suppressing negative comments or prioritizing the display of positive comments, then we would attribute the comments to the adviser" (pp. 23-24).

For a hyperlink to a third party's page, the adviser "should consider the adoption and entanglement concepts discussed above to determine whether the hyperlinked third-party content would be attributed to the adviser" (p. 22).

The release does not require pre-approval of advertisements; see Do RIAs have to pre-approve marketing?

Rule 204-2 covers these records in paragraphs (a)(15) and (a)(11)(ii). Paragraph (a)(15)(ii) requires:

"(ii) Documentation substantiating the adviser's reasonable basis for believing that a testimonial or endorsement (as defined in § 275.206(4)-1(e)(17) and (5) of this chapter) complies with § 275.206(4)-1 and that the third-party rating (as defined in § 275.206(4)-1(e)(18) of this chapter) complies with § 275.206(4)-1(c)(1) of this chapter;"

17 CFR 275.204-2(a)(15)(ii)

Paragraph (a)(11)(ii) adds:

"(ii) A copy of any questionnaire or survey used in the preparation of a third-party rating included or appearing in any advertisement in the event the adviser obtains a copy of the questionnaire or survey."

17 CFR 275.204-2(a)(11)(ii)

The release says an adviser "would not be required to obtain a copy of the questionnaire or survey" to comply (p. 250).

Retention for (a)(11) records is set by (e)(3)(i), counted "from the end of the fiscal year during which the investment adviser last published or otherwise disseminated" the communication. That paragraph does not name (a)(15); which period applies is a question for your CCO and counsel.

Turret's Marketing plan runs an AI pre-screen that flags each piece for your approver (a firm admin can switch it off), including testimonial, endorsement, rating and award language. A named approver decides, and each upload is a new version with its decision recorded. Turret computes each piece's Rule 204-2(e)(3) clock: five years from the end of the fiscal year it was last disseminated. Your own site's pages are captured as dated versions. It does not watch Google, LinkedIn or review sites. $99/mo, 5 submitters, no setup fee, 15-day free trial.

Sources opened October 27, 2026.

1. Rule text: eCFR, 17 CFR 275.206(4)-1, Investment adviser marketing
2. Rule text: eCFR, 17 CFR 275.204-2, Books and records to be maintained by investment advisers
3. SEC: SEC, Investment Adviser Marketing, Release No. IA-5653 (Dec. 22, 2020)
4. SEC Division of Examinations: SEC Division of Examinations risk alert, Additional Observations Regarding Advisers’ Compliance with the Advisers Act Marketing Rule (Dec. 16, 2025), PDF; landing page: SEC Division of Examinations risk alert on the Marketing Rule, December 16, 2025
5. SEC Division of Examinations: SEC Division of Examinations risk alert, Initial Observations Regarding Advisers Act Marketing Rule Compliance (Apr. 17, 2024)