Why Are My Google Reviews Not Showing Up

Main reasons as to why Google Reviews don't show up

Google's #1 goal is to protect users from spam. Your legitimate review likely got caught in its automated filter. Before you can fix it, you need to diagnose the problem by understanding causes that typically equate to reviews not showing up.

Most causes are due to violations and delays, but are not limited to:

1) Google reviews are made by fake Google accounts (activity, creation date, and location mismatch)

As mentioned earlier in the article, dishonest and inauthentic reviews are harmful to your business.

An example would be a review stating unrelated services or products you do not offer or even a review when you're business is not operating.

You should not buy Google reviews. Most of them are bot accounts with false profiles. It does not look good when your business has been around for three months with thousands of reviews.

Customers can tell as they read through many of them before making decisions.

Fake reviews may lead to the removal of your Google Business Profile.

2) Your Business is new on Google

Google likely hasn't ranked your business profile yet. Once customers organically search for your business, ranking higher will become easier. Reviews, advertising, and marketing also help.

Reviews help with social proof, advertising brings visibility, and marketing raises brand awareness.

3) Problematic review (filter identified something against policies)

These are the most common reasons. The review (or the reviewer) violated a rule.

• Embedded Links or URLs: The filter will almost always catch this.
• Inappropriate Language: Any offensive or off-topic rants.
• A Conflict of Interest: Reviews from employees, from your office IP address, or from a user who has reviewed 100 other businesses today (spam behavior).

Reviews can be marked as spam if written by fake accounts or if the content is unrelated to services provided by the respective Google business profile or incentivized (paid for).

Bots or competitors attempting to sabotage fall under fake accounts. They could also be accounts created by business owners. Avoid this at all costs! As it could harm your listing forever.

Google's automated systems can quickly identify these, and at the same time, they are easy for users to report for Google to review. You can read more about Prohibited and Restricted content for Google reviews here.

4) Your customer edited and removed the review

If customers make an edit to their reviews, they undergo the same filtering process as writing a new Google review. 

Google's filtering process usually works as follows : 

• check if the review has links
• check review is stuffing keywords to benefit from ranking higher on search
• check language and content
  

Basically, it goes through its checklist for identifying spam reviews, so if the edit contains any violation, it will be missing from Google. 

It can also be true that the account or customer that left the review removed it from your Google Business Profile. You can only really find this out if they're regular customers or somebody you know. 

They, too, can lose their accounts if they violate Google's review policies.

5) Your Google Business Profile is not active or disabled

If you deactivate your account for a long period, your Google Business Profile may need to be verified again.

Lack of activity, inconsistent changes to a business profile, or violation of Google's Business Profile guidelines can lead to losing your verified account, thus resulting in Google reviews missing.

When your account is no longer verified, Google will not rank your business on Google Maps or Google Search if it is not verified. It will be harder for prospective customers to find your business.  

You should do your best to routinely update your profile so your customers and Google's systems know you're still in business.

6) Your business location changed

If you change your business address on Google, your reviews are transferred automatically to your new location. So long as you don't make significant changes like:

• different timezones
• business type
• business name

Your Google reviews should remain intact, as they're tied to your business profile and not an address.

In this situation, it is always better to reach out to Google for support.

7) Duplicate Google Business Listings

This is a silent killer. If you have two (or more) Google Business Profiles for the same business, customers might be leaving reviews on the wrong one.

How to get your Google Reviews to show up again

Understand if your reviews or customers have violated Google's guidelines. Reviews should always have relevant content to the services your business provides.

Step 1: Check for Duplicate Listings

Search for your business name on Google Maps. Click around your area. Do you see two listings? If so, you must claim both and then follow Google's guide to merge or remove the duplicate. This is often the root cause.

Step 2: Ask the Customer to (Gently) Edit Their Review

If you have a good relationship with the customer, you can gently ask them to check their review.

• What to say: "Hi [Name], thank you again for your kind review! It seems Google's filter may have hidden it. If you have 30 seconds, could you check if it includes any links or URLs? Removing them usually fixes it!"
• What NOT to say: "Google deleted your review, write another one." This is pushy and won't work.

Step 3: Contact Google Support (The Last Resort)

If the review was legitimate and you have proof (like a screenshot), you can contact Google Support.

1. Go to your Google Business Profile Support page.
2. Type "Missing review" and select "review not showing."
3. Follow the steps to provide your information. Have this ready: A screenshot of the review (if possible) and the customer's name.

Things to consider: If it's a matter of verification, be patient and ensure your business profile has the correct address, phone number, and website.

To be on the safer side, encourage your customers to leave reviews to maintain your ranking and competitive edge even as some reviews disappear. This way you continuously have reviews to encourage prospective customers to use your services.

What you should do while Google Reviews are not showing up

If your business profile is active, you should be fine to continue collecting reviews while waiting for your missing ones to appear again.

You can make up for missing reviews using Reputigo's review generation software to get more reviews. It's quick and easy to set up and mostly automated.

It is also worth noting consistent and new reviews always help with ranking higher on Google.

Old reviews can be red flags to potential customers and even Google if your account is inactive for too long with no reviews or updates.

You should always ask for reviews, as most businesses average a 30 percent response rate whenever they ask. Our review generation software could greatly improve those odds and capture more reviews with automated follow-ups.

How long will it take for Google Reviews to show again after disappearing?

Depends on the reason behind the removal.

If it's a violation, it could be permanent or temporary.

If you made recent requests to have customers update their reviews, it could be temporary that your reviews are not appearing.

Most temporary removals can reappear within 24-48 hours if they meet Google's guidelines.

There really is no guarantee other than getting new and more reviews, as it would be in your control to ask customers to leave them. Reputigo's review generation software can help.