September 30, 2022September 30, 2022

Why Is My Google Review Not Showing Up? How To Fix?

It’s fairly common for some of our business customers to ask, “why is my google review not showing up?” If your Google My Business (GMB) listing is giving you trouble, you probably aren’t the only one.

The two most common reasons why user reviews are missing are problems with your Google listing or a problem with the review content.

It is awkward and frustrating. The process of reading this article should have helped you identify any potential underlying issues, such as duplicate listings or reviewer mistakes. Keep reading.

Table of Contents

Google’s Review Policy

Google has strict guidelines that apply to customer reviews on its platform when it comes to reviews.

Two relevant guidelines here that may impact Google reviews going missing are 1) Prohibited and Restricted Content and

2) Criteria for text reviews and captions that are specific to formats

Prohibited And Restricted Content

Reviews fall under Google’s Prohibited and Restricted Content Policy.

For reasons like spam, fake reviews, offensive language, or a conflict of interest, Google examines every review to see if any should be deleted.

It may have violated this Google policy if you ever notice that one of your company reviews on Google suddenly stops appearing.

Inappropriate or off-topic reviews are flagged and removed by Google if they are found because they violate their policies.

Format-specific Criteria For Text Reviews And Captions

In addition to Prohibited and Restricted Content, Google has set what they call Format-Specific Criteria, including “text reviews and captions,” that can determine a review’s eligibility.

For instance, you cannot pay for reviews, actively discourage negative reviews, or selectively solicit only positive reviews.

In order to correctly diagnose your specific situation, let’s go over the entire list of potential causes for Google reviews of your company to vanish.

How Long Does It Take For Google Reviews To Show Up?

So you’re thinking, “Where can I find my Google reviews?!” especially if it seems like they’ve gone The average time for a Google review to become visible to the public is 48 hours after it is posted on your business listing.

If your review doesn’t appear to be publicly visible within this timeframe, there may be a problem with your listing or the reviews that have been posted. Review data may come through up to 7 days after posting, but this isn’t typical.

Why Are Google Reviews Important?

Let’s start by discussing why Google reviews are significant in the first place. The success of your company’s online reputation depends on the accuracy of your Google reviews. As you create and implement your strategy for managing online reviews, it should also be your top priority.

Google is the source of 57.5% of all reviews, according to data on customer reviews. Additionally, 64% of shoppers will look up a business’s Google reviews before going there.

In other words, when most people want to determine whether a brand is worth their time and money, Google is their first and only stop. As many reviews as possible on your Google listing can give customers the social proof they need to make wise purchasing decisions.

Why Is My Google Review Not Showing Up?

Your error needs to be fixed or the reviewer themselves broke a rule if your Google reviews are not appearing.

Here are some common reasons why Google reviews don’t show up:

Embedded Links in Google Reviews
Google Review Marked as Spam
Fake Google Reviews
Google Reviews Temporarily Disabled
Your Business Is Newly Listed on Google
Your Google Business Profile Is Inactive
The Reviewer’s Account Is Inactive
Your Google Business Profile Has a Duplicate
Your Business Has Changed Locations

1. Embedded Links In Google Reviews

Google has strict rules regarding the inclusion of URLs and links in reviews. Reviews with URLs are nearly immediately deleted.

This is because Google believes reviews with URLs are likely spam.

If you come across a review that contains a link and it hasn’t been taken down yet, try contacting the user and asking them to edit their review to take the link out before Google takes it down.

2. Google Review Marked As Spam

Google is meticulous in removing any spam reviews because they place the highest priority on quality.

A review must adhere to Google’s review policy regarding Prohibited and Restricted content in order to avoid being flagged as spam. Additionally, Google marks reviews that have been labeled as spam.

3. Fake Google Reviews

In order to uphold transparency and authenticity, Google flags reviews that are created from profiles without a name, photo, or other crucial information as fake Google reviews.

When a company turns to buy Google reviews, fake reviews are frequently posted. In these situations, the majority of these reviews are produced by bots using false profiles.

Therefore, purchasing reviews for your company could cause serious issues with its Google presence and even result in the deletion of your Google Business Profile.

4. Google Reviews Temporarily Disabled

Google has in the past resorted to temporarily disabling the review section of Google Business Profiles when traffic is excessive and there aren’t enough working people on the team.

As an illustration, this took place when Google temporarily disabled reviews at the beginning of the ongoing global health pandemic.

Reviews frequently vanish during such circumstances. In addition, you won’t be able to reply to any existing reviews, nor will customers be able to post new ones.

5. Your Business Is Newly Listed On Google

If your company is new to Google, it’s possible that customers haven’t yet discovered your Google Business Profile because it may not have begun to rank highly and may be challenging to find.

So, if you want to draw in more clients, you must step up your marketing efforts. You’ll receive more reviews as you draw in more customers.

6. Your Google Business Profile Is Inactive

It’s possible that your company lost its verification status on Google if you haven’t updated your Google Business Profile in a while and customers aren’t engaging with it anymore.

Google additionally deactivates Business Profiles that lose their eligibility status.

The public will not be able to see any new or updated customer reviews because unverified businesses will not rank on Google Search or Google Maps.

7. The Reviewer’s Account Is Inactive

When a user’s personal Google account is deactivated, a previous review may occasionally vanish.

They may do this accidentally or knowingly if they violate Google policies.

The Inactive Account Manager on Google, for instance, allows users to proactively deactivate their accounts for security reasons.

This will result in the deletion of all user data, including reviews.

8. Your Google Business Profile Has A Duplicate

Google will take down a listing if there are any duplicates, including unintentional or accidental ones.

Your reviews may therefore appear on a different listing instead of the active one if your Google Business Profile has a duplicate.

Do a Google search for your company to see if there are any duplicate listings. If there are, you can report them as duplicates to resolve the issue.

9. Your Business Has Changed Locations

Did you forget to update Google after moving your company’s address?

Most of the time, Google moves all of the reviews to the new Google Maps location where your company has moved, but this isn’t always the case.

It’s possible that Google does not automatically transfer the reviews for establishments like hotels and restaurants that have strong ties to the neighborhood.

To get help in such circumstances, use Google. Getting your reviews transferred is definitely worth your time and effort, even though it might take them some time to process the change.

If your company has relocated, make sure to proactively update your address on your Google Business Profile to prevent any issues. You might need to reverify your company to accomplish this.

How To Fix Missing Google Reviews?

As Google themselves states, most of the time when a business review no longer shows up, it’s because of “policy violations like spam or inappropriate content.”

However, if you believe Google made a mistake in the first place, you can contest the violation itself. In general, Google does not reinstate reviews that broke a policy.

The same procedures listed below can be used to contact Google if reviews are not appearing for other reasons in addition to policy violations.

If your Google reviews are not showing up, you can take the following steps to fix the issue:

Gather as much proof as you can to support your claim that your new reviews are not appearing. Screenshots of reviews that are hidden on your Google Business Profile may be included here.
If you recently restored your Google Business Profile, get in touch with support and give them your case number and the specifics of your restoration to ask for review transfers.
For assistance with your missing reviews for Google Business Profiles that haven’t been recently suspended, contact Google Support.
If you’re not pleased with Google’s assistance, you can post your complaint on the Google Business Profile Community in an effort to get a sympathetic Google employee’s attention.

Final Words

It’s important to view the situation as an opportunity to continue to receive Google reviews from newer clients when one or more Google reviews aren’t appearing on your business listings.

Reviews play a big role in increasing sales as well as attracting and keeping customers. Your business can increase reviews (the right way) and create a 5-star brand on the biggest search engine and business discovery platform on the Internet by keeping a feedback loop open and enhancing the customer experience.