Google Reviews Not Showing (Common Reasons & Fixes)
Google reviews often show almost immediately after being submitted by a user. However, there are some common reasons that can cause one or multiple reviews to not show as expected.
In some cases, Google reviews may not appear due to a violation of Google’s Guidelines. This includes spam, inappropriate content, and fake reviews. However, sometimes moderated and filtered reviews are false positives – meaning they shouldn’t have been removed from your business profile.
Follow this guide and methods to fix Google reviews not showing:
- How long does it take a Google review to post?
- Common reasons for Google reviews not showing
- How to resolve delayed or missing Google reviews
- Additional considerations
How long does it take for a Google review to show up?
Google reviews often show up within 1-2 hours of being posted on a business profile. Reviews that are pending a manual review can take 3-5 days to publish if they meet Google’s Guidelines.
If you are expecting reviews to be visible on your profile but they are not visible, it’s likely due to one of the following reasons below.
Common reasons for Google reviews not showing
Google reviews may not be showing on a business profile for one or several reasons depending on factors.
Here are the most common reasons for Google reviews not showing:
1. Google review bugs
Google has made many updates to Google Business Profiles over the years. In some cases, these updates are known to cause bugs, which can create issues with Google reviews.
2. Review velocity
Profiles that obtain an unusual quantity of reviews in a short period of time are likely to have issues with reviews not showing.
Pro Tip: When reaching out to customers for Google reviews, shorten your outreach list our space out your campaign. A large influx of reviews is likely to cause issues, especially for new businesses.
3. Prohibited or restricted reviews
In order to become published, reviews have to follow Google’s Guidelines for content. Reviews that contain civil discourse, deceptive content, mature content, restricted, or low quality content are likely to be filtered or manually removed.
4. Paid or fake reviews
Illegitimate Google reviews (such as those that are paid or fake) are also likely to be filtered or manually removed from the business profile as they are against Google’s Guidelines.
5. Profanity or offensive language in reviews
Google reviews that contain profanity or offensive language are also subject to removal for being against guidelines.
Pro Tip: In some cases, these slip past Google’s automated checks and filters. Follow this guide to remove negative Google reviews on your business profile.
6. Reviews that contain links
Google also prohibits the use of links within the content of a Google review. Reviews that violate this and contain a URL will be filtered or manually removed.
7. Misleading reviews
Reviews that are found to be misleading or have a conflict of interest (such as those from internal employees) are also subject to removal.
8. Pending reviews
In some cases, reviews may trigger the filter for a manual review from staff. Currently, the support team has an influx of requests and a staff shortage due to COVID-19. This has caused manual reviews to take much longer, and may cause delays in the publishing of some Google reviews.
9. Unverified or inactive profiles
Google Business Profiles that have been verified by the owner or manager will be publicly shown in Google Search, Maps, and other locations across the web. Profiles that are unverified have limited functionality, which may cause problems with Google reviews.
Pro Tip: Follow this Google My Business verification guide to ensure your profile is verified and eligible for additional features.
10. Duplicate profiles
In some cases, duplicate business profiles exist. When this happens, it’s possible for customers to access and post a review to the duplicate profile. If you believe that you have a duplicate Google Business profile, open a support ticket to merge profiles. This will also merge reviews.
Profiles that have been recently merged can cause delays in combining reviews.
11. Recently opened businesses
If your business has just recently opened, reviews that are left before it’s open to the public will be removed. This can happen during the Google My Business setup process or if it has been recently created (and the opening date is in the future).
How to resolve delayed or missing Google reviews
If you believe that there’s an error causing one or several Google reviews to not display on your profile, open a support ticket to have your issue reviewed. Before opening a support ticket, check that your profile’s reviews don’t violate any of the list items above, and see the reasons for missing & delayed reviews documentation from Google.
Follow these steps to resolve an issue with a Google review:
- Get started by opening a support ticket
- Choose the Engage with customers topic
- Select the Reviews option
- Click the Contact us option for help from support
Once you’ve followed the steps above, complete your support ticket and select the Review missing option.
Afterwards, select your preferred method of contact, and submit your ticket. In most cases, you should hear back from support within 72 hours.
Additional considerations
Once you’ve identified the cause of why your Google review hasn’t posted, it’s important to reach out to support if you’ve confirmed that it follows Google’s Guidelines. In most cases, they help resolve issues within 7 days of opening a ticket.
It’s important to continue generating more positive Google reviews by sharing your Google review link with customers. This helps generate more engagement on your profile, improve conversations, and can lead to more visibility for your business.
Happy SEO-ing 🙂