If you’re concerned that your Google review isn’t showing up, you’re not alone. This is an issue that affects many Google My Business (GMB) listings. It is typically caused by one of two things: the GMB listing itself or the review formatting.
GMB Listing Issues:
- Google disabled the review
- The listing is a duplicate
- The listing is inactive
- The listing is new
- The listing is inaccurate
- Google is down
- The business has changed location
Review Formatting Issues:
- Review is marked as spam
- Review has links and URLs
- The review isn’t authentic
- The review is private or deleted
- The review is from a third-party site
If you want to maintain an outstanding online reputation for your business, you need to stay on top of issues with your Google reviews. Since Google is one of the biggest sources of online reviews, many people rely on it to get key information about products and businesses before they part with their hard-earned cash. So it follows that the more Google reviews you have, the better you’ll be able to convince consumers to go with your business over the competition.
GMB Listing Issues
A lot of the time, if a review isn’t showing up, it’s because of an issue with the GMB listing. More often than not, there’ll be a quick fix, but sometimes the issue will be internal and out of your hands.
Google Disabled the Review
One recent example of an internal issue that nobody could control is when Google disabled business reviews in the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the staff shortage, Google thought it best to disable reviews for a short period of time.
As a result, customers couldn’t write reviews, and businesses couldn’t respond to them. However, existing reviews would still show up at that time.
Reviews were brought back in May 2020, but it’s possible that you still have issues managing or responding to them, in which case you should reach out through the GMB support page.
Even though the pandemic has hit many people hard, it’s still a good idea to ask for reviews on Google. That way, you can ensure that your business lasts through these challenging times and holds on to its most loyal customers.
The Listing is a Duplicate
If there are duplicate business listings, you might have issues with reviews seemingly removed for no apparent reason. This is because the review might pop up on another listing for your business.
To see if your business has an alternate listing, simply search for the business name or address on Google Maps and see what comes up.
If you do come across a duplicate listing on Google, you can either report it on Google Maps or remove it with the GMB dashboard. But to prevent this from happening, you should familiarize yourself with Google’s Verify My Business’ procedure.
The Listing is Inactive
If you don’t see any reviews showing up on Google for your business, it could be that your GMB listing is inactive. There is one main reason this could happen.
It’s due to a significant absence of activity. For example, if you don’t post updates or respond to reviews in a long time, Google can retract your business’s verification status. When you no longer have verification for your GMB listing, your business won’t appear on Google Search or Maps.
Chances are you’d know long before this happened, though, since Google will reach out to you before it revokes your verification status. But if it does happen, you can contact customer support to restore the status.
The Listing is New
If the listing is brand new, there’s a possibility that customers haven’t yet stumbled across it. If nobody has found the page yet, it makes sense that there’d be no reviews.
Even when there are some reviews, they won’t be displayed by Google until there are at least five reviews or ratings. If this is the case, you should up your marketing efforts to draw more people in.
The Listing is Inaccurate
If the GMB listing is inaccurate, then it might leave a bitter taste in a visiting customer’s mouth. This will likely lead to fewer reviews overall.
This is a problem that is easily fixed though, and we’ll walk you through the solution now.
Head to the ‘Info’ tab on your GMB dashboard, and from there you can edit the most important information about your business. You can also refresh your location if necessary to reflect where the business is right now.
To do so, click on the pencil icon to the right of the business address. Then move the pin on the map that pops up to the correct location. Finally, click on ‘Apply’ to save the changes.
Google is Down
Every now and then, Google has an outage.
Yes, it may seem highly unlikely given how large the company is, but it is possible. If this does happen, Google reviews will start to disappear.
This might remove the most recent reviews that have been left on your GMB listing, so it’s worth reaching out to recent customers and asking them politely to leave another review. When you send them a message you can simply include a link taking them to the review page.
The Business has Changed Location
If your business has relocated and retained its name, Google should transfer all of the reviews to the new location on Google Maps.
Yet, if the business has a strong connection to the place because it is named after it for example, then it might take Google a while to process this change.
If you think this may be the problem, you can report a problem to Google and update them with your new business information. You might also need to verify the listing again once you’ve moved.
Review Formatting Issues
If you’ve ruled out all the potential GMB issues that could cause a review not to show up, then it could be the formatting of the review that’s the problem.
Unfortunately, if this is the case, there isn’t much you can do on your end to solve it. All you can do is inform customers on how they can leave a review correctly.
Review is Marked as Spam
Nobody likes spam. Whether it’s an email you don’t want or a bogus review, spam is something to take seriously. Google does so by removing any reviews that fail to align with Google’s review policy.
Another instance in which reviews can get flagged to Google is if your GMB listing or another customer marks a review as spam. Google assesses these cases and makes a final decision according to its review policy.
Review has Links and URLs
Google is strict when it comes to posting links and URLs in reviews, and it will remove them almost instantly. If the customer is quick enough, they can edit reviews to remove the links before Google has a chance to take it down.
The Review isn’t Authentic
If a review comes across as fake or makes false claims, then Google will step in. If it doesn’t adhere to the company’s guidelines, it becomes an issue. That means that trying to buy reviews for your business is never a good idea as it can lead to serious repercussions, including the removal of your GMB listing.
The best way to get more reviews without breaching Google’s guidelines is by employing best marketing practices to ask customers for them. Even if the reviews are negative, they can help your business by providing valuable insight and feedback.
The Review is Private or Deleted
In the past, users could hide their reviews by listing them as private, but this is no longer an option. So if you do see that a review is missing, it’s possible that the user just deleted it altogether. Unfortunately, this isn’t something you have the power to change, so you just have to hope the customer will change their mind and write another review.
The Review is from a Third Party Site
Before, Google used to collect review data from other big sites such as Facebook and Yelp on a GMB listing. It no longer does this, though, so reviews that showed up before might not be there now.
However, sometimes Google will post a ‘Reviews around the Web’ section underneath the user reviews, and these are generated by an algorithm.
Why Google Reviews Not Showing Up Is Useful
If you have an issue with Google reviews not showing up, the first thing to understand is that you’re not alone in this. Many businesses have this problem, so that should make it feel less damaging.
Since it’s in your interest as a business to gather as many reviews as possible to influence purchase decisions and drive traffic to your listing, you can see missing Google reviews as an opportunity to get more. You can think of it as for every review that’s missing, you will replace it with two or three more.
Collecting a large amount of user-left reviews for your GMB listing is one of the best strategies for growing your business and enjoying greater revenue over time.
So start your journey today with Trustindex. Handle, manage, filter and answer all your reviews – and not just from Google – today!>>