How-to · Updated October 11, 2026
Find Google reviews that disappeared or never showed
Updated October 11, 2026
15 minutes
Give a new review a few days, since Google checks reviews before they appear. If it never shows, ask the customer to look under Your contributions in Google Maps. Google does not restore reviews removed for policy violations, but says its spam filter sometimes removes genuine ones, so contact support for those.
Before you start
- The customer's name and the date they reviewed, to look for the review and ask them about it.
- Access to the profile, to read its reviews and any email about a restriction.
Rule out a delay
Some missing reviews are only late, and Google names the usual reasons.
- Wait a few days after the customer posted. Google checks reviews against its policies first, which can delay a review by a few days.
- If two profiles were merged recently, allow a few more days for reviews from both to show on Search and Maps.
- Look for the review itself or the review count rather than the star score, which Google says can take up to 2 weeks to update after a new review.
- If the customer could not post at all, ask them to update the Google Maps app and to sign in to a Google Account, which they can set up with a non-Gmail address.
Ask the customer to find it
The customer's own review list shows whether the review was ever posted.
- Ask them to open Google Maps on a computer, click Menu, then Your contributions, then Reviews.
- If your business is not in their list, the review most likely was not posted from that account. Check they are signed in to the account they used, then send your review link again.
- If it is in their list but still missing from your profile after a few days, Google has most likely held or removed it. That is a judgment from Google's description, not a status Google shows owners. Google says it does not reinstate reviews removed for policy violations.
- If the review came from a real customer and broke no rule, contact Google support. Google says its automated spam detection occasionally removes legitimate reviews.
Fix the cause on your side
Google says reviews are usually removed for policy violations like spam, so check whether how reviews were requested, or a limit on the profile, is the cause.
- Stop any request that breaks Google's review rules: an incentive of any kind, asking only happy customers, pressing customers to review while still on the premises, or asking staff to collect a number of reviews.
- Reviews from current or former staff, relatives, or people with a contract or other business tie to the company can count as a conflict of interest, which Google's rules prohibit.
- Look for an email from Google, or a warning on the profile, about removed fake reviews. A restriction can stop new reviews and can also unpublish existing reviews for a set period, and it has its own appeal.
- If reviews vanished after the profile was reinstated from a suspension, contact Google support. Google's help page names that case.
- Check the primary category. Google turns off reviews for some categories, such as general education schools for students aged 6 to 18. If the category does not describe the business, change it.
Check it worked
A few days after the next review is posted, open the profile from a Google search and confirm the review count went up by one.
If several honest reviews from real customers in a row never appear, look again for a restriction email and work through the third part before asking for more.
Reviews after a move, a new owner or a name change
Google says that when a business moves and keeps its name, reviews move to the new address automatically, though for certain categories they might not. Reviews stay through new management and minor name changes. If a new profile was created by mistake because of a move or ownership change, contact Google to transfer the reviews, and do not create a new profile for either reason. Google also says it might remove reviews that no longer apply after significant business changes, and a name change beyond a minor one is treated as a new business.
Reviews from other websites
A profile can show reviews gathered from other review sites. Google says concerns about those go to the site they came from.
Places where reviews are not offered
Google says reviews are available only in certain countries or regions and for certain business categories, and that availability may change over time.