Why Google reviews disappear, and what you can do about it

Does Google tell you when a review is removed?

No. Google does not give the business a reason for an individual removal, and there is no list of the reviews that used to be on your profile. The first sign is usually a count that drops, or a review you remember reading that is no longer there. So the reason has to be worked out from what you can see.

Why does a Google review disappear?

Google's help page on missing or delayed reviews gives several causes. The reviewer is one more that its page does not need to list.

• It is still being checked. Google says reviews are checked against its policies and that this can take a few days. A recent review that has not appeared may be delayed, not gone.
• Google removed it for breaking a policy. Google says reviews removed for policy violations will not be restored. Its rules cover fake engagement, conflicts of interest, spam, off-topic content and more. A review can resemble what those rules target without being fake: a rating with no text, say, or an account with little history.
• The reviewer took it down. Reviewers can delete their own reviews, and a review can go when a reviewer's Google account is closed.
• Something changed on your profile. Google says a merged profile can take a few days to show the reviews of both, and that it may temporarily turn off reviews for certain business categories. If reviews are removed after a suspended profile is reinstated, Google's page tells owners to contact support.
• It never posted. Google notes that customers on older phones or software can have trouble leaving a review, and suggests they update the Maps app.

How can you tell which one it was?

Usually you cannot, and anyone who claims to know from the outside is guessing. A few things narrow it down:

• How recent is it? If the customer posted in the last few days, wait before doing anything else.
• Look from outside. Open your profile in Google Maps on another device, signed out, and compare the review count with what you expect.
• Do you hold a copy? A screenshot, a notification email or a spreadsheet row tells you what the review said and when it was posted. Without one, you cannot say what is missing.
• Did anything change on your profile? A merge, a new category or a suspension in the last weeks makes a profile-level cause more likely.

What can you do about a missing review?

1. Give a recent one a few days. Google's own page says checks can take that long.
2. Contact Business Profile support with what you hold. Give the reviewer's name as it showed, the star rating, the rough date and any screenshot. Expect that the answer may be no: Google says reviews removed for policy violations are not restored.
3. If a real customer is involved, let them choose. They can leave a new review in their own words. Do not ask for the same text back, and do not ask several people at once: a burst of reviews is one of the patterns Google's rules look for.
4. Never pay anyone who offers to restore removed reviews. Nobody outside Google can, and Google says removed-for-policy reviews are not restored.

Why keep a record before it happens?

A review that went before you kept a copy cannot be rebuilt. Google keeps no archive you can reach, and you cannot show what it said. If you keep one, a later request to Google can say what was there and when.

Keep, for every review: the reviewer's displayed name, the stars, the text, the date, and a link to your profile. Note the review count with the date you counted it, and write down the day you noticed any change. A spreadsheet checked once a month is enough to start with.

Where AxioIntel fits, and where it does not

AxioIntel does the record-keeping for you. It reads your public reviews on a schedule and keeps each reading with its date. When a review that was on the profile in one complete sweep is missing from the next, it tells you and keeps the original, then prepares the request you send to Google yourself.

• It cannot say why a review went. Google does not tell us either, so we do not guess.
• It cannot recover a review that disappeared before the first reading.
• It never contacts Google for you, and nobody outside Google can promise a review comes back.

The full detail is on deleted-review tracking, and the help centre explains what removed and changed mean.