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Why are my Google reviews not showing, or disappearing?

Is the review really gone, or just not showing to me?

Check the public listing first. Open Google Maps in a private or incognito window, search for your shop, and read the reviews there. What the owner sees in the Business Profile and what customers see on Maps do not always match straight away, and the review count can take a while to catch up with the reviews themselves.

Why does a new review take days to appear?

Google checks every new review against its rules before showing it, and Google says that check can take a few days. A customer who posted this morning may not be on your listing until later in the week. Ask them not to post the same review again in the meantime: the same words posted twice can look like spam and get both copies removed.

Why did a customer’s review never appear at all?

• It broke a rule. Reviews with a phone number, a link, abuse, or a story about something that did not happen at your shop are taken down, often without the customer knowing.
• Their Google Maps app is old. Google says customers on older phones or app versions can have trouble posting, and suggests updating the Maps app.
• It did not look like an ordinary review. A review typed on the shop’s phone, written by staff for a customer, or one of many posted together after a push can be filtered even when the customer was real.

Why are my old reviews disappearing, and my count going down?

• The customer deleted it. Anyone can delete their own review, or their whole Google account, and their reviews go with it. A shop cannot bring those back.
• Google removed it for breaking its rules. Google looks again at reviews long after they go up. A review that was paid for, rewarded, or written by the owner, staff or family can go months later. Google also says its automatic checks occasionally remove a genuine review by mistake.
• Your listing changed. When two listings for the same shop are merged, Google says the reviews from both can take a few days to show again. A suspended listing that is put back can also come back without some of its reviews.
• A fault on Google’s side. Now and then reviews go missing for many businesses at once. In July 2026 Google confirmed it was looking into reports of missing reviews, and new reviews were paused on some listings while it did.

Why would Google hide all my reviews or stop new ones?

When Google decides a listing has been collecting fake reviews, it can go further than removing them. Its rules allow it to stop new reviews for a while, hide the existing ones for a while, and show customers a warning that fake reviews were removed from the listing. Google says it emails the owner when it does this. The usual causes are paid reviews, reviews given in return for a discount or a freebie, reviews by staff and family, and review swap groups on WhatsApp or Telegram where shop owners review each other.

Can I get removed reviews back?

Not if Google removed them for breaking its rules. Google’s help page says those are not restored. If reviews went missing after a merge, wait a few days. If they went after your listing was suspended and put back, or you believe Google removed genuine reviews by mistake, contact Google Business Profile support. Give them the reviewer’s name, roughly when the review went up, and a screenshot if you or the customer has one.

My business is a school or coaching class. Why can’t I get reviews?

Google has turned reviews off for listings whose main category is a school for students aged 6 to 18, and removed the reviews they had. Universities, day care centres and swimming schools are not included. If your main category does not describe what your business actually is, correct it in your Business Profile. If it does, reviews are not available for your listing.

How do I collect reviews that stay?

Ask every customer the same way, offer nothing in return, and let them review on their own phone, signed in to their own Google account, when they choose to. A few reviews a day, every day, looks like what it is: a shop with real customers. A burst after a staff target or a festival push looks like something else. The rules, and what counts as a reward, are in is it allowed to ask for Google reviews, and the everyday habit is in how to get more Google reviews.

A Tap2Review plate opens your review page on the customer’s own phone, so the review is theirs, from their account. On the Pro plan, the “Keep your reviews safe” check reads your plate’s last 30 days of taps and scans and tells you when something looks like what Google removes reviews for: a day far busier than your normal day, or one phone opening your review page again and again. It cannot see your reviews, so it never says one was removed. It tells you what it saw and what to do. See the check on the example café.

Who wrote this guide?

Tap2Review, which makes NFC and QR review plates for Indian shops, cafés, salons and clinics. Each plate has an NFC chip inside and a printed QR code on the face, and both open the shop’s Google review page. Plates start at ₹699, paid once, or come free with the Pro plan at ₹99 a month. Made and tested by hand in Pune. Shipped free across India. See the plans, answer three questions to see what your shop needs, or see what a customer sees.

Updated 3 November 2026.

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