Google Review Not Showing Up?

Reviews are very important. They can serve as a ‘’badge of approval’’ for potential customers and can improve your local SEO.

But what do you do if some of the most positive reviews aren’t showing up on your Google business page?

Believe it or not, it’s a more common issue than you may think - and one that is very frustrating. Here are the most common causes of the annoying Google review not showing up issue. 

1. Your Listing is Unverified

To start collecting reviews, you first have to verify your listing. If you forgot to do this step, it could be the reason behind your Google review not showing up problem. 

The solution is simple - verify your listing. You can do it by phone, SMS, or postcard. This process will take just a few days and you’ll be able to start collecting reviews in no time. 

If you’ve just now verified your listing and you still can’t see any reviews, worry not as this is also perfectly normal. Google usually takes a bit more time to verify the authenticity of the reviews. Expect this delay for the first five reviews, and afterward, you can receive them without this annoying lag.

2. There Is A Duplicate Of Your Business Listing

A Google review not showing up is often due to a duplicate listing for your business. Google algorithms usually get ‘’confused’’ when they run into duplicate content as they are unable to confirm which page contains the actual information.

Why do these double listings even occur? 

Typically, they are created accidentally when a business changes its website URL, name, or location. Sometimes, they can also be opened by scammers in an attempt to undermine your business and get off with some money.

Whatever it may be, cleaning up these listings is pretty straightforward. You can claim any unverified listing by contacting Google and marking the listings in question as old. 

Alternatively, you can find the duplicate listing in Google Maps, click on Suggest an edit, and notify Google that the place never existed or is permanently closed.

3. Your Listing Contains Inaccurate Information

Incorrect information may sometimes end up on your listing through no fault of your own. Maybe a third party claimed to work for you and added the false information for nefarious purposes. Misinformation can also happen if there are duplicate listings. 

If you ever notice a Google review not showing up, check the accuracy of the business information on your listing and fix any potential errors. 

You can do so by signing into your Google Business Profile, then clicking on ‘’Report a Problem’’ at the very bottom of the listing. Choose the type of problem you want to address and follow the on-screen instructions. 

4. The Review Got Flagged as Fake

There is always a chance that your latest Google Review not showing up is because it was flagged as spam or fake. This could happen for a variety of reasons, some of them even being sneaky. For example, competitors may mark your positive reviews as spam. 

Fortunately, this isn’t permanent. If your reviews are legitimate, they’ll show up after they go through Google’s moderation process.

On the other hand, the search engine company has automatic filters which prevent certain reviews from being published.

For instance, it doesn’t allow profanity in reviews. They also prohibit adding external links to reviews. So even if your customer had the best intentions when sharing a relevant link, Google will remove their review. The tech giant also forbids reviews that come from a biased source, i.e. an employee. 

Lastly, it is against Google's policy to receive compensation for reviews. Hence, if a review seems overly positive or shows an indication of being paid for, it will get removed. 

5. The User Deleted Their Review

If there is a Google review not showing up, one of the most plausible causes is that the reviewer removed it. This happens all the time - a customer who had a negative experience may have decided to delete their original review after you successfully resolved the issue.

On the other hand, if the reviewer had a blast working with you and left a great review, it’s possible they suddenly changed their mind after posting the review and decided to erase it from existence.

Lastly, it could be that  Google terminated their profile, and along with it, all the reviews they have written.

6. It’s a bug

Maybe none of the issues above are behind the Google review not showing up. As weird as it may sound, maybe the problem lies with Google itself.

Yes, they are a huge company as far as companies go, but they’re not all-powerful. They could be experiencing a myriad of issues on their end that could have led to this tiny little problem. While Google is usually quick in solving bugs, some major problems can go unaddressed for a while and have a significant impact on many businesses.

It’s not like it didn’t happen. We’re talking, of course, about the infamous ‘’Kansas Bug’’.

In September 2020, many businesses noticed that even if they set a proper address on their listing, the listing would rank in a completely different place. Most commonly, Kansas. At the same time, some businesses in Canada would all rank for Saskatchewan. 

What happened was that companies stopped ranking for appropriate places and lost a lot of business. The bug was still going strong in 2021 as most of Google's proposed fixes didn’t work (editing the address and moving the pin manually to the real location), resulting in some listings ending up suspended.

The bug was completely eliminated in September 2022, two years after it was first found. 

What You Can do About It

Experiencing this issue is quite annoying, especially if you worked hard to get that positive review.

First, try to resolve the issue by checking if the problem is on your end. Go through your listing and confirm if all the info is correct. Don’t forget to look for duplicate listings either. If everything checks out, you can simply wait it out for a few days. If the issue persists, feel free to contact the Support Center. 

If it turns into another ‘’Kansas bug’’ kind of situation again, we hope you’re a Stoic. Keep calm and wait for Google to resolve the issue.