You check your Google profile between jobs and the review count is lower than last month. A few five-star reviews you remember are gone, including the one about the roof you finished in the rain.
Before you call anyone, find out which kind of disappearance it is. Some reviews are only late, some can be fixed through Google support, and some are gone for good.
Are the reviews really gone, or just slow to show?
If they're new reviews, or you just merged two profiles, they may only be late. Google's page on missing reviews says each review is checked against its policies, which in some cases can take a few days. After a merge, reviews from both profiles can also take a few days to show.[1]
- Open your Business Profile and write down the review count and today's date.
- Search your business name in the Google Maps app, then in a private browser window where you're signed out. Write down both counts.
- Screenshot the reviews you can still see, newest first.
- Look again in two or three days.
If all three counts match and stay down, the reviews are gone, not late.
Why did my Google reviews disappear if they were real?
Because real reviews can still trip Google's filters. Google says reviews are usually removed for policy violations like spam or inappropriate content.[1]
Google's Maps content policy lists what counts as fake engagement or rating manipulation. Four parts matter most here.[2]
- Rewards: reviews paid for with money or gifts, or posted because of a discount, a free service or another incentive.
- Insiders: reviews from current or former employees, relatives, competitors, or business partners such as consultants. The policy calls these a conflict of interest.
- One person, many accounts: content posted from several accounts by one person or at their request.
- Odd timing: unusual volumes or patterns of reviews that suggest an effort to manipulate a rating.
That last one is how a one-week review drive can backfire. Say the office texts every customer from the last three years on one Friday. Each review may be honest, but a weekend pile-up after months of quiet can count as the unusual pattern the policy names.
If Google decides an owner broke this policy, it removes those reviews. It may also block new reviews or hide existing ones for a set period, or warn customers that fake reviews were removed.[3]
Google says it emails owners before a restriction, and owners can appeal.[3] So search the inbox of the Google account that owns your profile, spam folder included.
Could the customer have deleted it?
Yes, anyone who wrote a review can edit or delete it in Google Maps.[4] Reviews are posted from a Google account,[5] and Google's account help warns that whoever deletes an account loses the data and content in it.[6] So a review can drop off because a customer closed an old account, with nothing wrong on your side.
If one named review is missing, match it to the job. If you're still in touch with that customer, it's fine to ask whether they took it down. Writing a new one is their choice, and nothing should be offered for it.
Did a change to your profile move them?
Sometimes. Google's page on moving reviews says what happens to them in these cases:[7]
- A new address, same name: Google says it moves your reviews automatically, though in a few categories, such as hotels, they might not move. Change the address on the profile you have (how the address and service area settings work) instead of making a new one.
- A second profile by mistake: if you made and verified a new profile after a move or a change of owner, contact Google. It can transfer the reviews from the old profile.
- A new name: reviews stay after a minor name change. Google considers a bigger name change a new business, and after significant changes it says it might remove reviews that no longer apply.
- A new owner, same name: the reviews stay.
A suspension is different. Google's suspension page says the public can't go to a removed profile, and to appeal rather than make a new one.[8] Its missing-reviews page adds that reviews are sometimes removed after a profile is reinstated, and to contact support if so.[1]
Ask your office, and anyone who manages your listings, what changed on the profile in the last month.
Is it a problem on Google's side?
Sometimes it is. On July 3, 2026, the search news site Search Engine Roundtable reported that reviews were vanishing from many Business Profiles. Some lost a few, others thousands.[9]
Many owners said a wave of fake reviews had hit their listing first. A Google spokesperson told the site that when its systems detect suspicious reviews, Google may remove reviews and temporarily pause reviews on the profile. Google would also restore any reviews that were incorrectly removed, the spokesperson said.[9]
A later update to the article, passing on Google's word secondhand, says the issue was resolved and all missing reviews should now be visible.[9]
Google's own page says it may also turn off reviews for a while on some profiles or whole business categories, to protect owners.[1] So look up missing reviews in the Business Profile Help Community, Google's forum for owners. If other owners report the same drop that week, wait for Google's answer before you change anything.
Can you get missing Google reviews back?
Only some of them. Google says reviews removed for policy violations won't be restored.[1] Its pages offer a route back in four cases:
- Real reviews caught by the spam filter: Google says its automated spam detection occasionally removes real reviews by mistake. If so, contact support.[10]
- Reviews removed after a reinstatement: contact support.[1]
- Reviews left on a duplicate profile: contact Google to move them.[7]
- A restriction you believe is wrong: use Google's appeal form.[3]
Tap a line's source number to find its Google page under Primary sources at the end. That page has a contact or appeal link. Open it while signed in to the Google account that owns the profile. Have this ready before you write:
- The business name and address exactly as Google shows them, and the Google account that owns the profile.
- Your counts with their dates, and the screenshots you saved.
- What changed on the profile and when, or a plain note that nothing did.
A support message that gets to the point
- Profile: [business name], [street and city], owned by [Google account].
- What happened: Our review count dropped between [date] and [date]. Screenshots attached.
- What changed: We merged a duplicate profile on [date]. Or: nothing changed on our side.
- What we're asking: Please check whether these reviews were removed in error, or are still on the old profile.
Illustrative example
What shouldn't you do to get them back?
- Don't repost them. Don't post lost reviews again yourself, from staff phones or from new accounts. The policy bans reviews not based on a real experience, content from several accounts at one person's request, and reviews from employees.[2]
- Don't send a mass re-ask. A burst of reviews after you text every past customer on one day can count as the unusual pattern the policy names.[2]
- Don't pay for "review recovery." None of the Google pages behind this post describes a paid way back. Google says reviews removed for policy violations won't be restored.[1]
- Don't open a new profile. Google says not to, whether you moved, changed owners or got suspended.[7][8]
How do you ask so new reviews stick?
Ask every customer the same way when the job ends, with your own review link, and offer nothing for it. Google puts that link in your Business Profile under Read reviews, then Get more reviews.[11]
These pages were checked on October 27, 2026. If your screens look different, follow Google's page.
Keep to the rules so your new reviews stay up. No rewards and no asking only the happy customers. No pressure to review on the spot, no asking them to mention anything specific, and no review quotas for the crew.[2]
Scripts for a text, an email and the final walkthrough are in how to ask for Google reviews. When a bad one lands, see how to respond to a negative Google review.
Review requests are part of our local SEO for home service companies. On the Starter, Growth and Leader plans, we send a review request to every customer you share with us, with no incentives and no filtering. We also draft a reply to every new review.
For one look at the whole profile, the Expert Action Plan ($149) is the full report behind our local SEO audit plus a 30-minute consultation.
What nobody controls
Google decides which reviews stay up, and the July 2026 case shows its systems can remove reviews in error. You control how you ask, the records you keep and how soon you notice.
Once a month, run the reviews part of our 20-minute profile check and write the review count next to the date. A drop then shows up at the next check, not months later.