The Google Reviews Crisis: Why Your Reviews Are Disappearing & What to Do
Imagine waking up to find your hard-earned Google reviews have vanished into thin air. No warning. No explanation. Just gone.
That’s the reality thousands of small business owners are facing right now. And for many, it’s deeply frustrating.
Welcome to The Google Reviews Crisis—a widespread issue that’s causing businesses to lose credibility, visibility, and, ultimately, customers.
So, what’s happening? Why are Google reviews disappearing? And—most importantly—what can you do if your business has been affected?
Let’s break it down.
What Is the Google Reviews Crisis?
Over the past few weeks, business owners across the world have been reporting the same issue: Google reviews disappearing from their Google Business Profile (GBP) without any clear reason.
In some cases, businesses have lost dozens or even hundreds of legitimate reviews overnight, significantly impacting their local search rankings and online reputation.
For small businesses, this isn’t just frustrating—it can affect customer trust and revenue. Many rely on Google reviews to build credibility and stand out from competitors. Losing them unexpectedly can have real consequences.
Why Are Google Reviews Disappearing?
While Google has now acknowledged a known issue causing review counts to display incorrectly for some businesses, many legitimate reviews are still being permanently removed due to Google’s stricter enforcement of its review policies. Here are the key reasons why this might be happening:
1. Google’s Spam & Fake Review Purges
Google regularly removes fake or suspicious reviews as part of its review moderation system. Recently, Google has become far more aggressive, using AI to filter out anything it deems unnatural—including legitimate reviews.
🚨 The problem? Google’s AI isn’t perfect. Many genuine reviews are being wrongfully flagged and deleted, leaving business owners scrambling for answers.
2. Algorithm Updates & System Bugs
Google constantly updates its algorithms, and sometimes, glitches happen. In late 2023 and early 2024, several system updates reportedly caused reviews to disappear en masse.
Google has acknowledged an issue where some businesses are seeing lower-than-actual review counts due to a display problem. However, in many cases, the reviews themselves have actually been removed.
3. Google Business Profile Suspensions & Updates
If your Google Business Profile (GBP) was recently edited, suspended, or reinstated, there’s a chance your reviews were caught in the process.
Common triggers include:
✔ Changing your business name or address
✔ Merging duplicate GBP listings
✔ Having your profile suspended due to policy violations
Unfortunately, Google doesn’t always restore reviews after an account reinstatement—so if your business profile was affected, you may need to take action.
4. Reviews Being Filtered by Google’s AI
Google’s AI now automatically filters reviews that:
❌ Contain certain flagged keywords
❌ Come from newly created accounts
❌ Appear “unnatural” based on location or behaviour patterns
This means that even legitimate customers who left honest reviews might have had their feedback silently removed.
How Do You Check If Your Reviews Have Been Removed?
If you suspect reviews are missing, here’s how to confirm it:
🔍 Manually count your reviews
Go to your Google Business Profile and check your total review count. If the number is lower than before, reviews may have been removed.
📩 Ask recent customers if they left a review
If a customer confirms they submitted a review but it’s not showing, Google may have filtered or deleted it.
🛠 Use Google’s "Review Tool" to check for policy violations
Google allows business owners to flag missing reviews and request a review of potential errors. More on this below.
What to Do If Your Google Reviews Have Disappeared
If your business has lost reviews, don’t panic—but do act quickly. Here’s what you can do:
1. Check Google’s Policy & Appeal the Removal
Google has strict review policies and sometimes removes reviews that don’t comply. If you believe your reviews were wrongfully deleted, you can appeal the decision:
📝 Visit Google’s Support Page for Reviews
👉 Google Business Profile Help – Review Troubleshooter
From there, you can submit a request for Google to investigate missing reviews.
2. Contact Google Support
If the troubleshooting tool doesn’t help, try reaching out to Google directly.
📞 Ways to contact Google Support:
✔ Use the Google Business Profile Help Forum
✔ Tweet at @GoogleMyBiz on X (Twitter)
✔ Call Google Business Support
3. Encourage More Customers to Leave New Reviews
If lost reviews aren’t restored, the best way to recover is to generate new, high-quality reviews.
💡 How to get more Google reviews quickly:
✅ Send direct review requests via SMS, WhatsApp, or email
✅ Make it easy—provide a direct review link or a QR code for customers
4. Diversify Your Review Strategy
Relying only on Google reviews is risky. Consider expanding to:
⭐ Trustist
⭐ Facebook Reviews
⭐ Yelp
⭐ Industry-specific review platforms (e.g., Checkatrade, TrustATrader)
This ensures you don’t lose all your credibility if one platform removes reviews.
Final Thoughts: What’s Next for Small Businesses?
While Google has acknowledged a review count display issue, it’s clear that many reviews are still being permanently removed due to policy enforcement.
Small businesses need to:
✅ Monitor their Google Business Profile regularly
✅ Proactively ask for new reviews
✅ Diversify review platforms to safeguard their reputation
✅ If it's all a bit too much, use a review management partner to outsource it for peace of mind
If your business has been affected and you need expert guidance on how to recover, BitBlaze is here to help.
💬 Was your business impacted? Get in touch with us—we’re happy to help you navigate this situation.
