Missing Google Reviews can be frustrating.
Google reviews are super important in playing a crucial role in establishing credibility for your business and for making your small business look legitimate. This is even more crucial when considering how you attract those potential customers.
But, the sad truth is that lots of businesses have had problems with reviews getting stuck in “Google reviews purgatory” or totally disappearing. Following Google guidelines can help with these kind of issues.
This can also add when you’re expecting a glowing review from a happy customer, and it’s nowhere to be found. The very thing that can help you gain more visibility, authority and respect for your business has vanished!
Fortunately, there is hope! There’s actually a way to get back those missing Google reviews.
In this blog, we’ll show you how with a few short steps, you can reach out to Google Support and get your precious customer feedback back where it belongs.
Step 1: Access Google Support
To initiate the process of recovering your missing Google reviews, follow the link below to access Google’s Support Page (https://support.google.com/business/gethelp)
Step 2: Select Your Business
Once you’re on the support page, select your business from the drop down menu and provide Google with the necessary information about your account. If you manage more than one business, make sure you chose the correct one that you are having an issue with.
Step 3: Describe the Issue
In the “Tell us what we can help with” section and type in the option “Google Reviews Missing” to ensure your request is directed to the appropriate team and click “next”. Topics will pop up in little boxes below – click on “Review Missing” and click “Next Step”.
Once you hit “Next Step” you will be given resources to read. Click “Next Step” again.
Step 4: Email Form & Submit
You will now be taken to a form botton that says “Email” and when you click it, you will see a long form. Fill out all the other basic questions on the form as accurately as possible. This information will assist the support team in understanding your situation better.
The more thorough that you are, the better. If you know the people that you are missing the reviews from, also list their names.
After completing the form, submit your support request. Please note that the entire process of recovering your missing Google reviews may take between 1-3 weeks, so patience is key.
When we did this for ourselves and another client we got answers and resolution within a week. Of course times vary based on how busy they are.
Step 5: Check Your Inbox Regularly
Once you have submitted the support request, it’s essential to check your email inbox regularly for a response from Google. Be sure to monitor your inbox every couple of days to stay updated on the progress of your case.
Step 6: What to do when Google responds.
When Google responds, it will be an automatic message that gives you the reasons reviews might be missing. Most of time people will blow this off since they are not getting access to a support agent and it feels like this might be the end of the road, but it is not. At the bottom of the automatic message, you will see this sentence:
For general info about your Business Profile, we recommend our Help Center, Help Community, and YouTube channel. If you need more help than these resources, give a reply to this email. We’ll be glad to assist.
Step 7: Write back and request more help.
Once you write back, you will be assigned a dedicated support agent who will work with you to resolve the issue. A good way to reply to the automatic message would be to use the following template to communicate effectively:
“The resources provided did not help me resolve the issue. Please advise on how I can get my reviews reinstated. Thanks, [Your Name]”
Step 8: Provide Necessary Information
In some cases, the support agent may request additional information, such as screenshots or the names of missing reviews. If this happens, you can respond and give them the information that you know or you can state something of this nature:
“I have had several customers inform me that they submitted reviews, but due to the nature of my business working with customers, it is not appropriate to request screenshots or bother them further. I kindly request your assistance in reinstating the missing reviews.”
9: Issue Resolved
After sending this, if there are in fact are reviews that are not being accepted or being held, they will often reinstate them. One of the companies that painted our house did this with success, as well as a fellow company they contract with. We recovered 5 reviews for Rise Visible and we were able to recover 15 reviews for one of our long-term clients.
Here is the response that we received from Google when they helped us fix our missing reviews issue. We plan to do this every quarter and we suggest your business do the same. Missing reviews are valuable assets to your business.
Conclusion
Recovering missing Google reviews is indeed crucial for the reputation and success of your small business.
So, by following the steps outlined above and being patient with the process, you can increase your chances of reclaiming valuable customer feedback.
Remember to update the comments section of this blog post with any challenges you face or when you successfully retrieve your missing reviews. Best of luck in your efforts to restore your business’s online reputation!