Hello, readers! I recently faced an unusual situation where a review for my Google Business account went missing. Despite getting a notification from Google about a new review, it wasn’t showing up on my account.
Does that sound familiar to you? If it does, don’t worry! I managed to restore the missing review and I’m going to guide you on how you can do the same for your business.
The ‘Missing Review’ Conundrum
In my case, I received an email from Google informing me of a five-star review. Everything seemed perfectly normal. But, when I clicked on the ‘Read review’ button, instead of the usual review screen, I got an error message stating, “Something went wrong.” This baffled me because I received a confirmation email from Google about the review, but there was no sign of it on my account.
Making the First Move
My first course of action was to get in touch with my customer. Thankfully, he was able to view the review on his mobile device, take a screenshot, and email it to me. The screenshot confirmed the legitimacy of the review, even though it was in a different language (which I suspected might have triggered Google’s spam filter).
How to Reach Out to Google
Determined to get this genuine review to show on my account, I decided to contact Google directly. The first step was to ensure I was logged into my Google account. Then, I went to Google and searched for “Google local business support,” which led me to support.google.com.
After typing “review not showing” in the search bar, I had to scroll to the very bottom of the help articles page and click on “Contact us.” This took me to a form where I selected my business – in this case, Big West Marketing.
It’s essential to be logged into the Gmail account associated with your Google My Business account. For the query description, I chose “Review missing” and clicked on “Next step.”
At this point, Google presents some more resources before allowing you to submit your issue. You can bypass these and move to the contact options, where I chose “Email.”
The contact form is self-explanatory. You’ll need to input your name, email address, phone number, your relationship to the business, your business’s name (exactly as it appears on Google), and the business address you initially registered with Google.
Locating Your Business Profile ID
One tricky part is finding your Business Profile ID. To find this, I went back to the Google search page while still logged into my account and typed in my business name – “Big West Marketing, Inc.”
Nowadays, the Google My Business dashboard is eliminated, and all edits to your account happen through the search screen. When you search for your business, you’ll see a section called “Your business on Google.” Click on the three dots next to this and select “Business Profile settings.” Then, click on “Advanced settings” to find your Business Profile ID. Copy this ID and paste it into the form.
Follow-up with Google
Once the form is submitted, Google sends a canned email. The next step is to reply to this email, providing screenshots and asking for a manual review. In my case, I sent three screenshots:
- The original email from Google announcing the new review.
- The error screen displaying “Something went wrong.”
- The screenshot sent by the client showing the review on his mobile device.
After sending my email to Google, I received a response stating that my case was being elevated.
The Result
To my pleasant surprise, after 48 hours, the missing review appeared on my account. The process worked!
So, there you have it! If you ever encounter a review not showing up on your Google Business Profile, follow these steps.
Remember, staying up-to-date with the changes on Google My Business and knowing how to troubleshoot issues is key to effectively managing your online presence. If you found this guide helpful, feel free to subscribe to our channel for more such tips and tricks.
I’m also offering a free Google My Business Cheat Sheet. It’s a one-page guide with detailed insights into each topic that we use to rank our clients on Google My Business.
I’m Joe Burnich from Big West Academy. Stay tuned for more such informational posts!
