Call :
+16505578269Email :
support@remedo.io
Limited time offer – Zero commission on Google Ads
You only pay what you spend on your Google Ads, no commission or hidden charges
Are you wondering why your Google reviews are not appearing, even after patients have taken the time to leave positive feedback for your dental practice?
Today, Google reviews play a direct role in how patients discover, evaluate, and choose a dentist. They appear on your Google Business Profile, in local search results, on Google Maps, and increasingly within AI-driven search experiences. When reviews are missing or delayed, it can affect your visibility, credibility, and the number of patient inquiries your practice receives each month.
Reviews that do not show up are rarely random. In most cases, they are filtered, delayed, or removed due to specific Google guidelines, account issues, or technical factors tied to your business profile. Without understanding these triggers, many dental practices assume reviews are lost when, in reality, they are being temporarily withheld or flagged.
For dentists competing in crowded local markets, missing reviews can mean fewer calls, lower local rankings, and lost trust at critical decision points. Patients rely heavily on recent, authentic feedback when comparing practices, and even a small drop in visible reviews can shift patient choice elsewhere. Understanding the broader role of patient reviews and SEO performance helps explain why review visibility is so closely tied to local growth.
We all know how difficult it is to earn Google reviews, right?
So if you’re feeling panicked and asking your team, “Why are our Google reviews disappearing?” keep reading this blog. Here, you’ll learn why Google reviews vanish, what triggers their removal, and the steps you can take to prevent it and protect your practice’s online reputation.
A very common reason Google reviews disappeared or are not showing is due to Google’s automated spam and policy filters. Google closely monitors reviews to ensure they are genuine, unbiased, and policy-compliant. Even positive reviews can be removed if they appear suspicious or violate review guidelines.
This often happens when multiple reviews are submitted in a short period, when similar wording is used across reviews, or when reviews are left from new or inactive Google accounts. Dental practices are especially affected after bulk SMS or email review requests are sent to many patients at once, especially when they rely on aggressive or automated review requests instead of ethical healthcare review management practices.
Reviews may also be filtered if they include promotional language, links, phone numbers, or references to incentives such as discounts or free services. In these cases, Google may hide the review without sending any notification.
Once a review is flagged, it can take several days or even weeks for Google’s systems to reassess it. In some cases, filtered reviews may reappear automatically, while others may be permanently removed. Following Google’s review policies and collecting reviews naturally is the most reliable way to prevent reviews from disappearing.
Another common reason Google reviews are not showing immediately is review processing delays. Google does not always publish reviews in real time. Each review goes through automated checks to verify authenticity, relevance, and policy compliance before it becomes visible on your dental practice’s Google Business Profile.
For dental clinics, this delay often occurs when a review is submitted from a new Google account, posted from an unusual location, or written shortly after an appointment reminder or review request. Even genuine, positive feedback may temporarily remain hidden while Google completes its review process.
It is also common to see delays when several patients leave reviews around the same time. Google may hold these reviews for additional verification to ensure they reflect real patient experiences rather than coordinated activity. This is why spreading out requests and following proven methods from guides like how to get more reviews for dentists helps reduce review suppression.
In most cases, delayed reviews appear within a few days once Google completes its checks. Maintaining accurate practice details, requesting reviews organically, and avoiding bulk review requests help reduce delays and ensure your reviews are published smoothly.
Sometimes, a common reason why Google reviews are not showing for your dental practice can be related to the reviewer’s own Google account rather than your listing itself. Google places a strong emphasis on trust and authenticity, and not all reviewer profiles meet its quality signals.
There are a few reviewer-related issues that can cause reviews to disappear or never be published:
New or inactive Google accounts
If a patient leaves a review from a newly created account or one with little to no activity, Google may automatically filter the review. Accounts without profile photos, names, or past reviews are more likely to be flagged.
Policy or behavior history
Reviewer accounts that have previously violated Google’s content or spam guidelines may have their reviews restricted. Even genuine feedback can be suppressed if the account has a poor trust history.
Location or network inconsistencies
Reviews posted from locations far away from your dental practice, or through VPNs and shared networks, may be delayed or removed while Google verifies their legitimacy.
To minimize this issue, encourage patients to leave reviews using their regular personal Google accounts and to write natural, experience-based feedback. While you cannot control reviewer accounts directly, understanding this factor helps explain why Google reviews disappeared or are not showing despite doing everything right on your end. Tools designed for ethical outreach, such as review generation tools for dentists, help streamline this process without triggering Google’s filters.
Having valid Google reviews is essential because Google prioritizes trust and authenticity above everything else. When a review appears to be influenced by incentives such as discounts, gifts, contests, or requests made by staff with a personal interest, Google’s systems often flag and filter it out automatically.
For dental practices, this commonly happens when patients are encouraged to leave a review in exchange for something of value or when reviews come from employees, friends, or family members connected to the practice. Even if the feedback is positive and well intentioned, Google may treat it as biased or conflicted.
Google’s goal is to ensure that reviews genuinely reflect unbiased patient experiences. To protect your visibility and reputation, reviews should always be requested ethically, without pressure or rewards, and left voluntarily by real patients using active Google accounts. This approach helps ensure your reviews stay visible, credible, and beneficial for long-term local SEO growth. Ethical review practices not only protect your reputation but also support long-term visibility alongside other trust signals like consistent local business listings for doctors.
Google reviews may fail to appear due to technical issues within your Google Business Profile rather than the reviews themselves. When Google detects inconsistencies or system-level errors, reviews can be temporarily hidden or removed from public view.
Common triggers include incomplete verification, recent edits to your practice name, category, address, or phone number, and duplicate or merged listings. These changes can prompt automated checks, during which reviews may stop displaying.
Profile instability also plays a role. Frequent updates, ownership changes, or mismatched NAP details across platforms reduce Google’s trust in the listing and affect review visibility. These issues can weaken review visibility and also limit the effectiveness of broader local SEO for dental practices.
To resolve this, ensure your dental practice profile is fully verified, accurate, and stable. Keep edits minimal, remove duplicate listings, and maintain consistent business information across all directories. A technically clean profile supports long-term review visibility and protects your online reputation.
Google regularly updates its algorithms to improve review quality, trust, and user experience. During these updates, dental practice reviews may temporarily disappear, reorder, or stop showing altogether while Google reassesses their authenticity and relevance.
These updates often focus on filtering low-quality, duplicate, or suspicious reviews. Reviews posted in quick succession, from the same IP range, or with similar wording can be flagged by automated systems, even if they are genuine. In some cases, older reviews may also be re-evaluated against newer quality standards.
Algorithm updates can also affect visibility when combined with recent profile changes, such as edits to your practice details, category updates, or ownership changes. Google may pause review display until the system fully reprocesses your listing.
The best approach is consistency and compliance. Encourage natural, organic reviews over time, avoid review surges, and ensure your Google Business Profile remains accurate and stable. While algorithm updates are unavoidable, a well-maintained dental listing helps reviews return and remain visible once the update cycle completes.
Sometimes, Google reviews disappear simply because the patient has deleted their account or chosen to remove their review. When this happens, the review vanishes from your dental practice profile, even if it was positive, and your listing remains unaffected.
Reviews can also be temporarily hidden if flagged—either by other users or Google’s automated systems—for being suspicious, off-topic, or potentially in violation of guidelines. While under review, the content won’t appear publicly.
Even authentic reviews may be impacted if Google detects unusual patterns, such as multiple reviews from the same device, location, or account behavior. Once reviewed, flagged reviews are either reinstated or permanently removed.
To protect your dental practice, focus on consistently collecting honest, experience-based reviews from real patients. Avoid scripted wording, incentives, or rushed submissions. A steady stream of genuine reviews keeps your Google profile credible and resilient against deletions or flags.
Finally, your Google reviews may not show up immediately if your dental practice experiences a sudden surge of new feedback. Google’s systems are designed to detect unusual activity, and a rapid influx—even from genuine patients—can trigger a temporary hold on some reviews.
This is part of Google’s verification process to ensure that every review is authentic and follows its guidelines. Temporarily hidden reviews don’t mean they’re lost or that your profile has been penalized.
To prevent this from affecting your visibility, focus on collecting reviews consistently over time rather than all at once. Encourage each patient to leave honest, experience-based feedback through verified accounts, and avoid asking multiple patients to post at the same time.
A steady and authentic flow of reviews strengthens your dental practice’s online reputation, maintains credibility, and ensures that sudden bursts of feedback don’t disrupt your profile’s performance.
The first thing you should do when Google reviews aren’t showing is log into your Google Business Profile and head straight to the Reviews section. In many cases, the review is actually there—it’s just not public yet.
Google often places new reviews under temporary review, especially if they were posted recently or triggered one of Google’s automated checks. During this time, the review may be visible to you inside the dashboard but hidden from public view.
This delay doesn’t mean the review has been removed or penalized. It simply means Google is verifying its authenticity. These reviews usually appear on your profile once the process is complete.
Make it a habit to regularly monitor your GBP dashboard so you can quickly tell the difference between a delayed review and one that has genuinely disappeared. Catching this early helps you avoid unnecessary panic and lets you take the right next step to protect your dental practice’s online reputation.
Ensure your Google Business Profile is fully verified and properly optimized before assuming your reviews are disappearing due to a technical issue. In many cases, the problem isn’t the reviews themselves but gaps or inconsistencies within the profile.
Dental practices often think Google is removing reviews, when in reality the listing may be unverified, outdated, or competing with a duplicate profile. These issues can directly impact review visibility and delay public display.
Check that your practice name, address, phone number, hours, and services are accurate and match everywhere online. Even minor inconsistencies can confuse Google’s system.
Look for duplicate listings for the same dental practice and request a merge or removal if necessary. Multiple profiles split trust signals and can suppress reviews.
Regularly updating photos, services, and business information shows Google that your practice is active and trustworthy. Once your profile is verified, accurate, and maintained, your reviews are far more likely to appear consistently and support your local visibility.
Encourage genuine reviews the right way by asking every patient, not just the happiest ones, for honest feedback. Selective requests or reviews, “cherry-picking,” often trigger Google’s spam filters and lead to reviews disappearing later.
Keep your task neutral and simple. A line like “We’d love your honest feedback on Google” sets the right expectation and aligns with Google’s review policies—especially important for dental practices in competitive local markets.
Make it easy for patients to leave a review by using short review links or QR codes in follow-up emails and text messages. Frictionless access increases participation without pressuring the patient.
Never incentivize reviews with discounts, gifts, or giveaways, and avoid gating requests based on patient experience. Google actively removes reviews tied to incentives or manipulation.
A steady, ethical flow of real patient feedback builds long-term trust, protects your reviews from removal, and strengthens your dental practice’s local visibility the right way.
Report issues to Google first.
If a legitimate patient review is missing, there is no need to panic, but don’t ignore it either. What you all need to do is Log into your Google Business Profile and head to the GBP Help section. Search for “missing reviews” and follow the guided steps to appeal or contact Google support. In some cases, Google may ask for supporting details, so keep screenshots, timestamps, and proof of patient consent ready. If the issue involves fake, spammy, or extortion-based negative reviews, use Google’s dedicated reporting form to flag them properly for review.
Clear the cache and check in incognito mode.
Sometimes the problem isn’t Google; it’s your browser. Cached data, cookies, or location-based personalization can prevent reviews from loading correctly on your screen. Clear your browser cache and history, or check your Google Business Profile in incognito mode or on a different device. Many practices discover the review is actually live; it just wasn’t visible to them due to a local display issue.
Monitor and prevent future review issues.
Make review monitoring a weekly habit. Regularly check your reviews inside your GBP dashboard and respond to every review, positive or negative. Active engagement signals trust and legitimacy to Google and can improve review visibility. Most importantly, focus on steady, organic review growth rather than short-term review campaigns. A consistent flow of real patient feedback is far more effective—and far safer—than sudden spikes that may trigger review filtering.
Get in touch with our healthcare marketing expert
