Google Review Link Not Working? The Causes and the Fix for Each

Rebuild your review linkDownload the review link troubleshooting checklist (PDF)

First, work out which kind of failure it is

"The review link doesn't work" can mean three quite different things, and the fix for one does nothing for the others. Open the link yourself in a private browser window (your normal window is signed in to your own Google account and can hide the problem), then match what you see:

• A: it opens the wrong place, or nothing. An error, a map with nothing selected, or a different business. The link itself is wrong.
• B: it opens your business, but the review box doesn't appear. Or the customer is stuck on a sign-in screen. The link is right; something on the customer's phone or account is in the way.
• C: the customer wrote a review and it never appeared. The link did its job; the review is held or removed on Google's side.

The sections below take each in turn. The checklist that comes with this post has the same order, so you can work through it with a customer on the phone.

A: the link opens the wrong place, or nothing

This is a link problem, and you fix it by building a new link. The usual causes:

It was made from a short share link. The Share button on a Maps listing gives a maps.app.goo.gl address. Those short links don't contain the Place ID, so anything built from one is guesswork. Our review link generator refuses short links for this reason and points you to Google's Place ID Finder instead.

It points at a different listing. Businesses that moved, rebranded or were added to Maps twice can have more than one listing. A Place ID copied from the wrong one opens that one. Search your business name in the Place ID Finder, check the address shown, and use the listing you manage.

The Place ID is out of date. Google's documentation on Place IDs says they can change over time as the map data is updated, recommends refreshing any that are more than 12 months old, and notes that an ID returning "not found" may be invalid or obsolete. If your link worked last year and doesn't now, look the ID up again.

It was damaged when pasted. Links get cut off at a line break in an email, or pick up a full stop at the end. Copy it again from the source.

The fix in all four cases is the same: get a fresh Place ID or copy the link from your Business Profile again, rebuild, test, then replace the old link everywhere. Our guide on how to get your Google review link covers both routes.

B: your business opens, but the review box doesn't

Here the link is right, and the cause is the customer's phone or account.

They aren't signed in. Google's tips page says people must be signed in to a Google Account to leave a review, and that the account can use a non-Gmail address. A customer who isn't signed in is asked to sign in first; some give up there and report that the link is broken. Nothing about the link can remove that step. It helps to say in your request that Google may ask them to sign in.

The link opened inside another app. Tapping a link inside some social and messaging apps opens a built-in browser that isn't signed in to the customer's Google account, even when their phone's main browser is. The fix is to open the link in the phone's main browser, usually from the app's menu.

Their Maps app is old. Google's page on missing or delayed reviews says customers on older phones or software may have trouble leaving reviews and recommends updating the Maps app.

If you test on an iPhone and an Android phone, from an email and a text message as well as a browser, you will have seen most of these before a customer does.

C: the review was written but doesn't show

When a customer tells you they left a review and it isn't on your profile, the link worked. Google's page on missing or delayed reviews lists the reasons:

• Checks take time. Reviews are checked against Google's policies, which can take a few days.
• Recently merged profiles. After profiles are merged, it can take a few days for reviews from both to show.
• Policy removals. Reviews removed for breaking a policy, such as spam, are not restored.
• Some categories are limited. Google can limit or turn off reviews for certain kinds of places; the same page explains that general schools for students aged 6 to 18 no longer get reviews.

One policy removal is self-inflicted. Google's prohibited content policy treats reviews posted because of an incentive, such as a discount, a gift or payment, as fake engagement. If reviews collected during a promotion disappear, that is the likely reason, and they will not come back. The fix is to ask without incentives from now on; our guide to getting more reviews for free shows a routine that stays within the rules.

The full check, step by step

1. Open the link signed out

Use a private window. This is what a stranger sees.

2. Check the name and address

If either is wrong, you are in case A.

3. Rebuild the link from a fresh Place ID

Look it up again in the Place ID Finder, paste it into the generator, and press Open to test.

4. Test on two phones

An iPhone and an Android phone, opening the link from an email and a text as well as a browser.

5. Replace the link everywhere

Thank-you emails, invoice footers, your email signature, printed cards. Reprint any card whose QR code holds the old link; a printed code can't be edited.

6. Give missing reviews time

For case C, wait a few days before assuming anything is wrong.

The last step is where most of the cost hides. A link pasted into ten places means ten places to fix, which is why it pays to keep one list of where it lives. In Fynl's Starter plan the review link is saved once in the portal, and every review request email points through the portal to it, so changing it there also fixes the requests already sitting in customers' inboxes. More free tools are on the free tools page.

Questions people also ask

Sources

• Google Maps Platform — Place IDs
• Google Business Profile Help — About missing or delayed reviews
• Google Business Profile Help — Tips to get more reviews
• Google Maps — Prohibited and restricted content