Thousands of local businesses are finding their Google review counts depleted, and some cannot receive new reviews at all. Google confirmed on July 3, 2026, that it is actively investigating reports of reviews disappearing from Google Business Profile listings and that its systems have temporarily paused new review submissions on affected profiles.
What Google Has Confirmed
A Google spokesperson stated:
"When our systems detect suspicious reviews, we take a range of actions including removing reviews and temporarily pausing reviews on the profile to prevent further abuse. We are investigating the issue and will restore any reviews that were incorrectly removed."
The statement identifies two distinct effects businesses are experiencing: reviews already posted are no longer visible on listings, and the ability to receive new reviews has been suspended on flagged profiles. Google's review spam detection algorithms appear to be picking up on patterns and aggressively removing and blocking reviews on suspected Google Business Profiles, though it remains unclear whether this is caused by spammers targeting those profiles or by an overly aggressive algorithmic adjustment.
Scale of the Problem
Reviews are disappearing from Google Business Profile local listings, and over the past several days there has been an influx of complaints in the Google Business Profile forums. The volume and severity of losses vary significantly by listing. Some businesses have lost thousands of reviews from their Google listings while others have lost only a few, depending on the total number of reviews a listing had. Many report that their listings were targeted with fake reviews and that shortly afterward, all reviews disappeared and no new reviews are being added.
One business owner's account illustrates the scale of individual losses: the owner stated the listing held approximately 4,651 legitimate customer reviews collected over many years, and that within about 24 hours the public review count dropped to only 63 reviews.
A Secondary Consequence: Ratings Reduced to Zero
Amy Toman, a volunteer Google Product Expert in the Google Business Profiles community, flagged an additional consequence beyond missing reviews. Toman noted that after reporting fake or spam reviews, some listings are receiving a review block where all reviews are hidden, and that in at least one case a listing's rating was reduced to zero. Toman confirmed that Google is aware and working on the issue, though no timeline for resolution has been stated.
A Recurring Platform Issue
This is not the first time Google Business Profile reviews have disappeared at scale. Starting around October 14–17, 2025, Google confirmed a bug was causing reviews to not display correctly on Google Business Profiles; in that instance, the reviews still existed in Google's system but were not showing up. That October 2025 bug was confirmed and partially addressed, but the issue was not fully resolved, with business profile owners still reporting missing reviews in January, February, and March 2026.
Industry analysts have noted that Google is now using AI tools, including Gemini, to filter review content more aggressively, partly under pressure from international regulations targeting fake reviews such as the FTC in the United States and the Digital Services Act in Europe.
What Affected Businesses and Their Agencies Should Do Now
Agencies and business owners managing local listings should not ask customers to repost reviews immediately. Reposting reviews during a bug or purge often triggers more removals; Google may temporarily lock a listing for submitting multiple support tickets, and large review spikes can activate the spam filter further.
Experts recommend posting in the Google Business Profile Community forum and requesting escalation, and documenting the situation thoroughly with screenshots that include reviewer names and dates. Responding to existing reviews creates a second timestamped record confirming that the review existed, and signals to Google that the review generated real engagement, which supports any future appeal.
For agencies managing multiple client accounts, the practical implication is straightforward: a sudden drop in a client's review count this week is most likely connected to this active investigation rather than a policy violation against that specific listing. Google has committed to restoring reviews that were incorrectly removed, though no resolution timeline has been provided as of the date of this report.
