r/GoogleMyBusiness

Hi everyone,

I'm researching a product idea for small and medium businesses, and I'd love some honest feedback before I spend months building it.

My original assumption was that business owners struggle to reply to Google reviews. But after talking to a few people, I realized many local businesses only receive around 5–10 Google reviews per month. At that volume, replying manually doesn't seem like a huge problem.

So now I'm wondering if the bigger problem is actually getting more genuine Google reviews in the first place.

The idea I'm exploring is a tool that helps businesses:

• Ask customers for Google reviews at the right time (without violating Google's policies)
• Track who has been asked and send one polite reminder if needed
• Draft professional replies to new reviews
• Turn negative reviews into recovery actions instead of just writing an apology
• Send a simple weekly report showing recurring complaints and what the business should improve

I'm not interested in fake reviews, review gating, or anything that goes against Google's guidelines. The goal is to help businesses get more honest reviews and make better use of the feedback they receive.

I'd really appreciate hearing from:

• Small business owners
• Restaurant or café owners
• Salon, clinic, gym, or retail owners
• Anyone managing a Google Business Profile
• Agencies that manage reviews for clients

Some questions:

1. How many Google reviews do you typically receive each month?
2. What's the hardest part: getting reviews, replying to them, or learning from them?
3. Do you currently use any review management software? If so, what do you like or dislike?
4. If a tool solved one problem really well, what would you pay for?

Please be brutally honest. If you think this idea is unnecessary or already solved well, I'd rather hear that now than after building it.

Thanks in advance!

So basically i tried building something useful for the local cafes and business. businesses ask customers to leave a Google review, the customer says yes, and then nothing happens. That's basically the whole cycle. There's no follow-up, no system, nothing. and in this the food place or any other business place which are provide really good service get behind in their social presence(I hope i am putting it in right words)

How it works: the business enters the customer's name and WhatsApp number after a service. The customer gets a WhatsApp message with the Google review link. If they reply with a complaint instead, the bot detects it, sends an apology, and immediately notifies the owner so they can handle it before it becomes a public 1-star. A few days later, one reminder goes out if they still haven't left a review

So, I am trying to figure out,

1. Does this actually solve something real, or is the "customer forgets" problem not painful enough for owners to pay for a fix?
2. What's the obvious flaw I'm not seeing?

Be honest. I'd rather hear the hard stuff now.

What are some good tools that can give me deeper insight into my GMB profile. I want to see deeper info, and stats on mine and my competitors profiles.

We run a healthcare business in India with multiple clinic locations, and we're completely stuck - this is directly impacting our business and costing us patient calls every single day.

Here's what happened:

We had phone numbers live and working on our Google Business Profiles. No changes made from our end - one day the numbers were just gone. Removed without any notification or explanation. Since then, every number we try to add gets rejected. We've tried multiple numbers across multiple listings. Nothing goes live.

The numbers we're currently trying to add are from Exotel, a licensed cloud telephony provider in India (UL VNO-Pan India licence, DID numbers). But at this point we can't even get any number through - virtual or otherwise.

What's making this impossible to resolve:

1. Google Support won't give us a reason. Every time we contact them, they say they "can't share information as it's against policy." No specific reason for the original removal, no specific reason for the rejections, no path forward given.

2. The appeal form has been stripped down. Earlier, the GBP help form had an option to upload supporting documents and storefront images to support your case. That option is now gone. We can't even submit evidence to appeal.

We are a legitimate, registered healthcare business. Patients are trying to call our clinics and can't find a number. This is a real operational problem and Google's support process has given us zero recourse.

Has anyone dealt with this?

- Had a working number suddenly removed from GBP without explanation and been unable to re-add anything?

- Successfully used Exotel / Ozonetel / virtual DID numbers on GBP in India?

- Found a way to submit supporting documents after Google removed the upload option from the form?

- Managed to get past the "can't share information" wall with support and actually get a resolution?

Any help or advice appreciated.

I think that the recent Google bug that has wiped all reviews for some businesses should pose more question than answers to the Google Trust and Safety team policy on what their AI considers spam reviews.

If it took some businesses to get from 2500+ to 0 from them to admit it's a bug then the question should be, :

How many genuine reviews on a small scale have been wiped out from businesses that worked hard for them?

Must it take bulk reviews for google to act?

What about small businesses loosing 2-8 reviews often, don't they matter?

I'm hoping someone here has dealt with this because I'm completely stuck.

I'm helping verify the Google Business Profile for an auto repair shop that's been in business since 1965.

At first, Google required video verification. We recorded and submitted the verification video exactly as instructed, showing the exterior signage, interior, tools, equipment, business operations, and proof of access. The video was never rejected, but after waiting a few days each time, Google simply reset the process and asked us to submit another verification video. This has happened multiple times over the past several weeks.

My goal has been to get Google to allow live video verification with a support representative since the recorded video process keeps failing, but there has never been an option in the Business Profile dashboard to schedule or start a live video call.

I contacted Google support by email, but they said they couldn't assist because the business wasn't verified yet, which felt like a catch-22 since I'm contacting them because I can't get it verified.

Most recently, support asked me to provide a company-domain email address (something like info@businessname.com) and permission to share it with someone affiliated with that domain.

Here's the problem: this business has been operating since 1965 and has never had a website or a company-domain email. They've always operated through their local reputation and phone calls, so there simply isn't an .com email to provide.

At this point, I just want to get a live video verification call scheduled as soon as possible so we can finally complete this process. This has been dragging on for weeks, and we seem to keep getting pushed into another verification step instead of being given a way to resolve it.

Has anyone successfully gotten Google to enable a live video verification after being stuck in this loop? If so, what did you do?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Just from the Google Community Forum and I noted some posts of businesses having not just a few but bulk reviews removed, one business had 4,500 reviews removed! Another had, 1,200 vanish and they just now have zero reviews showing on their GBP.

Where does a business go after that!!!

I work for a company that has many (140+) business centers nationwide. Is there a limit as I come across some issues with GBP where either I create a new business or claim an already listed business center for maybe >5 listing then after it will hit a blocking of some sort. How many am I allowed in a day? or week?

Hello All,
I opened a sharpening business for my Google business page. It’s verified. However, whenever I search for it on another profile, nothing pops up. I already have reviews too. What’s happening? Why is it not showing?

I've read so many posts on reddit now on this same subject. And I just want to make sure I'm understanding correctly (because I can hardly believe this is true): If your business gets suspended for "deceptive content" on Google Business Profile, there's really no way of getting a straight answer on what the actual problem is, correct?

Are we really just out here guessing what the problem could be and then double/triple checking that all our info matches up and is the same across all platforms?! I do understand that Google is being ultra careful that we are legitimate businesses. I find it so hard to believe that no one at Google can respond with a simple explanation identifying what is triggering the suspension so we can fix it. Especially when the restoring of the business to GBP can take so very long.

Anybody figured out a more direct way to know what the exact issue is? Thank you for your help!

Hi everyone,

I'm setting up a new Google Business Profile for a service-area business, and Google is asking for video verification.

I'm wondering if anyone has recently been offered another verification method instead, such as phone, email, postcard, or live video call.

Has anyone successfully switched from video verification to another option? If so:

Did you contact Google Support?

What reason did you give?

Was another verification method offered?

Hi my wife created her business profile and me as well however I did not start sub because I was not sure if I would start to do what I wanted however she started and she is paying business account.

Now I have decided to start and she has option to add my domain under her business however it's saying that domain is already used (which is true) the issue is that I cannot access my Business Console since it directs me constantly to the subscription pay window to pay and I am not able to remove domain so we can add on other account that we are already paying.

I am getting this window and I double-check I was login under my business account.

Any suggestions how to resolve this?

Thank you!

So I’m incredibly frustrated and I don’t know what to do. I just opened up a new barbershop and I can’t figure out how to get our business on Google. It’s verified, I got everything set up that I need to, and it’s not popping up whenever I search for it or have someone else search it. I was able to get a call from google and what they told me is the verification from changing things was delaying the re-verification process. They told me to have people leave reviews and leave pictures of it, and that should speed up the process. I had almost 20 people leave reviews, and I uploaded pictures, and still nothing. I’m just lost, I feel like I’m fighting a lost battle. I’m one of 2 barbershops in the area I’m in, I’m trying to capture the area and it’s not working out. Can anyone please help me.

Sorry if this makes no sense, I’m just flustered

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping someone here has seen this before because I'm extremely concerned.

My Google Business Profile suddenly lost 1,200+ reviews overnight. The profile now shows 0 reviews and a 0.0 rating.

The strange part is that this doesn't seem like a suspension or policy issue.

Current symptoms:

• Review count shows 0
• Overall rating shows 0.0
• At first, individual reviews were still visible, but the count and rating were gone.
• Now reviews often don't appear at all.
• Replying to reviews with text fails (a blank reply sometimes goes through).
• Sharing a review often says "This review is no longer available."
• I can't properly manage or delete review responses.

Things that are normal:

• My Business Profile is verified.
• There is no "Restricted" or "Suspended" notice.
• I can edit my profile, upload photos, create posts, and update business information.
• My Google account manages three Business Profiles, and the other two profiles are completely normal. Only this one location is affected.

I've already contacted Google Business Profile Support and submitted screenshots, but I'm still waiting for a resolution.

Has anyone experienced this exact issue?

• Did your reviews eventually come back?
• Was it a Google backend/indexing issue?
• How long did it take to be resolved?

This location has over 1,200 reviews, so this is having a significant impact on my business. Any advice or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

I'm asking the experts here for learning purposes. I'd love to hear what has worked in your experience and any proven resources you recommend.

Has anyone here moved a Google Business Profile (service-area business, no storefront) from one city to another far away (e.g., NYC → Albuquerque)?
I’m wondering if Google typically requires full re-verification when you change the primary service area that drastically, or if it just updates without triggering a review.
Also curious if anyone experienced ranking drops or suspension risk after a big location change like that.

One thing that surprised me about AI-assisted writing is how much of the work happens after the first draft is finished. Generating content might only take a few minutes, but refining it into something that feels natural can easily take much longer.

I usually read through the content multiple times, changing awkward wording, improving transitions, and making sure the overall structure feels smooth. Sometimes I even step away for a while and come back later with fresh eyes because it's easier to spot areas that need improvement.

I'm wondering how everyone else approaches this. Do you have a target amount of editing time before publishing, or do you simply keep revising until the writing feels right? I'd be interested in hearing how different people balance speed with quality.

Hello everyone—I’m hoping to get some real-world advice from anyone who has dealt with this.

I have a Google Business Profile that I've built over many years. I originally created it while working for a well-known real estate brokerage and was the first agent to claim and verify that office address.

Years ago, the brokerage owners required me to give up the "Owner" role for the business address, although I continued managing my own profile. I've since left that brokerage and moved to a different company with an office literally across the street.

Here's my dilemma: I have not updated my Google Business Profile to my new office address because I'm worried about what might happen to everything I've built over the years—my search rankings, local SEO, reviews, photos, and overall visibility.

For those who have actually made this type of move:

• Did changing your address affect your rankings or local SEO?
• Did you lose any reviews, photos, or profile history?
• How long did it take Google to reprocess the change?
• Was there a temporary drop in calls or leads?
• Is there anything you wish you had done before making the change?

I'd really appreciate hearing from people with firsthand experience rather than just Google's documentation. Thanks in advance!