How to leave a Google review

Reviews are how most people decide who to call, so leaving one genuinely helps a business and the next customer trying to choose. The steps are quick once you know where to look. You'll need to be signed in to a Google account first; any free Gmail address works, and if you already use Gmail, Android, YouTube or Google Photos you almost certainly have one.

How to leave a Google review on your phone (step by step)

This is the route most people use, and it works the same whether you open the Google app, Google Maps, or just google.com in your phone browser.

1. 1

   Make sure you're signed in

   Open the Google app or Google Maps and check your profile picture is in the top corner. If you see a grey sign-in prompt instead, tap it and sign in first. Being signed out is the single most common reason the review button seems to do nothing.
2. 2

   Find the exact business

   Search the business name, and add the town if there could be more than one (for example “Riverside Cafe Bath”). Tap the correct listing so its page opens. Reviewing the wrong branch is easy to do and annoying to undo, so double-check the address matches the place you actually visited.
3. 3

   Open the Reviews section

   On the business page, tap Reviews, then tap the row of starsnear the top. On some listings you'll see a “Rate and review” button instead, either one opens the same review box.
4. 4

   Choose your star rating

   Tap from one to five stars. Five is excellent, one is poor. You can post a rating on its own, but the next step is what makes it genuinely useful to other people.
5. 5

   Write a sentence or two

   Say what you came in for and how it went: the service, the staff, the value, whether you'd go back. Specifics (“booked a same-day boiler repair, tidy and on time”) help far more than “great, thanks”. Keep it honest and about your own experience.
6. 6

   Add a photo (optional but powerful)

   Tap the camera or photo icon in the review box to add a picture: the meal, the finished job, the shopfront. Reviews with photos stand out and are often shown first, and they help the business too.
7. 7

   Tap Post

   Hit Postand you're done. Most reviews appear within a few minutes. If it doesn't show straight away, don't post it again, Google is likely running a quick automated check.

How to leave a Google review on a computer

The desktop route is just as quick if you prefer a full keyboard:

1. Go to google.com or google.com/maps and sign in (top-right).
2. Search the business name so its listing panel appears.
3. In the panel on the right, click “Write a review”. A pop-up window opens.
4. Choose your stars, add your comment, drop in a photo if you have one, and click Post.

What makes a review actually helpful

A star rating on its own is fine, but a few honest details do a lot more work, both for the next customer and for the business. The best reviews tend to have a few things in common:

• What you used them for. A repair, a meal, a haircut, a house sale. It tells readers whether your experience is relevant to theirs.
• One or two specifics. Turned up on time, explained the cost up front, sorted a problem without fuss. Concrete beats generic.
• A fair tone.Even a critical review lands better when it's calm and factual. Businesses can and do respond, and a measured review is harder to dismiss.
• A photo where it helps. The finished work, the plate of food, the room you stayed in.

Do you need a Google account?

Yes. Google requires a free account so reviews are tied to a real profile; it's one of the ways it keeps out fakes. Your name and profile photofrom that account show on the review, so reviews aren't anonymous. You can change your display name in your Google account settings, but there's no truly anonymous option, so only write what you'd be happy to have your name on. If you don't have an account, creating one with any email takes about a minute.

How to edit or delete a review you left

Changed your mind, made a typo, or had a problem sorted out after you posted? You can update or remove your own review at any time:

1. Open Google Maps and tap your profile picture.
2. Choose “Your contributions”, then the Reviews tab.
3. Find the review and tap the three-dot menu next to it.
4. Choose Edit review or Delete review. Edits usually update within a few minutes.

If you're a business owner trying to remove someone else's unfair review rather than your own, that's a completely different process, here's how to report and remove a Google review.

What trips people up

If leaving a review isn't working, it's almost always one of these, and none of them mean you did anything wrong:

What to do if your review won't post or disappears

Sometimes a review posts fine and then vanishes a day later, or refuses to appear at all. Google's spam systems are automated, so this can happen even to a completely genuine review. A few things worth checking:

• Give it time first.Wait a day or two before assuming it's gone. Filters sometimes hold a review and then release it.
• Check it from a different account or in a private window. You'll usually still see your own filtered review when signed in, even when others can't. Viewing while signed out shows you what the public sees.
• Remove any links or contact details and re-post as a plain, experience-based review. That alone fixes a lot of filtered reviews.
• Make sure your account looks established.Brand-new accounts with no photo, no name and a single review are more likely to be filtered. There's no fixing this instantly, but it explains a lot of “my review never showed” cases.

For business owners: make it one tap

Most customers are happy to review you; they just get lost searching for your listing, tapping the wrong branch, or giving up at the sign-in screen. The fix is to hand them a direct review link that opens the review box on your profile with a single tap, so there's no searching at all.

• Create one with the free Google review link generator and drop it into texts, emails, invoices and receipts.
• Turn it into a Google review QR code for your counter, van, table or leaflets.
• For the best moment and wording to ask, see how to ask customers for Google reviews and our wider guide to getting more Google reviews.
• When reviews come in, reply to them, here's how to respond to Google reviews in a way that helps future customers.