There is no option in Google Business Profile (the current name for what was long known as Google My Business) to turn off, hide, or pause your business reviews. Not in the admin panel, not through official support. What you can do is actively manage what comes in: flag reviews that break Google’s rules with the help of our remove Google reviews service, respond to negative ones to limit their damage, and build up a volume of positive ratings that puts any occasional bad score in perspective.
Are fake reviews hurting your business?
Why Google won’t let you turn off reviews on your Business Profile
Reviews on Google are not a service you offer your customers. They are public information that Google collects from its own users to help other people make decisions. From that perspective, they are not yours to control, just as you don’t get to decide what someone writes about you on a forum.
Google makes this clear in its reporting policy: you can flag a review, but only those that break its content guidelines will come down. Simply disagreeing with it, or finding that it lowers your average score, is not grounds for action. Google does not intervene in disputes between businesses and customers.
That doesn’t mean you have no options. It means you need to distinguish between what actually exists and what many business owners wish existed.
When Google does restrict reviews on a profile (and you don’t get to decide)
There are situations in which Google blocks or limits reviews on a Business Profile. None of them is an option you can switch on: they are unilateral decisions made by Google based on its own policies.
Suspicious or coordinated activity. When Google detects a pattern of ratings that don’t look organic, it can temporarily pause new reviews on the profile. Google explains this in its official Maps blog: when there is a sudden spike in spam reviews, it discards the fake content, pauses new contributions, notifies the owner, and shows a notice on the profile explaining why reviews are on hold. If your listing has gone weeks without any new ratings and you haven’t done anything to cause it, this may be the reason. You’ll find more context in the article about why Google is removing reviews and how to avoid it.
Violation of the fake-engagement policy. If Google concludes that the business itself has paid for or incentivised reviews, it may apply temporary restrictions to the profile: blocking new reviews from coming in for a period, temporarily unpublishing existing ones, and showing a notice to anyone who visits the listing. Google notifies the owner by email and allows an appeal, but the owner does not decide when the restriction is lifted.
What happens to reviews if you close your Google listing
Many owners assume that closing their business listing makes reviews disappear. It doesn’t. Google’s official documentation states that when a Business Profile is removed, user-generated content, including ratings, is retained. What disappears are your posts, photos, videos, and owner responses. If you mark the business as permanently closed, the profile gradually fades from search results, but the reviews stay visible. Before taking that step, read what it actually means to remove a business from Google Maps.
What you can actually do: a decision table
Most businesses looking to turn off Google reviews are really after one of four things. This table sums up what option exists for each:
| What you want to achieve | What you can actually do | Where to do it |
|---|---|---|
| Get rid of spam, fake, or experience-free reviews | Ask Google to flag them; those that break its guidelines may come down | RepScan’s specialist service · free checker |
| Reduce the impact of negative ratings on your average score | Collect more genuine 5-star ratings from real customers | Reviews calculator · NFC card |
| Neutralise the effect of a visible negative rating | Respond professionally so the next reader sees your side of the story | AI-powered responses · 100 real examples |
| Know what people are saying before it catches you off guard | Set up automated monitoring and alerts | Reviews management software |
Responding to negative reviews: it makes more difference than you think
A well-crafted response to a negative review doesn’t win over the person who left it. It wins over the next customer who reads it, the one who decides whether to walk through your door. That’s your real audience.
The tone should be empathetic and focused on solutions, without getting drawn into the argument or asking the reviewer to change their rating. If you’re not sure how to handle different situations, the article with 100 examples of responses to negative reviews covers practically any scenario. If you’d rather delegate, RepScan’s AI response tool generates replies tailored to your business’s tone in seconds.
If the review contains serious allegations, false information, or has a clearly defamatory intent, there is also a legal route through the right to honour. It’s a less common option, but it’s available when the damage is real and documented.
More positive ratings: the most effective shield against negative ones
A bad score hurts less when it sits alongside a high volume of positive ratings. A 1-star review on a profile with 8 ratings can wreck your average. On a profile with 150, it barely moves the needle. And this is something you do have control over.
If you want to know exactly how many 5-star reviews you need to bring your current score up, the Google reviews calculator gives you the precise number. To collect them without any manual effort at your point of customer contact, RepScan’s NFC card takes the customer straight to the review form. The rest of the methods are covered in the article on how to get more reviews on Google.
You might also find it useful to understand how negative ratings affect your score from a technical standpoint. The article on why some negative reviews lower your Google score explains the actual calculation behind the average and what type of rating carries the most weight.
Frequently asked questions about disabling Google My Business reviews
Can I hide or pause Google reviews on my business?
No. Google does not give the owner any option to hide, pause, or turn off ratings on a Business Profile. They are visible to anyone who searches for your business on Maps or in the search engine, and you cannot directly control their visibility. What you can manage is how you respond to the ones you have and how many new positive ones you bring in.
Can Google block new reviews from reaching my listing without me asking?
Yes, but it’s Google’s decision, not yours. It happens when Google detects suspicious or coordinated activity on the profile, or when it applies measures for policy violations. In those cases it can temporarily pause new ratings until the situation is resolved. The owner usually receives a notification, but cannot activate or deactivate this state manually.
What happens to my reviews if I close my Google Maps listing?
The reviews stay. According to Google’s official documentation, when a Business Profile is removed, user-generated content, including ratings, is retained. If you mark the business as permanently closed, the profile gradually disappears from search results, but the reviews remain visible.
Are there reviews that can actually disappear from my Business Profile?
Yes. Those that break Google’s content policies: spam ratings, ratings from people who had no real experience with the business, reviews involving a conflict of interest, offensive content, identity impersonation, or covert advertising. To find out whether any of yours meet those criteria, RepScan’s free review checker gives you an initial assessment. If the situation involves a coordinated campaign of malicious ratings or a more complex case, the specialist team can handle the full process.
Can I stop Google reviews coming in if I haven’t claimed my listing?
No. If you haven’t claimed your Google Business Profile listing, reviews still appear. Google automatically creates business profiles from information available on the web, and users can leave ratings even if the owner has never managed that profile. To act on reviews, you can claim and verify the listing, then flag those that break Google’s policies.
Can reviews be turned off on Trustpilot?
No. Trustpilot doesn’t close a business’s profile or make its reviews disappear unless they break its guidelines: reviews belong to the person who wrote them, and the business can only flag those that don’t comply with the rules. Even if you cancel your business account, the profile stays visible as unclaimed and customers can keep leaving reviews. If you’re concerned about unfair ratings on other platforms, RepScan offers specialist services for Trustpilot reviews and Tripadvisor reviews.
Featured image: shurkin_son on Magnific.
En RepScan se encarga de Growth y del ecosistema digital de la compañía (web y eshop). Escribe sobre reputación online, eliminación de contenido perjudicial y protección de la identidad digital de personas y empresas.
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