How to Turn Off Google Reviews (and What to Do Instead)

2026-10-25 · FairReview

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Short answer: You cannot turn off Google reviews for your business. Google Business Profile has no setting that disables reviews or hides your rating, and only Google can remove a review. The exceptions are decided by Google, not by the owner: profiles primarily categorized as schools for students aged 6 to 18 have reviews disabled, and Google can temporarily turn off reviews on some profiles to protect them. What you can do is report reviews that break Google's policy, reply to the rest, and ask for help when a review is clearly against the rules: Google review removal service.

This guide explains why there is no off switch, the few cases where Google itself stops reviews, and what to do instead about the reviews you have now.

Can you turn off Google reviews?

No. Every business that has a Business Profile can receive reviews, and the owner cannot opt out. You will not find a "disable reviews" option in the Business Profile settings, in the Google Maps app or in Search.

Reviews are part of every Business Profile. As the owner you can:

reply to any review, publicly
report a review that breaks Google's content policy
follow the status of your reports in Google's Reviews Management Tool

You cannot delete a review, hide it, or switch off the star rating. For the full picture of what can and cannot be removed, see How to remove or delete a Google review.

When Google turns off reviews itself

There are a few situations where reviews stop. In all of them Google makes the decision.

Situation	What happens	Source
Profile primarily categorized as a school for students aged 6 to 18	Existing reviews are removed and new reviews are not allowed. Universities, day care centers and swim schools are not included	About missing or delayed reviews
Google decides a profile or category needs protection	Google may temporarily turn off user content, including reviews, for certain profiles or business categories	About missing or delayed reviews
The business broke Google's Fake Engagement policy	A penalty, not a feature: the profile may be blocked from new reviews for a set period, existing reviews may be unpublished, and a warning about removed fake reviews may be shown	Business Profile restrictions for policy violations

The last row is the one to avoid. Buying reviews, posting reviews for your own business or asking a review company to "flood" your profile can lead to these restrictions. Google notifies the owner by email and the owner can appeal, but the profile looks worse to customers in the meantime.

What to do instead of turning off reviews

If you want reviews off because of a few bad ones, deal with those reviews directly. Start by sorting them:

The review	What to do
From someone who was never a customer, a competitor or a former employee	Report it with the matching reason (for example Conflict of interest). See How to flag an inappropriate Google review
Contains hate speech, threats, personal information or links	Report it. These break Google's prohibited and restricted content policy
Part of a sudden wave of one-star reviews, or comes with a demand for money	Report each review and keep the evidence. See Google review extortion: what to do
An honest bad experience, even if you feel it is unfair	Do not report it. Reply calmly and fix the cause. See How to deal with a bad Google review

Steps to report a review

Sign in to the Google account that manages your Business Profile.
Open your profile on Google Search or Maps and go to Reviews.
Next to the review, open the three-dot menu and choose Report review.
Pick the reason that matches what you found. A report with a reason Google can check works better than "this is unfair".
Check the result in the Reviews Management Tool. If Google keeps the review, you can appeal once. Google's own steps are in Manage customer reviews.

Only Google decides whether a reported review comes down.

What not to do

Do not create accounts or ask others to mass-report a review. Google can treat this as fake engagement on your side.
Do not pay anyone who promises to delete reviews "from the inside" or asks for your Google password. Reviews can only be reported through Google's own tools, and no one needs access to your account to do that.
Do not buy positive reviews to push bad ones down. It breaks Google's policy and, in the US, the FTC rule on consumer reviews and testimonials (16 CFR Part 465).

If your goal is fewer bad reviews showing at the top, read How to hide bad reviews on Google for what is allowed.

FAQ

Q: Can I turn off Google reviews for my business?

A: No. There is no setting for it. Only Google can disable reviews, and it does so only for certain categories (such as schools for students aged 6 to 18) or to protect a profile.

Q: Can I hide my star rating on Google?

A: No. The rating is shown on every Business Profile that has reviews, and owners cannot switch it off.

Q: Will Google stop new reviews during a review attack?

A: Google says it may temporarily turn off user content, including reviews, on some profiles to protect them. It does not publish when this happens, so report every review in the attack and keep the evidence.

Q: Why can't my school receive Google reviews?

A: Google removed and disabled reviews for profiles primarily categorized as educational institutions for students aged 6 to 18. Universities, day care centers and swim schools still have reviews.

Q: Does a removal service need my Google login?

A: No. A review can be reported without access to your Business Profile. Be careful with anyone who asks for your password.

Next step

Send us the link to the review on WhatsApp. We check it for free and tell you honestly whether it breaks Google's policy and can be reported. No result, no charge.

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