Review gating

What is review gating?

Review gating is the practice of screening customers before asking for a public review, then sending only satisfied customers to Google or another review site while steering unhappy ones to a private feedback form. A typical gate asks “How was your experience?” and only shows the Google review link to people who choose four or five stars.

It violates Google’s policies for reviews, which prohibit discouraging negative reviews or selectively soliciting positive ones. It is also covered by consumer protection law: the US FTC’s Endorsement Guides, revised in 2023, include review gating as an example of a practice that can be unfair or deceptive when it makes posted reviews substantially more positive than they otherwise would be.

Why review gating matters for SEO

Gating distorts the rating people rely on to choose a business, which is why both Google and regulators treat it as deceptive. Some older review tools built gating in by default, so many businesses do it without realising.

The white hat alternative is simple: ask every customer for a review in the same way, and use private feedback separately, not as a filter. See online reviews and review response rate.

Risks of review gating

• Reviews removed and restrictions on your Google Business Profile, because Google’s policies prohibit selectively soliciting positive reviews.
• Possible suspension of the profile for repeated policy violations.
• Legal risk in the US: the FTC’s Endorsement Guides say review gating that makes reviews substantially more positive can be deceptive, and the FTC has warned companies about it.
• Reputational damage if customers learn that unhappy customers were filtered out.
• Breaching other review platforms’ rules too: Trustpilot, for example, does not allow businesses to invite only customers they expect to be positive.

How to spot and stop review gating

1. Check your review request flow. If the public review link appears only after a positive rating, it is a gate.
2. Check settings in any review management tool for “filter”, “routing” or “satisfaction threshold” features, and turn them off.
3. Send every customer the same request with the same direct review link.
4. Keep private feedback forms if you want them, but offer the public review link to everyone, whatever their answer.
5. Reply to negative reviews publicly instead of trying to keep them off the platform.

Review gating example

What gating looks like: an email asks “Would you recommend us?” Clicking a happy face opens the Google review page. Clicking a sad face opens a form saying “Tell us privately how we can improve”, with no review link. That flow should be replaced with one request that gives everyone the review link.