New Google Review Policies: What Changed and What Businesses Need to Know

Google quietly updated its Maps User Contributed Content Policy in early October 2025, tightening rules around reviews in ways that directly impact how small businesses manage their online reputation. Several changes flew under the radar, so here is a clear breakdown of what shifted and what it means for your business.

The Key Changes

Stricter Enforcement Against Incentivized Reviews

Google has always prohibited businesses from offering incentives in exchange for reviews, but enforcement has historically been inconsistent. The updated policy makes the language more explicit and signals increased automated detection of incentivized review patterns.

Specifically, Google now flags patterns where multiple reviews are posted within a short time window from the same geographic area — a common signature of “review drives” where businesses offer discounts or giveaways in exchange for on-the-spot reviews.

If you have been offering discounts, contest entries, or freebies in exchange for Google reviews, stop immediately. Google's detection capabilities have improved significantly, and the penalty is not just removal of those reviews — it can be a suppression of your entire review profile for weeks.

Review Gating Is Now Explicitly Prohibited

Review gating — the practice of pre-screening customers and only directing happy ones to leave a Google review — has been against Google’s guidelines for years. The October update adds specific language prohibiting software tools and services that facilitate gating, not just the practice itself.

This is significant because many reputation management platforms still offer gating features. If your review management tool asks customers to rate their experience first and only sends satisfied customers to Google, you are using a gating tool, and Google is now targeting the tools themselves.

Expanded Definition of Fake Reviews

The updated policy broadens what counts as a “fake” review to include:

Reviews by employees who do not disclose their affiliation
Reviews from business owners’ personal accounts about their own business
Reviews posted as part of an organized campaign even if the reviewers are real customers
AI-generated review content, regardless of whether the sentiment is genuine

What This Means for Your Business

Ask for reviews — but do it the right way. You can still ask every customer for a review. What you cannot do is selectively ask only happy customers, offer anything in return, or use tools that filter who gets asked based on their sentiment.

Audit your review management tools. If you use any software for review solicitation, verify that it sends review requests to all customers equally, without any pre-screening or sentiment filtering step. If it includes a gating feature, turn it off or switch tools.

Train your staff. Make sure employees understand that they should not be leaving reviews for your business, and that they should not be asking customers to leave reviews in exchange for anything — even something as small as a free drink or a discount code.

Responding to Reviews Still Matters

None of these changes affect review responses. You should still respond to every review promptly and professionally. Businesses that actively respond to reviews continue to rank higher in local search and build more trust with potential customers.

A good CRM system like SMBcrm can help you track when new reviews come in and set reminders to respond, ensuring no review goes unanswered.

The Big Picture

Google is making it harder to game the review system and easier for legitimate businesses to benefit from honest feedback. If your review strategy is built on genuine customer experiences and consistent follow-up, these changes work in your favor. If it has relied on shortcuts, now is the time to course-correct before enforcement catches up.