Google has long moderated customer reviews, but it now also moderates business responses before they’re published.
According to Google, every review reply is evaluated for compliance with its content policies before it becomes visible to customers. During this moderation process, each reply is assigned one of three statuses:
This means clicking Reply is no longer the final step. Your response must first pass Google’s moderation process before customers can see it.
Google also exposes these reply moderation states through the Business Profile API, allowing platforms like ReviewInc to identify whether a reply is pending, approved, or rejected.
Google’s Review Process
Google says most review replies are reviewed within 10 minutes, although moderation can occasionally take up to 30 days. During that time, a reply may remain in a Pending state before it’s either approved or rejected. Once approved, the reply is published and the customer is notified that your business has responded.