How to Write, Edit or Delete a Review on Google Maps

To write and rate on Google Maps from your phone: open the Google Maps app, search for the place, tap its name, then Reviews, tap the five empty stars, choose your stars, write your comment under "Share more about your experience", and post it. On a computer: search for the place and click Write a review on the right of the screen. You need a Google account.

What stops customers rating your business most is that they do not know where the button is. This guide explains, for your customers and for you, how a review is written, edited and deleted on Google Maps, using the button names given on Google's help page "Add, edit, or delete Google Maps reviews and ratings", as we read it on 20 October 2026. Button names may differ a little between app versions.

Before you write

• You must be signed in to a Google account. Google says you cannot add an anonymous review.
• A review is public: all reviews are visible to everyone, and anyone can see what you add. Others see it with the name shown on your profile page, and with the other photos and videos you added to Google Maps and the location information attached to them.
• You can rate with stars only, and writing text is optional: Google says to click the stars to rate the place, and that you can also write a review.
• The review stays until you delete it, and after posting you can edit it or change the rating and the photos you included.

How to write a review and rate on iPhone

These are Google's steps for an iPhone or iPad:

1. Open the Google Maps app.
2. Search for the place or tap it on the map. If several locations appear, choose the one you want.
3. Tap the place's name or address at the bottom.
4. At the top of the screen tap Reviews.
5. Tap the five empty stars.
6. To rate the place tap the stars. To write a review, enter what you want to say under "Share more about your experience". Questions about your experience may appear, and you can choose what fits; they do not appear for every place.
7. Post the review.

How to add a review and rate on Android

The same steps on an Android phone or tablet: open Google Maps, search for the place, tap its name or address, then Reviews at the top of the screen, then the five empty stars, write your comment, and post.

How to write a review on a computer

1. Sign in to Google Maps.
2. Search for the place.
3. On the right of the screen, click the link Write a review.
4. Click the stars to rate the place, and write your review if you wish.
5. Post it.

How to add photos to your review

Google says you can add videos or photo posts to Google Maps, and that after posting a review you can edit it or change the rating and photos you included. Choose photos you took yourself at the place, and do not include other people's faces or details without their consent, since Google's policy prohibits posting another person's personal information without consent, including their face in a photo. Note that the location information attached to photos may be seen by others, as Google says.

How to edit or delete a review you wrote

On a computer

1. Open Google Maps.
2. At the top right of the screen click the menu icon.
3. Click Your contributions, then Reviews.
4. Next to the review click the More icon.
5. Choose Edit review or Delete review and follow the steps on screen.

On iPhone or Android

1. Open Google Maps.
2. Tap Contribute, then View profile.
3. Scroll down and tap View all reviews.
4. Next to the review tap the More icon.
5. Choose Edit review or Delete review and follow the steps.

Google says that if you edit your review, the date of the last edit shows as the review's post date.

How to write a helpful review

These are our tips, not Google's, because a helpful review helps whoever reads after you choose:

• Write about your own experience: what you ordered or which service you had, and roughly when.
• Mention the detail you liked or that bothered you, not a general word such as "excellent" or "bad".
• Stay respectful even in a negative review. Google's policy says it allows content that describes negative experiences respectfully.
• Do not write about a place you did not visit.
• Do not include phone numbers or anyone's personal information.

Examples we wrote for illustration, not real reviews:

We visited the restaurant on Thursday evening. The kabsa is delicious and the staff welcomed us, but we waited about half an hour before the order arrived.

I booked a cleaning appointment; reception was kind and the clinic was clean. The appointment ran about ten minutes late.

What Google's policy allows and prohibits

In its prohibited and restricted content policy Google says contributions to Google Maps must reflect a real-world experience at a place or business. Among what it prohibits: paid reviews or ratings, whether the payment is direct or in kind; content not based on a real experience; and content based on a conflict of interest, such as a review by a current or former employee of the business. It says it does not pay reviewers to add reviews to Google Maps. Reviews may be removed for policy violations such as spam or inappropriate content, and Google does not restore them after removal.

Why does my review not show?

• It may be waiting for the check that it complies with policies, which Google says can take a few days in some cases.
• It may have been removed for breaking policies, and removed reviews are not restored.
• Your phone or the Maps app may be old, and Google advises updating the app.
• If you are not signed in to a Google account the review will not be accepted.

The reasons Google gives in detail are in why a Google Maps review is delayed or disappears.

For business owners: should I ask my customers to write a review?

Yes, but in the permitted way. Google allows merchants to request or encourage content that reflects a real experience, without incentives or attempts to influence the rating or the content of the review. In practice:

• Send the direct review link to every customer in the same words. You can create it for free with a QR code in the Google review link and QR tool.
• No discount or gift for a review, no request for a number of stars, and no sending only the happy ones to Google.
• Do not press the customer to write while they are in the place.

A ready message to adapt: "Thank you for visiting [business name]! Your opinion matters to us and helps others choose. The review link is here: [link]."

For the wider plan to raise reviews legitimately read the guide to raising Google Maps reviews.

Where SMTAK helps

When a review is posted, SMTAK pulls it into your dashboard at the next sync (every 15 minutes for an active business and up to 60 minutes for a quiet one, or at once with the pull button) and writes a draft reply in your tone for you to approve before publishing, and counts review-link visits and QR scans for each branch.