Can Google My Business reviews be transferred to a new business profile on Google Maps?

When is it acceptable to transfer Google customer reviews to a new account? When is it better to give up on the idea? Are Google My Business reviews transferred automatically? In all cases? Or would it be best to delete google reviews below your business profile and finally stop worrying about what others think of my business?

Not all at once. Take a moment to read it carefully. Everything will immediately become clear.

Adding a company profile to Google My Business involves managing user reviews for your business 

Let's make one thing clear right now. Google Maps does not allow you to switch off reviews for your profile. So the moment you add your business profile to Google My Business, you are putting your brand up for grading. Leaving your goods and services at the mercy of internet users is not a good idea. Without an effective management plan, you will quickly start looking for ways to remove negative reviews. And you will only be able to achieve this goal in specific cases. Mainly when the content of the comments violates Google's terms of service.

So you come up with the idea of starting all over again. And this is where the problems begin. 

Every Google business profile needs to be verified

You set up a new Google business profile. Google causes a problem. You cannot create a second account for the same brand at the same address. What happens if you change the address to a fake one? You will get stuck at the verification stage.

Verification can be made by email, phone or post. Seeing the first two options, you breathe a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, that feeling may not last long. Not every company has access to remote verification methods. This means that if your business has an actual address, there's a chance that you''ll only be able to verify it with a code received by traditional mail. 

Therefore, this is not a good way to remove negative reviews. Bending the Google Maps rules by providing false information and fake reviews will not be profitable for business owners.

Does every change in your business involve changing your business profile on Google?

What happens, if you' re changing your business profile because something has actually changed in your business, though? Check first whether you need to do this at all. 

You do not need to create a new business profile if you make organisational changes in your company. The website address displayed, the opening hours entered, the current telephone number - these are just further details about the same brand. What is interesting, even a change of ownership does not require a change of business profile. A Google My Business account is usually linked to a company's Google account. And such an account should be transferred to the buyer of the company.

The new Google My Business page. When can you transfer old online reviews to it?

If a company does not change its name, but changes address, the reviews from the old review site are usually transferred to the new one automatically. However, there are some exceptions to this rule. Businesses with strong location associations, such as hotels, natural attractions or golf courses, cannot benefit from a similar facility.

Local business. What happens if it changes its address?

In that case, the whole process of getting reviews will have to start again. If you believe your business provides exactly the same service at the new location, you can contact Google's support centre. Unfortunately, the chat and phone are only available during certain hours. And you'll have to wait a while for your email request to be verified. There's also no guarantee that your request will be successful.

When Google Maps reviews on your website will not be transferred to a new review page?

When you run your business in several locations, even a minor name change will not cause confusion in your Google My Business positive reviews. The business information will still be considered to belong to the same business page. However, if you have a single address, changing your business name on your old account may be considered by Google business profile as an entirely new business. Google treats name changes in a similar way, regardless of the size of the business.

There are some risks involved. In this case, Google star rating may be deleted. Transferring them to a new account will therefore be impossible.

A business listing in Google My Business influences your position in the local search engine

Therefore, instead of getting involved in adding new accounts and getting frustrated of the issue how to get more Google reviews, it is better to take care of what you already have. Using the Rating Captain tool, you can quickly determine what your customers complain about the most. You will get positive reviews on Google. You will edit or delete number of reviews easily from the convenient user panel. 

Better positioning in search results, and consequently more frequent views of your website by potential customers, is a natural consequence of effective actions. Instead of reinventing your business profile, use ready-made services and get google reviews.