Your review backup and missing reviews

Chiffchaff keeps a copy of every review it sees, so a review you earned isn't lost if it disappears. It's on every plan.

What we back up

When a review comes in, we keep a copy: the words, the stars, the reviewer's name as the site shows it, the date and your reply. If the reviewer edits it later, or your reply changes, we keep the new version too, so you can see how it changed.

How we spot a missing review

New reviews come in about every 15 minutes. Once a day, we also read the full list of your reviews on Google and compare it with your copies.

A review counts as missing only when two full reads, on separate days, can't find it. If Google sends back only part of the list, or doesn't answer, we don't count anything as missing that day. That way a slow day at Google doesn't send you a false alarm.

If a missing review shows up again, it moves off the missing list on its own.

If Google shows no reviews at all

Sometimes Google's answer comes back with no reviews on your profile even though we hold reviews it showed before. Once, that's usually a slow day at Google, so nothing is marked missing and you don't hear about it.

If it happens on three reads in a row over at least two days, owners and managers get an email, and your Dashboard and Missing reviews show: Google is showing no reviews on your profile right now. This can mean a profile restriction. Open your Business Profile on Google to see if it shows a notice, and read Google's help on restrictions. Owners and managers can click Start a case on the notice for step-by-step help (see Ask Google to look again). Your copies stay safe in Chiffchaff. The notice goes away on its own once Google shows your reviews again.

We send this email once each time it happens, and it can't be turned off, because it can mean your profile needs attention.

See missing reviews

1. Open Reviews and click Missing reviews, or go straight to Missing reviews.
2. Each one shows the copy we kept, when it was posted, when we last saw it and since when it's been missing.
3. Click History to see every copy: when it was backed up, what changed and when it went.

Only owners and managers can see missing reviews.

Why reviews disappear

A reviewer can delete or edit their own review. Google also removes reviews it thinks break its rules, and sometimes removes real ones by mistake. Google doesn't say which happened.

Getting a review back

Click Get it back on a missing Google review to start a dispute case: the evidence to paste, Google's steps, and a record of what you sent. Google decides, and not every review comes back. Your copy stays in Chiffchaff either way. See Ask Google to look again.

Alerts

Owners and managers get an email when a review goes missing. To stop these emails, turn off Email me when a review goes missing in Settings → All settings → Notifications. See Choose your alerts.

If a missing review shows up again, owners and managers get one email saying it's back, whether or not you started a dispute case for it. To stop these, turn off Email me when a missing review comes back in the same place.

Your monthly recap also says how many new reviews were backed up that month and how many are missing.

Your copies are yours

Every copy is in your data export, in review_snapshots.csv, and reviews.csv says when each review was first backed up, last seen and, if it's gone, since when. See Export or delete your data.