Things You Need to Know About Review Gating in 2025

In today’s digital-first world, online reviews are one of the biggest drivers of trust and new patient enquiries for dental practices. But with more emphasis on online reputation, some practices are using review strategies that could backfire, especially when it comes to review gating.

Let’s break down what review gating is, why it’s risky, and how to manage your reviews ethically and effectively.

What Is Review Gating?

Review gating is the practice of filtering feedback before allowing it to be made public. A common example:

1. A patient is asked to rate their experience
2. If they select 4-5 stars, they’re directed to leave a public Google review
3. If they choose 3 stars or below, they’re sent to a private form - without being shown the Google review link

While this might seem like a smart way to protect your reputation, Google considers it a violation of its review policy and the consequences can be serious.

What Happens If Google Detects Review Gating?

Google is getting better at detecting review gating, and the penalties are real:

• Removal of gated reviews: You could lose dozens or hundreds of valuable reviews
• Suspension of your Google Business Profile: Which means patients won’t find you easily in local search
• Loss of trust: Review manipulation damages patient confidence and brand reputation
• Lower search rankings: Fewer reviews and policy violations hurt your local SEO performance
• Financial penalty: There are some companies that have been heavily fined

How to Stay Compliant

To avoid review gating and still collect reviews effectively, follow these best practices:

• Ask all patients for feedback equally: Don’t filter based on the experience or expected sentiment
• Link directly to your Google profile: Let patients decide how and where they want to share their experience
• Offer optional private feedback: But only in addition to public review options, not instead of
• Use a compliant automation system: Working Feedback automates fair and transparent feedback collection without filters or gates

Ethical Review Collection That Works

With Working Feedback, dental practices can automate review collection while staying fully compliant with Google’s policies. We integrate directly with EXACT and Dentally, meaning reviews are requested at the right time, fairly and consistently, for every patient.

This approach helps you:

• Increase Google reviews
• Boost local visibility
• Build genuine patient trust
• Avoid compliance issues
• Further patient treatments

Final Thoughts

Don’t let a shortcut damage your reputation. By collecting reviews openly and ethically, your practice will earn more trust, better visibility, and a truly valuable online presence.

Have questions about your current feedback process? We’re here to help.