Why are some Yelp reviews "not recommended"?
Yelp's automated software sorts every review, and ones it trusts less move to a "not recommended" link at the bottom of your page. Those don't count toward your rating or review count. Common causes: reviewers who rarely use Yelp and reviews that look solicited. Nobody at Yelp can override it, and advertising won't change it.
The short version
- Yelp’s software checks every review automatically and recommends the ones it trusts most.
- The rest sit behind a link at the bottom of your page and don’t count toward your rating.
- Reviews from rarely active users, and reviews that look solicited, are more likely to be filtered.
- Yelp says no employee can override the software, and advertising makes no difference.
- Reviews can move between recommended and not recommended over time.
How does Yelp decide which reviews to recommend?
Yelp’s recommendation software page says automated software looks at “hundreds of signals of quality, reliability, and user activity” for every review. The reviews it trusts most are recommended and shown on your page. Others are held back, often because Yelp doesn’t know enough about the reviewer, or because the review looks like a conflict of interest or a solicited review.
What happens to reviews that aren’t recommended?
They stay visible, through a link at the bottom of your Yelp page. Yelp says they “don’t factor into the business’s overall star rating or review count.” So a page with 30 reviews in total might show a rating based on far fewer.
Can that change?
Yes. Yelp says its software runs regularly, so reviews “can move from not recommended to recommended (and vice versa) over time.” A review from a new Yelp user may become recommended later as that person uses Yelp more.
Can anyone at Yelp change it?
No. Yelp says “No employee at Yelp has the ability to override the decisions that the software makes,” and that reviews of advertisers and non-advertisers “are treated exactly the same.” If someone offers to get your reviews recommended for a fee, it isn’t Yelp.
Why do solicited reviews get filtered?
Yelp’s position is that reviews should come unprompted. Its Don’t Ask for Reviews page tells owners not to ask anyone, and says that asking may hurt your Yelp rating. Customers sent to Yelp by a business are likely to include first-time or occasional Yelp users, and Yelp says it holds back reviews from less active users and reviews that look solicited.
That’s why the advice differs from Google. On Google, asking is encouraged. On Yelp, asking tends to backfire. See the rules on asking, platform by platform.
What can I do about it?
- Stop asking for Yelp reviews, in person, by email or on receipts. Letting people know you’re on Yelp is different: Yelp’s own guide for businesses promotes “Find us on Yelp” stickers and links to your page. Keep that wording as “find us”, never “review us”.
- Keep your page claimed and accurate, so people who use Yelp on their own find the right details. See claiming and running your Yelp page.
- Reply to recommended reviews, good and bad. That’s what most readers see.
- Read the not-recommended ones too. They’re often real customers, and their feedback is still useful.
- Put your requests where they’re welcome, usually Google.
Why does it matter?
Your Yelp rating is based only on recommended reviews. If a burst of requested reviews gets filtered, the effort is wasted, and the rating may rest on a handful of older reviews instead. Understanding the filter stops you fighting it.
What are the common mistakes and edge cases?
- Assuming Yelp hid good reviews to sell ads. Yelp says advertising has no effect on recommendations.
- Asking happy customers to “help us on Yelp.” That’s the kind of review the software is built to catch.
- Reporting a not-recommended review to get it moved. Reporting is for reviews that break Yelp’s rules, not for recommendation decisions.
- Offering a reward for a Yelp review. Yelp bans it, and can put a Consumer Alert on your page. Its alerts page covers alerts for paid reviews and suspicious review activity.
- Panicking about a bad review that isn’t recommended. It doesn’t count toward your rating, but you can still reply.
What if this didn’t work?
- A real customer’s review is filtered. There’s nothing to appeal. It may become recommended over time.
- Your rating dropped suddenly. Reviews can move between groups as the software reruns. Check whether a few recommended reviews moved, rather than new bad ones arriving.
- A fake review is recommended. Report it. See spotting and reporting fake reviews.
How much does it cost, and how long does it take?
There’s nothing to buy and no setting to change. Recommendations update on Yelp’s schedule, which it doesn’t publish.
How does E-3 handle this?
Because Yelp says not to ask, our leads and follow-up service doesn’t send Yelp review requests. We can help you draft replies to Yelp reviews; each is checked by a person and approved by you before it’s posted.
Related questions
Next step
- Next: Reviews on industry sites and the BBBThe next guide in Reviews.
- Free website checkPublic checks on your own site, then an action plan of what to fix first.
Still stuck? Ask E-3 for an answer from our help guides.
Rather we handled reviews for you?
It’s part of what we do every week for small businesses, as part of leads and highlevel. Start with a free check of your site and profile, or call and ask.