What is Review Gating?

Review gating is the practice of selectively soliciting reviews only from customers who are known or expected to have had a positive experience, while filtering out or discouraging those who have had a negative experience.

Why is it controversial?

Review gating creates a biased representation of customer sentiment. By filtering out negative feedback, businesses present an artificially inflated reputation. Major review platforms like Google and Yelp explicitly prohibit review gating in their terms of service.

Examples of Review Gating

Pre-surveying: Sending a "How was your experience?" survey. If the customer rates 5 stars, they are asked to write a Google review. If they rate 1-3 stars, they are sent to a private feedback form.
Selective Emailing: Only emailing customers who have already praised the service in person.

The Reviewlee Stance

At Reviewlee, we believe in transparency. Our platform does not support review gating workflows because trust is built on authenticity, including how a business handles negative feedback.