Can Review Guardian Only Send My 5-Star Reviews to Google?

The short answer is no – and here’s why. When Review Guardian is enabled, it fully privatizes the review collection process. This means all feedback—regardless of star rating—is sent directly to you rather than being published on Google or any other public review platform.

To clarify an important point: Review Guardian does not automatically redirect 5-star reviewers to Google or route lower-rated reviewers to a separate internal form. Selectively directing only positive reviewers to a public review page is considered review gating, which the FTC has ruled as non-compliant. Several companies offering such functionality have faced enforcement actions, so we strongly recommend avoiding that practice.

That said, Review Guardian was intentionally designed to provide a compliant and effective alternative.

When a customer submits feedback through Review Guardian, you receive an email containing the customer’s contact information and the feedback they provided. You can reply directly to that email, and your response will go straight to the customer. This allows you to address concerns privately, resolve negative experiences, and engage constructively with your customers.

For customers who leave positive feedback, you can respond by thanking them for their kind words and—while remaining compliant—politely ask if they would be willing to share their experience publicly on your Google Business profile. You may include a direct link to your Google review page in that follow-up message. Because this request is made after feedback is received and without filtering or gating, it remains fully compliant with FTC guidelines.

We hope this clarifies how Review Guardian works and how it can be used effectively. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.