Google is the most important review source for most local businesses, but the connection method changes what the platform can actually do for you.
If you only remember one thing, remember this: Grant Access is the production setup. Public Access is the quick setup.
Who this source is for
#Google is a fit for almost any business with a Google Business Profile, including restaurants, clinics, service businesses, agencies, retailers, and multi-location brands.
How to connect Google
#Go to Connect -> Integrations -> Sources and click Google. From there you can choose either Grant Access or Public Access.
Steps and details · includes a table
| Option | How it works | Best use case |
|---|---|---|
| Grant Access | Sign in with the Google account that manages the Business Profile and choose the right location | Best for live production accounts |
| Public Access | Search for the business or paste the Google Place ID manually | Best for demos, temporary setups, or cautious customers |
This is a customer-side screen. Because you are in your agency account, you can reach it two ways: go to Business -> Customers -> Manage Customers and click Open dashboard on the customer: you go into their dashboard with nothing locked, even features their plan hides, and a bar at the top shows whose dashboard you are in (handy for done-for-you setups or granting access beyond a plan); or choose View as customer on the same page to see their dashboard exactly as they see it, with their plan's limits. If your sidebar shows the Agency / Customer switcher, the Customer tab plus the location switcher is a shortcut to the same place.
When the customer should sign in instead of you
#Grant Access is the cleanest setup, but it assumes someone with access to the Business Profile is willing to sign in to Google from inside the platform. Sometimes that someone is the customer, and the customer does not want to log into the dashboard.
Steps and details
For that case there is a third option built on top of Grant Access. You can send the customer a single secure link that runs on your white-label domain. They sign in to their own Google account, pick the right Business Profile, and the platform finishes the connection on your side. They never see the dashboard.
A completed connect link gives you the same full Grant Access feature set inside the platform. Reviews sync, replies work, auto-respond is available, removed reviews are detected, Google performance metrics are included, and Google Business Profile posts can be published.
What changes based on the connection type
#Steps and details · includes a table
| Feature | Grant Access | Public Access |
|---|---|---|
| Sync reviews automatically | Yes | Limited |
| Deep linking | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile deep linking | Yes | Yes |
| Direct reply from dashboard | Yes | No |
| Auto Respond | Yes | No |
| AI review response | Yes | Yes, but copy and paste manually |
| Feedback form support | Yes | Yes |
| Performance metrics | Yes | No |
| Google posts (Publishing) | Yes | No |
| Removed review detection | Yes | No |
Removed review detection
#Google locations connected with Grant Access are checked for removed reviews. When a review is no longer on Google, because the reviewer deleted it or Google removed it, it is marked Removed from Google on the Reviews page with the date the removal was detected and the date it was last seen on Google.
Steps and details
Each location is checked once a week, and sooner when its Google review count drops. Every removal is confirmed with Google before it is marked. When unusually many reviews disappear at once, the platform looks again a day later before marking them.
Google does not say why a review was removed. A removed review stays under the Removed tab of the Reviews page for your records, leaves the other views, widgets, Needs Response and auto-respond, and keeps its place in the CSV export and the API. If Google shows the review again, it goes back to normal by itself and shows Back on Google for 30 days.
Removed reviews no longer count in any figure: ratings, review totals, star breakdowns, response rates, growth, the All Locations table, PDF reports and AI Insights all count the reviews that are still on Google. Under the Total Reviews figure, dashboards and reports say how many removed reviews were left out, so the numbers still add up. A reinstated review counts again straight away.
- Open
Reviewsand pick theRemovedtab to see every removed review with its dates - Email and Slack alerts go to the people and channels of your
New reviewsalert rules, with the same star and source filters - The
review-removedandreview-restoredwebhooks, the API (source_status,source_removed_at,source_last_seen_atandsource_restored_aton every review) and the MCP server carry removals and reinstated reviews too - The CSV export has columns for the date each removal was detected, the date the review was last seen and the date a reinstated review came back
- The first check of a location runs within 3 days of connecting it
Reviews that a location's first check finds already removed were removed before tracking began. They show in the Removed tab without sending alerts.
How Google deep linking actually works
#On desktop, the Google button can open the direct review URL and push the customer straight toward the review form.
Steps and details
On mobile, deep linking can open the Google Maps app directly if it is installed. That usually improves the logged-in experience, but there is one limitation: the Google Maps app does not support jumping straight into the review form section automatically.
That means mobile deep linking is still useful, especially because many reviewers are already signed into the Maps app, but it is not a magic shortcut into the exact review form screen.
- Use mobile deep linking when opening the app is more important than landing on the exact review form immediately
- Use the standard non-deep-link Google URL when you want the cleanest direct browser path to the review form
- Both options are valid. Pick the one that reduces friction for the specific customer journey
This is one of the easiest places to overpromise. The app deep link can open the business profile directly, but it cannot force-open the review section inside Google Maps.
Practical operating advice
#Choose Grant Access whenever the customer is ready to sign in
Steps and details
- Use Public Access when you need to move fast or are still in a demo stage
- Connect each Google location separately in multi-location accounts
- If the connection breaks after a password or permission change, sign in with Google again. Your integration, synced reviews and history are kept, but you will be taken back to the location picker to re-confirm the Business Profile before syncing resumes.