Google Maps is asking people to sign in to a Google account before they can read every review on a Google Business Profile listing, according to Search Engine Roundtable. Sorting reviews and leaving one also trigger the prompt.
The prompt tells users that signing in lets them “Read and search through every review and photo,” keep lists of saved places, and get travel times to frequent destinations. Syed Amir on X, Michael B. Snow on LinkedIn and Jean-Sébastien Girard on LinkedIn were among those who spotted it.
This is a sighting, not an announcement. Google has given no explanation. Barry Schwartz of Search Engine Roundtable guessed the aim is to stop bots, scrapers and AI platforms from collecting reviews, but that is his speculation.
Local teams that audit competitor reviews or screenshot review sets for reports should check whether logged-out workflows still return full lists, and plan on signed-in sessions for any manual review monitoring.
Search Engine Roundtable, Barry Schwartz, September 30, 2026.
