Importing Your Google Reviews

Why Import Reviews?

Google's API only returns your 5 most recent reviews. To see your full review history (every review ever left on your business), you need to do a one-time import using Google Takeout. This takes about 10 minutes.

Part 1: Download from Google Takeout

1. On a computer (not your phone), open a browser and go to takeout.google.com
2. Sign in with the Google account that owns your business profile -- this is usually the email you use to manage your business on Google Maps. If you manage multiple Google accounts, make sure you pick the right one
3. Click Deselect all at the top so nothing is checked
4. Scroll down and find Google Business Profile -- check that box. Nothing else needs to be checked
5. Scroll to the bottom and click Next step
6. Leave "Delivery method" as Send download link via email and "File type" as ZIP
7. Click Create export
8. Wait for an email from Google (usually 2-10 minutes). Click the Download button in that email

Part 2: Find the Review Files

This is the part most people get stuck on. Follow carefully:

1. Find the downloaded file in your Downloads folder -- it will be named something like `takeout-20260308.zip`
2. Right-click the file and choose Extract All (Windows) or double-click it (Mac) to unzip
3. Open the extracted folder. You should see a folder called Takeout
4. Navigate through: Takeout > Google Business Profile > account-XXXX > location-XXXX (the XXXX are long number IDs -- that's normal)
5. Inside the location folder, you will see files like:

- `reviews.json`

- `reviews-001.json`

- `reviews-002.json`

- etc.

Important: Google Splits Your Reviews

Google puts about 20 reviews per file. If you have 80 reviews, there will be 4 files. If you have 200 reviews, there could be 10+ files. You must upload ALL of them -- if you only upload `reviews.json` you will be missing most of your reviews.

Part 3: Upload to WashConsole

1. Go to Reviews in WashConsole
2. Click Import Reviews
3. In the file picker, navigate to the folder from Part 2
4. Select ALL the JSON files at once:

- Windows: Click the first file, then hold Ctrl and click each additional file

- Mac: Click the first file, then hold Cmd and click each additional file

- Or press Ctrl+A (Windows) / Cmd+A (Mac) to select everything in the folder

1. Click Open -- WashConsole will process all the files

What Happens After Import

• WashConsole reads every review from the files and adds them to your dashboard
• Duplicates are handled automatically -- you can safely re-import the same files without creating duplicate reviews
• Reviews show an Uploaded badge to distinguish them from auto-synced reviews
• Owner replies you wrote on Google are also imported and shown on the review cards
• Your review trend chart and star rating summary update immediately

Common Issues

"I only see some of my reviews"

You probably only uploaded one file (like `reviews.json`) instead of all the files. Go back to the folder and make sure you select every JSON file, including `reviews-001.json`, `reviews-002.json`, etc.

"I can't find the Google Business Profile folder"

Make sure you signed into Google Takeout with the same account that owns your business. If you used a personal Gmail instead of your business account, the export won't contain business data.

"The import didn't find any reviews"

Check that you selected .json files, not other file types. The review files are always named `reviews.json` or `reviews-NNN.json`.

"I have multiple locations"

Each location has its own subfolder inside the Takeout export. Import each location's files separately while you have that location selected in WashConsole.

After Import: Set Up Auto-Sync

After importing your history, turn on auto-sync so new reviews are captured automatically:

1. On the Reviews page, find the Sync Settings section
2. Choose how often to check for new reviews (hourly, every 3 hours, etc.)
3. Click Save

This way, your Takeout import covers the past, and auto-sync covers the future.

How It All Connects

One-time: Google Takeout import
  -> Full review history in WashConsole

Ongoing: Auto-sync via Google API
  -> New reviews appear automatically

Both feed into:
  -> Star rating summary
  -> Review trend chart
  -> AI Coach analysis