Getting Google reviews in Spanish, Chinese, or other languages?
When was the last time you responded to a Google review? If you have to think about it, that's your answer, and if some of those unresponded reviews are in Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean, or another language, you're missing a high-value engagement signal that directly affects how Google reads your review profile.
Multilingual reviews are both a local SEO signal and a community trust signal. Here's what they mean for your rankings, how to respond to them correctly, and how to encourage more of them.
The same local search tactics apply to other verticals, including local SEO for multilingual businesses.
We break down how to reach customers who search in a different language in our guide to GBP for customers in another language.
Google processes and indexes reviews in every language. A Spanish-language review contributes to your overall review profile in the same way an English review does, toward your total count, your star rating average, and your response rate signals.
Beyond the basic count and rating signals, multilingual reviews carry two additional ranking benefits:
Geographic and community relevance signals. When customers in a Spanish-speaking neighborhood leave reviews in Spanish, Google interprets this as a signal that your business is relevant to that specific community and geographic context. For businesses in diverse US markets, this can improve visibility for Spanish-language local searches.
Review content keywords in multiple languages. Reviews mentioning specific services and locations in Spanish or other languages contribute keyword relevance signals for non-English searches. A review that says "el mejor plomero de Austin" (the best plumber in Austin) adds relevance for Spanish Austin plumbing searches.
The review response rate signal applies equally to non-English reviews. A business that responds to 100% of English reviews and ignores all Spanish reviews has a response rate gap that Google's systems detect.
📊 Flento Data: Businesses that responded to reviews in the same language as the reviewer saw 27% higher positive sentiment in subsequent reviews, suggesting that language-matched responses signal cultural attentiveness that customers reward with better follow-up reviews.
The most important rule: respond in the same language as the review.
A Spanish-speaking customer who left a detailed review in Spanish and received an English response has been told implicitly that their language wasn't worth engaging with. That impression spreads. Language-matched responses, even short ones, tell the reviewer and every future visitor that you genuinely serve this community.
Response principles:
Sample positive response in Spanish: "¡Gracias por compartir tu experiencia! Nos alegra saber que quedaste satisfecho con el trabajo. El equipo de [Nombre del negocio] trabaja duro para ofrecer un servicio de calidad, y comentarios como el tuyo hacen que valga la pena. ¡Esperamos verte pronto!"
(Translation: "Thank you for sharing your experience! We're glad to know you were satisfied with the work. The [Business Name] team works hard to provide quality service, and feedback like yours makes it worthwhile. We look forward to seeing you soon!")
⚠️ Common Mistake: Using Google Translate to produce word-for-word machine translations without editing. Machine translation often produces grammatically awkward sentences that native speakers notice immediately. Have a native speaker review response templates before using them repeatedly.
Google Translate: Adequate for understanding the review content. Less reliable for generating natural-sounding responses, use it as a starting point, not a final product.
DeepL: More accurate than Google Translate for European languages, especially Spanish, French, German, and Portuguese. The free tier handles most response translation needs.
Native speaker review: For high-volume non-English review management, having one team member who is a native speaker of the community's primary language draft and review responses is the highest-quality approach. Even one hour per week from a bilingual team member dramatically improves response quality.
Flento's review response library: Includes pre-drafted templates in multiple languages that have been reviewed by native speakers. Faster than drafting from scratch and more natural than pure machine translation.
💡 Pro Tip: Create a response template library in your top 2 non-English languages covering: positive reviews (general), positive reviews mentioning specific staff, negative reviews requiring follow-up, and reviews asking about services. Having 8 to 10 templates per language eliminates the decision fatigue of drafting each response individually.
Most businesses ask for reviews in English by default, even when serving predominantly non-English-speaking customers. A review request in the customer's language significantly increases response rates from that community.
Bilingual review request text message: English: "We hope you enjoyed your visit! Would you take 2 minutes to share your experience on Google?" Spanish: "¡Esperamos que haya disfrutado su visita! ¿Podría tomarse 2 minutos para compartir su experiencia en Google?"
Both lines in the same message give the customer the choice of language and signal that you speak their language.
In-venue bilingual signage: A "Rate us on Google" sign or QR code card in both English and Spanish (or your community's primary non-English language) at the point of service dramatically increases non-English review rates in bilingual communities.
Review request language matching: If your scheduling or CRM system knows the customer's language preference (based on their communication history), route Spanish-speaking customers to a Spanish-language review request template automatically.
🛠️ Action Step: Audit your current review request process. Is the message language-matched to your customer base? If 30% of your customers speak Spanish as their first language and your review request is English-only, you're leaving 30% of your potential review volume unaddressed.
A mixed-language review profile, where reviews appear in English, Spanish, and potentially other languages, is actually a strength, not a complexity. It signals to Google that your business serves a diverse community and has genuine engagement across multiple customer segments.
What to do with a mixed-language profile:
Respond to each review in its own language. Don't consolidate or translate, respond to Spanish reviews in Spanish and English reviews in English.
When reporting review metrics to stakeholders, segment by language if volume warrants it. Understanding that your Spanish reviews have a lower response rate than English reviews, for example, helps you prioritize response resources correctly.
For AI Overview and Featured Snippet optimization, reviews in the searcher's language are more likely to surface for searches in that language. A business with 30 Spanish reviews is more likely to appear in AI-generated local recommendations for Spanish queries than one with 0.
💡 Pro Tip: Showcase multilingual reviews on your website. A testimonials section that displays reviews in both English and Spanish (or another community language) sends a powerful signal to non-English-speaking visitors that your business is genuinely bilingual. This increases conversion rates among that demographic.
Ignoring non-English reviews entirely. This is the most common and most damaging mistake. Unresponded non-English reviews lower your response rate, signal to the community that you don't serve them, and waste valuable SEO and trust-building opportunities.
Responding in English to non-English reviews. Better than not responding, but still signals a language gap. Match the response language to the review language whenever possible.
Using obviously machine-translated responses. Native speakers can tell. An awkward Google Translate response is often worse than a brief, genuine English response, it suggests you're going through the motions rather than genuinely engaging.
Not requesting reviews from non-English-speaking customers. If your review request process only reaches English-speaking customers, your review profile will underrepresent the communities you serve.
Flento's review management platform tracks reviews by language, so you can monitor Spanish, English, and other language reviews separately and identify response rate gaps by language. The multi-language response template library includes native-speaker-reviewed templates for Spanish, Portuguese, French, and other common US community languages.
The automated review request system supports language-matched messaging, so Spanish-speaking customers in your contact list receive Spanish review requests automatically.
✅ Done? Manage multilingual reviews efficiently with Flento → [Try Flento free]
Do non-English Google reviews count toward my star rating and ranking? Yes. Google processes reviews in all languages. They contribute to your total review count, average star rating, and response rate signals equally to English reviews.
Should I respond to reviews in languages I don't speak? Yes, use a translation tool for understanding and a native speaker template (or DeepL) for your response. A brief, genuine response in the reviewer's language is significantly better than no response.
Can I ask Google to translate a review I received? Google automatically offers to translate non-English reviews in the Google Maps interface. As the business owner, you see this translation in your GBP review management dashboard.
Does responding in a non-English language help my ranking for non-English searches? Indirectly. Responding in the reviewer's language signals community engagement and improves your response rate, which is a ranking signal. It also contributes to the overall multilingual signals around your listing.
What if the non-English review contains false information I want to dispute? Follow the same response principles as any negative review, respond professionally in the reviewer's language, don't confirm or deny specific details publicly, and invite a direct follow-up. If the review is clearly fraudulent, flag it through Google's reporting process.
