Review moderation is an important feature that helps you maintain quality control over the reviews displayed on your store. It acts as a filter between when customers submit their reviews and when those reviews become visible to potential shoppers visiting your store.
Think of review moderation as your quality assurance checkpoint – it ensures that every review meets your standards before going live on your website.
Important: What Review Moderation Covers
Review moderation settings only apply to reviews submitted through Review Requests – the emails you send to customers asking them to review their purchases.
Reviews that you import from other platforms (like Etsy, eBay or Amazon) are always automatically approved and will appear on your store immediately after import. This is because these reviews have already been published on their original platforms and have gone through those platforms' moderation processes.
Your Moderation Options
Reviewsion offers three different moderation approaches to match your business needs:
1. Manual Approval (Recommended)
What it does: Every review submitted by customers requires your approval before appearing on your store.
How it works:
Customer submits a review through your review request email
Review is marked as unapproaved
You review the content, rating, and any photos
You decide whether to approve, or reject
Only approved reviews appear on your store
Best for:
New stores building their reputation
Stores with high-value products
Businesses wanting complete control over their brand image
Anyone who wants to personally verify every review
Why we recommend this: Manual approval gives you complete control and peace of mind. You can ensure every review aligns with your brand standards, catch any inappropriate content, and even reach out to customers with concerns before their feedback goes public.
2. Automatically Approve All
What it does: All reviews are instantly published on your store as soon as customers submit them.
How it works:
Customer submits a review
Review immediately appears on your store
No intervention needed from you
You can still moderate reviews after they're published (by using the hide action) if needed
Best for:
High-volume stores with many daily reviews
Businesses with excellent customer service and few complaints
Stores wanting real-time social proof
Merchants who prefer to moderate by exception
Consider this if: You have a strong track record of positive reviews and want to showcase customer feedback immediately to boost conversions.
3. Automatically Approve Positive Reviews
What it does: Uses AI to identify positive reviews and approves them automatically, while holding negative or neutral reviews for your review.
How it works:
Customer submits a review
AI analyzes the sentiment and content
Positive reviews (typically 4-5 stars with positive language) are auto-approved
Negative or questionable reviews wait for your manual approval
You focus your attention only on reviews that need it
Best for:
Busy store owners who want a balance
Stores that receive mostly positive reviews
Merchants who want to quickly showcase positive feedback
Businesses that want to personally address negative feedback
The smart middle ground: This option gives you the best of both worlds – positive reviews boost your credibility immediately, while you have time to thoughtfully respond to any concerns before they go public.
Automatic approval of positive reviews is only available for the Pro plan.
Special Setting: Media Moderation
When you choose either automatic approval option, you'll see an additional setting for "Reviews with media always require manual approval".
What this means: Even if you're auto-approving reviews, any review that includes photos or videos will always require your manual approval first.
Why this matters:
Photos can contain inappropriate content
Images might show competitor products
Photos could include personal information
Media might be unrelated to your product
We strongly recommend keeping this enabled when using any automatic approval option. It adds an extra layer of protection for your brand while still allowing text-only reviews to flow through automatically.
Choosing the Right Approach
Here's a simple decision guide:
Choose Manual Approval if you:
Are just starting with reviews
Have fewer than 10 reviews per day
Sell high-value or luxury items
Want to maintain strict brand standards
Have time to review submissions daily
Choose Automatically Approve All if you:
Receive 20+ reviews daily
Have established excellent customer service
Want immediate social proof
Have staff to monitor and moderate after publication
Trust your customer base
Choose Automatically Approve Positive if you:
Want a balanced approach
Receive 10-20 reviews daily
Want to personally handle complaints
Need positive reviews published quickly
Have limited time for moderation
Best Practices
Start with Manual Approval: When you first enable review requests, start with manual approval to understand the types of reviews you receive.
Check Daily: Regardless of your setting, check your reviews dashboard daily. Quick responses to reviews (especially negative ones) show excellent customer service.
Set Up Notifications: Enable email notifications for new reviews so you never miss customer feedback that needs attention.
Be Consistent: Whatever approach you choose, be consistent in your moderation. Customers and search engines value authentic, unfiltered feedback.
Learn and Adjust: After a few weeks, evaluate your choice. You can always change your moderation settings as your needs evolve.
Remember
Review moderation is about finding the right balance between maintaining quality and showcasing authentic customer feedback. There's no one-size-fits-all approach – choose what works best for your business model, available time, and comfort level.
The goal is to build trust with potential customers while protecting your brand reputation. Whether you review every submission or let positive feedback flow through automatically, the key is staying engaged with your customer feedback and using it to improve your business.
Need Help?
If you're unsure which moderation option to choose, start with Manual Approval. You can always swi