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How to add Google reviews to Google Sites (and why AI can't read them)

Add Google reviews to Google Sites with Insert, Embed, Embed code. The code runs in an isolated frame on a separate Google domain, so AI crawlers miss it.

By Oz IlyasFounder of Revys

Updated October 20, 2026

Contents

Google Sites is free, already in your Google account, and good enough for plenty of small businesses, schools and nonprofits. So it's natural to assume your Google reviews can go on it with a click. They can't. Google Sites doesn't talk to your Business Profile, and it boxes in any code you add.

What does Google Sites allow for Google reviews?

One thing: embedding code through Insert, Embed, Embed code. Google's help center (checked October 19, 2026) walks through those steps and sets two rules: JavaScript must sit inside <script> tags and CSS inside <style> tags. Google added HTML and JavaScript embeds to the new Sites in late 2017; before that, you could only embed web pages.

What the help page doesn't spell out, but anyone who has embedded a widget runs into: your code doesn't run in your page. Google Sites runs it in a isolated frame (an iframe) served from a separate Google domain. Databricks' knowledge base, for instance, tells admins to allow www.gstatic.com and *.googleusercontent.com for Google Sites embed code to work, and Steegle, a Google Sites specialist, puts it bluntly: "Sites displays the embedded code in an iframe." What that means in practice:

No floating or pop-up widgets. Elfsight notes that only static widgets work on Google Sites.
A fixed-size box. The block is exactly as wide and tall as you make it in the editor.
One page at a time. There's no way to add an embed to every page at once.
No site search. Steegle notes embedded code isn't indexed by the site's own search.

Which Revys method works on Google Sites?

The JavaScript snippet in an Embed code block, called “Quick display (JavaScript)” in the Revys dashboard.

Method	Works on Google Sites	Reviews in your page's HTML	Readable by AI crawlers	Auto-updates
Revys script in Embed code	Yes	No (isolated frame)	No	Yes, nightly
Revys static HTML in Embed code	Yes	No (same frame)	No	No
A few reviews typed into a text box	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
WordPress plugin or server include	No, Google Sites runs no server code you control	—	—	—

Why AI crawlers miss it: Vercel's analysis of crawler traffic on its network (December 2024) found that none of the major AI crawlers, GPTBot, ClaudeBot and PerplexityBot included, executed JavaScript. They read your page's HTML, and on Google Sites the review text isn't there. It lives in a frame the browser loads afterwards.

How do you add Google reviews to Google Sites, step by step?

About five minutes.

Connect your Google Business Profile to Revys
Sign up and connect your profile with Google's official sign-in (no password sharing, no scraping). Revys fetches your reviews and refreshes them every night.
Set up the widget
Open My businesses › your business › On my website: your widget is already there (a carousel). On Google Sites, switch to the list, grid or badge layout with Change style: they read well in a fixed-size box. Set Widget language to English in the Content tab so dates and labels read in English.
Copy the script
Click Put on my website, enter your site address and, if Revys hasn't already picked it, choose Other or custom under “Not right?” (there's no Google Sites-specific method). In “Choose how to add your reviews”, copy 3. JavaScript line to paste: it works anywhere, but AI crawlers can't read it. Copy it:
```
<script src="https://revys.io/api/embed/YOUR_ID" async></script>
```
Insert an embed
Open your site in Google Sites on a computer. On the right, click Insert, then Embed, then the Embed code tab.
Paste and insert
Paste the line, click Next, then Insert.
Size the block
Drag the block into place and stretch it, especially in height, until the whole widget shows. Then check the mobile preview: the phone height follows the desktop one, and reviews stack on small screens.
Publish
Click Publish in the top right and open the live site. New reviews will show up on their own from now on.

The Revys widget sizes itself to its content, but Google Sites' frame has a fixed size. When the content is taller, you get clipping or a scrollbar.

Cap the number of reviews (the widget's “Max number of reviews” setting) so the height is predictable.
Make the block a bit taller than needed: some white space beats a clipped review.
For a carousel, size the block for the longest review, not the first one shown.
In a narrow column, use the badge (average rating and review count).
Check the published site on a real phone, not only in the editor.

Can reviews on Google Sites be readable by AI?

Only if you type them in. A Google Sites text box is part of your page's HTML, so a few quoted reviews are readable by Google and AI crawlers. The trade-off is obvious: nothing updates, and quoting reviews faithfully is on you.

A setup that works:

Near the top of the homepage, a text box with two or three recent, varied reviews, quoted word for word, with the reviewer's first name, the date and "Google review."
Further down, the Revys widget (script) showing your current rating and latest reviews.
A button linking to your Google review page, so visitors can check or leave a review. Revys generates the link and a QR code, and so does our free Google review link generator.

To see what crawlers get, open the live page, choose View Page Source (Ctrl+U), and search for a sentence from a review. Or run the URL through our AI review visibility checker.

Should you leave Google Sites?

Not for your reviews alone. How AI assistants describe a local business depends first on its Google Business Profile, on other sites that mention it, and on the words on its own pages, which Google Sites publishes just fine. If you outgrow it someday, WordPress with the Revys plugin puts reviews in your HTML and keeps them current. To compare every method across platforms, read how to embed Google reviews on your website, and for the bigger picture, see how local businesses show up in AI search.

FAQ

Can Google Sites show my Google Business Profile reviews automatically?

No. Google Sites and Google Business Profile are separate products, and no Google Sites block displays your reviews. You need to embed a review widget's code, or type a few reviews into a text box yourself.

How do I embed a Google reviews widget in Google Sites?

On a computer, open your site, click Insert on the right, then Embed, then the Embed code tab. Paste the widget's script, click Next, then Insert. Resize the block so the whole widget fits, then click Publish.

Do embedded reviews on Google Sites help SEO?

Barely. Embedded code runs in an isolated frame on a separate Google domain, so the review text isn't part of your page. Search engines may credit it to that frame, and AI crawlers, which read HTML without running JavaScript, don't see it.

Why is my reviews widget cut off or scrolling on Google Sites?

The embed block has a fixed size, and its height on phones follows the height set on desktop. Make the block taller than you think in the editor, cap the number of reviews, and check the published site on a real phone.

Can I add a floating reviews badge to every page of Google Sites?

No. Floating and pop-up widgets don't work inside Google Sites' embed frames, and an embed has to be added to each page separately. Use a static widget, such as a list, grid or inline badge, on each page that needs it.

Will reviews on my Google Sites site give me stars in Google Search?

No. Google doesn't show review stars for reviews a business displays about itself on its own site, even when the site is built with a Google tool. Your stars come from your Business Profile.