Short answer: no. Praising never sorts customers by their rating. Anyone can leave a public review on the sites you connect, and nothing is hidden or suppressed.
We built Praising to help you collect more genuine reviews and catch unhappy customers early — without ever violating Google's review policies. Here's exactly how the funnel works and where "review gating" fits in.
The default funnel is compliant
When a customer opens your review link, the public-review option is always right there, one tap away. Every customer — happy or unhappy — can leave a public review on Google (or your other connected platforms) whenever they want.
Alongside that, the funnel offers a private-feedback path so a customer can choose to share something directly with you instead. This gives you an early heads-up about a frustrated customer, while never standing between anyone and the public review button.
This is how every review page works out of the box, and it's the setup we recommend.
What "review gating" means — and our optional mode
"Review gating" usually means asking for a star rating first and then routing higher ratings toward public review sites while steering lower ratings to a private form. Google's policies discourage this, so Praising doesn't do it, in any setting.
Praising does include an optional switch, Ask for a rating first, on the Review Link page. When it's on, your review page opens with a star rating. Whatever the rating, the customer then gets the same two choices: post a public review, or send you a private message. It's off by default, and you can turn it off at any time.
The rating never decides where a customer can go. A rating of 1 to 3 stars only swaps the thank-you line for a short apology, and the public review option stays on the page.
The bottom line
No gating. Every customer can leave a public review on your connected sites, whatever rating they give.
Private feedback gives you an early signal without suppressing anything.
Ask for a rating first is optional and off by default. It changes what customers see first, never where they can go.
Want help setting up your review funnel? Reach out in chat and we'll walk you through it.
See how the feedback step works