How to Import Reviews from Google, Trustpilot or Excel

Already collected reviews on Google, Trustpilot, G2 or in a spreadsheet? Bring them into Akteora in a few minutes. You need one CSV file with one review per row — this guide shows how to make it.

1. Get your reviews into a spreadsheet

Most review platforms and testimonial tools can export reviews from their dashboard as a spreadsheet or CSV file. Open that export in Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers. If a site can’t export, copy the reviews into our template instead.

Download the CSV template

The template opens in any spreadsheet program. It has the column names already in row 1 and two example reviews to replace.

2. Arrange the columns

Row 1 must hold the column names, and every row below it is one review. Delete any title rows, totals or blank rows above the headers. Only text is required. Name your columns as below and Akteora matches them automatically; if yours are named differently — “Review”, “Reviewer Name”, “Star Rating” — they are usually recognised too, and you can always match them by hand while importing. Other columns are ignored, so there is no need to delete them.

Column	What goes in it	Example
`text` Required	The review, exactly as the customer wrote it. Up to 5,000 characters.	They rebuilt our onboarding in two weeks.
`name` Optional	The customer’s name, shown with the review.	Maria López
`rating` Optional	Whole stars from 1 to 5. Leave it empty for half stars or other scales.	5
`date` Optional	When the review was written, year first.	2025-03-14
`title` Optional	Their job title.	Head of Operations
`company` Optional	Where they work.	Fernhill Studio
`email` Optional	Kept private. Never shown publicly.	maria@fernhill.com
`source_url` Optional	A link to the review on the site it came from.	https://g.page/r/…
`source` Optional	Only when one file mixes reviews from several sites.	Trustpilot

3. Fix dates and ratings

Dates: write them year first, like 2025-03-14. 14 March 2025 and March 14, 2025 work too. A date like 03/04/2025 is refused, because it is 4 March in some countries and 3 April in others. In Excel, select the column → Format Cells → Custom → type yyyy-mm-dd.
Ratings: whole stars from 1 to 5. 4/5, 4 stars and ★★★★☆ are understood. A half star (4.5) or a score out of 10 can’t be shown as stars — leave that cell empty and the review still imports. A customer’s rating is never rounded or converted.
Review text: leave it exactly as the customer wrote it. Imported reviews are shown as the customer’s own words.

4. Save it as a CSV file

Excel (Windows and Mac)

File → Save As (on a Mac, Save a Copy also works).
Choose CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited) (*.csv). Avoid the plain “CSV (Comma delimited)”: on Windows it saves accented names like “López” in a way that can’t be read reliably, and Akteora will ask you to save again.
If Excel warns that some features will be lost, choose Keep current format. Only the sheet you are on is saved, so keep your reviews on one sheet.

In countries where Excel uses a comma for decimals, it separates values with semicolons. That’s fine: Akteora detects commas, semicolons and tabs automatically.

Google Sheets

To start from an Excel file, open a new sheet and use File → Import.
Select the date column → Format → Number → Custom date and time, and choose year-month-day.
File → Download → Comma-separated values (.csv). The current sheet downloads, already in UTF-8.

Numbers (Mac)

File → Export To → CSV…
Open Advanced Options and set Text Encoding to Unicode (UTF-8).

5. Import it in Akteora

In the dashboard, open Inbox → Import reviews. Owners and admins can import.
Choose the brand the reviews are about, and where they were first posted.
Choose your CSV file. It is read on your computer and never uploaded as a file.
Check that each column is matched to the right field.
Look at the problems listed, if any. Rows with a problem are left out; the rest can be imported now.
Confirm that these are genuine reviews copied without changes, and import.

Your reviews arrive in the inbox labelled with where they came from, and unapproved, so you choose which to publish on your website widget and testimonial page.

Import reviews now

If something doesn’t import

“… could be read two ways”: The date looks like 03/04/2025. Reformat the column as yyyy-mm-dd (step 3).
“Ratings must be whole stars from 1 to 5”: It is a half star or another scale. Leave the cell empty and import again.
“This file isn’t saved as UTF-8”: It was saved as plain “CSV”. Save it again as CSV UTF-8 (step 4).
“The review text is empty”: A row has no review, or the wrong column is matched to Review text. Delete blank rows and title rows above the headers.
“Row 3” — which one is that?: Rows are counted from your first review. The line number shown beside it is the row number you see in your spreadsheet.
I fixed the file. Will importing it again create duplicates?: No. Reviews already imported for the brand are recognised and skipped, so you can import the whole corrected file again.

What happens to imported reviews

They are labelled with their source — “Imported from Google” — wherever they appear.
They arrive unapproved and private until you publish them.
Their star ratings are shown on the review but not counted in your public average, which reflects testimonials collected through Akteora.
Their words are stored exactly as imported and can’t be edited afterwards.

Plans include a number of imported reviews: see pricing. Developers can import through the API as well — see the importing guide in the developer docs.