Conductive metals can speed up the self-assembly and reduction process of graphene oxide (GO) in liquid media, but little available information about the effect of this process on the corrosion rate of metal substrates. The corrosion performance of Q235 steel in GO aqueous solution was studied by comparing the influence of different GO concentrations and immersion times on the corrosion rate of steel. The result found that a GO layer will be formed on the surface of steel when immersing in the GO aqueous dispersion, which has a shielding effect on the diffusion process of ions and electrons, and effectively inhibits the steel corrosion. However, this inhibition effect of GO layer will disappear with the self-reduction of GO, which increasing the defect density and conductivity of the sedimentary layer on steel thus the corrosion rate of steel will increase with the immersion time and the GO concentration in solution.