How to remove a fake review from your Google Business Profile

What Google will remove, and what it will leave up

Google removes reviews that break its content policy. The ones that come up most for small businesses:

• Fake engagement: a review that isn't based on a real experience, or several reviews posted by one person from different accounts.
• Conflict of interest: a review from a competitor, a former employee, or anyone with a reason to push your rating up or down.
• Off-topic: a rant about something other than a visit to your business, like politics or a news story.
• Harassment and personal information: threats, or a review that posts someone's private details.
• Repetitive content: the same text posted more than once, from one account or several.

A negative review from a real customer stays up, even when it is unfair or leaves out half the story. Google's own wording allows "content that describes negative experiences in a respectful manner." Reporting a review only because you disagree with it won't get it removed, so save your reports for the ones that clearly break a rule.

Check your records before you report

Some reviews that look fake are real customers using a nickname or a family member's account. Before you report, search your invoices, bookings, and email for the name, the date, and anything specific in the review.

If you find nothing, note what you checked. It helps if you need to appeal later. If you find the customer, the better move is a reply and a phone call.

Report it from your Business Profile

This is the quickest route for a single review.

• Open your Business Profile on Google while signed in to the account that manages it.
• Select Read reviews.
• Find the review and select the Report icon next to it.
• Choose the reason that matches the policy it breaks.
• Select Send report.

Or report it from the Reviews Management Tool

Google's Reviews Management Tool is a separate page that handles reporting, status checks, and appeals in one place, and it is the better route when you have more than one review to report.

• Open the Reviews Management Tool and confirm the account.
• Select your business, then Continue.
• Choose Report a new review for removal, then Continue.
• Select Report next to the review, choose a reason, and select Submit.

You can search Google for "Reviews Management Tool" to find it.

Check the status, then appeal once if you need to

Google says evaluation typically takes several days. Go back to the Reviews Management Tool to see where your report stands. It will show one of three statuses:

• Decision pending: Google hasn't evaluated it yet.
• Report reviewed, no policy violation: Google looked and is leaving it up.
• Escalated, check your email for updates: your appeal is with Google and the answer will come by email.

If Google finds no violation and you still believe the review breaks a policy, you get one appeal. In the Reviews Management Tool, choose Check the status of a review I reported previously and appeal options, then Appeal eligible reviews. You can appeal up to 10 reviews at once. Use the form to say which policy the review breaks and what you checked in your records. The appeal is one-time, so make it complete.

If someone asks for money to take reviews down

Some businesses get a burst of one- and two-star reviews, then a message offering to remove them for a payment. Google treats this as extortion and has a separate form for it.

Don't pay or offer anything, since Google warns that paying can invite more demands. Before you report, collect:

• Screenshots of the demand, with dates and the sender's contact details.
• Links to each suspicious review.
• The usernames involved.
• The date the reviews started and the date the demand arrived.

Then search Google's help center for "Report negative review extortion scams" and use the merchant extortion report form. This form is only for cases where someone demanded something from you. Ordinary fake reviews go through the steps above.

Reply while you wait

A report can take days, and an appeal longer. In the meantime, a short, calm reply tells every reader that you are paying attention.

Keep it plain: say you have no record of a visit under that name, and give a way to reach you if you have the details wrong. Leave out accusations and any customer's personal information. Google reviews replies before they go live, usually within 10 minutes, and asks you to edit any reply that breaks its rules.

The reply is for the next person reading your listing and deciding whether to call.

Keep your own reviews clean

Google also enforces its rules against businesses. Offering a discount, a gift, or anything else in exchange for a review, or for changing or removing one, counts as fake engagement. If Google decides a business owner broke that rule, it can restrict the profile. That can mean pausing new reviews, taking down existing ones, or showing customers a notice that fake reviews were removed.

Asking a real customer for an honest review is allowed and is the best protection you have. A profile with a steady stream of real reviews absorbs one bad one easily. How to get more Google reviews covers how to ask without making it awkward, and the Google Business Profile checklist for St. Louis businesses covers the rest of the profile.

Can I delete a Google review myself?

No. Business owners can reply to reviews and report them, but only Google can remove one, and only when it breaks Google's content policy.

How long does Google take to review a report?

Google says evaluation typically takes several days. You can check the status any time in the Reviews Management Tool.

What if Google says the review doesn't break any policy?

You get one appeal through the Reviews Management Tool, for up to 10 reviews at a time. If the appeal is turned down, the review stays, and a calm public reply is the best tool you have left.

Will Google remove a negative review that is unfair?

Not if it comes from a real experience and doesn't break a policy. Google allows reviews that describe a negative experience respectfully, even when the business disagrees.