Reviews with false information can be a serious threat to your business. They may be submitted by competitors, angry former employees, or others. It’s important to address them immediately to avoid any harm to your brand.
There are ways to handle these reviews more effectively. In this guide, you’ll learn why action matters, what fake reviews look like, how to report them, and more. When you’re done, you’ll know all the legitimate ways to remove these dangerous reviews.
Key Takeaways
- Fake reviews are a big deal. Learn how they can affect your business and reputation.
- There are signs you can watch for that suggest a review is fake. Learn how to spot these signs so that you can take action.
- Google lets you fight back against fake reviews in several ways. Learn more about each method so that you can put them to use getting rid of fake reviews.
- You should take action to minimize the effect of a few fake reviews on your business. If you have a strategy to constantly draw in new reviews, these reviews are far less likely to damage your reputation overall.
Why Are Fake Google Business Reviews a Problem?
Anyone with a Gmail account can review a business on Google. That's both a benefit and a problem for businesses. After all, almost all American consumers read online reviews at least occasionally, and research shows that people really believe what they read in these reviews.
This is why a 5-star reputation is important for your business, and you can only get this from positive customer feedback. Genuine and positive reviews can help you build your business by attracting more customers. When the rare unhappy customer wants to write a ranting review and share it far and wide, that one person's words can put a dent in your reputation and overall ratings. This is an unfortunate and natural consequence of doing business, but when a disgruntled ex-employee or a manager of a competing business decides to write a fake review of your business, that's not something you should have to accept.
Fake reviews violate Google’s policies, meaning you have options to deal with them. First, you need to know how to spot them.
Common Types of Fake Reviews and How to Spot Them
There are many signs that you can watch for that point to reviews being fraudulent. The table below contains some of the most common reasons. If you notice that any of these signs match the reviews that are bothering you, mention them when you contact Google for resolution. You’ll learn how to do that in the next section.
Signs a Review May Be Fake | |
The reviewer focuses on your business | Check if any reviewer’s other reviews mention your business and paint it negatively. This can happen and still be a legitimate review, but it can also indicate that the review isn’t honest. Reviews like these may appear if a customer has a vendetta against you over some real or perceived issue. Get links to all of these reviews to provide them when you make a report. |
The review is stuffed with keywords | Look out for fraudulent reviews with "keyword stuffing". The words used in reviews should be genuine and not written to include keywords in every other sentence, so any reviews that appear overly polished and don't sound natural may be fake. These reviews may be created because a competitor attempts to fool Google into thinking you’re buying fake reviews. You should report them quickly so that Google doesn’t suspect your involvement. |
The review reads like marketing material | Keep an eye out for reviews that use the exact same phrasing as the business's marketing materials. This is another sign that the review isn't from actual consumers. Real customers who post a legitimate review usually don’t describe a business exactly like the business does. Like the sign directly above, this may be evidence that a competitor is trying to discredit you by making it appear you engage in forbidden practices. Report them quickly. |
The review matches other recent reviews | Look out for multiple reviews containing similar ratings and text, all posted on the same business profile at almost the same time (or within a few minutes of each other). If more than one reviewer leaves this type of review simultaneously, it is probably not coincidental. |
The reviews get facts wrong | Watch out for negative reviews that get verifiable facts entirely wrong (for example, a review says they entered the business at 10 p.m., but you close at 7 p.m.) or are overly vague. A legitimate user will typically leave a detailed review because they have specific insights about the business. These reviews may be produced by competitors or angry customers who misrepresent facts while trying to discredit you. |
This is not a complete list, and you may notice reviews that have other suspicious issues. You should report the issue directly to Google if you notice any signs. Keep reading to learn how to do this.
How to Report or Remove a Fake Google Review
Whenever a business owner or manager wants a fake post removed, the first step is to flag it so that Google's team can review it. Google gives you several options for removing fake reviews. You can make a removal request via Google Maps, your profile dashboard, or using Google’s dedicated review removal tool.
Report the Review Directly
Anyone with a Google account can report a review, even if they aren’t the profile owner. This can make it simple to report reviews. The basic method anyone can use follows these steps:
- Go to a Business Profile
- Select Read reviews
- Next to the review you’d like to flag, select the Report issue icon
- Select the reason to flag the review (Examples: “Spam” or “Profanity”)
- Select Send report
It’s probably better to report them from your dashboard (the following method you’ll learn), as you’ll have more options.
Flag the Review in Your Dashboard
Start by logging into your Google My Business page. (Don't yet have a GMB account? Start by creating one so you can claim your business's review page, which gives you the authority to modify the business information and respond to customer reviews.)
Find the review in question and hold the cursor over the star rating. A small gray flag icon should appear to the right of the rating. Click on it, and that should open a page that asks for your email address and gives a short list of violation types to choose from.
If you believe the review was written by a competitor, the "conflict of interest" violation is appropriate. Otherwise, your best bet is the "contains hateful, violent, or inappropriate content" option.
Use Google’s Review Removal Tool
Merchants in the EEA can report third-party reviews directly on Google.
- Go to the Reviews Management Tool.
- If the email address shown is the one associated with your Business Profile, select Confirm. If you want to manage reviews for a Business Profile associated with another email, select Switch account.
- Select your business.
- Select Continue Report a new review for removal Continue.
- Next to the review that you want to flag, select Report.
- In the new tab, select the reason to flag the review (Examples: “Spam” or “Profanity”)
- Select Submit.
To check the status of your report, you can revisit this tool. The possible statuses are:
- Decision pending: The review is flagged but hasn't been evaluated yet.
- Report reviewed; no policy violation: The review was evaluated, and no policy violation was found. If you disagree with the decision, you can submit a one-time appeal.
- Escalated; check your email for updates: The appeal has been escalated, and you’ll get an email about the final decision.
Unfortunately, it's not possible to write any specifics about why you believe the review is inappropriate, and Google's review team may take a few days to get to checking it out.
Even when they do, there's no guarantee that the review will be removed. That's why it may make sense to publicly respond to the review in question, so that real potential customers who read it will have your side of the story.
Should You Respond to Fake Reviews?
Responding to fake reviews can be an effective strategy. It’s not for the benefit of the person who left the fake review, but for other visitors evaluating your reputation based on what they read.
If you choose to respond publicly to the review, find the fake review in your Google My Business account and click on the "Respond" button. You might opt for one of a few response strategies depending on the situation.
Here are some approaches you can take, complete with templates you can use to start crafting your response.
- Kill them with kindness: "We have never had a complaint about [X] before, but please give us a call so we can make things right for you!"
- Give a counterpoint. "This review states that our cashier was rude to the customer on Sunday, but we're closed on Sundays. We think this reviewer may have confused us with another business."
- Be transparent. Write something that tells other readers exactly what the situation is. "We believe this review was written by an employee who was angry about being terminated. [X] is not our policy, and [Y] did not happen."
These approaches can control the damage of fake reviews, but they aren’t going to be as effective as a strategy that makes fake reviews just a small drop in a sea of great reviews.
How to Minimize Future Damage with a Strong Review Strategy
Any successful business will attract negative reviews, some of which may be fake. The best way to ensure that you can take immediate action is to be notified whenever new reviews come in. That’s where a software solution can come in handy.
Some negative reviews will come from your real customers. They might even have legitimate gripes. No one's perfect, and even great businesses have bad days.
Removing genuine negative reviews is very difficult (and usually impossible on Google). Still, you can limit their power by ensuring they're surrounded by positive reviews about your customer experience. That way, the rare negative post won't drag down your overall rating or scare off other customers.
Stay on top of your reviews, and encourage happy customers to write those positive posts, using ReputationStacker. This automated system includes tools for attracting, tracking, and monitoring reviews. Our system makes it easy for your real customers to write the positive reviews you've earned. With ReputationStacker, getting a steady stream of positive reviews takes just minutes.
Start Making Fake Reviews Irrelevant, Get ReputationStacker
Fake Google reviews (or just bad reviews) can permanently damage your online reputation, so nipping them in the bud is important. Unfortunately, Google won't necessarily agree to remove those negative reviews.
Following the steps above and using an automated reputation management system like ReputationStacker can drown out fake reviews with real, positive ones and minimize the damage.
Choose from several subscription plans and start bringing in new reviews today!
