Review Removal - How to Remove Reviews from Your Google Business Profile?

Customer reviews on Google are an essential part of local SEO. Nearly 9 in 10 users read customer reviews before making a purchase decision. This doesn’t come as a surprise, as you need to ensure that the business is legitimate and offers the promised (or advertised) service or product. Google, therefore, places great weight on customer reviews and rewards businesses with a steady flow of new reviews and a positive overall rating with increased online visibility in local searches. But what if you receive one or more negative reviews, or a review is obviously fake? Our customer success manager, Diana, helps clients daily with all Google Business Profile (GBP)-related questions and knows exactly what to do if you need to remove an unfavorable review that threatens your online reputation.

Can You Get Reviews from Google Removed?

Yes, you can get reviews removed from Google. However, that’s the short answer. The long answer is a bit more complex and always depends on the specific review. Sometimes you’ll be able to remove a review, and sometimes it just won’t be possible, regardless of the type of review. Diana, who works with clients on a daily basis, has made the experience that sometimes the last resort to get a review removed from Google requires legal assistance. In some cases, this last resort can result in a win for the business and a successful review removal.

Which Reviews Can Be Removed from Google?

Reviews can be requested to be removed if they violate Google’s review policy. The reason for review removal can therefore be:

Reason for Review Removal	Description
Off-topic	The review does not relate to an experience at or with this business.
Spam	The review originates from a bot, fake account, or includes ads and promotional content.
Conflict of interest	The review comes from someone connected to the business or a competitor.
Profanity	The review includes offensive language, explicit content, or descriptions of illegal activities.
Bullying or harassment	The review singles out and attacks an individual personally.
Discrimination or hate speech	The review contains harmful language aimed at an individual or group based on identity.
Personal information	The review shares private details, such as addresses or phone numbers.

Normally, you wouldn’t be able to remove any review, whether positive or negative, because if you could, it would essentially defeat the purpose of reviews. However, in certain cases, it is possible to request the deletion of a review. Let’s take a look at how to complete this request step by step.

How to Remove a Review from Your Google Business Profile?

There are two ways to achieve the removal of a review:

1. Automatic Spam Detection Filters: If a review is detected as non-compliant with Google’s guidelines, it will be automatically removed from the GBP. Overly positive or suspicious reviews are then immediately taken down.
2. Manual User Reporting: Follow these steps to request the removal of a review from the GBP interface:

• Make sure you have manager access to the GBP.
• Access your GBP and navigate to “View all reviews.”

• Locate the review you want to remove and click on the three dots next to it.
• Click on “report review.”

• Select the reason for removing the review.

Important: The reason for requesting a review removal must align with the options provided by Google. If your reason doesn’t match any of the given options, the review cannot be removed. Diana, who works with clients daily, knows that if a customer has a genuinely negative experience at the location, the review is unlikely to be removed.

Diana’s tip: The most common ones to be removed are “off-topic” reviews, but remember that in most cases, you will end up in contact with Google. They will ultimately decide whether the review in question meets the guidelines or not.

How to Check the Status of Your Review Removal Request

If you have reported a review, you can follow up on the status.

• Access the Reviews Management Tool.
• Check your email address (if it is incorrect, click on “Switch account.”).
• Select your business and check under “Check the status of a review I reported previously and appeals options.”

You will see one of the following statuses:

• Decision pending: Your review reporting was successful but hasn’t been checked by Google yet.
• Report reviewed - no policy violation: Google checked the review and found no policy violation.
• Escalated - check your email for updates: You will receive an update in your email inbox once the escalated appeal has been reviewed.

Diana’s tip: If your request was denied, you can appeal Google’s decision. We often help clients with appeals for reviews that violate the review policy.

How to Submit an Appeal?

If a review has been marked as non-violating, yet you are still convinced it should be removed, try these steps:

1. Enter the Reviews Management Tool.
2. Check your email address and click “Confirm.”
3. Select your business and check under “Check the status of a review I reported previously and appeals options.”
4. Scroll down to locate “Appeal eligible reviews” and click “Continue” to submit an appeal.
5. Fill out the form.

Example text:

We are reaching out to appeal the recent decision regarding our request to remove a fake review on our Google Business Profile. While we initially reported the review, we have not received any follow-up confirmation that action will be taken to remove it.

As you know, maintaining the accuracy of our Business Profile is essential to our success, and this false review is negatively impacting our online presence and reputation. We kindly request your prompt assistance in re-evaluating this matter to help restore trust in our profile and ensure that accurate information is available to our customers.

Thank you very much for your attention and assistance in resolving this issue.

6. Click “Submit.” Monitor your email inbox for Google’s decision.

Remember: Real and genuine reviews are important for your business, as they help potential customers make an informed decision about whether to choose your business over a competitor. Google aims to ensure that reviews are accurate and authentic. Reviews are primarily intended for potential customers, so Google “doesn’t care” if a negative review bothers the business; instead, it should motivate the business to improve its services. Fake reviews, on the other hand, are disliked by both business owners and Google. So, let’s take a look at how to spot them.

Can Google Support Help in Removing Reviews?

Yes, in some cases, Google Support can assist with the review removal process. However, they may not always agree with your reasoning, and the review might remain on your profile.

Follow these steps to contact Google Support:

1. Go to Help & support under the profile.

2. Scroll down and select “contact us.”
3. Select your location and explain your issue.
4. Choose “next.”
5. Select “email” and fill out the form.

Important: Steps 2-4 only apply if you selected “other” in the previous step.

How to Check If a Google Review Is Fake?

There are a few red flags that can indicate a review might be fake:

• The user profile has 0 reviews and 0 photos.
• The user profile name is abstract, with many numbers and letters.
• Look for extreme exaggerations in the review.

Consequences of Fake Reviews

You’re probably wondering why you should remove fake reviews (whether positive or negative). Fake reviews can negatively impact your online visibility and, if they’re very obviously fake, they can harm your credibility among potential customers.

Fake reviews are not only damaging to your credibility but are also illegal. They can lead to a suspension of your GBP and may even result in a fine for your business. But no worries - if you stick to Google’s guidelines (meaning, don’t buy fake reviews) and keep reporting fake reviews when you spot them, you’ll maintain a good reputation.

Are Review Removal Agencies or Programs Legit and Worth It?

Some agencies specialize in helping businesses remove unwanted reviews from their GBPs. However, these agencies mostly promise to remove negative reviews, focusing on removing them regardless of whether they are fake or genuine.

While this may sound promising, we recommend sticking to legitimate strategies, such as identifying reviews that harm your business and do not comply with Google’s policies, and then reporting them. Certain tactics violate Google’s policies and could harm your business instead of helping by removing a review. Be cautious not to fall for false promises or agree to questionable tactics.

Instead of trying to remove all negative feedback, focus on proactive steps to prevent it and learn how to handle bad reviews effectively, which we will explore further in the following sections!

How Do I Deal With Bad Google Reviews?

While negative reviews are never pleasant for a business, there are effective ways to handle them and even strategies to prevent them in the future. Negative reviews should be seen as motivation to improve your services.

• Check each bad review and examine the reason.
• Respond to every review on your GBP.
• Offer to assist with the issue and provide a business email address.

Make sure to communicate the negative feedback to your staff to prevent similar situations from happening again. Often, a dissatisfied customer may change their mind after the dispute is resolved and update their previously negative review to a more positive one.

Diana’s tip: Responding to reviews, especially the negative ones is highly important. We have seen multiple times with clients that responding to negative feedback and trying to resolve the issue can lead to an alteration of the negative review to a more positive one! Make sure, that you always stay friendly and solution-oriented when replying to reviews.

How to Prevent Negative Reviews?

While you can never fully prevent negative reviews, you can limit them with a few strategies to have more control over your online reputation. If you use a review management tool, like the one included in your Obenan subscription, you can create a review campaign that redirects negative feedback to a private survey. Here’s how it works: you send your customers a follow-up email or print a QR code on flyers, signs, or brochures. Both options lead to a survey interface asking for their feedback. Positive reviews are directed straight to your GBP, while negative feedback is redirected to a private survey.

This way, you still receive constructive feedback, allowing for internal evaluation to improve your services, but it won’t affect your overall GBP rating! Using this approach, you may not even need a review removal service in the first place!