Which reviews will Google remove?
Google says you can report any review, but only those that violate its policies are eligible for removal, and it asks businesses not to report a review just because they disagree with it or dislike it. The policies that most often apply to business reviews are listed below. Read the policy wording before you report, because choosing the right reason and describing the breach accurately is the part of the process you control.
- Fake engagement: content not based on a real experience at or with the business, or reviews paid for directly or in kind.
- Conflict of interest: reviews from current or former employees, contractors, family members or competitors.
- Off-topic: general, political or social commentary, or personal rants unrelated to an experience at the business.
- Personal information: details about a living person posted without consent. Google allows the names of public-facing professionals who trade under their own name.
- Offensive content and harassment: threats, abuse, or unsubstantiated allegations of unethical behaviour or criminal wrongdoing.
- Advertising and solicitation: reviews that promote something or include email addresses, phone numbers or links.
How do you report a review from your Business Profile?
Before you start, take a screenshot of the review showing the reviewer's name, the date and the full text, because the reviewer can edit or delete it while your report is assessed. Then follow Google's steps below. Google says evaluation typically takes several days. If the review contains a threat to someone's safety, report it to Google and contact police as well, without waiting for the platform. Record the report date and reason in the same register you use for review replies, so the follow-up does not depend on memory.
- Go to your Business Profile and select Read reviews.
- Next to the review, select Report.
- Choose the reason that matches the breach, for example Spam or Profanity.
- Select Send report, and note the date in your review register.
How do you track a report in the Reviews Management Tool?
Google's Reviews Management Tool shows the status of reports and also lets you report new reviews. Open the tool, confirm the email address associated with your Business Profile or switch accounts, select the business and choose the option to check reviews you reported previously. Each report shows one of three statuses, listed below. Record the status and the date you checked it. If an outside provider helps manage the profile, agree who checks the tool, so reports are not left at Decision pending with nobody watching.
- Decision pending: the review has been flagged but not yet evaluated.
- Report reviewed - no policy violation: Google evaluated it and found no breach. You can lodge a one-time appeal.
- Escalated - check your email for updates: an appeal has been escalated and the final decision will arrive by email.
How does the one-time appeal work?
If Google finds no violation and you still believe the review breaks a policy, you get one appeal. In the Reviews Management Tool, confirm your account, select the business, choose the option to check the status of a review you reported previously and see appeal options, then select Appeal eligible reviews. You can select up to 10 reviews in one appeal. Complete the form and submit it, and Google emails the result. If the review breaks policy it is removed; if not, it stays live. Because there is only one appeal, write it carefully.
In the appeal, name the policy and describe the facts that show the breach, such as a review describing a service you do not offer, or a reviewer you can show is a former employee. Leave out customer details that are not needed to make the point. Skip arguments about whether the review is fair: Google says it does not get involved in conflicts between businesses and customers.
What if fake reviews arrive with a demand for money?
Google describes a review extortion scam as a sudden increase in one-star and two-star reviews followed by someone demanding money, goods or services to remove them. Its advice is direct: do not engage with or pay the people involved, do not try to settle it yourself, and gather evidence straight away. Report it through Google's merchant extortion report form, which is separate from ordinary review reporting. Google says this channel is only for cases where you have received a demand. Collect the evidence below before you fill in the form.
- Screenshots of every demand, showing the date, time and the sender's email address, number or profile.
- Direct links to each suspicious review. In Google Maps, select More, then Share review, to copy a link.
- Names, usernames and contact details used by the people making the demand.
- The date you first noticed the reviews and the date of the first demand.
What should you do while you wait for a decision?
Reply calmly while the report is assessed, and do not say in public that you think the reviewer is fake. The ACCC says a business concerned about a fake or misleading review can ask the platform to remove it or respond to correct the public record. It also warns that a business needs an adequate basis before concluding a review is fake, because treating a genuine negative review as fake can itself mislead. For reviews on other platforms, such as industry directories, use that platform's own reporting process.
Google also uses automated spam detection to remove reviews. It says the system occasionally removes legitimate reviews by mistake, and that a business should contact support if that happens.