Google review guides
Straight answers for business owners and agencies: how reporting works, what Google's review policy actually says, how to reply to a bad review, and what to do when a report is turned down.
Read a guide
Each guide stands on its own. Start with the one that matches the problem in front of you.
How To Report A Google Review
The steps, the right reason to pick, and how to follow up on your report.
Read moreGoogle Review Policy Explained
What Google's rules for reviews say in plain words, and what they still allow.
Read moreHow To Respond To A Bad Review
A calm reply in four parts, what never to write, and when to report instead.
Read moreWhy Google Did Not Remove A Review
The usual reasons a report is turned down, and what you can still do.
Read moreHow Review Removal Works
Every step from the first link you send to the last update, and when you pay.
Read moreReview Removal For Agencies: FAQ
Bulk sheets, white label updates and what to tell your clients, answered.
Read moreStart with the rules
Most frustration with Google reviews comes from not knowing the rules. A review is not removed because it is unfair or rude. It is removed when it breaks a specific part of Google's policy, and the report has to point to that part.
These guides explain the rules in plain words and walk through the steps you can take yourself. Where the exact wording matters, they link to Google's own help pages, which always have the final word.
Read them in any order. Each one is short enough to finish in one sitting, and each ends with common questions on that topic.
Which guide to read first
- A bad review just landed: how to respond to a bad Google review
- You think it breaks a rule: Google's review policy, explained
- You are ready to flag it: how to report a Google review
- Your report came back with no violation found: why Google did not remove it
- You would rather someone else handled it: how review removal works
- You run an agency or resell services: review removal for agencies
More ways to look it up
If you know what kind of review you are dealing with, the review types pages go deeper on fake, competitor, former employee, spam and offensive reviews. If you want examples from your own trade, the industries pages cover restaurants, clinics, contractors, hotels and more.
Do it yourself, or hand it over
Everything in these guides is open to any business owner. You can report, appeal and reply on your own, and for one or two reviews that is often enough. When there are many reviews, a pattern across accounts, or reports that keep coming back, message us on WhatsApp. We check each review, tell you straight which ones qualify, and you pay only for reviews that are removed.
Good Rating is an independent service with no link to Google. These guides are our plain reading of rules that Google publishes for everyone.
Questions about the guides
No. They are written by Good Rating, an independent team that is not affiliated with Google. We link to Google's own help pages wherever the exact wording matters.
Yes. You can report any review yourself at no cost, and appeal once if the report is turned down. If the review breaks a rule and your report names it clearly, that may be all you need.
From time to time. We keep these guides in plain words and fairly general, but Google's own policy pages are the final word, so check them before you rely on a detail.
To us on WhatsApp. Paste the review link, and we tell you whether it breaks Google's rules before anything else happens.
Google's content policy is one set of rules for Maps wherever it is used. Local laws are a different matter, which is why claims such as defamation go through Google's separate legal route and are a question for a lawyer.
Rather hand it over?
Send the review links on WhatsApp. We check each one, send a quote, and you pay only for reviews that are removed.