Which Google Reviews Can Be Removed

How to tell which type you have

Most reviews that break Google's rules fall into a few groups. A review from someone who never dealt with you is judged as fake engagement. A review from a rival or a former employee is judged as a conflict of interest. Threats, hate, insults and private details fall under the rules on harassment, offensive content and personal information. Ads, links and nonsense text count as spam.

A review can fit more than one group, and that is common. A former employee who also posts a manager's phone number has broken two rules at once, which gives the report more to stand on.

• Never a customer: the writer says they never came in, or the account and your records both point that way
• Conflict of interest: a competitor, a former employee, or someone posting for them
• Abuse: threats, slurs, hate, claims of crimes and private details
• Spam: ads, links, gibberish and the same text pasted everywhere

The question that matters most

Ask who wrote the review and what it is really about. If the answer is a real customer describing a real visit, the review usually stays, however much it stings. If the answer is anyone else, or anything else, there is often a rule it breaks.

Star counts decide nothing on their own. A one star review from a real customer is allowed, and a glowing review from your own staff is not. Google looks at the content and the person behind it, not at how the review makes your average look.

What usually stays up

A genuine review from a real customer that follows the rules usually stays, even when it is harsh or you disagree with how it describes the visit. We say so before any work starts, and those reviews are left out of your quote.

In that case a calm public reply often does more for your rating than a removal request. Our page on negative reviews explains where the line sits between a bad review and a review that breaks the rules.

What to send us

You do not need to know the type before you message us. Send the review links, or the link to your profile, on WhatsApp. We check each review against Google's rules, tell you which ones qualify and why, and send a quote for those.

Payment is only for reviews that actually come down. For the full process, see how review removal works. If you manage profiles for clients, our page for agencies explains how to send links in bulk.