What’s more, the tactics used to leave good or bad feedback for interactions that never really happened can differ from platform to platform. A red flag that helps identify a fake review on Google may not raise suspicions when you’re searching for fake Yelp reviews. 

So, why are fake reviews a problem? The reality is that fake reviews aren’t just a frustration or inconvenience. They have a real bottom-line effect that no local business can afford to ignore. The reputational damage inflicted by unjustified poor reviews can be costly in itself, but it becomes more pronounced if low-star ratings impact on consumer decision-making.

Fake reviews don’t just erode consumer trust in a local business though. Whether it’s via Google, Amazon, Yelp or Facebook, negative reviews could cause your local search ratings to suffer, costing you search visibility and putting you at a disadvantage against competitors. They also undermine your efforts to build a strong review profile – something that could have taken years to achieve. 

Tips for identifying fake reviews

With our review research confirming that 62% of people believe they have seen a fake review in the last 12 months, it pays to know what to look out for so you can take swift action against bogus feedback left for your local business. Here are our tips for spotting a fake review, regardless of the platform.

1. Look for clusters of reviews posted simultaneously 

Multiple reviews appearing at the same time could be a sign that something is amiss. If the timing for several reviews matches, it may be that the business has purchased feedback, paid for five-star listings, or offered incentives such as cash or free products to customers in exchange for their rating.

If you’re a local business that has been subjected to a series of poor reviews in quick succession, checking if the time of the submissions is roughly the same could be an indication that they are fake. If that’s the case, it may be that a competitor is trying to drive down your star ratings. 

2. Be wary of over-the-top descriptions 

Receiving complimentary feedback about your business, your team, and your services is a bonus of being proactive about building your review profile. 

However, comments that seem incredibly over-the-top, enthusiastic, and effusive could be suspicious. If the language seems to be very exaggerated in its praise, it may be that the reviewer isn’t genuine. This type of fake feedback will often be littered with exclamation points, too.

3. Look for specific details 

A lack of detail and specific information also gives food for thought when it comes to deciding if a rating is genuine or not. While most of us will admit to leaving just a star rating and perhaps a word or two when we’re pushed for time, a lack of detail can also indicate the person writing the review doesn’t have first-hand experience with that product or service. 

4. Be alert for words such as refund or discount 

Another warning sign that a competitor could be manipulating their review profile to artificially boost their local business is the use of words suggesting monetary payment or free products. Be alert for words such as gift code, voucher, discount, and refund which may suggest that the reviewer has been paid or coerced into leaving a positive rating. Incentivizing reviews is against most platform guidelines. 

5. Look for very similar reviews

If a local business has several reviews, but many of them are worded in much the same way, it’s likely you’re looking at a series of fakes. Genuine customers sharing their genuine experience of a business will naturally write in different ways, and use different styles of language and varied vocabulary. Fake reviews are often created and posted in bulk so are little more than duplicates. 

What does a fake review look like? 

In 2020 alone, Google removed 55 million fake reviews and terminated more than three million fake Google Business profiles. Its hard stance on inauthentic reviews saw it remove almost one million reviews reported by Google Maps users, too. 

However, buying and selling fake reviews is big business. So much so that Amazon has launched legal action in both Europe and America targeting more than 11,000 websites selling fake reviews.

With bad actors getting ever more inventive when churning out fake reviews to deceive consumers and artificially inflate (or drive down) business profiles, it pays to know what a fake review really looks like. As a small business owner, being able to identify malicious or phony feedback is the first step to taking remedial action – such as flagging it to the review platform and requesting removal. 

• Use of all caps: This review title is all in caps, which instantly raises a red flag. All of the other reviews on this product page have a lowercase, descriptive but not over-the-top title:

• Poor grammar: While it’s entirely possible this person is a non-native speaker, the poor grammar and unnatural use of language both indicate this is a fake review. 
• Excessive multimedia: The consumer group Which? says that many sellers who use incentives to gather reviews require pictures and videos to be included. This review stands out because it includes both a video and two images, which could be considered excessive for earphones in a box. 
• Overly favorable: The use of “the best” in the title in caps raises a red flag.
• Keyword stuffed: The word ‘the best’ is repeated twice in the short review. The text also notes the price is “only” £3.99 and ends with “highly recommend”. The overall impression is that the text has been written for an algorithm, not a genuine consumer. 
• Lack of profile information: This user has no profile information at all. Few details could signal this is a fake account created for review spam. 
• All positive reviews: This reviewer has posted a very small number of reviews, but they all follow a similar format with poor grammar, spelling mistakes, over-the-top praise, and a call to action for the reader to buy the relevant product.

Spotting fake reviews on Google

Your Google review profile is one of your most valuable online assets as a local business, and we’ve gone into detail about the benefits of reviews before. Not only is it known to be a local SEO ranking factor, it also directly impacts consumer decision-making. That means it can influence whether you make a sale, receive a booking, make a reservation, or lose out to a competitor. 

Knowing how to spot a fake Google review can therefore help your business to weed out unscrupulous feedback and protect your lucrative online reputation. 

Check the reviewer’s Google profile 

Most inauthentic ratings come from accounts that are set up specifically for that purpose. That means they won’t have posted many other reviews. Whether excessively good or incredibly poor, if you suspect a bad actor, it’s easy to see how active that profile is on Google. You’ll see the number of Google reviews they have posted displayed as a numerical figure under the account holder’s username. A very small number of reviews could be evidence of fakery at work. 

Check the reviewer’s activity 

In addition to seeing the number of reviews a user has posted, you can also see the reviews themselves. This is a great tip for local business owners who are keen to learn how to spot a fake Google review. A glance at previous reviews left by that person can quickly reveal whether they are a genuine user or not. 

Check if the places reviewed are within the same local area. If most places are in entirely different locations, such as different states on the other side of the country, it could well be a bad actor at work.

If images have been uploaded with reviews, browse through those to get a sense of whether that reviewer has images in places they have reviewed. Fake reviews won’t be accompanied by genuine, related images. 

Look at timings

From the user profile, you can also check the frequency of review postings. Has the reviewer your suspect to be a fake posted clusters of reviews at the same time or are they sporadic? A flurry of reviews posted at the same time suggests that the ratings are not authentic. 

Cross-reference with your sales logs

Google will often display a reviewer’s name above their review. If that’s the case, it’s possible to perform a cross-reference of your own records. Compare your sales logs with the name of the person leaving the review to determine if they are a genuine customer. 

Does the reviewer have a profile picture?

Fake reviewers often won’t share too much personal information on the profiles they create. Along with other red flags, the lack of a profile picture raises suspicions. Likewise, very generic or cartoon images can also indicate that the reviewer is attempting to hide who they are. 

Does the comment reference specific aspects of your business? 

Genuine reviews will often provide specific details about the user’s experience so, part of knowing how to spot a fake Google review is being able to check for those factual inclusions. Are specific team members mentioned for example? Are the names right if so? Are service details factual or, does the review refer to services or products that you don’t offer? Inaccuracies are a tell-tale sign that the review has been created by someone without first-hand experience of your local business.

How to spot fake Facebook reviews

With 75% of users said to visit a local business Page at least once per week, it’s essential that local business owners know how to spot a fake review on Facebook. 

Is the text vague? 

A very vague piece of text may suggest that the person writing the Recommendation hasn’t truly interacted with that local business. 

Genuine reviewers will often pick out specific aspects of their experience, whether good or bad, to explain why they Recommend (or not) that business. Very brief, vague comments can be one clue that the Recommendation is fake. 

Is the Recommendation too complimentary? 

Using language that’s way over the top is another clue that the Recommendation has been created to artificially boost ratings. Descriptions that sound too good to be true, with lots of superlatives that really oversell things are a tell-tale sign that you’re looking at a fake review. 

Does the user have a profile image? 

Much like with Google reviews, the lack of a profile picture or the use of a cartoon image instead is another warning sign that the reviewer isn’t genuine. You’ll be able to see the profile picture for the account holder sharing the review to the left of the review itself. 

Does the reviewer have Facebook Friends? 

Another clue that you may be looking at a fake Facebook review comes from the reviewer’s profile. Clicking on their profile picture will take you to the profile page. How many friends are on their friends list? If the profile doesn’t have any Facebook friends, or only very few, you have another indication that the review is fake. 

Spotting fake reviews in specific industries 

While all consumer reviews matter, in some industries, being able to trust the content of a review is even more important. For professions such as lawyers, healthcare workers, real estate brokers, and so on, dishonest reviews could have serious consequences including financial loss. 

How to spot fake hotel reviews 

Hotels rely heavily on reviews to attract new guests, but how can you tell if the ratings are genuine? 

• Be wary of all 5-star reviews: It’s not realistic to expect that a property will have only five-star feedback. While you’d expect to see a good portion of five-star reviews for a great destination, a natural review profile will also have its share of other star ratings too. 
• Look at the most recent reviews: Some review platforms will sort by the top-rated or most useful reviews. Sort by most recent to get a true picture of what guests are actually experiencing right now and then look for comments that stand out as being very different from the general consensus. 
• Compare with other review platforms: Looking at reviews across two or more platforms is a good way to get a sense of the overall feedback about the hotel. You’re then better placed to pick out those reviews that seem wildly different in their experience than the majority of other guests. 

How to spot fake reviews in real estate 

With intense competition and huge commissions at stake, it’s no secret that real estate can be a cutthroat business. If you suspect a competitor may be inflating their profiles with fake reviews, here are a few things to look out for: 

• Look at the language: If the language used in the review is littered with acronyms or uses an abundance of industry jargon, it could be a fake. 
• Does the review talk about the property? A genuine reviewer is likely to make reference to the property they have just bought or rented. If the review contains no references to the property at all, it may be that the person writing the review hasn’t really used that realtor’s services. 
• Does the review mention any challenges or issues? Buying a house is seldom straightforward. If a realtor’s profile is packed with reviews that claim the whole process went smoothly, something could well be amiss. You should expect to see some comments about challenges, issues, or delays encountered in at least some of the reviews. 

How to spot fake reviews for healthcare professionals

Fake reviews are especially concerning in the healthcare industry, where patient health could be put at risk by unscrupulous rivals. 

• Is the description of the service provided realistic? Consider the language of the review and the tone of the reviewer when describing their experiences. Does it align with the service provided? For example, it’s unlikely that anyone will wax lyrical about teeth cleaning at the dentist so a review that is extremely complementary with excessive use of superlatives should raise a red flag. 
• Are other healthcare provider names or brands mentioned? If the reviewer compares one experience with a named local competitor, it may be that the reviewer has been paid to paint the rival in a bad light. Likewise, reviews that mention certain branded products multiple times should be treated with a degree of suspicion. 

Tools to detect fake reviews

Bad actors are increasingly sophisticated and constantly evolving new techniques to avoid detection. This can make manually checking for fake reviews a time-consuming process – the good news is that there are a number of helpful tools available which can do most of the heavy lifting for you. 

Fakespot

Fakespot is a specialist tool for detecting fake reviews. It’s compatible with a range of platforms, including Amazon and eBay. Powered by AI, it sniffs out bots and fake accounts and flags up fake reviews. 

Transparency

Transparency‘s Machine Learning algorithms use metrics such as profile data and review content to detect fake reviews. 

Bazaarvoice

Bazaarvoice uses fraud detection techniques to assess whether the reviews it collects for brands are genuine. It will flag up reviews it suspects are counterfeit. 

ReviewMeta

Designed specifically for those who want to know how to spot fake Amazon reviews, ReviewMeta applies a series of tests to review text to determine if the review is genuine. Reviews that are trying to game the system get removed or are given less weight, so they don’t artificially impact the product rating. 

What to do when you spot fake reviews

So, you know how to spot a fake Yelp review or fake Facebook review, but what steps should you take next to ensure your rivals aren’t gaining an unfair advantage? 

Each platform has its own specific procedure that you’ll need to follow if you suspect a review is fake – whether that’s a review that impacts your own profile or is benefiting a competitor.

Methods for each platform:

• Our guide to Google reviews contains helpful information on how to deal with fake Google reviews.
• Our guide to Yelp reviews has everything you need to know about dealing with fake reviews on that platform.
• Found a fake Facebook review? We’ve covered how to deal with fake Facebook reviews in our guide. 

While both fake positive and negative reviews are illegal and good for no-one in the long term, the growth of this dubious tactic is quite enlightening. Despite the fact that Google can identify fake reviews, huge amounts of time, energy, and resources are being poured into fake review spamming, indicating just how valuable it can be to have a decent number of reviews.

The ongoing presence of fake reviews online also tells us that reviews are a big part of the consumer decision-making process and underscores exactly how important they are for local SEO. As always in SEO, if someone’s trying to short-cut or cheat something, it tends to suggest that doing it properly is worth the effort. You can find our five-step guide to building your review profile the right way, here.

It’s fair to say that negative reviews are every business owner’s worst nightmare. When they’re fake, that feeling is magnified tenfold. Over and above reputational damage, fake reviews could – at least in the short term – give unscrupulous rivals a leg up.

There are plenty of reasons that you’ll want to remove both fake positive and negative reviews to protect your business, especially given how prolific they are becoming.

Let’s take a look at some eye-opening statistics that are sure to convince even the skeptics to take fake reviews seriously.

74% of consumers have read a fake review in the last year, though they’re not always easy to spot

According to BrightLocal research, 82% of consumers have read a fake review in the last year. Among 18-34-year-old consumers, the proportion is even higher, with 92% saying they’ve seen fake reviews online (more on that shortly).

The sheer volume of fake reviews being observed is obviously a cause for concern. It highlights how prevalent online fake reviews now are, underscoring the importance both of being vigilant and of knowing how to get them removed.

The extent to which fake reviews have infiltrated this area of reputation management threatens the trustworthiness of reviews as a whole – should consumers be exposed to an increasing number of fake reviews, it’s perfectly feasible that we’ll soon begin to see confidence in peer-to-peer recommendations being eroded.

That being said, it’s not time to hit the panic button just yet. While fake reviews continue to emerge, it’s worth bearing in mind that the same Local Consumer Review Survey also shows that trust in reviews and recommendations is on the up.

92% of 18-34-year-olds have read a fake review online in the last year

As we touched upon earlier, more 18-34-year-olds have read a fake online review in the last year than consumers of any other demographic. While 89% of this younger age group say they have read a fake review in the last 12 months, only 74% of 35-54-year-olds have seen a fake review in the last year. This number drops to just 59% for consumers over the age of 54.

It’s clear that 18-34-year-olds find fake reviews much easier to spot online. This could be because they have grown up online as digital natives and so are savvier when it comes to navigating the online landscape. It’s also possible that this constant exposure has given them digital street smarts to the extent that they’re naturally more suspicious or untrusting of user-generated content such as online reviews until given good reason to think otherwise.

This wariness should raise a few red flags for business owners. First and foremost, if your target demographic falls within the 18-34 age group, your immediate concern may (rightly) be that earning their trust and their dollars is going to be an uphill struggle. After all, when it’s universally understood that reviews are critical to the consumer purchase process, how do you bridge the gap when reviews are deemed to be fake so frequently?

A second worry is that this statistic suggests future generations are already being programmed to be wary of online reviews. If that’s the case, you’ll need to find new means of establishing trust with future customers.

In order to tackle fake reviews and instill confidence in those aged 18-34, it’s important to be proactive. Responding to reviews is a local SEO ranking factor but replying can also help to boost trust because it shows that you recognize and value feedback.

Reviews with repeated exclamation points are more likely to come from reviewers who have never made a purchase

According to research conducted by MIT, deceptive reviews (those submitted by consumers who actually haven’t made a purchase from the business being reviewed) have a tendency to use repeated exclamation points such as ‘!!’ and ‘!!!’ in the text of the review.

Use of exclamation points may not seem like a huge problem on the surface but delve a little deeper and it’s the connotation that becomes troubling. Multiple exclamation marks indicate a heightened emotion such as excitement or frustration. The use of multiple exclamation marks mimics colloquial syntax and grammar on social media and messaging apps. Add this to the indicated heightened emotions and there is the worrying prospect of consumers believing the fake review because it’s written in a style that the reader themselves also employs day to day.

Some business owners may not feel the impact of these deceptive reviews, given that their power to mislead consumers depends on the business’s own demographics. If your particular target market doesn’t employ similar styles on social media, you may not need to worry that your audience will be swayed.

Fake reviewers are much more likely to make specific requests to the seller or business

MIT researchers studying reviews without purchases discovered that those leaving a review without having made a purchase contain significantly more words and are much more likely to contain requests for the business such as ‘please’, ‘bring back’, ‘offer more’ and ‘go back to’.

This particular statistic can be quite problematic for those responsible for reputation management because it’s necessary to respond to detailed reviews – even if you’re sure it’s a fake review or that it has been left by someone who hasn’t made a purchase.

As review response speed and frequency is a local SEO ranking factor – and something that 89% of consumers will read – it’s still important to formulate a professional, courteous response. In his post, Google Business Profile gold product expert Ben Fisher recommends that you should still respond to show genuine consumers that you take all reviews seriously.

As with any response to a negative review, whether it’s true or false, it’s wise to demonstrate a willingness to fix the issue being raised. Invite the reviewer to get in touch privately, either by private message, email, or telephone to resolve the issue. In the case of a fake review, you obviously won’t hear from the reviewer but publicly, you have demonstrated you care about service levels, product quality, opportunities for improvement, and the customer experience.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) estimates fake reviews potentially influence £23bn of UK customer spending each year

The CMA has launched a program of work after a lengthy investigation into fake reviews determined that they potentially influence around £23 billion of UK consumer spending each year. It says millions of shoppers consult reviews online before booking holidays and buying products or services but found that some companies were buying reviews or paying third-party agencies to write fake reviews about products and services.

The 2008 Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations forbids this practice. The CMA says,

It is a banned practice to use editorial content in the media to promote a product where a trader has paid for the promotion without making that clear in the content or by images or sounds clearly identifiable by the consumer. It is also a banned practice to falsely claim or create the impression that a trader is not acting for purposes relating to his trade, business or profession, or to falsely represent oneself as a consumer.

The CMA says that the use of fake reviews is a concern due to the volume of adults relying on reviews to make purchase decisions and the amount of money at stake. Fake reviews also pose additional problems in that they mislead consumers to spend money with a business or on a product they may not have otherwise chosen. This could mean other businesses are losing out on revenue they may have earnt, had it not been for the fake or misleading reviews.

For some sectors, fake positive or fake malicious reviews have a bigger impact – findings from the CMA suggest small businesses in the hospitality sector in particular are badly affected by fake reviews.

Cherry-picking or suppressing negative reviews can also mislead consumers and affect the ultimate purchase choice.

The problem is that some companies resort to using fake reviews in order to get an unfair advantage over their rivals. 

According to our latest research, 62% of consumers have seen a fake review in the last year. With 77% of consumers always or regularly reading online reviews for local businesses, and around 50% of consumers trusting reviews as much as personal recommendations, the proliferation of fake reviews can be worrisome.  

How important are Google reviews? 

Google’s importance as a review platform continues to grow, meaning fake Google reviews are likely to be of particular concern to most small businesses. 

Not only is Google a major source of search traffic, visibility, and business, but it’s also the one referenced the most by consumers, with 81% of consumers turning to Google to evaluate local businesses in 2021. Therefore, any fake reviews on Google could be especially damaging.

Additionally, Google is the fastest-growing review platform, accruing more new reviews at a much faster rate than rivals, such as Facebook and Yelp. Again, this could be troubling for small businesses dealing with fake Google reviews simply due to the sheer volume of reviews being added to the platform on a daily basis. 

Having a review management tool can be helpful when it comes to keeping up to date with new Google reviews, so fake or malicious ones aren’t missed. 

Google reviews are also known to be a local search ranking factor and can impact where your business places in the search results. This is significant as an onslaught of poor-quality fake reviews could hinder your search visibility and ability to win new business. 

Can you get Google reviews removed?

Reviews that violate Google’s policies can be removed. A tool called Managing Your Reviews is available to flag up offending reviews, request their removal, and monitor the status of the request. You just have to search for your business profile and click ‘Report a new review for removal’ to get started.

Why are fake Google reviews a particular concern? 

It’s important to know how to remove fake Google reviews because of one concerning detail — anyone can leave malicious feedback and it will appear on your profile immediately for all Google users to see. 

The problem is that removing the review isn’t instant, so you’ll need to go through Google to request the removal. In the meantime, as your request works its way through the system, the fake feedback could be damaging your reputation. 

How do I complain about fake Google reviews?

You’ll need to go through Google to complain about fake reviews. You can flag an offending review directly on Google search by locating it and then clicking on the three dots to the right, where you’ll see an option to report it. 

You can also flag a review for removal from your Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business) dashboard. Just locate the review, click on the three dots, and flag it as inappropriate. 

Another option for Google review reporting is to use the Managing Your Reviews tool. 

Before you report fake comments to Google, it’s worth gathering as much information as you can to back up your claim. Look out for obvious signs that the feedback is fake, such as if the reviewer references people who don’t work at your business or products or services you don’t sell. If possible, cross-reference the date and time of the review with your own records. Lots of spelling mistakes, a one-star rating with no comment, irrelevant details, a lack of knowledge about the product or service, and incoherent text all point to a fake.

You can also check the content of the review against the guidelines for Google reviews to ensure the comments you’ve identified as fake fall into one of the violations. This could be the case if the comments contain offensive content, are attempting to impersonate someone else, contain explicit content, are off-topic, or are promotional in nature with an email address, phone number, or other solicitation.

How do I report a business for fake reviews? 

If you suspect that a competitor is using fake reviews to bolster its review profile, you can make a report by flagging the review in the search results. Simply navigate to the fake review, click the three dots at the side, and then click on ‘Report Review’. Google might then consider removing it.

Keep in mind that you shouldn’t be doing this simply to bolster your own Google presence. It should be reserved for those times when you’re certain a review is fake. All submissions will be reviewed by Google but it’s not a given that flagging a review will lead to its removal. A better tactic to enhance your search visibility is to focus on boosting your own online presence with a strong review generation strategy.   

A Step-by-step Guide to Reporting Fake Google Reviews

Step 1: Consider Responding

Before you get into the process of reporting fake Google reviews, it’s worth responding to the review first. This is important because fake reviews can take a while to be assessed by Google and removed. In the meantime, the potentially damaging feedback will be publicly visible, so a response can help to limit its impact. 

In the event that you can’t get the fake review removed, your response demonstrates to your customers and prospective clients that you care, that you’re dedicated to resolving complaints, and that you take feedback seriously. Use our tips for responding to negative reviews to always leave a calm, measured, and professional response.

Step 2: Flag the Review to Google on Desktop

With your response left, you can now report the fake feedback to Google.

To do this on desktop, bring up the review and click on the flag at the side.

Step 3: Be Prepared for a Follow Up

Google may contact you to get more details about your complaint. You can prepare for this follow-up while you’re waiting for Google to remove the fake review, just in case they do get in touch.

First, document the URL of the review. To do this, click on the name of the user that left the comment, then select the review itself, and when you only see your review under the person’s name, copy the URL. You’ll need this in order to get support from Google later.

Prepare the following information:

1. Your business name, address, phone number, website URL, and Google Maps link. 
2. State why the review should be removed 
3. State which of the policies you feel is being violated
4. State why you feel it’s a fake review
5. Prepare any documentation that supports your claim

Step 4: Get in Touch with Google

If you’ve not heard anything after a few days, you can reach out to Google. Try sending the Google Business team a message or tweet them on Twitter. Alternatively, click on the support icon in your GBP dashboard and tell Google what you need help with. You’ll then be presented with the appropriate contact information for your query. 

Step 5: Keep Track of Your Removal Request Status

I talked above about Google’s ‘Managing Your Reviews‘ tool, and how you can use it to flag up offending reviews, request their removal, and monitor the status of the request.

This is a great way to start the removal process, but it really comes into its own when you know the request has been received and you’re hoping to understand what the status is.

Examples of statuses include:

• Report reviewed – no policy violation
• Escalated – Check email for updates
• Review removed
• Decision pending

This workflow is invaluable for understanding where your review request is, which is particularly useful if you have clients hoping for more information on something that’s ultimately out of your control.

Step 5a: If Applicable, Appeal the Decision

Google doesn’t give you a lot of opportunity to comment on why a review breaks their guidelines, so you might find a status of ‘Report reviewed – no policy violation’ against a review that quite clearly and objectively does violate policy (here’s a really good example of this frustrating activity in action).

It’s at times like these that Google just needs a bit more information, and a nudge to set them on the right track. At the bottom of the ‘Managing Your Reviews’ tool, you’ll see an option to ‘Appeal eligible reviews’. Click that and fill out the following form to raise an appeal with Google against the decision. This will open a Google support ticket—make sure you write down the Case ID you receive.

Within a few days, you should get an email from Google’s support team with their decision. Still not happy with the response? Time to take your Case ID to the Google Business Profile Community forum and put your case in front of an expert, who can hopefully raise the issue with Google and get a resolution.

Yelp’s own research suggests that 90% of Yelp users make a purchase within seven days of visiting the platform, so you’ll need to act quickly to protect your business.

Why a Business May Need to Remove a Bad Review

Whether a review is a fair assessment of a customer’s experience or not, any poor review is potentially problematic because peer feedback is so intrinsic to the modern decision-making process. 

Today’s consumers use reviews to:

• create shortlists of businesses to buy from;
• compare and contrast potential product/service providers;
• decide between businesses offering the same thing; and
• weed out businesses that may provide a disappointing experience.

85% of consumers say that a business’ average star rating is very important or important to them when judging a local business, while just two in 100 consumers say they would consider using a business that has a two-star or lower review rating.

Removing fake or malicious reviews can therefore have a very tangible real-world impact. This is because fake reviews with low star ratings can bring the overall average star rating down if left untreated. 

Can Yelp reviews be faked? 

Fake reviews are a fact of life for review platforms, despite efforts to curb the number of fakes and push down their visibility. BrightLocal research suggests that local consumers are confident that they’ve seen a fake review on Amazon, Google, and Facebook. 26% of consumers say they’re confident they’ve seen a fake review on Yelp.

The Harvard Business Review says there’s a “large and thriving market” for fake reviews. Given that reviews not only influence consumers and sales figures but also search engine rankings, it’s no surprise that they’re big business. 

However, it’s not quite as straightforward as you may think to have fake reviews removed.

How does Yelp handle fake reviews?

Yelp says that it’s a “community-driven site” and doesn’t take the removal of third-party content — such as images or reviews — lightly. It also says it won’t take sides in factual disputes. 

That said, it has invested in a number of programs to weed out compensated and fake reviews, in line with recent UK and US legislation: 

Consumer Alerts 

Profiles suspected of benefiting from fake or paid reviews may have a Consumer Alerts pop-up applied. The pop-up warns users that abnormal activity — which may be an attempt to mislead them — has been detected on the profile in question after a review of available evidence. 

Alerts may tell consumers that there’s evidence of suspicious review activity or evidence of compensated reviews. 

Picture credit: Yelp 

Picture credit: Yelp

Recommendation Software 

Yelp’s Recommendation Software evaluates each review left for a business profile. It analyzes billions of data points to identify the most helpful reviews and then recommends those to users. This means fake reviews could lack visibility.

Human Moderators

Yelp also has a team of human moderators who review potential issues flagged up by business owners, community users, or its own automated systems. Yelp says it also monitors other platforms and the dark web for shady review behavior. Yelp submitted around 1000 reports to other sites in 2021, warning of suspicious groups, posts, and individuals uncovered on those other platforms.

How do I remove a fake Yelp review?

Getting Yelp reviews removed is not a cut-and-dried process. A good strategy is to approach the review as genuine, while also looking for any evidence that it’s fake or malicious.

1. Responding to Bad Yelp Reviews

The temptation will be to rush in quickly with a strongly-worded reply. Resist that temptation!

Poorly-worded review responses can quickly create a negative impression of your business and put other customers off. In the worst-case scenario, they could also go viral, creating exactly the kind of publicity you don’t want for your business.

You’ll need to keep a cool head and show that you’ve tried addressing the bad review in a constructive and professional way.

• If you have a record of that customer, try connecting with them offline to fully understand the issues that led to the poor review.
• If you can’t find contact information, leave a (very) polite reply thanking the customer for their feedback, assure them that you wish to investigate further, and invite them to reach out so that you can work towards a resolution. 

For a genuinely negative experience, you should impress the reviewer with your commitment to putting things right, allowing you to ask them to update (or even delete) the original review to give a more balanced opinion. 

We’ve put together an article on dealing with negative reviews like a pro.

2. Deleting a Malicious Yelp Review

If the above fact-finding mission fails, then take comfort in knowing you’re now in a stronger position to report the review to Yelp as being false, defamatory, or malicious in nature.

Yelp has clear guidelines governing reviews left on the site. It specifies that reviews:

• shouldn’t be exchanged for payment;
• should be based on the reviewer’s own first-hand experience;
• should be factually correct;
• shouldn’t be based on previous brand interactions;
• shouldn’t be promotional; and
• shouldn’t represent a conflict of interest (for example, leaving a positive review for a friend’s business or a negative review of a competitor).

Start with ‘Should be factually correct’. Collate as much information from your business records as you can, including your documented attempts to address their concerns as genuine.

See if you can prove that the review has a clear conflict of interest, such as a review left by a disgruntled former employee or a competitor.

Highlight any examples of inappropriate material, such as threats, hate speech, or harassment — either in the original review or in subsequent communications.

3. Report the Review to Yelp 

As noted above, fake reviews are big business in some corners of the internet, and they’re a pain to investigate if there’s no genuine information to cross-reference within your business.

Instead, make a strong case for removal by gathering evidence to present to Yelp:

1. Dig into your client records to verify that they’re not a genuine customer. This shows that they’re in violation of Yelp’s requirement that all reviews relate to that person’s own experience of your business.
2. Take a look at how many other reviews that person has left and for what businesses. A brand-new account with just your review is a strong indicator that it’s fake. 
3. Study the language and tone of the review. Is this mirrored on other reviews posted at the same time? If so, it could be a part of a wider fake review campaign. 
4. Check if you have a series of other bad reviews posted at the same time but by different usernames. This is a common tactic used by fake review spammers. 

How to Submit a Fake Reviews Report to Yelp

With your evidence gathered, you can now go ahead and submit a request for the offending review to be reviewed by the Yelp moderators.

Step 1: Claim your Yelp Business Profile

If you’ve not done so already, then the first step in removing Yelp reviews is to claim your business profile.

This is easy to do — go to Yelp For Business and follow the steps outlined. This Yelp blog post also provides more detailed instructions if you need help with this essential step.

Step 2: Log in and Find the Review

Log into your Yelp business account. From your dashboard, navigate to ‘Reviews’ and then scroll down to find the review you’re asking Yelp to remove. 

Step 3: Go to the ‘Report Review’ Button

You’ll see three dots to the side of the review text. Click on those dots to pull up a menu and select ‘Report Review’.

Step 4: Complete the Form

Select the most appropriate reason for requesting the Yelp review removal and complete the form with as much information as possible. It will then be reviewed by the moderators. 

Step 5: Be Patient!

Now comes the hard part…the wait! Yelp will inform you of the outcome of the investigation. In the event that the Yelp review is removed, the original author will also be notified.

This process can take several days, but either way, you should be notified of the result. If you don’t hear anything, then contact Yelp directly with your case number to try and secure an update.

What if the Yelp review isn’t removed?

Yelp may not uphold your complaint. If that’s the case, the negative review will remain on your profile. 

While this is frustrating, your best course of action is to learn what you can from the feedback so that future reviews might be more positive.

Our complete guide to online review management includes advice on building positive reviews is packed with tips, strategies, and templates to help you do just that.