Article · Guide

How to report, appeal or dispute a Google review

BrightLocal · brightlocal.com Free Beginner

A step-by-step practitioner guide to reporting and appealing reviews, with the common mistakes that get appeals rejected.

  • You never need to pay anyone to remove a review; Google's tools are free.
  • Frame each report around the specific policy the review breaks.
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The question it answers

  1. How do I get a fake or unfair Google review removed?

Read with it

  1. Google's guidance on asking for reviews and replying to them, including how to answer a negative review without making it worse. support.google.com Article · Help page Tips to get more reviews and write better replies Google
  2. How to read, reply to, edit and share reviews from your profile, and what happens after you reply. support.google.com Article · Help page Manage customer reviews (Google Business Profile Help) Google
  3. The official route to flag a review, track it in the Reviews Management Tool and make a one-time appeal if Google finds no... support.google.com Article · Help page Report inappropriate reviews on your Business Profile Google
  4. The policy Google judges reviews against: fake engagement, conflicts of interest such as competitors or former staff, off-topic... support.google.com Article · Policy page Prohibited and restricted content (Maps user-generated content policy) Google
  5. Google's page for businesses hit by a wave of fake negative reviews with a demand for payment to stop. support.google.com Article · Help page Report negative review extortion scams on your Business Profile Google
  6. Google's legal removal request form, the route for a review you believe is defamatory or otherwise unlawful rather than just... support.google.com Article · Help page Report content for legal reasons (Google Legal Help) Google
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