How to Remove and Manage Negative Google Reviews (Plus 9 Violations That Google Can Delete)

5. Fill out the ‘Report Review’ form. This is the same form as if you clicked through from Google Maps. It asks you to choose why you’re reporting the review. Pick the option that best describes why the review violates Google’s guidelines, and click submit. 

If the review involves serious legal violations like slander or defamation, you can submit a legal removal request through Google’s separate legal removal process instead.

Flag a Review in Your Google Business Profile Account

1. Log into your Google Business Profile account.
2. In the menu, click “Manage reviews.”
3. Find the review you want to report.
4. Click the three dots in the corner of the review you want to remove, and choose “flag as inappropriate.”

For serious legal violations like slander or defamation, you can also submit a legal removal request through Google’s legal removal process.

What If Google Doesn’t Remove the Review?

Sometimes, the review sits on a thin line between violating Google’s review policy and not. If Google doesn’t remove it right away, there are several options you can take to handle the review and minimize its ongoing impact on your business.

Appeal the Decision Not to Remove the Review

You flagged a review for violating Google’s policy guidelines, only to get a notification that the review’s been looked at and no policy violation was found. That can feel incredibly frustrating, as it means the review stays online and continues to impact your business.

Thankfully, Google allows businesses to submit a one-time appeal against the decision not to remove a review. To submit an appeal, go to the Reviews Management Tool. Then:

1. Click “Check the status of a review I reported previously and appeal options” in the menu.
2. Choose “Appeal eligible reviews.”
3. Scroll through to find the review you want to appeal. You can select up to ten at a time.
4. Click “Continue” to submit an appeal. This will open a new form where you can add information about why you’re appealing the decision and why the review violates Google’s guidelines. Then, click submit to send your appeal.

This will go back to Google’s team for review. If the review is found to have violated their policies, it will be removed, but if not, it will remain live and visible on your listings page, in Google Maps, and in Google Search results.

Respond to Fake Reviews

We know that consumers rely on reviews to help them decide whether to shop with a business or not. But if you’ve got a bunch of fake reviews taking up space on your business listing, they don’t have to mislead customers.

Use your response to clarify the situation and suggest the review may not be genuine. This will help potential customers differentiate between genuine reviews and fake or spammy ones.

Respond to Negative Reviews

If you’ve got a negative review of your business that doesn’t violate any of Google’s content guidelines, unfortunately, you’re just going to have to accept its presence on your page. But just because the review content is negative doesn’t mean the whole experience has to be a poor one. Three practical steps can help the customer feel heard and reflect positively on your business:

1. Respond to the review promptly. This lets the customer (and potential future customers) know that you take their reviews and opinions seriously. Chatmeter’s reputation management solution alerts you to reviews as soon as they come in, helping you to respond quickly. It can also help you identify trends and common themes in your reviews.
2. Apologize for the poor experience. Negative reviews help corporations make changes to improve current business practices. It’s tempting to get defensive or attack the reviewer back, but that will reflect poorly on you and bring more attention than the situation deserves. Instead, apologize for the unsatisfactory experience and thank them for giving honest feedback. A simple apology goes a long way. If you’re stuck for words, we’ve put together a list of customizable review response templates your brand can use right now.
3. Keep it short and sweet. Don’t say more than is absolutely needed. The idea is to handle the review as quickly and politely as possible.

Want to learn more? Check out our guide to responding to bad online reviews for templates you can use to craft the perfect responses to these kinds of reviews.

Encourage More Positive Reviews

Positive reviews play a vital role in shaping your business’s online reputation and attracting new customers. While negative reviews are inevitable, encouraging satisfied customers to share their experiences can help balance your overall review profile and highlight the strengths of your business.

Here are some practical strategies to increase the number of positive reviews on your Google Business Profile:

• Ask at the right time: The best time to ask for a review is when a customer has had a positive experience with your business. Whether they’ve just had a great meal, received excellent service, or successfully completed a transaction, capitalizing on their satisfaction is key. Politely requesting a review can increase the likelihood of them sharing positive feedback. You can do this in person, via email, or even through automated follow-up messages as part of your CRM.

• Make it easy to leave a review: Many customers don’t leave reviews simply because it’s inconvenient. Simplify the process by providing a direct link to your Google Business Profile in follow-up emails, receipts, or text messages.

• Incentivize reviews: While it’s important to stay within Google’s guidelines (you can’t offer financial incentives), there are other ways to encourage customers to leave a review. For example, create a sense of community by highlighting how their feedback helps improve your service.
• Respond to positive reviews: When customers take the time to leave a positive review, acknowledge them. A simple “Thank you for your kind words!” goes a long way. It shows potential customers that you appreciate feedback and care about building relationships. It also encourages more people to leave reviews, knowing their input is valued.

By making it easy (and rewarding) to leave reviews, you’ll see more positive feedback. This helps counterbalance any negative comments and enhances your business’s credibility. For more tips on managing your online reviews, take a look at our guide on responding to positive reviews.

How to Spot (and Avoid) Fake Google Review Removal Services

With fake reviews costing businesses billions of dollars annually and consumers concerned about the authenticity of reviews, it’s no surprise that an entire industry has emerged promising to remove negative Google reviews. Unfortunately, many of these services are scams that prey on frustrated business owners.

If you’ve ever searched for help removing a negative Google review, you’ve probably seen ads promising “guaranteed removal” or “we’ll delete any review for $499.” These services sound tempting, especially when you’re dealing with what feels like an unfair review that’s hurting your business.

But here’s the reality: No one can guarantee the removal of a Google review except Google itself. Any company claiming otherwise is either lying about its capabilities or planning to use tactics that could get your business in serious trouble.

Common Tactics Used by Fake Review Removal Services

Unscrupulous review removal services typically use one of these approaches:

• Impersonation and hacking: Some services claim they can “access” the reviewer’s account to delete the review. This is illegal. They’re essentially promising to hack into someone’s Google account, which violates federal computer fraud laws and Google’s terms of service.
• Fake legal threats: These companies send threatening legal letters to reviewers claiming defamation, even when the review doesn’t meet the legal definition. While this might scare some reviewers into removing their posts, it’s often groundless intimidation that could expose your business to counter-lawsuits.
• Review bombing: Some services offer to “bury” negative reviews by posting dozens of fake positive reviews. This directly violates the FTC’s rule on fake reviews and could result in fines of $51,744 per fake review. Even worse, Google’s spam filters will likely catch these fake reviews and remove them, along with your legitimate positive reviews.
• False reporting: These services submit fraudulent violation reports to Google, claiming reviews violate policies when they don’t. Google is increasingly sophisticated at detecting abuse of its reporting system, and repeated false reports can result in your business losing the ability to flag reviews at all.

Red Flags That a Review Removal Service Is a Scam

Any company that calls itself a “review removal service” is a scam. There are no legitimate review removal services because no one can guarantee they’ll remove your reviews.

If you encounter any of these warning signs, you’re dealing with a scam:

• Guarantees of removal: Legitimate services know they can’t guarantee Google will remove a review.
• Upfront payment for specific removals: Ethical reputation management companies charge for their time and expertise, not per review removed.
• Vague explanations of their process: If they won’t tell you exactly how they’ll attempt removal, it’s probably because their methods are unethical or illegal.
• Promises of “backdoor access” to Google: No one has special access to Google’s review team.
• Offering to post fake positive reviews: This is illegal under FTC rules.
• No physical address or verifiable business registration: Legitimate companies are transparent about who they are.

What Legitimate Reputation Management Services Actually Do

Instead of chasing down scam artists promising to delete reviews, businesses need reputation management companies. These are legitimate businesses that help you build and maintain a strong online presence through ethical, legal practices.

Review removal services promise to delete individual reviews (and can’t deliver). Reputation management companies help you build an overall positive reputation that makes individual negative reviews less impactful.

Here’s what legitimate reputation management companies actually do:

• Proper documentation and reporting: They’ll help you identify reviews that genuinely violate Google’s policies and submit documented removal requests with supporting evidence.
• Appeal assistance: If Google denies your removal request, legitimate services can help you craft a compelling appeal with the right documentation and reasoning.
• Response strategy: They’ll help you develop professional responses to negative reviews that demonstrate your commitment to customer service.
• Review generation programs: Legitimate services help you implement ethical programs to encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews, following all Google and FTC guidelines.
• Monitoring and alerts: They provide tools to monitor new reviews across all your locations so you can respond quickly.
• Legal consultation: For reviews that may constitute actual defamation, they can connect you with attorneys who specialize in internet defamation law.

Questions to Ask Before Hiring Any Reputation Management Service

Before you work with any company claiming they can help with negative reviews, ask:

• What specific methods will you use to attempt removal?
• Can you provide references from other businesses you’ve helped?
• What is your success rate, and how do you define success?
• Are you familiar with Google’s review policies and the FTC’s rules on fake reviews?
• What happens if the review isn’t removed?
• Do you guarantee compliance with all applicable laws and platform policies?

If the company can’t or won’t answer these questions clearly, walk away.

The only legitimate ways to remove a Google review are to report it through Google’s official channels or work with a reputation management company. Everything else is a scam.

Reputation management companies focus on building your overall reputation and managing your review ecosystem. “Review removal services” promise to delete specific reviews (which they can’t actually do legally). One is a sustainable business strategy. The other is a scam.

Managing Google Reviews for Multi-Location Businesses

If you operate multiple business locations, managing Google reviews becomes exponentially more complex. A single negative review can be challenging enough, but when you’re dealing with dozens or hundreds of locations, the stakes — and the workload — multiply quickly.

Here’s how multi-location businesses can effectively manage their Google reviews at scale.

The Unique Challenges of Multi-Location Review Management

When it comes to negative reviews and policy violations, multilocation businesses face several unique challenges:

• Volume and velocity: With multiple locations, problematic reviews come in simultaneously across different properties. A franchise with 50 locations might receive dozens of negative or policy-violating reviews per week, making it impossible to manually monitor and flag each one before they damage your reputation.
• Inconsistent performance: Different locations often perform differently. One location might rarely receive negative reviews while another struggles with customer satisfaction. Without centralized monitoring, you might not notice a location is in crisis until it’s too late.
• Response time expectations: Customers expect responses to negative reviews within days, not weeks. When negative reviews are spread across multiple locations, maintaining fast response times while also identifying and flagging policy violations becomes a logistical nightmare.
• Brand consistency: Responses to negative reviews need to maintain a consistent brand voice while also addressing location-specific issues. You can’t let one location manager respond defensively while another apologizes professionally — it makes your brand look disorganized.
• Policy violations across locations: Fake reviews, competitor sabotage, or review bombing can target multiple locations simultaneously. A disgruntled customer might leave the same negative review at 10 different locations they never visited. Without centralized monitoring, these attacks can go unnoticed for days or weeks.

Centralizing Review Management

The foundation of effective multilocation negative review management is centralization. You need a reputation management solution that allows you to monitor problematic reviews, flag policy violations, and respond appropriately across all locations from a single dashboard.

Not all reviews require the same level of attention. Set up systems to automatically flag reviews that need immediate attention, such as:

• One-star or two-star reviews
• Reviews mentioning specific issues (health concerns, safety, discrimination)
• Reviews that may violate Google’s policies
• Reviews from repeat customers

Decide whether review responses will be handled centrally by a corporate team or locally by individual location managers. Many successful multi-location businesses use a hybrid approach: location managers handle routine responses, while corporate handles crisis situations or potential policy violations.

Building Location-Specific Response Strategies

While maintaining brand consistency is important, the most effective review responses acknowledge location-specific context.

Develop templates for common scenarios with location-specific flexibility. For example:

Template structure: “Thank you for visiting [Location Name]. We apologize that your experience didn’t meet expectations. We take feedback about [specific issue] seriously and have shared your comments with our [location] team. We’d like to make this right — please contact us at [location phone/email].”

This maintains a consistent tone while allowing for location-specific personalization.

Empower local teams: Location managers often have context that corporate teams don’t. They might know that a reviewer is describing an incident that happened during a specific shift, or they might recognize a regular customer. Give local teams the authority to craft responses (with oversight) for reviews about their locations.

Track performance by location: Use review data to identify locations that need additional training or support. Track metrics that help you understand both overall performance and location-specific trends:

• Average rating by location and overall
• Review volume by location
• Response rate and average response time
• Percentage of reviews flagged for policy violations
• Sentiment trends over time
• Conversion of negative experiences to positive outcomes

If one location consistently receives complaints about cleanliness or wait times, that’s actionable intelligence for operations teams.

Handling Crisis Situations at Scale

Occasionally, you’ll face situations where multiple locations are affected by negative reviews simultaneously. This might happen due to national news coverage, product recalls, or social media controversies.

Ensure you have fast communication channels with all location managers. During a crisis, you may need to provide response guidelines or talking points within hours. Establish clear protocols for these situations:

• Who makes decisions about response strategy
• Whether to post uniform responses or location-specific ones
• How to coordinate with PR and legal teams
• When to escalate to executive leadership

Use a Tool to Monitor Your Reviews

While you can’t simply remove every poor Google review that comes your way, you can take defensive action. Your best bet is to stay on top of all your reviews — positive, negative, neutral, or fake. You want to be aware of reviews as they come in, so you can report inappropriate ones and respond to others so consumers feel like they can trust your business.

Chatmeter’s review monitoring tools make it easy to identify, escalate, and respond to every review. That’s exactly what Rise Brands did. They partnered with Chatmeter to boost their local search rankings, take charge of their online reviews, and ultimately increase the number of 5-star reviews on their pages. See how they did it, or book a demo to learn how Chatmeter could support your business.