How to Delete a Bad Yelp Review

6. Choose from a list of reasons for why you’re deleting the review.

Once you confirm, the review will be deleted immediately.

How to Edit a Yelp Review

A business can’t edit a review someone else posted, but a user can edit their own review after publishing.

You might want to do that if the company’s response or actions have changed your opinions from what you shared in your original review. Alternatively, you may have just spotted a few typos or want to add a bit more context to your original comments.

To edit an existing review, log in to your Yelp account and follow these steps:

1. Go to the Reviews section of your account.
2. Find the review you want to change and click “Edit.”
3. Make changes to your review.
4. Click “Post” to save changes and publish the edited version of your review.

How to Update a Yelp Review

A business also can’t update a review someone else posted about their company, but a user can update their review to add more information after publication.

You might want to do that if you’ve visited the same company several times but don’t want to leave multiple reviews. That way, your review will stay up-to-date and continue to provide an accurate impression of your experience with them.

To update a review, log into your Yelp account. Then:

• Go to the Reviews section of your account.
• Find the review you want to update, and click “Write an update.”
• Write your new review and add a new star rating based on your latest experience with that business.
• Click “Post” to publish the update to your Yelp review.

What Businesses Can Do About Bad Yelp Reviews

If you’re a business owner dealing with a bad Yelp review, you still have options, even if outright deletion isn’t (usually) one of them. Below are the most effective steps your business can take to address and reduce the impact of negative or fake reviews.

1. See if the Review Violates Yelp’s Guidelines

Start by checking whether the review breaks any of Yelp’s content rules. Yelp’s review removal guidelines are strict, but they do allow reviews to be taken down if they cross certain lines.

Here are some examples of reviews that may qualify for removal:

• Hate speech or discriminatory language
• Threats, harassment, or abusive behavior
• Reviews from someone who wasn’t an actual customer
• Conflicts of interest, like reviews from competitors or former employees
• Reviews that include private information (like names, phone numbers, or credit card details)
• Spam or promotional content that doesn’t reflect a real experience

If the review fits into one of these categories, there’s a chance you can get it removed by flagging it — which we’ll cover next.

2. Flag the Review for Removal

If you’ve identified a review that clearly violates Yelp’s policies, the next step is to flag it for removal. While Yelp doesn’t guarantee action, this is the only official way to request that a Yelp review be removed by its moderators.

Here’s how to flag a review from your business account:

1. Log in to your Yelp for Business account.
2. Go to your Business Page and scroll to the review in question.
3. Click the three dots next to the review.
4. Select “Report review.”
5. Choose the reason that best matches the policy violation and submit your report.

Once submitted, Yelp will evaluate the review based on its review removal policy. If it determines the content violates its guidelines, the review will either be removed or placed in the “Not Recommended” section. This process can take several days, and not all reports result in removal.

If the review stays up, don’t worry. There are still effective ways to respond to these reviews and dilute their overall impact.

3. Respond Publicly and Professionally

Even if you can’t get a bad Yelp review removed, you can respond to it in a way that can take the sting out of the criticism. This does not mean getting defensive or, worse, hostile (even if that may make you feel better), as this kind of response will only make your brand look worse.

Instead, write a thoughtful, professional reply that shows potential customers that you take feedback seriously, even when it’s negative. In some cases, this might even encourage the reviewer to revise or delete their original post.

Here are a few tips for responding to negative reviews effectively:

• Acknowledge the concern without being defensive.
• Clarify any misinformation calmly and factually.
• Offer to chat privately so you can make things right when possible.
• Keep it brief and courteous — remember, your reply is for future readers as much as the reviewer.

Here’s a hypothetical example of what that could look like. Let’s say you run a diner that just received this review:

“Waited 30 minutes for a table even though there were empty seats, and the server got our order wrong twice. Definitely not coming back.”

Here’s how a professional, reputation-protecting response might look:

Hi [Reviewer Name], we’re really sorry to hear about your recent experience. While we do our best to seat guests quickly, it sounds like we missed the mark that day — that’s not the kind of service we aim to provide. We’ve flagged your feedback with our team to make sure this doesn’t happen again. If you’re open to it, we’d love a chance to make it right — feel free to reach out to us directly at [contact info].

By responding in this way, the unhappy customer feels heard. It also shows potential customers that your business tries its best to give people great experiences and doesn’t shy away from constructive criticism.

4. Bury the Review With Better Ones

If Yelp won’t remove a bad review and your response doesn’t resolve it, your best move is to dilute its impact by generating more positive reviews. A steady flow of fresh, 4- and 5-star feedback can push that one negative review down the page — and shift your overall rating upward.

Here’s how to encourage more high-quality reviews:

• Deliver memorable experiences: Happy customers are more likely to leave positive reviews. Focus on the things that matter most — speed, service, product quality, and consistency — and the reviews will follow.
• Make your Yelp presence easy to find: While you shouldn’t ask for reviews, you can ensure your Yelp page is easy to access by keeping it updated, linking to it from your website, and embedding Yelp badges where appropriate.
• Stay compliant: Yelp prohibits review solicitation, including asking customers directly or offering incentives. Stick to great service and organic visibility to build a strong, sustainable reputation.

Of course, the easiest way to get more 5-star reviews is to do more of what your customers already love. That’s where Chatmeter’s reputation management platform can help your business succeed on Yelp. With features like Pulse AI and Signals, you can analyze review sentiment at scale, uncover patterns in customer feedback, and pinpoint what’s working — and what’s not — across every location.

By improving what customers care about most — whether it’s wait times, staff friendliness, or product quality — you naturally increase your chances of earning positive reviews. And when satisfied customers decide to leave feedback on their own, they’ll have great things to say.

Tactics You Shouldn’t Use With Yelp Reviews

No one likes bad reviews, but sometimes you need to live with them. The risk of certain unethical tactics will likely do more harm than good to both your reputation and your Yelp standing.

Here are a few strategies to avoid:

• Paying for review removal: Yelp doesn’t allow businesses to pay for review removal, and neither do legitimate third-party partners. Any Yelp review removal service is, at best, a waste of your budget and, at worst, a risk for having your business flagged for suspicious activity.
• Asking customers to leave Yelp reviews: Unlike other platforms, Yelp has strict policies against review solicitation. That means you can’t directly ask customers for reviews — even happy ones. Doing so may trigger Yelp’s filters, causing genuine reviews to be hidden or flagged.
• Faking or manipulating reviews: Don’t ask employees, friends, or family to write reviews. Don’t write them yourself. And don’t try to bury competitors with fake negatives. Yelp actively monitors for this kind of behavior, and it could lead to a consumer alert on your profile or a drop in visibility.
• Gaming the system: Trying to get around Yelp’s process by deleting and recreating your business listing, review gating, or mass reporting valid reviews will only hurt you. Yelp’s filters are designed to catch manipulation — the damage to your credibility can be hard to undo.

If a review truly violates Yelp’s guidelines, go ahead and flag it. Otherwise, focus on long-term reputation building so your positive Yelp reviews far outweigh your negatives.

How Chatmeter Can Help You Stay Ahead of Bad Yelp Reviews

Manually managing Yelp reviews can quickly become overwhelming. Chatmeter gives you the tools to stay on top of every review, respond faster, and turn feedback into actionable insights.

Here’s how Chatmeter helps you manage Yelp reviews more effectively:

• Track reviews in real time: Monitor Yelp feedback across every business location from a single dashboard, so you never miss an opportunity to engage or de-escalate a situation.
• Spot high-risk issues before they escalate: Chatmeter’s Risk Monitoring tool uses AI to flag reviews that mention harassment, discrimination, safety concerns, or other reputation threats, giving you a head start on crisis prevention.
• Understand the “why” behind your reviews: Tools like Pulse AI and Signals break down customer sentiment and surface themes in your reviews so you can know exactly what’s driving good (or bad) reviews at each location.
• Respond at scale, without losing the human touch: Draft, review, and even use AI to generate personalized responses to Yelp reviews across all locations in one place.
• Drive more positive feedback naturally: When you understand what customers love, better reviews follow. Chatmeter helps you make those improvements faster by turning review data into operational insights.

With Chatmeter, you don’t have to scramble when a negative review appears. You’ll have the tools to stay ahead of problems and build a stronger, more consistent brand reputation.

Bad Yelp Reviews Don’t Need to be Bad for Business

Not every negative review is worth losing sleep over, especially when you have the right strategy in place. By understanding Yelp’s review policies, responding with professionalism, and using real-time insights to improve your customer experience, you can protect your brand and even turn a bad review into a trust-building moment.

If you’re managing dozens or even hundreds of locations, keeping up with reviews doesn’t have to be manual or reactive. Chatmeter gives you the visibility, automation, and AI-powered insights you need to manage Yelp reviews at scale.

Ready to take control of your online reputation? Book a demo to see how Chatmeter can help you stay one step ahead of every review.