Fake reviews are more common than most business owners realise. They come from competitors trying to damage your reputation, disgruntled former employees, review manipulation services hired by rival businesses, and occasionally from individuals with personal grievances unrelated to your actual services. Knowing what to do when you receive one is essential — the wrong response can make the situation significantly worse.
The instinctive reaction to a fake review is often to respond defensively or confrontationally. This almost always backfires. A heated public exchange draws more attention to the review, makes your business look unprofessional, and rarely achieves anything useful. Before you do anything else, take time to gather information and assess the situation objectively.
If the review is clearly fake — from someone who has never used your business — your goal is removal, not engagement. Responding publicly before the review is removed gives it unnecessary visibility and can complicate the removal process.
Not every negative review is a fake review. The two require completely different responses. Before assuming a review is fabricated, look for the following indicators:
Before you flag or report the review, document it thoroughly. Take screenshots that capture the full review text, the reviewer name and profile, the review date, and the star rating. Note down any contextual information — did this review appear shortly after a staff dismissal, a competitor opened nearby, or a business dispute escalated?
This documentation serves two purposes: it supports your removal request, and it creates a record in case the situation escalates to a legal dispute. Platforms respond better to removal requests that are specific and evidence-backed rather than vague complaints.
Each platform has its own content policies and removal processes. Understanding what each platform will and will not remove is essential before investing time in a case that will not succeed.
Google removes reviews that violate its content policies — including fake content, spam, off-topic reviews, conflicts of interest, and reviews containing restricted content. The reporting process is done directly from your Google Business Profile dashboard. Google does not remove negative reviews simply because the business disagrees with them.
Learn more →Trustpilot has an active Trust and Safety team and a formal flagging system. Reviews violating their guidelines — including fabricated reviews, reviews about the wrong business, and content with prohibited material — can be formally reported. Trustpilot also has a Consumer Investigation process for suspected coordinated fake review activity.
Learn more →Yelp uses automated and manual filtering systems. Reviews suspected of bias are moved to a "not recommended" section rather than fully removed. Reporting a review through Yelp's business owner tools can trigger a manual review. Yelp is more conservative in its removals than some other platforms.
Learn more →Sitejabber allows businesses to dispute reviews that violate their guidelines. Evidence of a fake account or fraudulent review can be submitted directly to their support team for investigation.
Learn more →Once you have confirmed the review is fake and gathered your evidence, submit a formal removal request through the platform's official reporting mechanism. Do not try to circumvent the official process — platforms respond to structured, evidence-backed requests made through proper channels.
When submitting your request, be specific. Do not just say "this review is fake." Explain exactly why you believe it violates the platform's policies, reference the specific policy section if possible, and attach any supporting evidence. The quality of your initial request significantly affects the outcome.
Platform responses to removal requests are inconsistent. Many legitimate requests are initially declined or simply go unacknowledged. This is not the end of the process. Follow up after seven to ten days if you have not received a response. If your request is declined, review the grounds for rejection, strengthen your case with additional evidence, and resubmit.
For cases involving clear defamation or coordinated fake review campaigns, escalation to higher levels of the platform's Trust and Safety or Legal teams is sometimes necessary. This is an area where professional representation makes a meaningful difference — the escalation routes and the language that gets results are not obvious from the outside.
While you work through the removal process — which can take weeks — there is a parallel strategy that is often just as effective: generating enough genuine positive reviews to dilute the impact of the fake ones. A single 1-star review is highly visible when you have 15 total reviews. It is much less significant when you have 150.
A structured review generation process — systematically asking real customers to share their experiences — is one of the highest-impact things a business can do for its online reputation. Our Google review growth service and Trustpilot review service both support this approach alongside any removal work.
The more genuine reviews you have, the more resilient your rating is to attack. Read our article on how Google ratings affect local search rankings for more context on the importance of review volume.
Some situations warrant professional assistance rather than a DIY approach. If you are dealing with a coordinated fake review campaign from a competitor, multiple reviews across several platforms, reviews with defamatory content that could expose you to reputational or legal risk, or you have already tried the self-service route without success — working with a specialist service significantly improves your chances of a successful outcome.
Fix Business Reviews handles fake review removal across Google, Trustpilot, and other platforms. We assess your case, prepare the documentation, manage the submission process, and follow up until every avenue has been exhausted. See our Google review removal service or Trustpilot review removal service for more information.
Some can be removed through the platform's official process. Reviews that clearly violate content policies are removable when a well-evidenced case is submitted. However, not every fake review will be removed — platforms make judgment calls and sometimes decline even legitimate requests. Building positive review volume alongside removal efforts is always recommended.
In cases of clear defamation — where a false statement of fact causes harm to your business — legal action may be possible. This is generally a last resort due to the cost and complexity involved, but for serious cases involving coordinated attacks, it is worth exploring with a solicitor experienced in defamation law.
Only report reviews you have genuine grounds to believe violate platform policies. Flagging reviews simply because they are negative — without a policy violation — can result in your reports being deprioritised. Be selective and evidence-backed in what you report.
If you decide to respond publicly before removal, keep it brief and professional. Acknowledge that you cannot find any record of this customer's experience, invite them to contact you directly, and do not speculate about who posted the review or why. See our guide on responding to negative reviews for detailed guidance.
This type of coordinated attack is taken seriously by platforms, particularly when you can demonstrate a pattern. Document everything, report each review individually with specific policy violations cited, and consider escalating to the platform's Trust and Safety team. Professional representation is particularly valuable in these cases.
Get a free assessment. We will review your situation and tell you exactly which reviews have grounds for removal.