Can You Get a Fake or Bad Google Review Removed?

You can get a fake or bad Google review removed only if it breaks Google's policies: fakes do, but genuine bad reviews told respectfully don't. As of October 2026, UK business owners can report or reply to someone else's review on their own Google Business Profile, but can't delete it. Report a Google review for the rule it breaks, never because it's negative or unfair.

Only Google or the reviewer can delete a review

Google. Google takes a review off a Google Business Profile in one of two ways: after a report it agrees with, or through its own automated spam detection.
The reviewer. The person who wrote a Google review can edit or delete it from their own Google account.

Google's automated spam detection also removes some reviews without anyone reporting them, and now and then it takes genuine ones down by mistake. That's usually why Google reviews disappear from a profile.

What Google removes

The rules a review can break are in Google's prohibited and restricted content policy. These are the seven worth knowing, using Google's own names for them:

Fake engagement. A Google review counts as fake engagement if it isn't based on a real experience, was paid for or rewarded, or was posted on a competitor's profile to damage its reputation.
Rating manipulation. Rating manipulation includes Google reviews based on a conflict of interest, such as reviews from current or former staff, family, competitors or anyone with a contractual or business relationship, and they can come down even when nothing was paid.
Harassment, hate speech and offensive content. Google reviews that threaten someone, attack people or groups, or make unsubstantiated allegations of unethical behaviour or criminal wrongdoing fall under harassment, hate speech and offensive content.
Personal information. A Google review that posts someone's personal information without their consent breaks the personal information policy.
Off-topic. A Google review is off-topic if it's general, political or social commentary or a personal rant, rather than an experience at the business.
Advertising, solicitation and repetitive content. Advertising, solicitation and repetitive content covers Google reviews that promote something, include email addresses, phone numbers or links, or are the same text posted again and again.
Obscenity and profanity. Swearing or obscenity in a Google review breaks the obscenity and profanity policy when it's used to offend people or to emphasise criticism.

What stays up

A genuine bad experience told respectfully. A Google review that describes a genuine bad experience respectfully stays up, however unfair it feels to the owner.
A review you disagree with. A Google review the business owner simply disagrees with stays up, because Google doesn't get involved in conflict between businesses and customers.

Frustrating, I know. But a few fair complaints among plenty of good reviews are what make the good ones believable.

And if a review really does break one of those rules, reporting it takes a minute.

How do you report a Google review?

Report a Google review by selecting Read reviews on your Google Business Profile and then Report next to the review. Pick the reason that matches the policy it breaks, then select Send report. The other route is the Reviews Management Tool, Google's page for reporting, tracking and appealing reviews. Both routes need the Google account that manages the profile. Report each review separately, even in a run of fakes. A review from someone who never dealt with the business isn't based on a real experience, so report it on that basis, not as a lie.

You can report any review, but only reviews that break Google's policies are eligible for removal, so the reason you choose is the bit that matters. Here are the steps from your Google Business Profile:

Go to your Google Business Profile.
Select Read reviews.
Next to the review, select Report.
Select the reason that matches the rule the review breaks (Google's own examples are 'Spam' and 'Profanity').
Select Send report.

Prefer the Reviews Management Tool? Open it and select Confirm if the email address shown is the one linked to your Google Business Profile (Switch account if it isn't). Select your business, then Continue, Report a new review for removal and Continue again. Select Report next to the review, choose the reason in the new tab and select Submit. The same tool is where you check a report's status and make your one-time appeal, which the next two sections cover.

"It's a lie" feels like the obvious reason to report a review, but Google doesn't referee what happened between a business and a customer. When "it's a lie" has a rule behind it, report the rule:

Never a customer. If the reviewer never dealt with the business at all, the review isn't based on a real experience, which is fake engagement.
A competitor or an ex-employee. A review a competitor posts to damage your reputation is fake engagement, and one from current or former staff is a conflict of interest.
An accusation of a crime with nothing behind it. A review accusing you or your staff of a crime or of unethical behaviour, with nothing to back it up, is an unsubstantiated allegation, and that counts as offensive content.

Beyond reporting it, a false and serious accusation is a question for a solicitor, not an SEO.

If one account is behind a run of fake reviews, you can report the reviewer's whole profile as well. In the Google Maps app, tap Business, then Reviews, tap the reviewer's name, then More and Report, and pick a reason.

Keep a record as you go: a screenshot of each review, and a note of what you reported it for and when.

Whether Google catches fake reviews on its own, what happens to businesses caught with them and what UK law says about fake reviews are all in should you buy Google reviews?

Tedious? A bit. One review, one report, one rule.

After that it's a waiting game, and the Reviews Management Tool is where you keep an eye on it.

How long does Google take to remove a reported review?

Google usually takes several days to decide whether to remove a reported review. You can check the status of your report in the Reviews Management Tool, Google's page for reporting reviews on a Google Business Profile and following their progress. The three statuses a report can show are Decision pending, Report reviewed: no policy violation, and Escalated: check your email for updates. A reported review that breaks Google's policies is removed and no longer shows on Google Maps and Search, while one marked no policy violation stays up and is open to a one-time appeal.

Here's what each status means:

Decision pending in Google's Reviews Management Tool means the review has been reported but hasn't been evaluated yet.
Report reviewed: no policy violation in Google's Reviews Management Tool means the review was evaluated and no policy violation was found, so it stays up, though you can submit a one-time appeal if you disagree.
Escalated: check your email for updates in Google's Reviews Management Tool means an appeal has been escalated and the final decision will come by email.

You'll notice none of the three says "removed". A reported review that breaks a policy comes down and stops showing on Google Maps and Search, so check your profile itself, not just the tool.

Other pages give confident day counts, and they don't agree with each other. "Several days" is the honest answer, and it's the only figure worth going by. It's a guide, not a deadline. And refreshing the tool every hour won't hurry it along.

While you wait, reply to the review calmly, in case it stays up. Then you're covered whichever way it goes. There's more on writing that reply further down, in the section on replying to a Google review that won't be removed.

If it comes back as no policy violation, you get one more go.

Can you appeal if Google won't remove a review?

Yes, you can appeal once if Google won't remove a review, because a one-time appeal from the Reviews Management Tool gets the review assessed again. In the tool, check the status of the review you reported, choose Appeal eligible reviews, select up to 10 reviews and fill in the form. The result of the appeal comes by email: a review that breaks Google's policies is removed, and one that complies stays live.

It's a one-time appeal, so don't spend it on how unfair the review feels. Three things belong in the form:

The policy it breaks. An appeal against a Google review should name the policy the review breaks, in the policy's own wording, not "it's unfair" or "it's a lie".
The words that break it. The appeal should quote the part of the review that breaks that policy, word for word, so nobody has to guess which line you mean.
Your evidence. Evidence for the appeal goes in the form as plain facts: for a reviewer who was never a customer, say you have no record of them and give the dates, such as when the review went up and how far back you checked.

Got a run of fakes that all came back with no policy violation found? They can go into one appeal, because you can select up to 10 reviews.

One quirk worth knowing. If the appeal finds a review complies, it stays live, and its status in Google's Reviews Management Tool still shows as Escalated: check your email for updates. So don't wait for the tool to say no. The email is where the answer is.

If the email says it stays and you're still sure it breaks a policy, take it to Google Business Profile support with your screenshots of each review and what you reported it as, plus the appeal email. Keep the lot together, with dates, so you can show what happened rather than describe it. It's the same route I give in what to do if a competitor leaves fake negative Google reviews, which also covers the signs a review is fake and a reply that reads as fair whether the review comes down or not.

Will that get it removed? I can't promise it will, and I'm not going to make up odds. Worth asking. Not worth banking on.

And while it's still up, the reply underneath it is the part you control.

How should you reply to a Google review that won't be removed?

A reply to a Google review that won't be removed should be short and calm, written for the next customer, not the reviewer. Own genuine mistakes, explain what you couldn't control, invite them to call or email, keep their details private and sign it. For a suspected fake, say you have no record of them and ask them to call; never accuse, because you can't prove who wrote it. Don't bury the review by asking only happy customers, because selectively asking for positive reviews is rating manipulation; ask every customer. IvI SEO's Local Signal Ratings, Jack's scores out of 10 for 33 local ranking signals, put replying to reviews at 6.5 against 9.5 for the star rating, so a reply's main job is to win the next customer, not rankings.

Here's how that plays out on a review that's genuine but feels unfair. A made-up one, for a small removals firm:

Quoted us half a day, took all day, and we paid for every extra hour. Felt like a rip-off.

From the firm's side, the hourly rate was in the quote and the customer agreed to it before the van turned up. It still stings. Here's a reply that owns what's fair without picking a fight over the rest (also made up):

Sorry the move ran so far over, and sorry we didn't ring you at lunchtime to warn you. We should have. We quote by the hour because no two moves take the same time, so the extra hours were charged at that rate. I'd still like to talk it through, so please give me a ring on the number on this profile. Gemma

It owns the slip (nobody rang), explains the limit once and calmly, and offers a call that doesn't depend on the review changing. No names, no prices, no addresses. And the next person reading it now knows how the quotes work, which heads off the same row before it starts.

If the complaint is fair, fix the cause as well as the reply. One grumble among plenty of good reviews is just life. The same complaint again and again is what drags a star rating down. If review after review said the move overran with no warning, the answer wouldn't be a better-worded reply. It would be a lunchtime phone call on every job.

For a review you're fairly sure is fake, and that's survived the appeal, use the same reply as in my Google reviews guide, word for word:

We can't find any record of you as a customer, and we'd like to look into this. Please call us on the number on this profile so we can put it right. Alex

(Sign it with your own name, obviously.) It doesn't call anyone a liar. It says what you know, that there's no record of them, and leaves the door open in case they're real. If they're not, the offer just sits there looking reasonable.

Both replies dodge the four things that make a bad review worse. Accusing is the big one: you can't prove who wrote it, and the next customer only sees a business arguing. Arguing back and forth is the same mistake in instalments, so say your piece once and leave it there. Putting the customer's details in public (what they bought, when you came out, where they live) has no place in a reply anyone can read. And offering anything for changing the review, whether that's a refund, money off or a free redo, turns putting things right into a reward. For the good reviews, and for editing a reply once it's posted, see what to say when you reply to Google reviews.

Could the reviewer still change it? They might, because a positive reply and follow-up may encourage someone to update their review. If they later update the review, that has to be their own choice. Fix the problem, not the review. (More on why rewards for changing a review aren't allowed.)

As for burying it, a "Loved it? Leave us a review" style of ask sounds harmless, but it only invites the happy ones. That's hand-picking who reviews you, and rating manipulation just means skewing a rating, whether by rewards or by choosing who gets asked. Keep asking every customer the same way, with nothing offered, whether that's a text, an email or a Google review QR code on a card. The bad review stays either way. What changes is whether everything around it is a fair picture.

Which leaves the people offering to make it disappear for a fee.

How much does it cost to remove a Google review?

It costs nothing to remove a Google review that breaks Google's policies, because reporting it to Google is free. Google removes only reviews that break its policies, whoever reports them, so paying someone can't make Google take a genuine review down. When a sudden run of 1-star and 2-star Google reviews is followed by a demand for money, goods or services to remove them, that's extortion. Don't pay, because paying can invite more demands and doesn't guarantee the reviews come down. Gather screenshots of every demand and report the attempt with Google's merchant extortion report form.

There's nothing to pay for the report itself: it's the Report button from the reporting steps earlier on this page. Nobody, paid or not, can change the rule that only reviews breaking Google's policies come down.

Reporting is free. Google's decision isn't for sale.

Paying the reviewer is off the table too. A refund or a freebie offered in exchange for changing or removing a review is an incentive (anything of value given in return for a review), and that isn't allowed. Refunding an unhappy customer with no strings attached is still fine. The condition is what turns a refund into a reward. I've gone through offering a refund to change or remove a Google review in more detail.

Extortion is a different beast, with its own route. Don't message the people making the demands and don't pay them. Don't try to sort it out yourself by offering money or services either. Gather the evidence straight away, then report it with the merchant extortion report form (Google's form for reporting review extortion), which you'll find on Google's page about review extortion scams. Here's what to gather:

Screenshots of every demand. Screenshot each message demanding money or favours to remove reviews, whether it came by email, WhatsApp, Telegram or social media, and make sure it shows the date, the time and who sent it, as far as you can.
Links to the suspicious reviews. Copy a direct link to every review you think is part of the extortion attempt.
Who's behind the demands. Note any names, usernames, email addresses, phone numbers or social media profiles tied to the people making the demands.
When it started. Write down when you first noticed the sudden run of bad reviews and when the first demand arrived.

Put all of it in the form. Google investigates and lets you know the result, though it can't share the details. No promise the reviews come down, mind.

The form is for an actual demand for money or favours. A review that breaks the rules with no demand attached goes through the normal report.

And don't call it extortion in a public reply. However sure you are, that's an accusation. Save the word for the form.

You can do every bit of this yourself without paying anyone. If keeping up with it is the hard part, help is the other route.

Can you get help with the reviews Google won't remove?

Yes, you can get help with the reviews Google won't remove, because what's left is replying well and asking every customer, not removal. IvI SEO's local SEO service can handle the replies, the honest review requests to every customer and the rest of the Google Business Profile. Neither doing it yourself nor getting help can promise that a review comes down or that the star rating reaches a particular number.

The do-it-yourself route covers everything in this article. Report each review that breaks a policy, use the one-time appeal if Google won't remove one, reply calmly to whatever stays up and keep asking every customer the same way, with nothing offered. None of it is complicated. The catch is that it never really finishes: there's always another request to send, and sooner or later another review to answer. (Yes, that's a whole article on how not to need me. I'll work on the sales bit.)

Getting help means keeping on top of it becomes my job instead of yours. The replies get written and the review requests go out to every customer after every job, as one part of your local SEO rather than another chore on your list. No magic, just the dull bits done properly.

If you'd rather hand it over, here's what IvI SEO's local SEO service covers. If not, you've already got the lot.

Either way, report the rule-breaking and reply to the criticism.