How to Delete a Google Review

Did you know that a staggering 93% of customers check online reviews before deciding to buy from a local business? Reviews often serve as the first impression potential customers get of your brand.

The experience of your current customers directly influences your ability to attract new ones, making it essential for businesses to actively manage and ensure the accuracy of their reviews.

Wouldn’t it be great if every customer left fair and accurate reviews? Absolutely — but that’s not always the reality. Anyone can post a review, including unhappy former employees or competitors posing as customers, which means your business could be vulnerable to fake reviews.

If you’re worried, there’s no need to panic! While it’s crucial to focus on collecting positive reviews to balance any negative ones, if you believe your business has been unfairly reviewed, we’ll show you how to remove a Google review.

How to Remove a Google Review If It’s Faked or Violates Google Guidelines

Unfortunately, there are a lot of businesses on Google that get fake reviews. Google’s review policy outlines 10 types of reviews that violate the policy, which can lead to reviews being removed if flagged. The following are examples of prohibited reviews:

1. Posting of spam and fake content with the intent of manipulating ratings. Posting multiple times, coming from multiple accounts, is part of this practice.
2. Posts that are off-topic in nature or are of a general nature, such as political commentary.
3. The promotion of actions or purchases that are in violation of local laws. Restricted content may include advertisements for drugs, firearms, alcohol, gambling, or adult services.
4. Legal or depict illegal activity, such as copyrighted content, endangered animal products, graphic violence, and human trafficking.
5. Acts of terrorism.
6. Any form of sexually explicit conduct or sexual exploitation of children.
7. Explicitly offensive, obscene, or profane.
8. Harassment, intimidation, or incitement to hatred.
9. Making false representations or impersonating others.
10. False or biased statements. It also includes posting reviews of your own business (or asking an employee to do it on your behalf), and trying to manipulate ratings from competitors.

The following are tips on how you can flag a Google review that violates the policy and have it removed:

1. Log in to your Google My Business account.
2. From the menu, select Reviews and choose your business location.
3. You can do so by finding the review you wish to flag, clicking the 3-dot menu, then clicking Flag as inappropriate.

How to Remove a Google Review by Asking the Author to Do So

Reviews on Google do not last forever. Initially, you need to convince the reviewer to change their opinion before they are willing to delete or alter their review.

It is possible that the customer left a poor review because something went wrong, such as slow service, an ineffective manager, or defective products. This type of review can usually be corrected. A possible strategy is to follow these steps:

• Contact the individual. Offer your appreciation and apologise for the error. Tell them that the problem has been resolved and you would like to make it up to them by offering them a special offer to make it up to them.
• Please ensure that you deliver what you have promised. Maintain a friendly attitude and thank customers for visiting or making use of your services.
• Finally, follow up with them and ask them if they would be willing to alter their review. Provide instructions on how to review, and explain why reviews are important.

A review can be edited or deleted by anyone with a Google account. Some customers might not be aware of how exactly they can edit or delete their reviews. Share this information with them so they can easily complete the process.

• Customers need to launch Google Maps on their computers or devices.
• Click the Menu button (3 horizontal lines) at the top left.
• Click on Your contributions, and then click Reviews.
• Click on the More (3 dots) link next to their business review.
• Select either Delete or Edit from the options and follow the instructions.

How to Reply to a Negative Review on Google

Brands often feel pressured to delete negative reviews, but there are smarter ways to improve your online reputation. By using alternative strategies, you can reshape customer perceptions and build a stronger approach to attract and retain more clients.

Don’t let negative feedback bring you down — use it as an opportunity to understand your customers better and improve their experience.. These are some tried-and-true damage control tips:

• Don’t take negative reviews personally — they don’t define your business. If you’ve got plenty of positive feedback, don’t let a few bad reviews steal your focus. When faced with negativity, respond with positivity.
• Remember, others are watching, and a calm, helpful response can clear up misunderstandings. Defensiveness won’t change a critic’s mind — it will only harm your reputation.
• Own up to mistakes where it’s fair, but don’t take responsibility for things beyond your control. Instead, outline the steps you’re taking to fix the issue and prevent it from happening again.

How to Enhance the Positive when it comes to Google Reviews

Having a few negative reviews on Google might seem like a bad thing, but it’s actually beneficial. It shows authenticity — proving you didn’t just ask friends to write glowing reviews. Even top-rated businesses get some negative feedback, and that’s normal. You can’t please everyone, and some things are simply beyond your control.

Instead of stressing over negative reviews, focus on gathering more positive ones. Collect customer contact info (with their permission) and follow up. Keep your message short, personalized, and include a link to your Google reviews page for easy access.

To save time, you can automate this process using tools like Pluspoint, which sends review requests automatically while you focus on running your business. This can help boost your ranking and star rating over time.