How to remove a Google review from your Business Profile

Step 1: Check the review actually breaks a policy

This step decides the outcome, so do it before you report. Google's content policy covers things like:

• Fake engagement (no real experience)
• Conflict of interest (a competitor, ex-employee or family member)
• Incentivized reviews
• Off-topic rants
• Advertising
• Harassment and hate speech
• Profanity
• Personal information
• Impersonation

Harsh, unfair or one-star reviews aren't on the list. Google tells owners not to report a review just because they disagree with it.

The quickest way to check is the free removal checker. Pick what's wrong with the review and it names the policy it appears to break and gives you wording to use in the report, or tells you Google won't remove it. The review removal guide covers the full list.

Step 2: Report the review

Google's help page gives two routes. Both are free.

Option A: From your Business Profile

1. Go to your Business Profile.
2. Select Read reviews.
3. Next to the review, select Report.
4. Choose the reason, for example "Spam" or "Profanity".
5. Select Send report.

Option B: From the Reviews Management Tool (keeps a status you can check)

1. Open Google's Reviews Management Tool.
2. If the email shown is the one linked to your Business Profile, select Confirm. If not, use Switch account.
3. Select your business.
4. Select Continue, then Report a new review for removal, then Continue.
5. Next to the review, select Report.
6. In the new tab, choose the reason and select Submit.

Choose the reason that matches the policy the review breaks. Report it once from your own account. Google's fake-engagement policy covers content posted from several accounts at one person's request, so don't get friends to report it too.

Step 3: Track the status

Google says evaluation typically takes several days. Go back to the Reviews Management Tool to see one of these statuses:

• Decision pending: flagged, not yet evaluated.
• Report reviewed – no policy violation: Google found no violation.
• Escalated – check your email for updates: your appeal is being decided, and the result comes by email.

Step 4: Use your one-time appeal, if you have a real policy point

If the status says no policy violation, Google allows a one-time appeal:

1. In the Reviews Management Tool, confirm your email and select your business.
2. Select Continue, then Check the status of a review I reported previously and appeal options, then Continue.
3. At the bottom, select Appeal eligible reviews. You can select up to 10.
4. Select Continue, then Submit an appeal, then fill in the form and submit.

Google emails you the result. If the review breaks policy, it's removed. If not, it stays.

When the normal report isn't the right route

• Someone wants money or favours to take reviews down: use Google's extortion report form and attach screenshots of the demands. Google's advice is not to pay or engage.
• A user profile keeps posting bad content: in the Google Maps app, go to Business, then Reviews, tap the reviewer's name, then More, then Report.
• You suspect the review is fake: see how to spot and report fake Google reviews.

If the review stays up

If the review is a real customer's honest account, it will stay. The thing you control is the public reply underneath it, which future customers read alongside the complaint. Google's own tips for replying to negative reviews are to protect privacy, be honest, apologize where appropriate, personalize the reply and respond promptly. There's a four-part reply structure in how to respond to negative Google reviews.

Questions

Can a business owner delete a Google review?

No. An owner can't delete a review someone else wrote. The owner can report it, and Google removes it only if it violates Google's content policies.

Is it possible to remove a bad Google review?

Only if it breaks a policy, for example if it's fake, from a competitor or ex-employee, off-topic, abusive or contains personal information. A negative review from a real customer isn't a policy violation.

Can you remove a Google review from someone else?

Not directly. Google's Maps help says you can't delete someone else's review. You can only ask Google to remove it by reporting it.

Can I remove a review once I've posted it?

Yes, if you wrote it. Delete it from your own Google Maps account. See how to delete a Google review you wrote.

Can I pay someone to remove a Google review?

Google's help pages describe no paid route. A service can only use the same report form and appeal you have, and offering reviewers anything to change or remove a review breaks Google's policy.