You can’t delete a Google review yourself, even from your own Business Profile. You can report it, and Google removes it only if it breaks Google’s rules. A review being harsh or unfair isn’t enough on its own.
So the real job for a trade business is working out which kind of review you’ve got. Then you take the right route for it. This guide covers each one.
Do this first
- Don’t reply in anger. Wait until you’ve checked your records.
- Read Google’s list below and decide whether the review breaks a rule.
- If it does, report it from your Business Profile.
- If it doesn’t, write a calm reply. It’s for the next customer reading it.
- If someone wants money to take reviews down, don’t pay. Report it to Google.
On this page
- Can you delete a Google review?
- Which reviews Google will remove
- Which reviews Google won’t remove
- Common trade reviews and what to do
- How to report a Google review
- Fake Google reviews
- When a review is defamatory
- When the review is genuine: reply to it
- Can the customer change or delete their review?
- Be careful with review removal companies
- Questions trades ask about removing Google reviews
- Reviews are one part of getting found
Can you delete a Google review?
No. Only the person who wrote a review can edit or delete it. As the business owner you can report it, and Google decides.
Google says you can report any review, but “only those that violate Google policies are eligible for removal”. It also says not to report a review just because you disagree with it or dislike it. In its words, Google “doesn’t get involved in conflict between businesses and customers”.
Which reviews Google will remove
These are the main types Google’s content policy says it removes, in plain terms:
- Fake reviews. Not based on a real experience with your business.
- Paid or rewarded reviews. Paid for in money or in kind.
- Several reviews from one person posted from different accounts.
- Conflict of interest. For example a competitor, a former employee or a relative.
- Unusual surges. A burst of reviews that looks like someone trying to move your rating.
- Harassment, hate speech or threats.
- Personal information. For example someone’s phone number or home address.
- Off-topic reviews. Not about an experience with your business.
- Profanity, sexual content or adverts.
Which reviews Google won’t remove
A genuine bad experience, told politely, stays up. Google’s policy says it allows “content that describes negative experiences in a respectful manner”.
That covers most one-star reviews a trade gets. The customer thought the price was high, or the job took longer than they expected. You might think it’s unfair. If it’s their real experience and it isn’t abusive, Google will leave it. Reporting it won’t change that.
Common trade reviews and what to do
| The review | What to do |
|---|---|
| Says the price was too high or the job ran over, told politely | Reply. Google allows negative experiences told respectfully. |
| From someone you quoted but didn’t work for | Usually reply. A quote visit is a real experience with your business, so we wouldn’t expect Google to remove it. That’s our view, not Google’s. |
| From someone you’ve no record of | Report it as fake. Say in any appeal that you’ve no record of them. |
| From a competitor, an ex-employee or a relative | Report it as a conflict of interest. |
| Shows your phone number or home address | Report it as personal information. |
| Swearing, threats or abuse aimed at you or your team | Report it as profanity or harassment. |
| Meant for a different firm with a similar name | Report it as off-topic. Google says reviews should be about an experience at that business. |
| A run of one-star reviews, then a demand for money | Don’t pay. Use Google’s extortion report form. |
| A false claim of fact, for example that you’re not Gas Safe registered when you are | Look at Google’s legal removal route and speak to a solicitor first. |
How to report a Google review
From your Business Profile:
- Go to your Business Profile.
- Select Read reviews.
- Next to the review, select Report.
- Pick the reason, for example “Spam” or “Profanity”.
- Select Send report.
Google says checking a report “typically takes several days”.
Check your report in the Reviews Management Tool
Google’s Reviews Management Tool lets you report a review and check where your report has got to. It shows one of three statuses:
- Decision pending. Google hasn’t made a decision yet.
- Report reviewed – no policy violation. Google looked and is leaving it up.
- Escalated – check your email for updates. You’ve appealed and the answer comes by email.
Appeal once if you disagree
If Google decides a review doesn’t break its rules, you get one appeal.
- Open the Reviews Management Tool and select your business.
- Choose to check the status of a review you reported before.
- Select Appeal eligible reviews.
- Pick the reviews to appeal. You can pick up to 10.
- Fill in the form and submit it.
Google emails you the result. If it still finds no breach, the review stays.
Make the appeal count. Say which rule the review breaks and why. If you’ve got no record of the person ever being a customer, say so.
Fake Google reviews
Fake reviews come at a trade from two directions. Someone posts them about you. Or someone offers to sell them to you.
Fake bad reviews on your profile
A review from someone who was never a customer counts as fake under Google’s rules. So does a run of reviews posted to drag your rating down. Report each one with the closest reason. Check your job records first, so you can say in an appeal that they weren’t a customer.
Someone wants money to stop the reviews
Some scams start with a sudden run of one and two star reviews. Then a message arrives demanding money to take them down. Google has a separate report form for this.
Google’s advice:
- Don’t reply to them and don’t pay. Google says paying “doesn’t guarantee the removal of reviews”.
- Screenshot every message straight away, with the date, time and sender showing.
- Copy the links to each suspicious review.
- Report it on Google’s merchant extortion form, from its help page on review extortion scams.
Buying reviews for yourself
Don’t. It breaks Google’s rules and UK law.
When Google finds a business has broken its fake engagement rules, it can stop the profile getting new reviews for a set period. It can hide the existing reviews for a while. It can put a warning on the profile saying fake reviews were removed. In January 2025 Google agreed with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to put warnings on UK businesses that boost their rating with fake reviews.
Since 6 April 2025 the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 has banned these practices in the UK:
- writing or paying for fake reviews
- rewarded reviews that hide the reward
- showing reviews in a misleading way, for example hiding the bad ones and keeping the good
- offering a service that helps a business do any of that
That last point matters. Anyone selling you reviews is breaking the law too. For what the CMA is doing about it now, see the CMA’s fake reviews investigation.
When a review is defamatory
Some reviews go further than a bad opinion. They make false claims of fact that could damage your business. Google has a separate legal removal route for that, on its legal help pages, where you can report content that defames you or your business. It’s a different process from a policy report. Google says a policy report “does not serve as legal notice”.
If you think a review is defamatory, speak to a solicitor before you do anything else.
When the review is genuine: reply to it
Most bad reviews are genuine and won’t come down. A calm, polite reply is the next best thing. We’ve covered how to write one, with replies you can copy, in how to get Google reviews.
Can the customer change or delete their review?
Yes. Only the person who wrote it can edit or delete it, from their own Google account. If they were unhappy about a problem you’ve since put right, you can ask whether they’d look at their review again. Don’t push.
Never offer anything for it. Google’s rules ban any reward, like a discount or free work, for changing or removing a negative review.
Be careful with review removal companies
You’ll get messages from companies offering to remove bad reviews for a fee. Be careful. Google removes reviews that break its rules, and it has a separate legal route for defamation. You can use both yourself.
Questions trades ask about removing Google reviews
How long does Google take to remove a review?
Google says checking a reported review typically takes several days. If you appeal, Google emails you the result.
A competitor left me a bad review. Will Google remove it?
A review from a competitor is a conflict of interest under Google’s rules, so report it. Give Google as much detail as you can. Google decides whether it comes down.
Can I sue someone for a fake review?
That’s a legal question for a solicitor. Google has a legal route for defamatory content, separate from its normal reporting.
Will one bad review put customers off?
One bad review among good ones is normal. Google says a mix of positive and negative reviews often feels more trustworthy to people reading them. A calm reply to the bad one shows the next customer how you deal with problems.
Reviews are one part of getting found
Google says how well known a business is depends partly on how many reviews it has. So how you handle reviews is one part of how a trade gets found locally. The others are your Google Business Profile and a website with a page for each job. That’s what we work on in local SEO for trade businesses. If you’re a roofer, here’s how it works for your trade: SEO for roofers.
Want to see who’s showing up for your work in your towns, and how many reviews they’ve got? Our free local forecast shows you.