How to Remove a Bad Google Review (and Flag Fake Ones)

You have worked day and night to get your business up and running with the time you are able to get good rankings on Google and your customers are happy. But then, tragedy strikes! A disgruntled angry customer leaves a negative Google review! The ideal action would be to do nothing when you see a negative review. Instead, you should stay calm, take a deep breath, and think about how to remove Google reviews?

What to do When You Get a Negative or Fake Google Review?

Instead of giving you’re a piece of your mind to the negative or fake review, try to think about the best way to deal with the situation. After all, a single bad review might have a negative impact on your business ranking but it isn’t the end of the world.

You will be surprised to know that bad reviews can increase your sales over time because no publicity is bad publicity in the marketing world so take a deep breath, relax and try to evaluate the situation.

Evaluate the Scenario and the Review

You can easily spot a fake negative review when you see one. If you happen to get a fake negative review, first try to assess the overall situation and find out if the review is real or fake. Usually, random people who have never availed your service or used your product leave fraudulent reviews.

Similarly, your competitors can give you a fake review just to reduce your ranking and steal your customers. It’s easy to flag a fake negative review on Google or any other social media platform. Simply check if the reviewer is your actual customer or not. Check your records for the name and order number of the customer.

Respond According to the Situation

 Try to respond to the review within the first 24 hours, never ignore a negative review even if it’s fake. If a disgruntled customer left the negative review, you have to ask them about their complaint and own to it. Apologise for their bad experience and promise to rectify the problem as soon as possible. Lastly, you must follow up with the complaint and try your best to satisfy the angry customer.

Dealing with Fake Reviews

Now let’s talk about flagging and removing fake reviews. Even if the review is fake, your timely response is essential! Apologise for the bad experience but also mention that you are unable to find their record in your database, share your contact information and ask them to contact you using the information. Then you can flag the review as inappropriate from Google reviews. You can do so by scrolling through your Business page on Google and find that particular review you wish to flag or remove. The other option is to contact Google support and ask them to help you remove a fake negative review.