What To Do When Your Business Gets Hit With Fake Reviews

Saddle up and join us for a ride through the Wild West of online reviews.  

Now, we all know that the odd outlaw might stroll into town and rustle up some fake reviews, trying to tarnish your hard-earned reputation. These troublemakers have caused issues in all sorts of scenes and scenarios, but fear not. We’ve got your back. We’ll share with you the five-step kickback to rope in Google and have them help you take down those pesky fake reviews. 

What To Do When Your Business Gets Hit With Fake Reviews 

Step One – Read, live, and breathe the guidelines 

The first thing you need to do is get your learning hat on. Before you can fight the beast, you’ve got to know the lay of the land. Your not-so-secret weapon is to study the Google Maps’ user-generated content guidelines and know what makes for a valid reason to request a review removal.  

Step Two – Wrangle the fake reviews 

This is the easiest part of the process. All you have to do is use that nifty reporting tool. Hit the “Request review removal” button and follow the trail to identify your business and state your claim. If you can’t find the exact reason, pick the closest option.  

Step Three – Sit tight, partner  

Google will shoot you an email faster than a rattlesnake’s bite to confirm they’ve got your request, and they’ll get around to reviewing it in a few days. Now, Google can be a bit of a stubborn mule, so they’ll likely reject your first claim and suggest you respond with a review. 

Step Four – Fire off that “one-time appeal”  

If your review is still hanging around like a tumbleweed, and you haven’t heard from Google, send them that one-time appeal. Google will let you know they’ve got it with an email confirmation. 

Step Five – Double down on the appeal  

If Google denies your appeal or doesn’t respond within five days, you can go in, guns a-blazing, over on the Google Business Profile forum and escalate the situation. Give them all the details they need and wait for Google to finally boot that review out of town. 

Sure, it might seem like a wild ride, but it’s the way things are, partner. In the end, that pesky negative review will be gone, and your business’s reputation will be as shiny as a new sheriff’s badge. So, giddy up and get to it, because it’s worth the trip. 

Need help polishing the rest of your online presence? Get in touch and we’ll see if we can help. 

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