This is the prime reason why it is becoming vital for a business to manage and remove negative reviews from the Google Business Profile. After all, 63% of consumers lose their trust in a business after seeing negative reviews.
For these big, established brands like Amazon and Alibaba, reviews might not affect a lot. Also, they have their own reviewing system that rates the products listed on their site. However, for a small coffee shop fighting for local SEO, one negative review can not only harm their trust in the market but also their entire SEO effort.
Importance of Google Reviews and Their Impact
A product review or feedback is a great source for businesses to improve their product or service. Every review, whether positive or negative, provides insight to the customer about how their product is received by its users.
Apart from the feedback, it is also a critical factor in forming an online reputation for your service. Customers in 2025 form quick judgements, and Google reviews have a significant influence on shaping consumer behaviour. Surveys suggest that around 83% of consumers read a Google review before making a decision, and more than 60% of consumers check the reviews before visiting a business location.
Can Reviews be Removed?
A 4.7-star business definitely attracts way more consumers than a business listed with only 2.4 stars on average. When these reviews determine if any user will become your next customer, you would want to remove those negative ones as quickly as possible to get back to higher rankings.
So, can a Google review be deleted?
Simply, yes, a review can be removed; it doesn’t matter whether positive or negative. However, only Google and the original reviewer can delete it. Apart from them, neither can you disable the review feature on your business profile, nor can a genuine review ever be removed.
To remove the negative review, you can either ask the reviewer to delete the review, or it should violate any of Google’s review guidelines. If the review falls under any of the following categories, you can flag the review and request its removal:
| Category | Examples of Prohibited Content |
|---|---|
| Civility & Behavior | Harassment, hate speech, offensive remarks, uncivil or abusive language |
| Privacy & Identity | Sharing personal information, impersonating another person or business |
| Accuracy & Authenticity | Deceptive content, fake engagement, misinformation, misrepresentation, manipulated information |
| Mature & Explicit | Obscenity, profanity, sexually explicit material, adult-themed references |
| Violence & Harm | Threats, violence, gore, terrorist content, dangerous or illegal activity, regulated substances |
| Child Safety | Any harmful or exploitative content involving minors |
| Content Relevance & Quality | Off-topic remarks, gibberish, repetitive spam, irrelevant rants |
| Advertising & Promotion | Promotional posts, unsolicited ads, restricted or unrelated solicitation |
How to Report a Review or Request a Removal (Business Owner Perspective)
There are multiple methods for reporting reviews, but always remember that Google will only remove reviews if they clearly violate their review guidelines. Simply disliking a review or finding it negative is not enough for removal if it’s an authentic experience by a real user.
Through Google Business Profile (Desktop/Mobile):
- Log in to your Google Account connected to your business profile.
- Go to your Google Business profile (or Google Maps/Search and find your business).
- Navigate to the “Reviews” section.
- Locate the specific review.
- Click the three vertical dots (ellipses) next to the review.
- Select “Report review” or “Flag as inappropriate.”
- Choose the most relevant reason for reporting from the provided options.
- Submit the report.
Using Google's Review Management Tool (Dedicated Form):
- Access the Google Review Management Tool (specific URL provided in sources).
- Ensure you are logged in with the correct Google account.
- Select your business profile.
- Choose “Report a new review for removal.”
- Find the review and click the “Report” link.
- Select the violation category and submit.
- You can also check the status of previously reported reviews using this tool
Contacting Google Small Business Support:
- Log in to your Google Business account.
- Go to Google Support and select your business.
- Provide a brief explanation of the issue (e.g., “Delete a Review”).
- Choose “Remove reviews” and proceed.
- Select your preferred contact option.
- Complete the remaining fields and provide a strong argument for why the review must be removed.
- Can also try tweeting @GoogleSmallBiz for attention.
What Happens After Reporting a Review:
After submission, Google’s team assesses the flagged review and provides an update within 3 to 5 business days. The complaint will be followed by an auto-generated email confirming your request is being processed.
Usually, a request for removal has only two outcomes: Approved or denied.
On Approval, the review will be removed from your business profile. You can check for the flagged review in the tool, and it should be removed.
Denied states that Google does not think the review violated its policies. In such scenarios, the review continues to remain visible. Also, Google does not disclose who reported the review to the original reviewer or the business.
With initial denial of your request, Google provides the option to submit a one-time appeal. This appeal allows you to provide more context and details on why you believe the review should be removed from the page. This appeal can take another 7 days to resolve.
Alternative Solutions (If Cannot Remove)
If a review cannot be removed even after appealing, it usually means you have to call up the crisis management PR specialist to mitigate the review’s effect and build a stronger online reputation again.
Respond Professionally and Promptly:
Nothing beats a professional and prompt reply to the critics. This is an effective way to manage and remove negative reviews from your Google Business Profile, as it can almost turn a negative review into a positive one.
- Show empathy and acknowledge the reviewer, making them feel listened to.
- Reply publicly to show Google and other customers that you are attentive and value the feedback.
- Respond ASAP, if possible reply within 24 hours to display your customer service.
- If you suspect a fake review, politely request details (e.g., order number) to authenticate the experience. A lack of response from the reviewer can make their review look suspicious to others.
Offer Solutions and Resolve the Issue:
Apologizing for any negative experience is also a great option. Try to offer a solution or reconciliation to the customer’s problem.
- Take the conversation offline to resolve the issue directly and privately.
- After resolving the issue or offering a solution to the issue, politely ask the customer to edit or remove their review.
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Encourage More Positive Reviews:
A steady flow of good feedback can diminish the effect of negative reviews and improve your overall rating.
- Aim for a high ratio of positive to negative reviews, such as Twenty 4 or 5-star reviews for a single 1-star review.
- Connect with satisfied customers and ask them for feedback through follow-up emails or text messages.
- Make it easy by providing a direct link to your Google Business Profile review page.
- Reviews with images often get pushed to the top, further burying negative ones.
Apart from these tricks, continuously monitor your reviews to stay on top of new feedback and address issues as quickly as possible.
Removing Your Own Google Review
Customers can easily edit or delete their own Google reviews at any time through Google Maps.
- Visit Google Maps and go to “Your Contributions”
- There, find and navigate to “Reviews”
- Click on the three dots at the top right corner and select “Edit” or “Delete”
- Understand, if you delete the review, you cannot get it back.
When to Be Concerned About Bad Reviews
While a few negative reviews can signal authenticity for your brand, real danger begins when a bad review shows up prominently on the first page of Google results. If positioned well enough, a single negative review in a high-visibility spot can undo years of marketing and brand-building efforts.
The threats escalate when reviews contain serious allegations. Claims of sexual or racial harassment, employee theft, or other severe misconduct go beyond reputation damage. Such reviews put jobs, revenue, and even the company’s legal standing at risk. They can quickly spiral into lawsuits or long-term credibility issues if not addressed through proper channels.
Equally dangerous is a pattern of legitimate complaints. Verified reviewers repeatedly highlighting the same issues signals more than unhappy customers; it signals a systemic problem that Google’s algorithm won’t ignore. Over time, these reviews can erode your local rankings and visibility. A sudden spike of one- and two-star ratings is even worse, pointing to deeper operational flaws that require immediate corrective action. In such cases, reviews are not just feedback—they’re early warnings of reputational freefall.
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