How to Get a Negative Review Removed on Google My Business
We’ve recently been successful at getting a few negative reviews removed from a property’s Google My Business listing, and I wanted to share how we were able to do it.
The key to getting a review removed from Google My Business is to have a Google Policy to back up your request!
Remember, Google is all about the user experience and providing accurate information. So, if you bring something to their attention, it has to interfere with one of those two.
There are about 10 different policies regarding content on Google that applies to Reviews, Photos, and Videos. Reference one of them in your request to help get a review removed.
In our case, there was a negative review left on Community A about their experience at Community B.
The first step was to go on the back end and “Flag as Inappropriate.” From there, you get a list of options as to why you are reporting it.
We selected Off-topic; the review was not about their experience at Community A.
Once that was submitted, we reached out to Google My Business Support. You always want to submit your request before you reach out—that way, it’s already in the system.
In our reasoning for reaching out for support, we stated the following:
“We are requesting to remove a negative review made by John Doe. Their review violates two policies: It is Off-topic as it does not relate to that specific business location, and it is Spam as it is not reflecting the genuine experience at this specific location and was posted to manipulate ratings.”
We stated Google’s policies and used their verbiage to back up our request, which ultimately helped us get the review removed within 48 hours!
Now it’s your turn… If you have negative reviews that possibly go against Google’s policies, flag and report them. Then make sure and follow up with Google Support stating your case.
Written by Josh Grillo
Josh Grillo is a #1 Best Selling Author, Speaker and Co-Founder of Resident360.
