Fake reviews, review bombing and removal scams: questions and answers

Trustpilot does not use the term in its guidelines. People use it for a sudden wave of negative reviews, often driven by a news story, a social media post or a coordinated group. Trustpilot's rules address the parts of it that break guidelines: reviews without a genuine experience, reviews about a trending topic, and fake reviews.

You should not. Trustpilot lists flagging reviews in bulk over a short period as misuse, because it suggests the reviews were targeted for their sentiment and not checked one by one. Source: Action We Take.

Trustpilot says every review is checked by automated detection technology before it appears, and that it removed 4.5 million fake reviews in 2024, 90% of them automatically. It may also add a Consumer Alert when a business is getting significant media attention. It does not publish how it handles a specific surge. Sources: Trust Report 2025 and Consumer Warnings and Alerts.

Google says that on a sudden spike in spam reviews it will remove the fake content, pause new reviews, alert the owner and show consumers a banner. It publishes no threshold for a spike and no duration for the pause. Source: New ways we're protecting businesses on Maps.

No. Google describes posting restrictions as something it decides and lifts on its own, with no route for a business to request one. Trustpilot publishes no equivalent mechanism at all. Yelp's alerts are also placed at Yelp's discretion. Source: Posting Restrictions.

Invite all customers in your normal, neutral way. Do not run a special campaign aimed at happy customers, do not ask staff or friends, and never offer anything in return. Selective invitations and incentives break Trustpilot's rules, and fake or incentivized reviews break the FTC's rule. Sources: Guidelines for Businesses and 16 CFR Part 465.

Reporting a review that breaks a platform's rules is legal. What is not: fake reviews, paying reviewers to delete, and threats or false accusations used to get reviews removed. The FTC's rule covers the firms that do this work as well as their clients. Sources: 16 CFR Part 465 and the FTC's questions and answers.

Treat it as marketing. Trustpilot does not publish a success rate for flags, and no outside firm's rate can be checked. A firm's method can be checked, so ask about that.

Trigger a Consumer Warning. While it is active, your TrustScore is hidden, any paid plan ends, and Trustpilot stops sharing your rating with search engines. It usually lasts 6 months. Source: Action We Take.

Open the Flagging activity view in your Trustpilot Business account, and look at the public Company activity page on your profile. It shows 12 months of flagging, including the share of invalid flags and the star ratings of flagged reviews. Source: Transparent Flagging.

For most reasons, the evidence is the review's own text, which you highlight when you flag. For a genuine experience flag, Trustpilot runs the review through detection software. If you disagree with its decision, you can reply to the decision email and explain why, with supporting information. Trustpilot says it will not overturn a decision just because you do not recognize the reviewer.

No. Trustpilot says it never shares a reviewer's documentation with the reviewed company. Source: which documents help verify a review.

Yes, always. Reviews flagged as harmful or illegal are hidden during the check, reviewers can edit their text, and you will want a record of what was there. Capture the full review, the date, the star rating, the label and the reviewer's public profile.

Trustpilot lets you appeal a Content Integrity decision once, within 6 months, through the link in its decision email. Include facts and documents. If the appeal fails, the decision stands. Do not flag the same review again for the same reason. Source: appealing a decision.

People sell them, and buying them breaks Trustpilot's rules and federal law. Trustpilot's policy names reviews from review sellers as fake reviews and says it removes them and acts against the business. The FTC's rule bans buying a review that misrepresents a real experience. Sources: Action We Take and 16 CFR Part 465.

Trustpilot marks a review Verified when the business invited the customer through Trustpilot's automated invitation tools, or when the reviewer has sent documents that show a real experience. A seller cannot deliver that label without fake invitations or fake documents, which adds a second deception. See why some reviews are marked Verified.

It happens. A bought negative review is a fake review under Trustpilot's definition, which covers attempts to manipulate opinion positively or negatively. It can be flagged as not based on a genuine experience. Our guide on review bombing covers the steps.

No. Trustpilot says TrustScore is calculated the same way whether or not a business pays for a plan, and that its detection technology does not consider whether a business subscribes. Sources: TrustScore explained and automated detection technology.

Trustpilot bans incentives for writing or editing reviews, including discounts, promo codes and prize draws. The FTC's rule bans incentives that are conditioned on a positive or negative sentiment. An incentive for any honest review can be lawful under the FTC's rule and still break Trustpilot's. Source: Guidelines for Businesses.

Stop, and do not buy more to cover the gap. Expect Trustpilot to take the reviews offline when it detects them. Start fair invitations to every customer so real reviews arrive. If Trustpilot has sent a warning, answer it honestly. This is general information, not legal advice.

Most are not, by Trustpilot's own count. It says it removed 4.5 million fake reviews in 2024, 7.4% of the reviews written that year, and that 90% were caught by automated detection. Those are Trustpilot's figures and nobody outside can audit them. Source: Trust Report 2025.

Log in to your Trustpilot Business account, find the review and use Request information first. The reviewer has 3 days to respond. After that you can flag the review as not based on a genuine experience and state the fact that shows it. Source: how to flag service reviews.

Use the flag icon on the review, or Trustpilot's whistleblower function for wider misuse such as a business that buys reviews. Trustpilot says it investigates and takes action. Source: automated detection technology.

From the text alone you often cannot, and Trustpilot says the same. Some signs deserve a closer look. Details that match no product you sell. Wording repeated across reviews. A burst of reviews in one day. A reviewer profile full of reviews of rival firms. A flag needs a fact, not a feeling.

Because a purchase is not needed to review. Trustpilot counts a call, a chat or a visit to your site as an experience. 'Not in our records' does not show that a review is fake. Source: who can write a review.

Yes. Trustpilot takes fake reviews offline whoever they favor. If it suspects the business procured them, it can warn the business and place a Consumer Warning. See our guide on buying Trustpilot reviews.

No. Trustpilot's guidelines say fake reviews are not allowed and will be removed, and its detection technology checks every review before it appears. In the US, the FTC's rule also bans writing, selling and buying fake reviews. Sources: Guidelines for Reviewers and 16 CFR Part 465.

Trustpilot is an open platform, so anyone with an experience can post, and it removes fake reviews after the fact. It says it removed 4.5 million in 2024 and caught 90% of them automatically. It treats paying and non-paying businesses the same. Those are Trustpilot's own statements. Read any profile with its labels and notices in mind. Source: Trust Report 2025.

You cannot delete one yourself. You report it from your Business Profile or from Google's Reviews Management Tool, and Google removes it if it breaks a content policy. The person who wrote it can also delete it. Source: Report inappropriate reviews.

Go to your Business Profile, select Read reviews, select Report next to the review, pick the reason and send. Then follow the report in the Reviews Management Tool. Gather your evidence before you start, because the appeal is where it goes.

Google says evaluation typically takes several days and names no limit. An appeal adds more time. After a removal, Google says an updated score can take up to 2 weeks to show.

Not for that alone. Google does not referee disputes between a business and a customer. A false review comes down when it also breaks a policy, for example when the writer never used the business or has a conflict of interest.

A short, calm reply helps readers. Say you have no record of the visit and invite the person to contact you. Never confirm or deny that anyone was a patient. See our HIPAA-safe reply guide.

A service can do the work: reading the profile, matching reviews to policies, building evidence and filing reports and appeals. It cannot change Google's decision. We remove Google reviews on that basis, and bill only for reviews that come down.

It can. Trustpilot lists a competitor as an example of a reviewer who was not eligible to write the review, which falls under the reason 'not based on a genuine experience'. You still have to use Request information first and state a fact. Source: flagging reasons.

Usually you cannot prove who wrote it, and you do not have to. Point to what the text shows: a product you never sold, a rival's promo code, wording repeated under other names, or a reply that describes another firm. A theory about motive is not proof.

No. Trustpilot treats bulk flagging over a short period, and flagging negative reviews only, as misuse. The penalty lands on your profile, not the rival's. Source: Action We Take.

Reply in public if you want, in a calm and factual way. Do not offer money to get it taken down and do not threaten anyone. The FTC's rule bans groundless legal threats and intimidation aimed at removing a review. Source: 16 CFR Part 465.

No. A competitor is not eligible to review a business on Trustpilot, so the review would be fake by Trustpilot's own definition, and the FTC's rule bans writing fake reviews. It also hands the rival a clean complaint about you. Sources: Action We Take and 16 CFR Part 465.

The rules are the same, but the failure mode is not. When you suspect a rival, the temptation is to flag the whole batch and name the company. Our guide to fake Trustpilot reviews covers the general process.

It can be part of a fake pattern. Trustpilot's examples of fake reviews include reviews gathered through biased or manipulated invitation methods, such as inviting only happy customers.

Through the genuine experience flagging reason, after a Request information step. The business needs a fact that shows the writer was not eligible. See the genuine experience guideline.

Trustpilot says they are. In the US, the FTC's review rule bans writing, selling and buying fake reviews, with civil penalties per violation. Source: 16 CFR Part 465.

Sellers exist, and buying from them breaks Google's policy and federal law. Google's policy bans reviews that are paid for, directly or in kind, and reviews not based on a real experience. The FTC's rule bans buying a review that misrepresents a real experience. Sources: Prohibited and restricted content and 16 CFR Part 465.

No. A bought 5-star Google review is the clearest case of what Google bans. It is paid for, it is not based on a real experience, and its rating is set in advance. Google's policy covers all three, and the FTC's rule bans paying for a review with a set sentiment. The star rating on offer is the problem, not a feature. Sources: Prohibited and restricted content and 16 CFR Part 465.

No. Every seller sells the same thing: reviews that break Google's fake engagement policy. A seller in the USA, a cheap one or one that promises a slow drip does not change that. The risk sits with your profile, not the seller's. The safe route is to ask every real customer, which our guide to getting more Google reviews covers.

Google can unpublish the reviews on the profile for a set time. It can stop the profile receiving new reviews. It can also add a warning that tells consumers fake reviews were removed. Source: Business Profile restrictions.

Google says it uses a combination of people and machine-learning algorithms, and that its systems act without a report. Its policies apply to content whether it was written by a person or by AI. Sources: Maps user-generated content policy and About our policies.

The FTC's Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule bans buying reviews that misrepresent a real experience, and bans paying for a set sentiment. The penalty is up to $53,088 per violation. This is general information, not legal advice. Sources: 16 CFR Part 465 and the 2025 penalty amounts.

Stop, and do not buy more to cover the gap. Write down what you bought and when. Expect Google to take the reviews offline when it finds them. Start asking every real customer for a review, with no incentive attached. If the volume was large or your brand is regulated, talk to a lawyer.

No. A business cannot delete a review it did not write. You can report them, because they break the fake engagement policy, and Google says only reviews that violate a policy are eligible for removal. Source: Report inappropriate reviews.

Not by itself. Google allows ratings without text. A bare rating breaks the policy only if it is not based on a real experience. One sign is a cluster of them from new accounts on the same day.

You can, but it is weak alone. Add what Google can check: the same wording on other profiles, a cluster of new accounts, or a service named in the review that you do not offer.

Yes. Reviews from staff, reviews you paid for and reviews from customers who were offered a discount all break it. Google can restrict the whole profile for them. Source: Business Profile restrictions.

Look for patterns, not single reviews. The FTC points to a burst of reviews in a short time, and to reviewers who seem to have made an account for one review. It also warns that you cannot reliably tell real from fake just by reading. Source: How To Evaluate Online Reviews.

Yes. Trustpilot says fake reviews try to change what people think of a business, positively or negatively. The FTC's consumer advice also says a company might post fake negative reviews to harm a competitor. Source: Action We Take.

Not on that fact alone. Trustpilot does not require a purchase. A reviewer can write about a genuine experience in the past 12 months, such as a call or a chat. You need a fact that shows no experience happened. Source: Who can write a review and when?.

For businesses, yes. The FTC's rule says a business may not write, create or sell a review that misrepresents that the reviewer exists or had real experience with the product. It also bans paying for reviews of a set sentiment, positive or negative. Source: 16 CFR Part 465.

Yes. The FTC says some fake positive reviews give less than the top rating so they seem more believable. It adds that some sites show a badge when a reviewer got an incentive. Source: How To Evaluate Online Reviews.