Buying Trustpilot reviews: what happens next

What "buying reviews" covers

The phrase covers four different purchases. They are treated in much the same way.

Trustpilot defines fake reviews as reviews that do not reflect a genuine service or buying experience. Its first example is "reviews gathered using illegitimate sources such as 'review sellers'". Its second is reviews written to manipulate a TrustScore. Our guide to how Trustpilot detects and handles fakes covers how a business reports one.

How Trustpilot finds bought reviews

Trustpilot says every review is checked by automated detection technology before it appears, and published reviews are monitored after that. The technology looks at a wide range of data points. Trustpilot names review content, IP addresses, device characteristics and location data.

A review seller has the same problem every time. Its writers are not your customers. They post from the wrong places, on shared devices, in bursts, with no order behind them. Those are patterns, and patterns are what the system is built to see.

The numbers show the scale. In its Trust Report 2025, Trustpilot says 61 million reviews were written in 2024. It removed 4.5 million as fake, which is 7.4% of the total. It says 90% of those were detected automatically.

Detection also runs on people. Consumers and competitors can flag a review or use Trustpilot's whistleblower function. A former employee or an unpaid review seller can do the same.

What happens to the business

Trustpilot's Action We Take policy sets out the steps for a business it suspects of procuring fake reviews:

1. The fake reviews are taken offline at once.
2. Where Trustpilot sees a pattern, it sends an educational email that says what it found and what is allowed.
3. If more fake reviews appear, it sends a formal warning that demands the misuse stop.
4. Continued misuse can lead to a public Consumer Warning, limited account access, contract termination and legal action.

A Consumer Warning hides the TrustScore and tells every visitor that the business misused the platform. It usually stays for 6 months. For a brand that shows its stars in ads and at checkout, that costs far more than the bought reviews were meant to earn.

So the usual result of buying reviews is simple. The money is gone, the reviews are gone, and the profile carries a record. Google has its own rules for the same purchase, set out in our guide to what buying Google reviews does to a profile.

What the FTC's rule says

The FTC's Trade Regulation Rule on Consumer Reviews and Testimonials took effect on October 21, 2024. Three parts apply here.

• Section 465.2 makes it a violation for a business to buy a consumer review that misrepresents a real experience. That covers a reviewer who does not exist and a reviewer who never used the product. It applies when the business knew or should have known. Writing, creating or selling such reviews is also a violation.
• Section 465.4 bans compensation or other incentives given in exchange for reviews that express a particular sentiment, whether positive or negative.
• Section 465.5 covers reviews by officers and managers that do not disclose the relationship, and reviews procured from employees and relatives.

The rule carries civil penalties of up to $53,088 per violation. Each fake review can be counted.

The FTC has already acted in this industry. In its case against the telehealth company NextMed, it said the company's conduct included fake positive reviews, along with suppressing negative reviews on Trustpilot. Our guide to the rule covers that case.

Why health brands carry extra risk

A supplement or telehealth brand sells on trust and is watched closely. Ad platforms, payment processors and certification bodies such as LegitScript all look at how a health merchant presents itself. A public Consumer Warning on the brand's Trustpilot profile is an easy thing for any of them to find.

Small supplement profiles are the most tempted. The TrustScore formula starts every profile with 7 neutral reviews, so a few angry customers can hold a small profile under 3.0. Bought reviews look like a fast fix. They are also the easiest fakes to see, because ten 5-star reviews in a week stand out on a profile that gets two a month.

What works instead

Invite every customer. Trustpilot encourages invitations and asks that they are fair, neutral and free of incentives. Reviews from Trustpilot's automated invitation tools also carry the Verified label. Our guide to invitation rules covers wording and timing.

Fix the complaint that repeats. On most health profiles a small number of causes produce most 1-star reviews: billing after cancellation, shipping delays and slow support. See why telehealth brands get more 1-star reviews.

Reply to the real complaints. A calm public reply is read by every later visitor. Health brands have to reply without confirming that someone is a patient. Our reply guide has examples.

Flag the reviews that break the rules. Some of your negative reviews may be fake too, or may name staff, carry promo codes or describe another company. Those can be flagged under Trustpilot's five flagging reasons. The main Trustpilot review removal page explains how, and the supplements page covers the patterns on small profiles.

If a vendor offers you reviews

Some reputation vendors sell "review generation" that is really review buying. Signs include a price per review, a promise of 5-star ratings, reviews delivered before any customer is invited, and no interest in your order data. Our guide to spotting a review removal scam lists more.

We do not sell reviews of any kind. We remove reviews that break Trustpilot's rules, and we say which ones do not. You can request a free audit to see both lists for your profile.

We do this work for clients through our Trustpilot review removal service, and the price per removed review is published.