How to spot fake reviews on Trustpilot and Google

Why learn how to spot fake reviews?

If you run a business, you read reviews in two places. You read your own profile, and you read your rivals'. Knowing how to spot fake reviews helps in both.

On your own profile, a fake 1-star review can drag your score down. A fake 5-star review can hurt you too, if the platform thinks you bought it. On a rival's profile, a wall of fake praise can make your honest score look worse.

This page covers the signs. It does not repeat the reporting steps for each platform. For those, see our guides to fake Trustpilot reviews and how to remove a fake Google review.

What the FTC says to look for

The FTC has a short consumer guide called How To Evaluate Online Reviews. It is written for shoppers, but the signs work just as well for a business owner. It says to:

• Check how recent the reviews are, and watch for a burst of reviews over a short period.
• Check whether the reviewer has written other reviews, and read them.
• Be wary when a reviewer seems to have made an account just to write one review.
• Look for a label or badge that says the reviewer got an incentive.

The same guide adds two warnings. First, some fake positive reviews give fewer than five stars to seem more believable. Second, a company might post fake negative reviews to harm a competitor.

Its most useful line is a caution. The FTC says not to assume that you can spot a fake just by looking.

What the law says a fake review is

The FTC also has a binding rule, 16 CFR Part 465. Section 465.2 covers fake or false reviews. It bars a business from writing, creating or selling a review that misrepresents three things:

1. that the reviewer exists
2. that the reviewer used or had experience with the product or business
3. what that experience was

Section 465.4 bars a business from paying for reviews that express a set sentiment. The rule says this applies "whether positive or negative". So paying people to trash a rival is covered as well as paying for praise.

The rule is aimed at businesses. Under section 465.2(d), a platform is not liable just for hosting reviews it did not write or buy, as the FTC's questions and answers explain.

How Trustpilot defines a fake

Trustpilot's Action We Take policy says fake reviews "don't reflect a genuine service or buying experience with a business". It says they try to mislead people about a business, "positively or negatively". It gives three examples:

• reviews from illegitimate sources, such as review sellers
• reviews written to move a TrustScore, not to share an experience
• reviews gathered through biased or manipulated invitation methods

Trustpilot's Guidelines for Reviewers add who may not review. That list includes owners, staff, family members, shareholders and competitors. A review from a rival's employee breaks the rules even if the words sound real.

One point trips up many businesses. Trustpilot does not require a purchase. Its page on who can write a review counts a genuine experience in the past 12 months. So "we cannot find this person" is not proof of a fake. Our guide to who Trustpilot allows to write a review covers this in more detail.

How Google defines a fake

Google's Fake Engagement policy says contributions "should reflect a genuine experience at a place or business." It bans:

• content that is not based on a real experience
• reviews or ratings that were paid for, directly or in kind
• content posted from multiple accounts by or at the request of one person
• posting on a competitor's listing to undermine its reputation

The multiple accounts point matters. Several reviews in the same voice, posted close together, may be one person. That is the pattern the policy names.

Signs that point at a fake review

Here are the signs we look for, drawn from the pages above. Each one is a reason to look closer. None is proof on its own.

Here is an example we wrote to show the idea. It is not a real review.

Example written by us: "Worst clinic in Denver. The front desk staff were rude." If your brand is online only, with no clinic and no front desk, the detail itself is a sign. It is a fact you can point to.

Now compare a harsh but real review. A customer who waited three weeks for an order and got no reply may write something angry. That review is unfair to you, perhaps, but it is not fake.

Why no sign proves a fake on its own

Every sign above has an innocent reason too. A burst of reviews can follow a big sale or a news story. A new account can belong to a real customer who never reviewed before. Odd details can come from a customer who mixed you up with another brand.

That is why the FTC warns against judging by looks alone. It is also why the platforms decide cases on facts, not on hunches. Trustpilot says it moves reviews offline after its detection technology finds unusual patterns. You cannot see the data it sees, such as device or location signals.

So the job for a business owner is to collect facts. Which detail cannot be true? Which rule does it break? One clear fact is worth more than five vague signs.

What to do when a review looks fake

1. Capture it first. Save a screenshot, the link, the date, the star rating and the reviewer's profile. Our guide on how to document a fake review covers what to keep.
2. Pick the right rule. On Trustpilot, the reason is "not based on a genuine experience". Trustpilot asks you to use its Request information tool first. You cannot use that reason on a customer you invited. See how to flag service reviews.
3. Report it on the right platform. On Google, use the review report route in your Business Profile. Our guide on the steps for reporting a review to Google walks through it.
4. Reply calmly if it stays up. Readers see your reply. Keep it short and factual.

If the fakes sit on a rival's profile, you can still report them. On Trustpilot, anyone can flag a review. Our guide to competitor fake reviews on Trustpilot covers that case. If many land at once, read what to do when your brand is review bombed.

How we check reviews against the rules

To check a whole profile at once, paste your reviews into our free bulk review checker. It reads each review against the published rules and marks the ones worth a closer look. Our methodology page explains how that rule check works and what it cannot see.

For a Trustpilot profile, you can also ask for a free audit of your Trustpilot profile. We read every review and tell you which ones may qualify for a flag and which do not. The platform decides each case, not us.

For the review problems that come up most in your category, see our pages for telehealth, GLP-1 weight loss and supplement brands.

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