Pick one review, on Trustpilot or on Google, and answer a few yes-or-no questions. You will see which of the platform's rules may apply, what to do first, and the page the rule comes from. Nothing you enter is stored or sent.
100% risk-free. You only pay for the reviews that come down.
It qualifies if it breaks a named rule, not because it is unfair. On Trustpilot that means one of five flagging reasons. On Google it means one of the content policies. Answer the questions below and the tool names the rule that may apply, and the source it comes from.
Answer the remaining 6 questions to see which of Trustpilot’s five flagging rules, if any, may apply.
The tool applies these rules one question at a time. Here they are on one screen, for when you already know the review and only need the rule.
| Reason | What Trustpilot can remove | What it keeps online | Required first step |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harmful or illegal | Hate speech or discrimination, terrorism-related content, threats or violence, obscenity. Defamation, with proof of falsity and serious financial loss. | Criticism of your business, however harsh. Swear words alone. | None. Choose the sub-reason, highlight the words and submit. |
| Personal information | Another person's name, phone number or email address, or photos and videos of others. | The reviewer's own details. Information already public on your website or profile. | An edit request to the reviewer, who has 3 days. |
| Advertising or promotional | Promotion of another business or product, promo codes, calls to action, scams and spam. | A review that only mentions a competitor or compares you with one. | None. Highlight the promotional content and submit. |
| About a different business | A review that clearly describes another company, or a product or service you do not offer. | A vague review that does not name you. | A request to the reviewer to update the review, with 3 days to do it. |
| Not based on a genuine experience | Reviews by current employees, owners, their family or competitors. Paid fake reviews. Someone else's experience. | A review from a customer you invited. In general, a review older than a year. A reviewer you cannot find in your system, since no purchase is needed. | Request information, which is required. The reviewer has 3 days. |
A flag uses one reason per review, and it cannot be edited after you send it. Our guide to flagging categories and what decides each outcome goes through the five in detail, and the guide on documenting a review before you flag it covers the evidence.
Switch the tool to Google and it asks about these. Google has more policies than this, and the rest are on our policy pages.
| Policy | What Google can remove | What it keeps online |
|---|---|---|
| Spam and fake content | Content not based on a real experience, paid reviews, one person posting from many accounts. | A real customer you cannot find in your records. |
| Conflict of interest | Reviews by current or former staff, contractors, competitors and family. | A customer who prefers a rival. |
| Off-topic | Political or social commentary, personal rants, reviews of another place. | Complaints about price, staff, speed or results. |
| Personal information | Another person's full name, contact details, face, or financial or medical details, without consent. | The name of a doctor or other professional who does business under it. |
| Offensive content | Threats, doxxing, slurs, attacks, unsubstantiated allegations of crime, profanity used to offend. | Negative experiences described in a respectful manner. |
| Advertising and solicitation | Promotional content, links, email addresses, phone numbers and social handles. | A comparison with a competitor. |
| Restricted content | Offers, purchase links and contact details for regulated goods such as prescription medicine. | A patient naming the drug they were prescribed. |
Google has no required first step. You report the review, Google says evaluation typically takes several days, and a review it keeps can be appealed once. See the full list of Google review policies and the guide to how a Google appeal works.
Each question matches one of the five reasons Trustpilot gives businesses for flagging a review, and the help text under each question is Trustpilot’s own limit for that reason. Two follow-up questions cover the rules that close the genuine experience route: you cannot use it for a customer you invited, and Trustpilot generally does not check it for reviews older than a year.
On Google, each question matches one policy on Google’s list of prohibited and restricted content. Text-based breaches come first in the result, because the proof is on the page. Conflict of interest and fake engagement come after, because they rest on facts about the writer. Content that breaks the law is sent to Google’s legal route, which is separate from the report button.
The tool checks one review. A profile needs more than that: the same breach has to be flagged in positive reviews too, and flags have to be paced. Read what Trustpilot will and will not remove, use the flag evidence checklist before you flag, and see the main Trustpilot review removal page for the full process. For Google, the process is on the Google review removal page.
Both reviews below are one star, and both hurt. Only the first breaks a rule. The second is a customer describing what happened to them, and no flag reason covers that.
Tyler K.
2 weeks ago on Trustpilot
Terrible. Go to their competitor instead and use code SAVE20 for 20% off your first order.
A discount code for a competitor is promotion, not a description of an experience.
Maria G.
2 weeks ago on Trustpilot
My refill took 9 days and nobody answered my messages. I cancelled my plan.
A real customer describing a real delay. The answer is a public reply and a fix.
The same line on Google: a former employee who now runs a rival clinic, and a patient who waited too long.
Sam L.
2 months ago on Google
I used to work here and I now run the clinic across the street. Do not book with them.
A former employee and a competitor: both are named in Google's conflict of interest rule.
Maria G.
2 weeks ago on Google
Waited 50 minutes past my appointment time and nobody said sorry. I will not be back.
A real patient describing a real wait. Google says not to report a review because you dislike it.
Example. Reviews written by us. Not real reviews.
Yes. Switch the platform to Google at the top. The questions then follow Google's content policies: offensive content, personal information, advertising, restricted content, off-topic, conflict of interest, fake engagement and the legal route. Each result links to our page on that policy.
No. It is a general indication based on the platform's published categories. Trustpilot assesses every flag, and Google assesses every report. We do not promise that any review will be removed.
No. It runs in your browser. Nothing is sent to us or anyone else, and it does not ask for the review text, the reviewer or your brand.
Trustpilot accepts one reason per flag. Start with the reason where the proof is in the review's own words, such as a phone number or a promo code. Once that case is closed, a different issue can be flagged separately. Source: how to flag service reviews.
Reply to it and fix the cause. Most 1-star reviews are genuine experiences, and Trustpilot keeps them online. Our guide to the two lists Trustpilot works from explains the line.
Our tools and the free audit share one rule check, a transparent heuristic. How the rule check works explains what it looks for and what it cannot know.
The free audit applies the same rules to every 1-star and 2-star review on your profile and returns two lists: what can qualify, and what does not.