Trustpilot guideline: not based on a genuine experience

The rule, in Trustpilot's words

From the flagging reasons:

We can remove a review if the reviewer wasn't eligible to write a review about your business (for example, if the reviewer is a current employee or a competitor, was paid to write a fake review, or the review isn't about a recent experience) or if our automated detection technology deemed the review as suspicious.

The Guidelines for Reviewers define the experience broadly. It "doesn't necessarily mean a purchase" and can include "a phone call, email, online chat, or visit to an online store, even if you decided not to buy anything". Recent typically means the last 12 months. Reviews must be based on the writer's own experience, with an exception for someone such as a care-giver acting for a person who cannot write their own review.

What this rule does not cover

"We won't remove a review just because the reviewer didn't buy something from your business, you disagree with their version of events, or you consider there to be information missing."

Two blocks are built into the tool:

• You cannot use this reason for a customer you invited.
• "In general, if you flag a review that was posted more than a year ago, we won't investigate whether it's based on a genuine experience."

Evidence that supports a flag

• The reviewer's own words. "I work there." "This happened to my brother." "I have never used them, but..."
• A fact about who the writer is. A public profile that ties them to a competitor. A name that matches a current member of staff.
• The outcome of Request information. What the reviewer said, or that nothing identified an experience.
• Account-level facts, stated plainly. No order, account or ticket under that name and date. State it. Do not attach records, and for a health brand never attach anything from a patient file.

Trustpilot may ask the reviewer for documents that show an experience, and it never shares those with the business. Our guide to spotting and reporting fake Trustpilot reviews covers what other proof works.

Examples

These examples are ours. They are written to show the rule and are not real reviews.

The required first step

Request information, always. Trustpilot's flagging guide says the reviewer has 3 days to respond. After that you can flag the review and explain why the writer was not eligible.

In its Trust Report 2025, Trustpilot says it reduced the evidence burden on reviewers in 2024, after feedback that some businesses abused the reporting tools. Weak flags under this reason now fail more often, and they count as invalid cases on your public record.

For health brands

For a condition-specific brand, saying "this person is not our patient" is itself a statement about patient data. Keep the evidence to the review's own words and to non-clinical facts. Our telehealth page explains evidence without protected health information.

Where to go next

The main Trustpilot review removal page covers all five reasons. The qualification tool asks the two blocking questions before it suggests this reason, and our guide on documenting a fake review has a case log format.

For help with your own profile, start with our Trustpilot review removal service. Our review removal pricing is per confirmed removal, with nothing up front.