by Stephen Christopher

How to Remove False Yelp Reviews

4 min read

Removing False Yelp Reviews

So you’ve received a false review on Yelp and you want to remove it? You’ve come to the right place. First, you’re going to need a business account. To do this, go to Yelp’s business account site and search for your business by name.

You will have to create an account with your name and email, and then you will have to verify the business. To do this, Yelp sends an automated call to the public business number on the business you claimed. After creating the account you will be routed to a page with a button to “Call Me Now,” click it when you’re able to answer the business phone line. When you answer the phone, you will get a prompt to enter the verification code that they display on the page. Enter this code and your business is verified!

Now that you have a Yelp Business account, log in to your account and on the left side, you’ll find a menu. Navigate to “Reviews” which will pull up a list of your reviews. It starts with the “Yelp Recommended” reviews, and below those is a link to your “Not Recommended” reviews. Focus on the Recommended Reviews first, as these are the ones that factor into your review score shown in Google SERP results for your business on Yelp. Identify which reviews are false/violate Yelp Guidelines. To do this, you’ll need to review Yelp’s Content Guidelines.  Identify what section of their guidelines is violated by the offending review, i.e., containing vulgar language, false/irrelevant reviews, non-personal experiences with the business, etc.  Under the review, there will be a flag icon to “Report this Review.”

You will be asked why you want to report the review. Select the most applicable category, and provide specific details. Quote their TOS or Content Guidelines that are violated and point to the specific language in the review that violates it.  Once you’ve submitted this, you will receive an email to the address on the account letting you know the request has been received. Now it’s in Yelp’s hands! Usually, within 48-72 hours, you will know if they’ve decided to remove it or not. If you’ve identified one of their guidelines that have been violated and the review genuinely is in violation, it will be removed!

What Kind of Reviews Can Be Removed?

Even if you’re providing outstanding service, there is always the chance that something went wrong and you got a bad online review from it. This happens. If you couple this with false negative reviews, all of a sudden your business might have a poor online reputation that it doesn’t deserve! There are multiple reasons that someone might have left a false review for your business, and most of them are reason enough to have that review removed. Perhaps a disgruntled ex-employee decided to leave you a nasty review. Maybe a competitor thought leaving you fake bad reviews would be a good way to beat you (It’s not by the way. Don’t ever do that! It will only make you look bad!) and is leaving reviews about you. Maybe the person leaving the review is confused and is leaving a bad review for the wrong business.  Or maybe someone is leaving a false review for their own reasons that we’ll never know and never even used your service.  These are all reasons that a false review could have been left, and they’re all reasons that review can be removed!

Getting Good Online Reviews

Even if you satisfy 99% of your clients, there is still the chance that something went wrong on a project and you’ve been left a bad review from it.  The best way to have an accurate representation of your business online is to get LOTS of reviews and if you have 9 positive and 1 negative, your business will have at least have a fair and accurate representation of your customer service ethics.  When clients ask me “How do I get a good reputation online?” my first response is always the same… To have a good online reputation, you have to earn it!  You aren’t going to have a ton of 5-star reviews for your business if you haven’t provided 5-star service as many times as possible.  So first off…. teach your employees good customer service skills, make sure they use them and make a 5-star experience for all clients the Standard Operating Procedure for your business. Secondly, you don’t get something in this world if you don’t pursue it or ask for it. Let your clients know that you would appreciate a positive review if they truly enjoyed their experience with your business. Put signs up from your preferred online reputation sites (Google, Yelp, TripAdvisor, Facebook, etc). If you’ve had a recent client that you feel had a good experience with your business, reach out to them. A quick email asking that if they are satisfied, you’d appreciate them sharing their review online (include a link directly to your preferred online reputation site). You never know until you ask!

Consider Professional Online Reputation Management

Managing online reviews and reputation can be tricky.  This is one review site, and one way to manage reviews on it. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by online reviews, or just need help in managing your online presence, a company like Wit  can help.  Contact us today if you’d like to discuss our options for improving your online presence.

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