A bad review is hurting my small business. What now?

01/ 08Is one review really enough to hurt me?

It can be, especially if you have only a handful of reviews. Arithmetic is part of it: with ten reviews, one one-star review pulls your average down far more than it would with two hundred. We show the sums in why did my Google rating drop?. The other part is position: the newest reviews tend to be read first, so a recent bad one gets more attention than an old one.

02/ 08Can I just get it taken down?

Only if it breaks the platform’s rules. That is the honest answer, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. Google, Yelp, Trustpilot and the rest remove reviews that are fake, off-topic, from a conflict of interest, abusive, or that reveal personal details. They do not remove reviews because they are negative, unfair or one-sided. Read the signs a review breaks the rules and be honest with yourself about which side of the line yours falls.

03/ 08I don’t recognize this person at all. What does that mean?

It is worth checking carefully. Search your bookings, invoices and messages for the name and the date described. Reviewers sometimes use nicknames, so look at the details too. If there is no trace and the details do not match your business, you have a reason to report it as fake engagement. If it might be a former employee or a competitor, there are specific routes; see a Google review from a former employee and what to do about a competitor posting fake reviews.

04/ 08It’s a real customer and they’re partly right. Now what?

Then the review is staying, and your best move is the reply. Acknowledge the part they are right about, without grovelling, and say what you have changed. Readers do not expect a business with no complaints; they look at how complaints are handled. If you can, contact the customer privately to put things right. Some people update a review afterwards of their own accord. You must not ask them to in exchange for a refund or anything else.

05/ 08Should I get friends to leave good reviews to balance it out?

No. Reviews from friends, family or staff are fake engagement under Google’s policy, and in the US the FTC’s rule on fake reviews applies too. If a platform finds them, it can remove them and sometimes restrict your profile, leaving you worse off than before. The safe route is asking every real customer, every time, which we cover in can businesses offer incentives for reviews?.

06/ 08Should I threaten to sue the reviewer?

Rarely a good idea, and never as a first step. A legal threat posted publicly or sent privately can become the story, and in several countries laws restrict attempts to suppress honest reviews. If a review contains a false statement of fact that is genuinely damaging, take proper legal advice; our post on policy route or legal route explains the difference.

07/ 08Someone is offering to delete it for me. Should I pay?

Be careful. A real service can identify reviews that break the rules and report them properly, but nobody controls a platform’s decision. Upfront payment for a guaranteed removal is the classic shape of a scam, and some people who post or threaten bad reviews do it precisely to sell the removal. Read red flags when hiring a review removal company and Google review extortion scams before you pay anyone.

08/ 08What will actually make this better in a month?

• A calm reply under the review, posted today.
• A report, with evidence, if the review breaks the rules.
• A habit of asking every satisfied customer for a review, so new genuine reviews keep arriving.
• Fixing the thing the review was about, if it was real. It is the only fix that stops the next one.