This is a real issue that has grown significantly in recent months, so much so that Google has introduced new guidance and recommendations. While facing a sudden flood of negative reviews can feel stressful and even overwhelming, it’s important to know that you’re not alone and that there are clear, calm steps you can take to protect your Google Business Profile. Let’s look at what’s happening and how to handle it with confidence.

Understanding the Google review scam

This phenomenon, often called review bombing, is a coordinated effort in which a business receives a high volume of unearned, fraudulent 1-star ratings on Google Business Profile, often dropped all at once. Sometimes, the review includes a little text, but often, it’s just the star rating.

Source 

The unfortunate reality is that many of these campaigns are actually extortion attempts. The individuals responsible will post the negative reviews and then contact the business, claiming they can “fix” the problem and remove the reviews for a fee.

It’s crucial to understand that these attacks are not a reflection of your quality or service. They are a criminal scheme designed to panic you into paying.

If you are contacted by anyone claiming they can remove the bad reviews for money, the most important piece of advice is not to engage with them and not to pay them anything.

Paying the ransom simply encourages the criminals and makes your business a target for future attacks. Google’s platform is the only legitimate way to have fraudulent reviews removed.

New Policies & Shady Review Schemes: Is Google Helping or Hurting?

Learn more

How to confirm and identify Google review sabotage

Before raising the alarm, you need to confirm that you are dealing with a malicious attack and not an unfortunate wave of genuine complaints. Look out for these tell-tale signs of review sabotage:

• Sudden influx of negative reviews: Review ‘attacks’ often come in sharp waves. Keep an eye out for an immediate, unnatural spike in negative reviews on your Google Business Profile, particularly if they are all posted within a day or two.

If you are dealing with just one or two potentially fraudulent reviews that are not part of a coordinated attack, you should still report them.

You can find the steps for removing any fraudulent Google reviews here. 

• Phone numbers in reviews: Some fraudulent reviews may even include a phone number in the review text or even in the profile picture. This is a crucial red flag, as including contact information in a review is almost always against Google’s guidelines and is a clear indicator that the review should be removed. Under no circumstances should you call the number provided; this is just another tactic to draw you into contact with the scammer.
• Check reviewer history: Check how many reviews these Google accounts have made elsewhere. In most cases, fraudulent accounts will have none or only a few other reviews. Genuine, active reviewers typically have a broader history of activity.
• Look for red flags in the Profiles: Do the names and profile photos on Google look legitimate? Profiles with no profile picture and a generic alias as the name are often clear signs of a fake account. One person even saw someone use “John Doe” for one of the accounts. 
• Cross-check your system: Do your due diligence by checking your booking system, client records, or sales data to confirm whether these individuals had actually visited or purchased from you. This is the strongest way to verify which Google reviews are genuine and which are fraudulent.
• Trust your instincts: Do the reviews just feel wrong? If the content or tone of the reviews is inconsistent with your usual feedback, especially if you have a history of thousands of glowing reviews, it’s highly likely to be part of the attack. Some of the fake reviews have a very obvious pattern across each review. With a similar structure and generic complaints that could have been generated by AI.

Source

How to get these Google reviews removed

Dealing with a review bomb or extortion scam requires a calm, systematic approach. Focus on immediate flagging, thorough documentation, and a clear escalation path.

Step 1: Flag the reviews immediately

This is your first and most immediate action.

• Go to the negative review.
• Click the stop sign with an exclamation point next to it, and select ‘spam’.
• Ensure you are logged into Google as the manager/owner of the Google Business Profile (GBP).

Clay Seaman’s experience emphasizes the importance and speed of this initial step:

“I manage around 500 GBPs. Had this happen ONCE before about a year ago, and they mentioned in the review to pay them or more negative reviews were going to continue. I flagged those and they were removed very quickly.

On October 8, 2025 we had “10” 1 star reviews posted on one of our GBPs in a row with a lengthy specific message that looked legit but also you can see it was fake—all 10 had a similar message. Flagged all 10 on the 9th first thing. Google removed this morning first thing when I checked.”

Step 2: Document everything (build your case file)

You need evidence in case the initial flagging isn’t successful within a few days.

• Take Screenshots: Capture all suspicious Google reviews, noting the reviewer’s name, the time, and the date.
• Collect evidence: Save any emails or messages from people offering to remove the reviews for money. This evidence of a coordinated attack is vital. You can find advice from Google here on what evidence to prepare.

Step 3: Appeal/escalate to Google

If the reviews are not removed within 3 days after flagging, it’s time to escalate using Google’s dedicated tools.

• Submit a Report: Report the reviews immediately to Google using the dedicated reporting form. Provide all the requested information and attach the screenshots and files you collected in Step 2.

Step 4: Post a professional response

While you wait for Google to investigate, it’s a good idea to manage public perception.

• Post a Simple, Professional Response: Consider posting one general response to the cluster of fake reviews on your Google Business Profile. This lets your real customers know what’s happening.

Step 5: Dilute the impact and consider escalation

Here are proactive measures you can take while waiting for Google’s final decision.

• Encourage genuine reviews: To soften the blow to your overall average, gently encourage your recent, happy customers to leave an honest review on Google. A positive influx of real reviews helps dilute the impact of the fake ones.
• The Multi-layered strategy (if all else fails): If you are facing significant resistance or delays, you can consider a more aggressive approach, as advised by Local SEO specialist and spam fighter, Jason Brown:

“Flag the reviews using the tool. Go back and appeal the reviews and upload the image from the scammer. Then post for help on the forum. Finally, contact the local news stations. Once the press contacts Google, the reviews get removed prior to the story going live.”

Stay informed and prepared

The world of online reviews is always changing, and Google is constantly updating its policies to better combat these shady schemes. Understanding Google’s rules is your best defense.

For an in-depth look at the shifting landscape of review policies and the tactics being used, read this helpful BrightLocal article on shady review schemes.

By staying vigilant and handling these attacks calmly, you can successfully protect the great reputation you’ve worked hard to build on Google!

Love them or loathe them, online reviews are big business. Your star rating can play a huge part in whether someone chooses you or your biggest competitor.

But we all know reviews aren’t always fair, honest, or in some cases, even real. From glowing fake feedback to defamatory lies, the world of online reviews can get a little sticky, legally speaking. 

In this guide, we’ll break down the key legal rules and cases that every US business and review writer needs to know. 

Reviews and the law: TL;DR

The reality of reviews 

Good, bad, or fake, every online review is subject to the law.

For businesses, it’s not just about customers breaking the law; your own actions can also lead to legal headaches. Staying up-to-date on the law can help you avoid lengthy lawsuits and significant fines. 

Review site guidelines vs. the law 

Let’s start with guidelines. Yelp, Google, Facebook, and all other reputable review sites have extensive terms and conditions and review guidelines for users to follow.

These guidelines aren’t the same as the laws around US reviews. Doing something perfectly legal may get you a telling off, or even a ban from some review platforms if it’s against their own rules.

For example, there is no hard and fast rule around incentivizing for reviews, but platforms, including Yelp, are firmly against this. 

When you sign up for review platforms, you’ll often end up agreeing to their terms and conditions. This means that, in theory, if you break these, you could end up breaking contract law. Of course, what’s included in these terms can’t be illegal, but there’s more to think about than just US law. 

The big one: FTC Final Rule on Consumer Reviews and Testimonials

In October 2024, the Federal Trade Commission announced its long-awaited online reviews Final Rule, formally known as 16 CFR Part 465: Trade Regulation Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials. 

While not the first legislation influencing online reviews, this Final Rule seeks to give clear national guidance on a previously grey area. It aims to stop the buying and selling of fake reviews, with big penalties against “knowing violators”.

This includes: 

Fake reviews and testimonials 

Reviews and testimonials are now banned if they are written by someone who;

1. Doesn’t have real experience of a business
2. Misrepresents their experience. 

This includes AI-generated fake reviews, or fake review attacks by real people aiming to damage or boost a business’s reputation unfairly. It also covers testimonials falsely attributed to celebrities.

It is now against the law to buy and sell fake reviews if the business “knew or should have known” that the reviews or testimonials are false.

Buying positive or negative reviews 

Businesses can no longer give money or other incentives if they are conditional on customers writing a positive (or negative) review. This is true whether the incentive is clear or just implied. 

This doesn’t mean that incentives are completely out of the question. Businesses are still legally allowed to reward customers for leaving a review as long as it’s unconditional on whether this review is positive or negative. However, make sure you check the individual review site’s guidelines before doing this, as platforms including Yelp are against this.

Insider reviews and testimonials 

Reviews written by someone with a vague link to the company are now prohibited. This includes reviews written by managers and officers, and any testimonial that the business should have known was written by a company insider. 

It also imposes rules on reviews solicited from immediate family members, employees, or employees’ families. Transparency is key here. If a family member or employee has a legitimate reason to leave a review, they must disclose their connection to avoid misleading consumers. 

Review suppression 

Businesses are not allowed to threaten or attempt to intimidate review writers to prevent or remove negative reviews. This includes both physical and legal threats. 

The Final Rule also bars businesses from misrepresenting the reviews shown on their website as if they represent all or most submissions, when in fact negative reviews have been hidden or suppressed. 

This doesn’t mean you need to showcase your worst review front and centre on your website. But if you claim you have a perfect five-star rating on Google and this isn’t actually true, you could be fined. 

Company-controlled review websites

The Final Rule makes it clear that businesses can’t pass off websites they own or control as independent sources of reviews or opinions if these include reviews about their own products and services. 

This applies to company-run microsites, blogs, or platforms that look like review hubs but are in fact controlled by the business being reviewed. Even if the reviews themselves are genuine, failing to disclose a link is considered deceptive and could land you a fine. 

Misuse of social media influence indicators

This is not related to online reviews, but the Final Rule also stops the buying and selling of fake indicators of social media influence (e.g., followers or views by bots or hijacked accounts). 

This is limited to cases where the buyer “knew or should have known” that these indicators were fake and misrepresented their influence. This practice can mislead consumers about a business’s popularity or credibility.

Fines and the Final Rule

Rulebreakers won’t face jail time, but instead face civil penalties (AKA fines) of up to $51,744 per violation, or per day for ongoing violations. That’s not exactly pocket change for most local businesses. 

Before the Rule, the FTC needed to jump through additional hoops to bring enforcement under Section 5 of the FTC act. Now, they can fine violators directly. 

It’s important to note that the Final Rule doesn’t replace earlier laws or cover all areas of online reviews law (which we’ll touch on below). Instead, it strengthens the toolkit for the regulators, businesses, and local marketers fighting against fake and unfair review practices. 

For those who want to dig deeper, the FTC has published the full 163-page ruling, which lays out the specifics of what is and isn’t allowed. 

Other US laws and online reviews 

While the FTC’s Final Rule on Consumer Reviews and Testimonials is a strong cover all for fake reviews and misrepresentation, it isn’t the first rule to touch the murky world of online reviews. 

Previous laws and cases already tackle some of the more pertinent issues surrounding reviews, while the Final Rule covers the gaps.

Other laws to be aware of include: 

• Defamation laws
• Anti-SLAPP rules
• The Consumer Review Fairness Act (CRFA) 2016
• Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act

We’ll cover each in brief below.

Defamation laws

When it comes to online reviews and the law, one of the biggest legal risks comes down to defamation. In the U.S., defamation is defined as “a statement that injures a third party’s reputation”. To prove defamation, it must be: 

1. A false statement pretending to be a fact
2. Published or communicated to a third person
3. Be malicious or negligent in its intent (i.e., they knew it was wrong or should have checked)
4. Caused harm to the reputation of the subject 

Opinions (“The food was bland”) are protected by the First Amendment, but false claims presented as fact (“The food was laced with arsenic”) can cross the line into defamation. 

Sharing a genuine bad experience is protected. But making up or exaggerating facts to damage a business’s reputation could land a reviewer in court. 

Anti-SLAPP rules 

SLAPPs (strategic lawsuits against public participation) have been used to intimidate or silence people through costly and baseless legal action. 

In the past, some businesses have attempted to sue customers that left negative (but perfectly truthful) reviews. Even when these cases had no real chance in court, the threat of legal proceedings can intimidate reviewers into taking down their reviews. This kind of intimidation not only harms the reviewer, but also stops other consumers getting a full picture of a business. 

The introduction of Anti-SLAPP laws aimed to stop people from using threats of lawsuits to those exercising their First Amendment rights. These laws remain in place and continue to protect free speech and public participation in honest opinions and criticisms.

Consumer Review Fairness Act

The Consumer Review Fairness Act (CRFA) 2016 is a federal law that protects consumers’ rights to share honest experiences online. It made it illegal for businesses to add clauses to contracts that prevent customers from posting honest reviews or penalize them for negative feedback. It also tackled the requirement for customers to give up intellectual property rights in reviews. 

This law meant that customers could speak freely about their experiences without being punished or fined by businesses. 

Like with the FTC Final Ruling, breaking the terms of the CRFA can lead to fines. 

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act

When it comes to online reviews, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act is one of the most important laws businesses probably won’t have heard of. Essentially, it shields websites and review platforms from being held liable for content posted by users. 

This means if a customer leaves a negative review, a business cannot then sue Yelp or Google for hosting the review. If a business is unhappy with the legality of the review, it must either take the reviewer to court or attempt to get the review taken down if it’s against the site’s terms and guidelines. 

Review responses and the law 

It’s not just the practices surrounding reviews and what customers can write, but also how businesses choose to respond. Responding to reviews is a key part of managing your online reputation, but these responses are still bound by the law.

California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA/CRPA)

California’s CCPA and CRPA privacy laws protect consumers’ personal information and regulate how businesses can use it. When responding to reviews, avoid sharing any details that could identify a customer or reveal private information. 

Other states including Virginia, Connecticut, and Utah have their own privacy protections in place. Avoid the risk of a lawsuit no matter the location of your customers and never disclose personal information without consent. 

HIIPA

For healthcare businesses, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a critical consideration when responding to online reviews. 

HIPAA protects patients’ private health information, meaning you can’t share any details about a patient or their treatment in a review response, even if the patient has publicly shared their own details. Avoid mentioning appointments, treatments, diagnoses, or any other information that could identify the patient. Even thanking a patient by name can be risky. 

If a reviewer raises a serious concern, the safest approach is to address it in private by asking the reviewer to contact you directly. This way, there is no chance of breaking the rules. 

GLBA

Financial services businesses such as banks, credit unions, or lenders should be familiar with the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) when responding to reviews. GLBA protects consumers’ private personal financial information, including balances, credit history, and other sensitive financial data. 

This means businesses can’t disclose any financial information in review responses, even if the original review raised specific concerns on these. Like with HIPAA compliance, the best way to tackle issues is to encourage the reviewer to get in touch privately. 

How to handle illegal reviews

Reviews sometimes cross the line into defamation, false accusations, or harassment. When this happens, it’s important for businesses to act carefully and legally. Follow our step-by-step plan to make sure things don’t get worse. 

1. Stay calm and assess the situation

Start by assessing whether the review is truly illegal or just hurtful. A review only crosses into lawbreaking if it includes defamation or involves threats or harassment. As you assess, keep in mind the Streisand Effect: could the effort to silence the review actually draw more attention to it? 

2. Document everything

Before taking action, make sure you have a full record of the review. Save screenshots, note the date and time, and capture any related correspondence with the reviewer. This evidence is essential if you escalate to the review platform or go down the legal route. 

3. Contact the review platform

Review platforms, including Yelp and Google, have procedures for reporting reviews that violate their terms of service and content guidelines.

Provide clear evidence that the review is false or illegal. Be prepared that platforms are often cautious and may only act when the violation is clear-cut.

4. Get legal advice

If you think the review may break the law, consult a lawyer who specializes in defamation to help you decide if your case has merit. Next steps may include a cease and desist letter or even pursuing a full lawsuit. 

Keep in mind that the bar is high: courts generally won’t punish opinions, so legal action tends to only be successful if you can prove the review is false. 

5. Get more reviews 

While you’re working your way through potentially lengthy legal and review platform processes, work on strengthening your overall reputation. Encourage recent customers to share their genuine experiences so that the illegal review has less visibility and effect on your overall star rating. 

Stay smart, stay legal

Online reviews are a powerful tool for businesses, but the legal landscape in the US around them is complex and constantly evolving. Between the FTC’s Final Rule on Consumer Reviews, defamation and anti-SLAPP protections, and state-specific privacy laws, it’s easy to get tangled in legal grey areas. 

The good news? Most honest reviews and responsible responses are perfectly fine. Don’t buy fake reviews or indulge in dodgy practices, and you’ll stay on the right side of the law. 

Please remember nothing here replaces professional legal advice. When in doubt, a qualified lawyer is the only person who can guide you safely through online reviews and the law. 

According to Yell Business, reviews can also help improve communication and customer service. They give your business credibility and act as social proof, even for very new businesses. Online reviews also provide other customers with valuable company information, with first-hand insights that business owners may not have thought to share.

Reviews are also becoming more prominent as a content format in their own right. Star ratings are increasingly visible in search results, with review add-ons for Google Ads and ratings in local search via Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business). Sometimes, snippets of actual reviews appear in results, making them a highly visible source of information and a frequent stop on the customer path to purchase.

In ranking terms, reviews are also important. The 2017 LocalSEO Guide ranking factors study pegged reviews as one of the most important local ranking factors. The number of good and bad reviews received was determined to play a part in local pack positioning, as was the speed and frequency of response.

Responding to reviews is a way of showing the world how much you care about the customer experience — as well as being a way to earn a few more local SEO brownie points. All reviews should be acknowledged promptly, but it’s particularly easy to succumb to temptation and respond to a negative review as soon as you see it. Before you give in to this impulse, it pays to be aware of the six core types of reviewer so you can formulate an appropriate, effective response to fit.

1. The First-time Reviewer

With only 63% of consumers having left a review for a local business, there are still plenty of shoppers out there who haven’t ever felt moved to review a business.

When you do encounter a first-time reviewer, keep in mind that if yours is the first review they’ve left, they clearly feel quite strongly about their experience (whether good or bad).

How to deal with the First-time Reviewer

You should take a first-time reviewer seriously and if good, appreciate that your service must have been outstanding to push them into leaving a review. Make sure to pass this feedback on to your team, and congratulate them on a job well done!

On the flip side, negative reviews must be delicately handled and considerable thought given to the response.  It’s unlikely that you will receive further interaction after the initial review, even when you do respond, but that shouldn’t impact how you proceed.

In the case of a negative review, ask yourself if there is any truth in the feedback and if changes need to be made internally to rectify the issue being flagged up. If valid, your response should outline the steps that will be taken to avoid this issue again in the future. And, if you disagree with the reviewer’s claims, politely and professionally provide your side of the story. This will help provide context to readers. 

2. The Serial Complainer

Serial complainers are the exact opposite of first-timers and will be prolific reviewers. They’ll have a long and storied history of leaving negative reviews and will likely review every business, product or service they use. They may well be incredibly picky and have unrealistically high standards or expectations of what they have actually paid for.

How to deal with the Serial Complainer

Tread carefully here, as the serial complainer has had lots of experience with other businesses just like yours. They are professionals at making you look bad. Your response will need to be very measured while also addressing the points made. Look at how other businesses have fared when dealing with them and avoid making the same mistakes.

Be aware that the serial complainer is very likely to continue the conversation and will respond back to your comments, often with additional complaints or disagreements. And if you can’t change their mind, don’t be too disheartened! 

3. The Direct Communicator

The direct communicator won’t mince words. They’ll get straight to the point and expect someone senior to take note. These are people who don’t direct their reviews to the world at large, but to you, the business owner.

If they’re negative, they’ll want to receive a very personal response and likely want to have the discussion on the public review site rather than over a private email conversation.

How to deal with the Direct Communicator

When dealing with a direct communicator, don’t be tempted to be similarly abrupt in your response.

Be clear but not overly wordy and don’t resort to a direct or confrontational style. Avoid making excuses too – the direct communicator values straight talk and expects swift action.

4. The Storyteller

The storyteller takes time to craft exceptionally detailed reviews.

They will share the smallest of details and paint a picture of their entire experience – typically including lots of information not directly related to the product or service being reviewed. You can recognize a storyteller by the length of the review. There’ll also be plenty of the reviewer’s own recommendations, suggestions, and advice.

How to deal with the Storyteller

If your storyteller is posting a negative account of their dealings with your business, take time to check and re-check your response before posting, as the storyteller will often be highly critical of replies which aren’t equally as thought out.

This doesn’t mean you should match the tone or length – don’t be tempted to add lots of background info if it doesn’t serve a purpose. Likewise, if they’re sarcastic and snide, don’t be tempted to match this tone, as it’ll likely backfire, and potentially damage onlookers’ opinions of your business.

5. The Sharpshooter

The sharpshooter pulls no punches. The review will be brief and to the point,  and perhaps poorly written or rushed. Don’t respond in kind to a sharpshooter or go too far the other way with a long-winded response.

How to deal with the Sharpshooter

When dealing with a review from a sharpshooter, be conscious that your reply should be concise but not short. Use succinct, clear sentences rather than wordy, elaborate ones to better reflect this type of reviewer’s communication style.

6. The Faker

Most businesses will have fallen victim to a fake review at least once. If you’re in that boat, you’ll agree that the faker is the worst kind of reviewer.

A faker has never used your business or purchased your product. Despite this, they have a grudge and delight in leaving one-star reviews with made-up complaints to damage your online reputation. They may be working on behalf of a competitor (or even be a competitor!) Do some research on them and see if they have links someone who would have beef with you. The review itself may also shed some light on this.

How to deal with the Faker

If you suspect a review is fake, check your customer records to determine if they have ever used your business.

Don’t be tempted to reply straight away if you think it’s fake. Instead, take a look at BrightLocal contributor Ben Fisher’s guide to getting fake reviews removed. In the meantime, focus on acquiring new positive, genuine reviews to push the fake one star down.

We’d love to hear your thoughts

What kinds of reviewers have you encountered and what tips do you have for responding? I’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments below.

Our guide to Google local search is jargon-free, up to date, explains everything in plain English, and is packed with easy-to-action tips.

We’ll touch on the essential local SEO tools you’ll need to make your life easier and provide you with a complete overview of which areas you need to focus on to make your business more visible to local customers. So, let’s get started!

The Basics: Why local search?

If you’re new to Google local search or have come over from traditional SEO, you may wonder where it’s come from and why it’s so important to local businesses everywhere. The answer to this question lies with a piece of tech that you likely have in your pocket, in your hands, or on your desk right now—your smartphone.

The widespread availability of mobile technology has seriously changed how we behave as consumers. We can now hop online at any time, from any location, and search for something we need or want. That means that anything from the nearest pizza place to the pet grooming parlor (plus any product or service you can think of in between) is just a few taps on your smartphone screen away.

Constant connectivity equals convenience, so more and more, everyday shoppers are heading to Google on their phones when they need to find something. According to BrightLocal’s own Local Consumer Review Survey, 21% of consumers go online to find a local business every day, 77% search for a local business at least once per week, and 91% look online for local businesses at least once a month.

It’s easy to see how appearing prominently on Google when local people search for your kind of service can be lucrative!

What is a ‘local search’? How does it differ from a normal search?

A local search is perhaps best described with an example:

You’re driving in town and have a flat tire. You pull out your smartphone, head to your web browser, and type ‘mechanic’ into Google.

Whether or not you add ‘near me’, you’re still performing a local search as you’re looking for a specific service in your local area.

Thanks to modern technology, and provided you’ve allowed for this in your privacy settings, Google can accurately pinpoint your location. It can use your Wi-Fi connection or GPS, for example, to get an idea of where you are and then return results for products, services, and merchants that are in close proximity to your location.

Without getting too technical, proximity between searcher and business is one of the three key pillars of local search (along with relevance and prominence) for businesses looking to get their web presence seen by the right people at the right time.

Google will calculate the distance from the search user to a local business when deciding how to rank search results. It knows that, more often than not, search users need a solution that is close to them—especially when searching on a mobile device.

Breaking Down Your Search

You may think there’s nothing much to decode when you type a few words into Google to hunt down a vital product or service. That’s actually not the case, though.

The words and phrases you type in before hitting ‘search’ are a good indicator to Google whether you need something local or a solution from further afield. Let’s look at some of the ways that Google works out if you’re looking for something local.

“Near Me” Searches

Let’s go back to that city drive and your flat tire.

Now, chances are, you don’t just type in mechanic, although that is possible. In your eagerness to return to the road with a fully inflated tire as soon as possible, you might tell Google you’re looking for a “mechanic near me”.

Right away, ‘near me’ triggers a local search, as you need assistance close to your physical location.

The same is true of your customers’ searches. Whether they’re looking for a pool cleaner or a cable guy, ‘near me’ flags up to Google that only a business close to the searcher’s current location will suffice.

This means that Google knows to present that user with service providers from their immediate area. If you’re a mechanic in that city, you’ll want to ensure that you have your local search visibility taken care of to be visible to that customer and stand a chance of winning that job.

Geo-targeted Searches

In some cases, rather than typing in “near me”, you may simply add your location to the end of the search to be assured that you’ll be served relevant results. For example, “mechanic brighton”.

It’s pretty clear to Google that this is a local search, and so to be useful, it needs to show you listings for mechanics in Brighton.

You’d also use geo-targeted searches if you were looking for a place in a specific location that isn’t near you, for example when planning a trip. It’s important to remember this because otherwise, it’s easy to think that ‘local search’ equals ‘near me search’.

Location-enabled Searches

If you have your location enabled on your phone, you can perform a local search without even realizing it. In most cases, if you simply type in ‘mechanic’, you’ll get local results simply because you have location services enabled on your phone (Google is clever enough to know that you’re probably not looking for a definition of a mechanic unless you specifically ask for one).

This can vary depending on the type of business searched for, though. Searches for popular business types like hotels, restaurants, and car dealerships are always likely to trigger a location-enabled search.

What is a local search result in Google?

As we’ve seen, there are several types of ways to make a local search on Google, and fittingly, there are multiple types of local search results, too.

Depending on the device used for the search and the type of search performed, a different type of local search result may be shown.

Here, we just want to share a few terms that pop up most often to describe local search results so you feel comfortable with each one when you carry out local searches, speak to a local SEO agency, or look for local SEO services.

Local Pack

The most common result you’ll see when making a local search for a business is the Local Pack, though Google is doing its best to make AI Overviews the de facto search result—more on this shortly.

The Local Pack is a section of Google’s search results that shows the top local businesses related to your query. Whenever your query has local intent, Google will show a set of local businesses that might answer your query.

You’ll see the Local Pack appear if you go to Google and type in your search query in the search bar. It will often have an image of a map above or beside it and then usually three suggested local businesses below or to the side, sometimes with snippets of reviews, opening times, justifications, and photos.

For local businesses, this is the ultimate goal in local SEO, as these three spots are generally consistent across mobile and desktop and are by far the most popular way of discovering local businesses on Google.

Google Maps

If you use Google Maps to perform a search, you’ll get local map results. This will show the location of businesses matching your search query on a map with options for filtering according to criteria such as ‘top rated’ or ‘open now’, or even business types like ‘restaurants’.

Local Finder

If you click a listing in the Local Pack or scroll through the list of businesses on Google Maps, you’ll get what are called ‘Local Finder’ results. The Local Finder is the source of truth for all local listings on Google.

Wherever you see listings for a particular search term in a particular location, the Local Finder results are what’s being pulled. BrightLocal tracks these positions in our Local Rank Tracker and Local Search Grid.

Google AI Overviews

Getting back to general browser results, today you might find an AI Overview result in response to your local search query. These responses are generated by Google’s Gemini LLM (“AI” is entirely a misnomer—and a deliberate one: there is no “intelligence” going on here, merely pattern recognition and prediction, and the same is true of other LLMs like ChatGPT).

In this local search result type, Gemini does its best to discern what sort of result the user is searching for and pulls from authoritative guides and online sources to compile a response that’s conversational in tone.

The sources themselves are hidden behind ‘link’ icons and in the right-hand box (which I’ve already opened in the screenshot above).

These results are experimental and vary wildly from day to day and from search to search. It’s safe to say that until Google has stabilized Gemini and implemented it fully and consistently, you can’t rely on AI Overviews appearing for any given search, be that local or otherwise.

“Find Results On”

This may vary depending on where in the world you are searching from, but thanks to Google’s ongoing legal issues in the EU (the governing bodies of which want to see Google stop ‘self-preferencing’ in its products) the search giant has had to compromise and place links to other directories prominently in search results.

This is why you might see ‘Find Results On’ above even the Local Pack in your search results. The prominence of these directories in local search results (and in organic results) further highlights the importance of getting your business featured in all the right directories.

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Localized Organic Results

Localized organic results are a slightly different version of local search results. These results are shown in the main search area. They aren’t strictly business-related (so they likely won’t include specific local businesses unless they’re performing very well in local SEO for the search term you’ve used), but they do have a strong local connection via their content.

If the searcher is clearly looking for something local, the results will often consist of directory listings or ‘listicle’ style articles (such as “Top 10 Best X in Y”) and articles from local bloggers and newspapers.

Non-Google Local Search

As mentioned above, we’re now in an era where not everyone relies solely on Google to search the web. 

In fact, they might not even need to go to the traditional ‘web’ (as found via a browser). Search behavior has changed so much in recent years that it’s now perfectly normal for someone to, say, use ChatGPT to get restaurant recommendations and details, use Instagram to check out what the food looks like, and then find an impartial video review on YouTube or TikTok to make the final decision.

Our own Local Business Discovery and Trust Report found these to be the top apps for business discovery on social media:

1. Facebook (59% of consumers use Facebook to learn about businesses)
2. YouTube (49%)
3. Instagram (40%)
4. TikTok (32%)
5. Twitter/X (28%

Let’s take a brief tour of some of these to understand what a local search might look like.

Local Search on Facebook

Facebook is the #1 social media app for business discovery, so we have a dedicated guide to local search and Facebook. For now, let’s move on to some of the others on this list.

Local Search on Instagram

Instagram isn’t quite clever (or perhaps nosy) enough to use your location to prop up a generic search like ‘restaurant’ or ‘restaurant near me’ but if you include a place name, like ‘restaurant new york’, you’ll see posts related to that search, generally from super-popular Instagram accounts.

Another way to search for local businesses on Instagram is a clunky one, but it’s great for a more visual way to browse if you love Instagram.

1. Type a business name you know is in the area and industry you’re researching into the search bar and scroll over to ‘Places’:
   
   
2. Tap on the business name to see posts related to that ‘Place’.
   
3. Zoom out of the map and click ‘Search This Area’ to see a bunch of posts and reels related to your search. That’s where you’ll find similar business types.
   

This is a niche trick for Instagram business search, but it works and highlights the importance of having an updated and engaging Instagram presence that’s properly detailed, with opening times and the correct address.

Local Search on TikTok

TikTok works in much the same way for business discovery as Instagram, but with one key difference: TikTok actually gives businesses the equivalent of a directory listing.

Perform a business search or stumble across a business another way, and you’ll eventually land on the business’s own listing, which contains:

• reviews on TikTok
• reviews from other platforms like Google Maps
• a link to call the business
• a link to find the business on Apple Maps
• the full address, price range, and even…
• an estimate of how close to you the business is (no other platform does this!)

Where does TikTok get this information from? It doesn’t just aggregate it from other platforms, it actually requests business owners to submit and verify their business details via a dedicated form.

With a social media platform taking business discovery so seriously, you can see why Google’s not in the same position it used to be for local search.

Local Search on YouTube

Unlike some of the other platforms mentioned here, YouTube doesn’t need to keep track of your location and doesn’t tailor its search results based on it. Instead, to perform a local search on YouTube, you’ll need to add your location to the search term (e.g. restaurants brighton).

A local search on YouTube provides you with the same kind of results you’d get for a standard YouTube. It’ll likely be comprised of listicles from popular bloggers or review sites, peppered with sponsored posts from content creators or the businesses themselves.

Where YouTube really comes into its own is in individual product or business reviews. Depending on the sector, you could find a host of reviews to help you make a local business decision, or better yet, local experts who take the time to provide their unbiased reviews.

ChatGPT (and other non-Google LLMs)

Finally, we come to LLMs like ChatGPT, and LLM-powered search engines like Perplexity and Arc Search. What all these have in common is that they’re less ‘search engines’ and more ‘answer engines’. By this, I mean that they’re designed to provide clear answers to questions, rather than a host of results for the user to browse around and use to come to their own conclusions.

They’re designed for conversational activity, so you can start a local search with a simple question like ‘where is a good coffee shop in brixton’, and then refine the results conversationally, without having to repeat the question, like so: “which of these is close to t a train station”. This sort of conversation is what LLM providers mean when they say things like “it can help you plan an entire trip”.

As you can see in the screenshot above, ChatGPT answers local business questions with a map and a carousel of businesses it’s highlighted as suitable for the search term. Want to know which sources it used to decide on this list? Just click ‘Sources’ at the bottom, and ChatGPT will provide you with the list of top sources (usually business websites, authoritative blogs, directories, or local news sources) that it used.

Where do LLMs get the bulk of their information from? The training data used (and how up-to-date it is) is different depending on the LLM you choose, but by far the most popular, ChatGPT, primarily uses Microsoft Bing as its search engine, leveraging its data to provide up-to-date information when searching the web through the “ChatGPT Search” feature. This is because OpenAI, the developers of ChatGPT, have a partnership with Microsoft, which owns Bing.

Uncovering ChatGPT Search Sources

Learn More

What about other search engines?

While they’re not nearly as popular as Google, there are a multitude of niche or localized search engines available, from industry stalwarts like Yahoo! and Bing to others like Baidu and Yandex. Take a look at our guide to alternative search engines to learn how local search works on those platforms.

Conclusion

Now that you know the differences and commonalities between local search types and local search results, you can dive further into learning what affects these things.

Whatever you do, always be testing and learning. There’s no such thing as set-it-and-forget-it in SEO, and local search is no different. Even citations have to be updated sometimes!

Not only can this help you identify potential issues and address them promptly to minimize their impact, but it also enables you to respond quickly to all reviews left for your local business. 

This is important for two reasons. Firstly, businesses that respond to reviews tend to perform better in local search. And secondly, because today’s consumers actively check for review responses from business owners. 

How do you monitor reviews?

Monitoring your online reviews simply means you’re going to keep tabs on customer feedback left for you on relevant platforms like Google, Yelp, or Facebook. You can do this manually by checking each review platform individually or by using review monitoring tools.

The first step to monitoring online reviews for your business is to make a list of review sites. This should include both general review sites and industry-specific review sites relevant to your business. If you’re in the hotel or restaurant business, that could mean Tripadvisor. If you’re a tradesperson, that could be Angi. If you’re a contractor, Houzz. You get the idea.

If you’re unsure which review platforms are most relevant to you, you could ask your customers which ones they use. 

You can also add competitors into the mix here and piggyback off their activities. Find out which review platforms they’re most active on—do they have certain badges on their sites, such as a badge from TripAdvisor or Trustpilot? When you search for the company name, which review sites appear at the top of the results page?

As you build your list of sites to monitor, keep a record of any important sites that you don’t already appear on. You’ll need to initiate the review generation process on these platforms.

Manual review monitoring vs. review monitoring tools

When it comes to online review monitoring, you have two options—use a review monitoring tool like BrightLocal’s Reputation Manager or do it manually. 

Manual review monitoring is more time-consuming and runs the risk of reviews being missed. To reduce that possibility, ensure that:

• Your email address is registered with the review platform
• You’ve opted in to receive an alert each time a new review is published. Consider setting up a dedicated email folder for review alerts. 

A review monitoring tool is a more efficient and effective way to keep track of your online reviews.

It’ll do the time-consuming task of checking for new reviews for you. This removes the risk of reviews being missed and enables you to respond promptly. This means you’ll be able to take action quickly in the event of a negative review appearing. Many even offer the opportunity to respond immediately in the tool.

Tools usually allow you to monitor all your review platforms in one centralized location, too.

Whichever route you choose, be sure to keep a log of the frequency of reviews, the volume of negative versus positive reviews, and any action taken as a result of each review. If the rate at which you’re earning new reviews slows down, then further action will be needed to understand why that’s the case.

Understanding trends in your reviews

If you’re manually undertaking review monitoring, you’ll need to carry out an additional task to then make sense of your data. To understand the sentiment and identify common themes, you’ll first need to consolidate the text of the reviews together in one central location, such as a shared Google doc. 

Once you’ve done this, you can use a word cloud generator (Google has a free app here) to help you make sense of the data. The word cloud will show you common words and phrases that have been used. This will give you insight into which products, services, and themes are being discussed most frequently.

Look out for phrases such as ‘fast delivery’, ‘helpful’, ‘good customer service’, and individual product names. This will clue you in as to what people are liking, buying, and wanting more of.

You may also notice that there’s a correlation between these attributes and the reviews in a prominent position on your Google Business Profile. Google takes note when people regularly mention a particular element of service, such as ‘fast delivery’ or ‘outdoor dining’, and will add this as a highlight to your GBP on mobile devices.

How to use BrightLocal for online review monitoring 

If you’re looking for a streamlined way to track reviews across multiple platforms or for multiple business locations, BrightLocal’s Monitor Reviews is a strong option (if we do say so ourselves!) 

Monitor Reviews pulls in reviews from more than 80 review sites, including the big ones like Google, Yelp, Facebook, Tripadvisor, and Angi, as well as industry-specific platforms, all in one handy dashboard. 

This means you can see every new review without hopping between multiple websites, as well as respond to reviews and showcase the top ones on your website, all using BrightLocal. 

Here’s how to get started: 

1. Sign up or log in

Log in to your BrightLocal account, or start a 14-day free trial if you’re new here (welcome!) Then choose the business location or create a new one. Connect your Google and Facebook listings, and BrightLocal will start finding your reviews in the background.

2. Choose the review sources to track

Click Actions → Edit Report Settings to add the additional review sites you want to monitor. You’ll need the listing URLs for each site.

3. Set up alerts

While in the Reputation report settings, choose how often you want the report to run and how often we should email you with your review insights—daily, weekly, monthly, or only when new reviews are found. This ensures you never miss important feedback.

4. Spot trends with Review Insights

Use the Review Insights overview to dig into your review data and see where you need to improve. You can:

• Track review growth over time and spot spikes
• See your average star rating across all review sites
• Check the distribution of star ratings
• View the split of rating per review site to know which sites to focus on

5. View and respond in Reviews → Manage Reviews

After analyzing the data, jump into the full reviews in Reviews → Manage Reviews. Here you can:

• View all your reviews in one place
• Filter by star rating, review site, timeframe, or reviews that haven’t been responded to
• Respond directly to reviews (learn how here)

For more advice on mastering online review monitoring with BrightLocal, enroll in our free Academy course: Level Up Your Local SEO with BrightLocal.

How do I monitor Google reviews?

Monitoring Google reviews can be done either manually or by using an online review monitoring tool. Manually monitoring involves checking Google Business Profile (GBP) for new review alerts. You’ll also be notified via email when a new review is shared, with this notification going to the email address used to manage the GBP account. 

To access reviews, log into GBP and select ‘Reviews’ from the left-hand navigation.

How do I track negative reviews?

You can perform online review monitoring to identify negative reviews as they appear. This can be achieved by using a review monitoring tool or by manually checking the review platforms associated with your business. 

It’s important that negative reviews are quickly addressed to prevent damage to your reputation, so an automated tool is often the best bet. You can find our tips for how to handle negative reviews here.

Track Your Reviews in Real-time

Good or bad, monitoring online reviews doesn’t have to be time-consuming. Whether you track them manually or use an online review monitoring tool, you can see feedback as it comes in, respond quickly, and spot trends to help build reviews across the platforms that your customers use. Here’s to five stars! 

Fake reviews are out of control on Google. Signaling a desire to address the problem, Google released tougher GBP guidelines last week that warn merchants of new punishments for “fake engagement”.

This should be a welcomed change, of course. But is it too little, too late? Will these new policies actually help? And will innocent merchants suffer too?

Considering merchants are already suffering from weak policy enforcement and seemingly automated appeal tools, you definitely won’t find me celebrating quite yet.

And that’s just the first reason I’m skeptical! In this article, we’ll take a look at the state of restricted content policies, Google’s years-long enablement of harmful third-party reputation services, and why you might want to consider precautions to prevent any headaches to come.

Google’s New Review Policies

Earlier this year, I started hearing reports from folks in the EU that their Google Business Profile reviews had been disabled for 30 days due to fake engagement. This was the first quiet sign Google was ramping up new tests to fight fake positive reviews.

Now, Google has gone public with new policies and a list of punishments for merchants who are caught engaging in fake engagement violations:

Aside from losing the fake reviews, Google might:

• Disable new reviews temporarily
• Hide existing reviews—even genuine ones
• Display a public “shame banner” on their listing to warn consumers of fake reviews

If you’re wondering what this “shame banner” looks like, local marketing advisor Mike Blumenthal shared an example of one in the wild from the UK.

While this could be cool, if you’re like me, you may already be wondering about “false positives” and if adequate recourse will be in place.

Will you now be targeted with fake positive reviews from competitors and black hat SEOs trying to sabotage your business? To be frank, yeah, probably.

Though fairly uncommon, I have already seen “positive review attack” complaints on the GBP Help Community. Here’s what I mean:

While these more serious punishments will hopefully discourage merchants from buying fake reviews, they will also entice some to attack their competition.

For that reason, it would probably be wise to start:

1. Monitoring 5-star review activity for unrecognized reviews
2. Reporting suspicious 5-star reviews immediately
3. Contacting Google support if the reviews are not removed

Fortunately, it does appear merchants will be warned before punishments are placed, allowing time to submit an appeal of the decision.

That’s good… however, if history proves anything, Google doesn’t have the best track record of processing appeals and protecting merchants.

In my years of experience consulting business owners and communicating with Google Support about review violations, I’m not exactly confident the appeal form will be user-friendly.

In fact, reporting review violations is currently so difficult that merchants often turn to consultants or shady reputation management services to help remove reviews…

…reviews that violate Google’s own policies, mind you.

And where do they find these services? On Google, of course!

What’s worse? Google enables and profits from Google review removal services by means of Google Ads—and these ads are ripe with deceptive marketing, manipulative sales tactics, and false pretenses that prey on desperate business owners. Let’s take a deep dive into that.

Reputation Rackets Alive and Thriving

Online Reputation Management, or ORM, has had many shady actors for quite some time. Forbes wrote an exposé in 2013 highlighting manipulative and even illegal practices throughout the industry, from outright extortion to reputation service price gouging.

I’ve seen countless examples of individuals getting random negative reviews only to be immediately contacted with a cold offer to remove their negative reviews for a fee. Some of these scammers flatly admit it’s blackmail!

These tactics predate the current Google review gold mine, such as the notorious mugshot removal scams (article only available in USA) that acquire and post mugshots online, and then contact the individuals with an extortion fee to remove it. In this case, you aren’t paying for reputation management—you are just paying a ransom.

And just like kidnapping, paying the ransom encourages copycat antics.

While these blackmail tactics are obvious abuse, an even more successful racket has been operating in the open for years: “Guaranteed” review removal services.

Beware Ads For “Guaranteed” Review Removal

Have you ever been desperate to remove a bad review?

Countless “reputation management” companies know you have – or will be, and are ready to profit from that desperation.

GUARANTEED REVIEW REMOVAL

ONLY PAY IF IT’S REMOVED

Maybe you’ve seen these ads on Google, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and so on.

Just search “remove Google reviews” and you’ll see as many ads as if you were searching for a personal injury lawyer.

These ads have been shown for years above Google’s free review management tool—a tool that many don’t even know exists, let alone how to use it.

And these ads aren’t cheap. Some keywords related to Google review removals are fetching a staggering $40 per click or more in Google Ads. At those prices, Google review removal is quickly earning itself a spot among the most expensive paid search categories like loans, insurance, mortgages, and attorneys!

That’s because it’s a wildly profitable industry that relies on desperate merchants who will pay (possibly anything) to have a negative review removed.

For example, I once helped a small business owner, a dog trainer, who had a review from a bitter romantic partner who accused him of abusing animals. For those who love animals, that’s an instant dealbreaker and a possible death sentence for this business.

He risked a lot of money to companies that promised to remove the review, yet none were successful (despite obvious violations in the review).

I knew the review broke GBP guidelines and there was a path of recourse. I gave the business owner some advice which subsequently had the review taken down successfully (and no, I didn’t charge a “guaranteed removal fee”).

With keyword planner reporting over 250,000 searches per month related to removing Google reviews, I know many are falling for a gimmick – or else no business in their right mind would pay up to $40 to win a single click.

I’ve reported thousands of Google reviews that were successfully removed. As a GBP Product Expert, you can find me volunteering on the Google Help Community regularly helping merchants with bugs, suspensions, and yes, many review violations. I know firsthand that no reputation company, no matter how high their fees, can be better at reporting Google reviews than any average person who really understands the process and Google policies.

For one, reviews are only removed when they violate Google’s restricted content policies. No company can delete the review, nor can you pay Google to remove it.

There is no proprietary secret or backdoor to get reviews removed. The real challenge is actually getting a Google Support representative who is aware of and understands the guidelines (in your native language). That’s it.

So, at best, any paid service is just good at communicating with Google Support and informing them of their own guidelines.

And that’s at best. What’s actually happening is often worse.

Why You Shouldn’t Pay “Only if it’s Removed”

I get it, it’s enticing. Especially if you’re a civil trial lawyer, for example, who works on a similar basis.

Why should you pay unless the desired outcome is achieved? Seems like a no-brainer, but isn’t that simple.

How do these reputation companies do it, exactly? Is it a backdoor connection at Google? An algorithm? Do they have a team of super lawyers to threaten legal action against the official monopoly of search?

What’s the secret!?

*drumroll*

… nothing.

The real secret sauce is not their reporting tactics, it’s their business model.

Here it goes: They click the flag button, and then they bill you $1,000 if the review disappears.

And yes, I have seen agreements for much more than $1,000 per review. Do this at scale, and we’re talking some serious dough. No wonder they are paying $40 per click for the ads!

Now, some of these companies may be more sophisticated in their tactics than just clicking the report button. And by “sophisticated”, I mean using Google’s free review management tool that I mentioned above.

Even then, no one can guarantee or promise your review is coming down. Only Google, and Google alone, has the authority to remove a review.

The other issue is that there is absolutely no reliable way to attribute who or what event triggered a review to finally get removed. Google does not send a certificate that says “Congratulations Generic Reputation Company LLC—you removed this review! Go ahead and bill your customer now!”

That’s because Google removed the review, because it already violated their guidelines. It wasn’t because of Generic Reputation Company LLC, you, me, or anyone else.

It was because Google didn’t notice the violation, but now they do… oops!

How Reviews Are Actually Removed

No ORM company can claim or even prove that they were responsible for a Google review being removed. 

Despite reporting thousands of reviews myself, I have never once been informed that I was responsible in any way, nor can I truly take credit for the results.

Let me explain: Reviews can come down at any time. It can be the result of:

• Flagging from the business owner or other users
• Appeals in the Review Tool
• Escalations on the GBP Help Community
• The user removed it themselves
• The reviewer’s account was suspended
• Possibly a combination of reports
• Or even just automatically from a Google algorithm update

Just like the search algorithm, Google periodically pushes updates to their review filter algo.

Earlier this year, Google said they removed 45% more reviews in 2023 thanks to their new review algorithm.

Google also does not inform anyone of the precise source of removal or if they were affected by this algorithm, likely to prevent review manipulation.

So what happens if your review gets taken down by one of these algorithms after you sign a guaranteed review removal contract?

How “Guaranteed” Removal Works

Those willing to pay anything to remove a review usually don’t care who removes the review. So what if an ORM company can’t prove they really did it? The review is gone, hallelujah!

Well, not so fast. Aside from the ethics concerns of their marketing strategy, the reason you should care is because you can do it for free, and may even be paying for nothing.

Without naming names, here’s a shot directly from the website of one of the biggest advertisers in this space:

Ehem, “we”? you mean when Google removes it?

Over the past year, this company’s ad spend has skyrocketed, estimated at over 4,000 paid search users per month.

Not to mention, this is actually ‘helpful content’ too, by the way, because ironically they seem to be one of the lucky ones to benefit from the March core algorithm update!

In the August update, they saw even greater gains.

Meanwhile, other businesses suffered or were even forced to file for bankruptcy as the result of the controversial March “Helpful Content” Update, like in this example reported by Barry Schwartz.

It’s not just one offender either. Here’s another popular “content removal” service:

Or this one, another Google Ad buyer, with this on their Google Ads landing page:

(Google reviews reappear after removal all the time, by the way.)

The consistent pattern I find with merchants is that many seem to genuinely believe these ORM companies must have a super-secret connection or black hat tactic.

So how could they get away with selling bupkis?

To illustrate why that can be so, consider civil trial lawyers again, many of whom also use this same payment model: except their work is evident. There’s no question which firm represented you, who showed up on trial day, or who negotiated the settlement. “No Win – No Fee” agreements seem perfectly fair in this case, since there’s no question who did the work and won.

But when it comes to ORM, they actually don’t have to do any work to get paid under this model. Sure, the more work they do, the more money—so it’s in their best interest to try. And maybe some do work.

But my point is that this “removal guarantee” marketing model is deceptive and unethical, even if they do work. That’s because “success” is not based upon their work. It’s based upon an event that can occur unrelated to their work, and is often accompanied by lies about how the process really works.

With this model, money can still be made without a deliverable or accountability. Sign enough contracts and some will pay off. It’s just a numbers game.

In the same vein, I could guarantee your favorite NFL team will win the Superbowl: only pay if they win! With at least one customer per team, I’m guaranteed a payday.

And hence the doubling, tripling, and quadrupling down on Google Ad allocation from review removal services. And because customers are only billed after their desired outcome, few will complain!

I have reviewed contracts from some of these companies. Generally, the agreement is if the review disappears within 3 months, 6 months, etc., for any reason: you pay up. With no option to back out, there isn’t actually a deliverable. It’s really just a guarantee from you to owe someone else money in the event your review suddenly disappears…

…wait, what?

Note the exclusivity clause. The client is prohibited from reporting the review or merely contacting anyone in relation to review removal; but oh, by the way, you still get billed anyway even if you don’t breach this clause.

Huh? So why follow the exclusivity clause if there is no incentive?

An exclusivity clause usually protects one or both parties from being undermined. Ironically, in the case of Google reviews, this exclusivity agreement actually works against the vendor’s own definition of “successful removal.”

So the true purpose of this “clause” is just more deception. It appears to be an acknowledgment disguised in legalize that they can’t prove a deliverable, nor will they know themselves how a review got removed and if there was even a breach—so they ask you kindly not to report the review in the meantime (to avoid objections they cannot counter).

To me, this agreement sounds like a dentist who, looking at a clearly rotten tooth, asks that you promise to pay him when the tooth is removed. Sounds fair, right?

Except he didn’t say he would remove it. Check the fine print. He’s just going to send a bill when that bad boy falls out!

And if the tooth never comes out? Meh, whatever. No loss for him anyway. He’s got 100 other customers with poor flossing habits just waiting to pay off.

Yeah. That’s the shtick. If the company actually does nothing, and the review comes down anyway, expect a bill.

(The same contract shown above also requires a credit card on file for automatic billing and includes a credit bureau reporting agreement if you fail to pay.)

Unfortunately, unlike the dentist, you can’t prove the ORM company didn’t do any work. The agreed terms were indeed met, and you’re left holding the bag. They, on the other hand, get to safely hide behind apparent “proprietary industry secrets” and a clever contract.

So, really, this isn’t guaranteed review removal at all. It’s professional gambling with guaranteed stakes… and you’re the banker!

I’m no lawyer, but the legality of these contracts is questionable to me. At a minimum, they are super lame. I know I wouldn’t sign one.

Google should know better than anyone that guaranteed review removal offers are bogus. The least they could do is show their free review management tool more prominently—or maybe just ban false advertisements?

Summing Up: Take Contol of Your Reputation Management

Google is finally getting tougher on fake reviews, but who knows if it’s the action many were hoping for. I’ve explained the sad state of review removal, deceptive reputation services, and how Google profits as a result.

Because these shady review services are only possible due to Google’s weak enforcement of its own policies, merchants may want to follow the track record and take measures to prevent any possible implications. By taking the time to understand Google policies and the new guidelines for fake engagement, you can mitigate the risk of falling victim to any new black hat tactics on the horizon.

Be sure to warn other business owners, too. The more that are aware, the more likely there is to be meaningful action to prevent online review abuse that consistently hurts businesses and consumers alike.

I, for one, tend to take comfort in the shared characteristics of my fellow specialty coffee-swilling millennials… well, mostly.

The thing with stereotypes, though, is that they can cause us to assume things about people. And in many cases, there can be negative associations with such groups. 

When we conduct the annual Local Consumer Review Survey, we examine the results to look for patterns around demographics like gender or age. Do younger consumers search for reviews online more regularly than older groups, for example?

The 2024 report pointed to several key themes among consumers, such as a sense of fatigue from being prompted for reviews too often and wariness of taking what they read at face value. Yet, while 73% of consumers had written a business review in the last year, it was interesting to note that some consumers lean towards only leaving positive reviews, while others lean towards only leaving negative ones.

In fact, we found that the percentage of consumers only leaving positive or negative reviews had grown year on year.

So, what type of person only writes a positive review, and are they very different from those who only write negative reviews? Why would someone specifically only leave positive or negative reviews? What kind of crusade are they on?

Let’s take a look. Some of the findings might just surprise you. Have a look at the profiles we’ve put together below, or scroll down further for a breakdown of the findings.

The Positive Reviewer

Going back to our stereotypes, you might assume that older consumers would have less patience and, therefore, be more likely to leave negative reviews. Our results showed quite the opposite, as 45-60 year-olds were the largest age group of Positive Reviewers.

Typically, the Positive Reviewer will ‘always’ read online reviews when researching local businesses and will ‘always’ write a review after an experience. This commitment shows us that they have faith in the review system, so their motivation for leaving reviews probably stems from a desire to contribute to the system and be helpful by sharing their experiences.

It’s very interesting, though, that when we consider they always write business reviews, these reviews are also always positive and not a mix of sentiments.

Does the Positive Reviewer simply never have a bad experience? Or, are these reviewers determined to always find the positive in any given situation?

The top factor that impacts the Positive Reviewer’s decision to use a business is reading other reviews describing positive experiences. So, it could be that they are more careful in the businesses they choose and that they spend time reading the written content of reviews.

Additionally, the Positive Reviewer likes to use local news as an alternative platform for business reviews. While this could be in digital or print form, it tells us that the Positive Reviewer views business information printed or published by a local news authority as trustworthy and credible. 

When we consider that they use two platforms on average to read business reviews, they could be verifying reviewer-written content with information found in local news.

The Negative Reviewer

It might surprise you that the Negative Reviewer tends to be between 18 and 29 years old. With this in mind, though, it likely won’t come as a surprise that they tend to use Instagram as a top alternative reviews/recommendations platform.

This reviewer type reads online reviews ‘regularly’ as part of their local business research and generally writes a business review more than half the time. So, while reading business reviews is an important part of the research process, Negative Reviewers do not feel compelled to ‘always’ write business reviews when they’re asked to. 

At a glance, the Negative Reviewer appears less trusting than the Positive Reviewer in that they typically check more review sites (three) and expect to see named reviewers in order to trust their review content. So? This tells us that trust indicators are important to them, which means you must give them a reason to trust your brand. 

While you can’t control the content of customer reviews, you can ensure you maintain consistent reputation management profiles. That means ensuring your brand is present across a range of review platforms and dedicating enough time to generating reviews across all of them. If the average Negative Reviewer checks three review platforms, and the reputation score is wildly different on each one, that isn’t a good indicator of trust.

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Positive vs. Negative: Findings Breakdown

Some of the findings don’t stand out as a particular trait belonging to either profile, but we can compare them side-by-side to highlight similarities and any other areas that might be worth discussing.

Reviewer Type by Age Group

• 63% of Negative Reviewers are aged between 18-44 years.
• 58% of Positive Reviewers are aged 45+. 

If we consider why a consumer might be driven to write a negative review, it’s likely an emotional response to things like bad customer service. The consumer is reacting to disappointment, maybe even feelings of injustice.  

The 18-29 years age group was the largest segment of negative reviewers (36%), with the chart reflecting a decreasing trend across the older age groups. 

Although we don’t know exactly why this might be, it could be that, as digital interactions are so ingrained among 18-29-year-olds, leaving a review for a bad experience feels like a natural first port of call for this age group. 

Review Reading and Writing Frequency

It seems surprising that 19% of Positive Reviewers only read reviews ‘occasionally’ as part of their local business research, compared to 11% of Negative Reviewers.

However, looking at this through a lens of trust might suggest that some of our Positive Reviewers are just happy to find a local business and give it a chance based on first-hand information they find. This could be a brand’s website, owned social media profiles, or official business listings, for example.

For Negative Reviewers, this could further indicate that they are more mistrustful and want to make sure they are reading multiple sources before making a decision.

Top Review Platforms Used to Evaluate Local Businesses

Google, Facebook, and Yelp are the top three platforms used by both Positive Reviewers and Negative Reviewers.

What’s most interesting here, though, is that we also know almost a third of Negative Reviewers are members of the Yelp Elite program. So, why is Yelp not number one among Negative Reviewers? And why do only 42% of them use Yelp, compared to 47% of Positive Reviewers?

It is possible that people are members of Yelp Elite because of the perceived and exclusive benefits the program offers but do not actually use the platform that often to evaluate other business reviews.

The only platform that it seems Negative Reviewers use more than Positive Reviewers is Apple Maps.

Alternative Platforms Used to Find Business Reviews

• Positive Reviewers use local news significantly more than Negative Reviewers to find local business reviews and recommendations.
• Negative Reviewers appear more likely to use newer social media platforms like TikTok and Threads as alternative sources of local business information.

Important Review Factors

The factors that are most important to positive and negative reviewer types generally reflect the pattern and order we saw in the main report, with written positive experiences by far standing out as most important. This tells us that both Positive Reviewers and Negative Reviewers are spending time reading—or at least skimming through—the content of reviews.

Yet, while this review factor is top for both types of reviewer, their motivations might be very different. As we’ve posited, the Negative Reviewer might check review content across multiple platforms because they are naturally less trusting.

For Negative Reviewers, the second most important review factor to them is seeing reviews are written by named users, instead of anonymous profiles. Again, this points to a sense of wariness or mistrust in the information they’re finding online, potentially conflating anonymous reviews with inauthenticity. 

‘High’ star ratings are deemed important to both reviewer types, although it’s worth noting that it appears more important to Positive Reviewers than Negative Reviewers (54% vs. 41%). 

If we examine their expectations for average business star ratings, we see that Negative Reviewers are more likely to use businesses with lower star ratings than Positive Reviewers.

Expectations for minimum average star rating

You might expect this to be the other way around. But, it could tell us that Negative Reviewers are weighing up other review factors, such as the experiences described in written review content or who is writing them, rather than just taking star ratings at face value.

Why might the Positive Reviewer be more selective around businesses with ‘high’ star ratings? Perhaps it comes back to the earlier suggestion that these consumers are determined to have positive experiences with local businesses and, therefore, won’t take a chance on a business with (what they perceive to be) low star ratings.

Expectations for Review Responses

As we know from the main Local Consumer Review Survey report, it’s a significant expectation for business owners to be seen to respond to all types of online reviews, good or bad. That trend is no different here.

The fact that both positive and negative reviewer types are looking for responses to all reviews reinforces the importance of monitoring your reputation platforms for new reviews and ensuring review content is properly addressed.

It also suggests that not all is lost when it comes to the Negative Reviewer! They’re not just looking for responses to negative comments and, interestingly, may be more willing than the Positive Reviewer to use a business that doesn’t respond to reviews at all (56% vs. 52%).

Prompting Consumers to Write Reviews

When looking at the review prompt methods consumers would likely respond to, we can see that Positive Reviewers are more receptive than Negative Reviews to six prompt types in particular:

• SMS (16% more than Negative Reviewers)
• In-person (15% more than Negative Reviewers)
• Receipt or invoice (11% more than Negative Reviewers)
• Email (9% more than Negative Reviewers)
• Social media (7% more than Negative Reviewers)
• Business card (7% more than Negative Reviewers)

But, overall, email is the top prompt method for both reviewer types. 

Negative Reviewers are more receptive to prompts on social media than to all other methods except email. As discussed earlier, this could show a relationship between younger demographics and their ‘natural’ online behavior.

However, as we’re talking about Negative Reviewers here, it might be worth considering how your brand uses social media as a call-out for reviews. Is it calling out for new reviews in one post while ignoring negative feedback shared on other posts? 

What does this mean for your business or brand?

The profiles above may seem a bit of fun (and we’ve aimed to present them in that way), but there are important considerations to take away for your own reputation management strategies. 

1. Customer service is key

As highlighted in the main report, the most important step towards generating regular, positive reviews should, of course, be a focus on delivering the best customer experience possible. You need to give your customers something to remember, something to talk about, something that prompts them to write a review that is unique. 

2. Responding to all business reviews

The next takeaway is to acknowledge and act on all feedback, good and bad. You can’t change a bad review, but you can do the right thing by responding to it—and be seen to do so. We know that it’s a critical expectation in all consumers’ post-experience journeys, whether they default to a positive or negative reviewer. Not only does it show prospective customers that you actively respond to and take on feedback, but it should be seen as an opportunity to convert your negative reviewers into those who are willing to try again. 

3. Opportunities to create brand advocates

Meanwhile, engaging with and responding to your positive reviewers should be seen as an opportunity to nurture advocacy towards your brand. There is plenty of evidence out there that highlights the benefits of repeat custom and customer retention for your bottom line, but with the prevalence of user-generated review content on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, who knows where else positive brand mentions could show up?

4. Consider your review prompts carefully

Finally, on the subject of social media, while it is a method of review prompting that reviewers are receptive to, ensure you are considerate and vigilant in how you manage this. A blanket ‘one size fits all’ approach may not be appropriate here, where responses and engagement are publicly visible. 

We hope these profiles have given you some food for thought for how you approach different consumer types.

Thankfully, with the right tools and strategy, your client or business can work towards streamlining their review management across multiple locations, and hair loss can be prolonged for at least another few years. Let’s get into it!

What is different about managing reviews at this sort of scale?

Several factors come into play with multi-location review management, which can vary depending on the locations your business may have.

Let’s say you monitor reviews for Cafe Mexicali in Colorado. They have five physical locations between Fort Collins and Boulder, five Google Business Profile listings, and profiles on sites like Facebook, Yelp, and Tripadvisor.

• The volume of reviews across different platforms will be less, making monitoring and responding to individual reviews much more manageable, but you may need to allocate staff time and budget for software services.
• You may still be able to have one person oversee all review management, and this approach can help them maintain consistency in tone of voice.
• The impact on the overall brand related to negative reviews is less likely to be affected at the same level as a business with many locations.
• Coordinating review management for five locations will be less complex, but each platform may still have its own management interface and requirements.

Now, let’s say you manage reviews for F45 Training. As of 2023, F45 had almost 650 locations around the US, meaning 650 Google Business Profile listings, Facebook profiles, Yelp, and Tripadvisor listings. 

• Ensuring consistency across all locations can be particularly challenging, especially if each location has a different customer base or operational practice. Not all locations will have the same local regulations, market conditions, or customer preferences.
• Managing reviews for 100s of locations requires extensive resources, including staff time and budget, and will require a dedicated staff member or even a team.
• Each location may have unique challenges or issues that require a much more tailored response. This can directly feed into maintaining a prompt response time, and there can be missed opportunities for engagement or resolutions.

Who manages your reviews?

If your client or business has a multi-location SEO strategy, this likely means they are a business with multiple locations spread across a large area or a corporate office with many franchise locations underneath them.

It’s essential to understand the two main models for review management.

Model 1: A Corporate Team Manages Reviews

This model refers to a marketing or customer service team managing reviews across multiple platforms or channels for all locations. Your client or business retains control over communications and branding while benefiting from streamlined data tracking through central management.

However, a potential drawback is that the business may lack visibility into the unique happenings at individual locations. Delays in response time may occur if location managers take time to communicate with the marketing or service team, especially when handling issues such as negative reviews.

For particularly large businesses with hundreds of locations, there’s also a chance this could be done region-by-region.

Model 2: Individual Locations Manage Their Own Reviews

The next model is to have individual locations manage their reviews. Within the franchise model, individual locations often have greater autonomy in shaping their marketing strategies and customer service approaches.

While they may need to adhere to strategy guidelines provided by the corporate office, they can promptly view and respond to reviews. Reviews can also be considered feedback, and a manager can make quick changes to address issues at their specific location.

The downside to having individual locations manage their reviews is the risk of brand dilution. Instances where certain locations underperform could detract from the overall brand image, especially if they stand out negatively amidst others performing well.

Do you have a multi-location review management process?

You need a standardized process for managing reviews. It ensures consistency across all locations and channels, fostering brand identity and trust with their customers. It establishes clear roles and responsibilities within your team and ensures that reviews are managed effectively and important issues are addressed quickly.

A standard process also helps save time and resources, allowing teams to focus on other marketing and customer service areas. It helps a business grow and expand when a framework that won’t sacrifice quality or consistency is in place.

An example of a standardized process could look like this:

1. Utilizing a review monitoring tool and platform to see reviews from various channels like Google Business Profile and Yelp in one place.
2. Categorizing reviews and prioritizing those based on urgency.
3. Collecting and analyzing data to identify trends or recurring issues.
4. Developing a clear protocol for responding to reviews, including timelines, tone of voice, and escalation procedures.
5. Create templates to maintain brand consistency.
6. Providing training and support to location managers on how to best respond to reviews and address customer concerns.
7. Establishing KPIs to track the performance of review management efforts and regularly reviewing these numbers to identify areas of effectiveness.

Where do you get reviews?

The most common review sites are Google Business Profile, Facebook, Yelp, Tripadvisor, and Trustpilot. If your client or business has listings on all these, you will want to ensure it manages and monitors reviews on each platform.

Each of these platforms has a number of notification settings you can take advantage of. However,  doing this at scale can get overwhelming, so consider the best way to centralize and speed up your approach.

Google Reviews

Gathering all location listings under one account or location group is helpful for handling reviews for multiple locations on Google Business Profile. This makes management smoother and ensures consistency, which is especially valuable for businesses with locations across different states or countries.

It is best practice to respond to all the reviews for each location as quickly as possible, and having all locations under one location group helps to streamline the process. However, continually managing and responding to reviews can be a heavy lift, which is where a tool like BrightLocal’s Reputation Manager can be extremely helpful.

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Responding promptly to complaints is crucial, and with just a couple of clicks, you can address Google reviews directly from your dashboard without any hassle.

Facebook Reviews

Facebook has 2.9 billion active users, with 2 out of 3 visiting local business pages at least once a week, making it an important platform for managing reviews and building a strong online presence.

When someone leaves a review on Facebook, you’ll get a notification you can click on to go to the review. To have a business account, you’ll need to have a personal Facebook account attached to it. For a small business, this may be the business owner. For a bigger business, it could be your community manager, customer support, or a whole team.

Guide to Facebook Recommendations

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Yelp Reviews

Yelp is a great review platform for local businesses, with nearly 50% of customers likely to look at Yelp before reaching out to a business. When managing reviews, ensuring your client or business checks its Yelp inbox is a good habit so they promptly respond to any messages or requests. They can also turn on email notifications to ensure they’ll be alerted when someone sends them a message or leaves a review.

Tripadvisor Reviews

Tripadvisor is one of the biggest review platforms, with over 1 billion reviews left by travelers to date. Your client or business can easily see reviews left by past customers within the “Respond to Reviews” section of the Yelp Management Center page.

Similar to Yelp, your review manager(s) can turn on notifications within their profile to get notified of when someone leaves a review, making it simple to respond to feedback quickly.

Trustpilot Reviews

Trustpilot has several tools to help you reply to and filter customer reviews. Navigating the services reviews page can be done by going to Trustpilot Business > Manage reviews > Service reviews > Inbox.

From here, you can see any of the reviews left by customers over the last 28 days. They are conveniently filtered by star rating, which makes it easy to prioritize which should be responded to first.

How to Get More Reviews for Multiple Locations

Getting reviews for your business is straightforward; you provide a top-tier product, service, or support, and customers will be racing to share their experience in the form of a shiny and new online review… right?

If only it were all that simple. Unfortunately, many people won’t leave a review unless they are prompted to or they have had a negative experience.

Obtaining reviews across multiple locations can be difficult, but they are significant, especially for local SEO! With automation tools and software, your client or business can send follow-up emails after purchases or service completion, nudging customers to share their thoughts and experiences.

How to Ask for Reviews

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They can send text messages to customers’ phones and include prompts in marketing materials or receipts. Additionally, you can include a banner on your website or pin a post on social media to encourage customers to leave a review. This can help ensure that customers know how much their feedback is appreciated.

Use customer feedback to turn potential setbacks into future opportunities. Your client or business can enhance customer experience by addressing training issues with their employees, utilizing technology to adapt internal processes, and creating new products or services to better meet their needs. This will create happier customers and better reviews for the business. 

How to Monitor Reviews at More Than One Location

Monitoring online reviews can be done manually and with software, so it is good to know which your client or business may prefer based on their specific goals and budget. 

If the business is concerned with budget, a more manual approach may be what they need, and that’s perfectly okay. This can require more time and effort, but it’s not impossible. A manual approach would require periodically checking review platforms and reading through reviews to identify new customer feedback or comments.

You can also use a spreadsheet or other document to track reviews at specific locations and actions taken in response to those reviews. While this is a less convenient option, it is still possible to establish a multi-location review management strategy that benefits the business and supports its goals.

These manual approaches are where many businesses will start, but as things scale up, they can become incredibly unwieldy to manage.

Using Tools to Monitor Reviews

Specific software can help businesses collect reviews across locations all in one place, making review management more streamlined. Tools like BrightLocal’s Reputation Manager can collate all of your reviews on all your review platforms and for all your locations into a single dashboard.

These tools also offer you the ability to add templated replies, helping you maintain brand consistency when you have many people managing review responses.

Power Your Review Replies with Templates and AI!

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Remember, many other kinds of software and tools have different capabilities and functionalities, and some even use AI, so be sure to research and determine the best fit for your needs before you commit to anything.

Harnessing the Power of Efficient Review Management

Handling reviews on a large scale may seem overwhelming, but with the right tools and a carefully crafted strategy, you can create a review management system custom to your specific business needs. Implementing a new process requires time, so it’s crucial to approach review management with a patient mindset, knowing that success will unfold with the support of the right team and an occasional snack break.