What to Do When a Google Review Was Meant for a Different Business

First, rule out the obvious explanation

Most negative reviews are about a real experience at your business, even when they feel unfair. Before you assume misidentification, check whether the review could plausibly be about you — a different branch a customer visited, an order or service type you don't usually think of as 'yours', or a visit from long enough ago that nobody on shift now remembers it.

Jumping straight to "this can't be us" without checking looks defensive if it later turns out the review was genuine. It's worth ten minutes of checking before you flag anything.

Signs it genuinely wasn't your business

• It names a suburb, street, or shopping centre that isn't yours.
• It mentions staff names you don't recognise, or a number of staff that doesn't match your business.
• It describes a product or service you don't offer at all.
• It references a date you were closed, or before you'd opened.
• The reviewer's other reviews are for businesses in a completely different industry and city — a strong sign their app or map simply tagged the wrong pin.

Flag it with Google — this is the one case where removal genuinely works

Unlike a negative-but-genuine review, a review that's actually about a different business falls squarely inside Google's review policies, because it isn't about your business at all. In Business Profile Manager or Google Maps, open the review, use the flag or report option, and choose the reason closest to it not being about your business. If you're prompted for detail, keep it short and factual — what makes it clear this wasn't your location.

Take a screenshot before you flag it, in case you need to follow up. Google doesn't publish a fixed timeframe for these reviews, and there's no guarantee of the outcome either way.

How to respond publicly while you wait

Don't leave it fully unanswered just because you've flagged it — a reply still shows anyone reading in the meantime that you're paying attention. Keep it brief and factual rather than accusatory: invite the reviewer to double-check they left it for the right business, without directly calling them dishonest.

Something like: "Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback. We couldn't find a booking or visit matching this on our end — would you mind double-checking this was left for the right location? Happy to help if there's been a mix-up." It reads calmly to anyone else who sees it, whether or not the reviewer ever replies.

Multi-location and franchise businesses are especially exposed

A shared brand name across suburbs, near-identical shopfronts, and GPS pins that drift slightly in a shopping centre or strip mall all make it easier for a customer to leave a review for the wrong branch. Consistent naming across your listings (the suburb clearly in each profile's name where your brand allows it) and an accurate map pin on each location's Google Business Profile both reduce how often this happens in the first place.

If Google declines to remove it

Sometimes Google can't verify a review was genuinely misdirected and leaves it up. If that happens, your calm public reply becomes the permanent record for anyone reading later — it's usually enough to make the situation clear without you having to do anything further.

Don't escalate from there. Posting a fake positive review to bury it or re-flagging the same review repeatedly both breach Google's policies, and the second one risks your account's flagging privileges being restricted.