How long does Google take to review a flagged review?

There's no fixed timeframe. Many flags are decided within a few business days, but it can take longer — and the review remains visible throughout. Google notifies you of the outcome. If you hear nothing after a week, you can contact Google Business Profile support to follow up.

Can I get a review removed if I believe it's from a competitor?

You can flag it under the 'Conflict of interest' category and explain your basis in the support notes. Google takes coordinated fake-review attacks seriously — if you have evidence (such as a reviewer account with no other activity, or known competitor connections), include it. Maliciously flagging a competitor's genuine reviews also violates Google's policies and can have consequences for the person doing the flagging.

Google rejected my flag. Is there anything else I can do?

You can escalate through Google Business Profile support and provide more detail. If the review contains genuinely illegal content — defamation, threats, or content that violates Australian law — that's a separate legal matter your solicitor can advise on. For most cases, the practical answer is replying well to the review publicly and continuing to earn genuine reviews that put it in perspective.

Google Reviews

How to Report a Fake Google Review (and What Actually Gets Removed)

Spotting a review you're convinced was never a real customer is infuriating — but flagging it doesn't guarantee Google will act. Here's the honest picture: what qualifies for removal, how the process works, and what else you can do.

Updated 23 June 2026 · 5 min read

What Google will — and won't — remove

Google removes reviews that violate its policies, not ones you simply disagree with. A review that's unfair, exaggerated, or unkind stays if it came from a real customer interaction. A review that is fake, spam, or crosses into hate speech can be removed — but the bar is whether the review breaks the rules, not whether it hurts your rating.

Setting that expectation clearly upfront matters, because businesses that flag every negative review hoping for an easy win are usually disappointed. The process is worth pursuing when you have genuine grounds — and not worth much time when you don't.

The grounds that actually carry weight

Google's policies list the specific categories of content they'll consider removing. When you're deciding whether a review is worth flagging, check it against these:

Spam or fake content — a review that's clearly not from a real customer experience, or that appears to be part of a coordinated campaign against your business.
Conflict of interest — reviews posted by current or former employees, owners, or people with a direct stake in your business. Competitors targeting you also fall here.
Off-topic content — a review that describes a different business, the wrong location, or an experience that has nothing to do with your services.
Prohibited content — hate speech, personal attacks, obscene material, or content that reveals personal information about individuals.
Illegal content — reviews that violate the law in any applicable jurisdiction.

How to flag a review in your Google Business Profile

The flagging process is straightforward. Find the review in your Google Business Profile dashboard, click the three-dot menu next to it, and select 'Report review.' Choose the policy category that best matches the violation and submit.

You can also flag reviews directly through Google Maps by finding your listing, locating the review, and using the same three-dot menu. Google doesn't notify the reviewer when you flag their review.

After submitting, Google reviews the flag — usually within a few days, though sometimes longer. You'll receive a notification of their decision.

What to do while you wait — and if Google doesn't act

The review stays visible to everyone during the review period, which is why your public response matters regardless of the outcome. A calm, factual reply that acknowledges the situation — without accusing the reviewer of lying — is the most professional approach. Future customers who see the exchange will draw their own conclusions.

If Google reviews your flag and declines to remove the review, you can contact Google Business Profile support to escalate and provide additional context. Escalation is most useful when you have clear evidence — such as records showing no customer by that name, or proof of a competitor's account behind the review.

If you believe you're the target of a coordinated fake-review attack from a competitor or disgruntled non-customer, document everything and consider seeking legal advice. In Australia, posting fake reviews to damage a competitor's reputation can amount to misleading conduct under the Australian Consumer Law.

The most durable protection against fake reviews

A business with forty genuine reviews is far more vulnerable to one fake one than a business with four hundred. Volume and recency are your buffer. When honest reviews arrive regularly, a fake one doesn't move the needle much — and a thoughtful reply makes it clear to any reasonable reader.

Ask satisfied customers for reviews consistently as part of your normal routine. Ask everyone, not just the customers you expect to be positive — review gating, which means filtering unhappy customers away from your Google profile, is explicitly prohibited by Google. Build a steady flow of genuine reviews, and the occasional bad-faith one becomes a much smaller problem.