How to Deal With Fake Google Reviews

How To Deal With Face Reviews

You get a review online that you know is fake. What do you do? Read on to learn how to deal with fake reviews.

In the United States alone, there are over 30 million small businesses. If you’re a business owner, you depend on customer reviews.

These experiences are essential to helping other customers find out about your business. Fake reviews, on the other hand, are unhelpful and often defamatory.

It’s easy to react emotionally, especially if you depend on word-of-mouth. Most consumers rely on reviews before spending money on a product or service. Unfortunately, they may not be able to differentiate a fake posting from an honest one.

It’s up to you to protect your business by looking for any red flags. We tell you how to spot false reviews and how to prevent them in the future.

How to Spot Fake Customer Reviews

Fake reviews often resemble spam. These reviews are unhelpful to the customer and damaging to the business.

What’s an easy way to spot a fake reviewer? Do a “fake check” by looking for these signs:

• Names that are clearly fake
• Reviews that don’t make sense or relate to the product/service
• Multiple reviews posted the same day
• Praising a competitor in the review
• 1-star reviews without any text

If you spot one or more of these signs on a review, take the following steps to make sure it’s legitimate.

Calm Down and Consider the Next Steps

Fake and defamatory reviews can incite anger, but it’s never wise to act when you’re angry. After all, your customers are watching and expecting you to react professionally.

You’ve worked hard to build your business. It’s easy to get upset when someone unfairly bashes your products or services. But first, take a step back and calm down before you take action.

Try Removing Fake Reviews

It’s not easy to have reviews removed. On Google, the post has to be reviewed by a separate moderator. First, you have to flag it and give an explanation of why you want the review examined.

On Facebook, you can report a post if it doesn’t adhere to community guidelines. On Yelp, you can also flag a post and give an explanation of why you want it taken down.

Most reviews will not be removed unless you have proof that it presents a conflict of interest.

Get More Customers to Review

Removing a review, even a false review, is difficult unless you have solid evidence. Ensure your business gets more reviews by funneling customers to the review site.

This is one of the features of SignalHype, meaning you can reach out and solve problems before they result in a negative customer review.

Monitoring and ensuring your customers have a great experience is key. That’s why it’s important to collect and use feedback to resolve issues.

Prevent Fake Reviewers in the Future

As you can see, getting a review taken down is challenging. You depend on your customer reviews to promote your business, so prevent fake reviews in the future by using a service to funnel your customers.

Not only do you get more positive reviews, but you also get a second chance to reach out to customers that need help. It also saves you the time and hassle of looking for evidence yourself and reporting a fake post.

Sign up with SignalHype to get a seven-day trial and see how it helps your business.