13 June 2026 · 4 min read
5 Signs a Review Might Violate Platform Policy
By Charlie Wells, Founder
1. No verifiable connection to your business
If you can't match the review to any booking, order, appointment, or transaction record, that's the strongest single signal. Most platforms explicitly prohibit reviews from people who never actually used the business.
2. It's about something you don't do
A review complaining about a service you've never offered, a location you don't operate from, or an employee who's never worked for you often indicates it was left on the wrong listing, or wasn't genuine to begin with.
3. It reads like a template
Coordinated fake review campaigns (from competitors or paid review farms) often reuse near-identical phrasing across multiple reviews. If a suspicious review shares odd, specific phrasing with reviews on other, unrelated businesses, that's a pattern worth flagging.
4. It's a complaint about something else entirely
Reviews venting about a delivery courier, a manufacturer, or an unrelated third party — rather than an actual experience with your business — typically breach "relevance" policies most platforms enforce.
5. It crosses into harassment or hate speech
Personal attacks, slurs, or targeted harassment of a named staff member usually violate a platform's conduct policy on their own, independent of whether the underlying complaint has any merit.
Related: Content Removal
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