by Net Reputation
This delete Trustpilot review guide will help you remove fake and negative Trustpilot reviews so you can take back control of your online reputation.
Like it or not, Trustpilot is now one of the most-visited customer review sites on the web. In fact, millions of users flock to Trustpilot and read Trustpilot reviews every year.
This not only puts Trustpilot near the top of many local search pages, but it also gives the popular review platform outsized influence on your customers and their decision-making process.
Unfortunately, being favored by Google also boosts the impact of false and harmful Trustpilot comments. What’s more, the platform makes it incredibly hard to remove negative Trustpilot reviews, even if they’re damaging your business reputation.
And with leading search visibility, the longer those phony reviews stay online, the worse they get for your brand and your bottom line.
So, what can you do when a bad Trustpilot review pops up? Is there any way to remove fake Trustpilot reviews and stop the damage before it’s too late?
Here’s a look at how negative reviews make it to the site, steps to remove negative Trustpilot reviews, and what to do when removal falls short.
You can also speak to a review management expert right away by calling us at 844-461-3632 or filling out the contact form below.
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Why Are There Fake and Negative Reviews on Trustpilot?
According to Trustpilot, “Fake reviews are not allowed and will be removed.” This doesn’t just refer to reviews left by bots, either. Trustpilot describes a fake review in this way: “A fake review is a review which doesn’t reflect your genuine service or buying experience with a business.”
To moderate phony reviews, Trustpilot uses automated detection technology. All reviews are run through this technology before they go live on the platform. If a phony review is detected, it’s removed.
Unfortunately, with Trustpilot’s scale, even AI and human moderators can’t catch every instance of a phony review. That means that plenty of them slip through without being caught.
At that point, it’s up to the business owner to flag a review for analysis and potential removal.
The Impact of Negative Trustpilot Reviews on Brands
When a company receives too many negative Trustpilot reviews, its online reputation can suffer. Having low star ratings and negative reviews can deter potential customers from engaging with your business. If you don’t take action to mitigate and remove negative reviews, then it can spell danger for your company.
From expert review removal, review generation, and review suppression solutions to your very own customized review management dashboard, we provide everything you need to take the sting out of bad reviews and take charge of your online footprint. Call us at 844-461-3632 to learn more.
Can I Remove Trustpilot Reviews?
According to Trustpilot’s Guidelines for Businesses, you can flag a review if it breaches the site’s guidelines. For example, if the review is fake or contains harmful content or personal information, you can flag it for removal.
It’s important to claim your Trustpilot profile so that you can better manage online information about your brand. You’ll also be able to respond to reviews this way.
Note that you can’t simply get a review removed because you don’t like what the person says about your company. According to Trustpilot, “Reviews are owned by the reviewers, who can edit or delete them.” Moreover, Trustpilot guidelines say that businesses should be professional and polite when engaging with reviewers.
If you misuse the Trustpilot platform, such as continually flagging reviews for removal even if they don’t breach the site guidelines, you could have your profile suspended.
How To Flag Negative Reviews on Trustpilot
Have you found fake, misleading or offensive content in one or more of your Trustpilot business reviews? Here’s what to do.
1. Log In To Your Trustpilot Business Account
To remove a fake review from Trustpilot, you first need to log in to your Trustpilot business account. If you don’t have an account on Trustpilot, make sure to claim your business and create a free account.
2. Navigate To Your Reviews
To find your business reviews, go to Manage Reviews > Service Reviews > Inbox. Find the review that you want to flag. If you’ll be flagging multiple reviews, you’ll do this one by one.
3. Flag the Review
Click the Flag Icon. Select the reason for flagging the review. Options include:
Harmful or Illegal
- Defamation: The content is harmful to an individual’s or a business’s reputation and can lead to financial loss. (This is somewhat of a gray area, because there’s a difference between expressing a negative opinion and presenting that opinion as fact.)
- Harmful or Illegal: The content negatively targets people or a group of people based on color, gender, race or another identity factor.
- Obscenity: The review includes disturbing material, such as adult content or extreme profanity.
- Terrorism: The content praises, represents or supports hate groups.
- Threats or Violence: The content “incites or glorifies harm,” as outlined by Trustpilot’s flagging reasons.
Personal Information
Personal information is included in the review, such as an individual’s name, email address, phone number, photos or videos. However, you shouldn’t flag a review if the personal information is readily available on your Trustpilot profile or your website.
Advertising or Promotional
Reviews that promote another business or product via codes or links can be flagged. Additionally, reviews that have the purpose of promoting an ethical, political or religious review can be flagged for removal. Other types of reviews that fall into this category include rumors, scams and spam.
Not Based on a Genuine Experience
If the reviewer shouldn’t have written the review in the first place because they’re a competitor, employee or being paid to provide the review, you can flag it. However, reviewers can leave comments even if they didn’t make a purchase from your business.
About Another Business
- About Another Domain: If a review is meant for another of your domains, it can be removed from the profile it’s currently on.
- About Another Business: Reviews that are obviously meant for another business can be removed.
- Don’t Recognize the Reviewer: With this option, you’ll be redirected to request additional information from the reviewer to further vet them.
4. Confirm Your Request
Once you’ve selected a reason to flag the review, you’ll have a chance to go over your decision by reading Trustpilot guidelines. Then, you’ll be asked to highlight the content that’s causing a problem.
5. Wait To Hear From Trustpilot
Next comes the hardest part: waiting for the verdict.
Trustpilot doesn’t provide a solid timeframe for when they’ll reach a decision. It’s possible that you won’t get an answer for days, weeks or even months, leaving you in the dark about the process and what happens next.
However, you can regularly check your Trustpilot Business profile for updates. You may notice that the review has been removed before you hear back from Trustpilot.
What If Trustpilot Won’t Remove Inappropriate Reviews?
While some companies delete Trustpilot reviews with no trouble, there’s no guarantee that the site will remove reviews after you flag them. What options are you left with, then?
Fortunately, even if a flagged review remains on your business profile, there are still ways to get great star ratings, build trust with your audience and protect your brand.
For expert help with review removal and management, call our team at 844-461-3632 today.
Reply to the Review
It may seem silly to reply to fake or negative reviews on Trustpilot. But the right public response may help deflate some of their impact in the long run.
Whether the review is genuine or not, be sure to politely address the reviewer by name, thank them for their business, and apologize for the issue. Since Trustpilot users can see your reply, it’s best to avoid arguing or dismissing the complaint. Doing so may reflect poorly on your business and can often make the situation worse.
Ask Customers To Leave Reviews
Another way to combat poor reviews on Trustpilot is to give your Trustpilot rating a lift. To do that, you may need to amp up your customer feedback strategy.
Knowing how and when to request reviews from customers can help build the review cache you need to water down those troublesome reviews. Follow-up emails and point-of-purchase requests often provide good opportunities to ask for reviews without seeming desperate. A website link directing visitors to review you on Trustpilot can also be an effective way to drum up more positive ratings.
Suppress Bad Reviews
Can’t remove a flagged review on Trustpilot? Suppressing those comments and pushing them off of top Google results pages may be the answer.
With a smart, SEO-powered suppression strategy, you can bury bad Trustpilot reviews on Google, minimizing their visibility and impact on customers. Not only that, but effective search engine suppression allows you to populate important search pages with content you control.
Through optimized blogs, articles, profiles and more, you can build a cache of content that markets your brand and takes over local search pages. Plus, in the long term, suppression gives your brand the digital footprint to withstand new threats well into the future.
Professional Review Management
However you slice it, trying to report reviews on Trustpilot and suppress Google search results can be a tedious and time-consuming process. Spending your time on these tasks takes you away from what’s really important: running your business.
When it comes to stopping bad Trustpilot reviews in their tracks, nothing matches the power of professional review management.
With the right review management strategy on your side, you’ll have the tools, technology and support to remove Trustpilot reviews that are harming your business and get more positive reviews from happy customers.
A professional, robust review management approach allows you to manage and mitigate bad Trustpilot reviews from every angle, including through:
- Requests to remove Trustpilot reviews
- Review reply templates and strategies
- Positive review generation and star ratings improvement
- Search engine suppression
]Optimized review management not only helps you fight bad reviews and repair the damage. It puts you in control of your online review presence, ensuring your brand is prepared for threats, dominating search results and building connections that fuel your bottom line.
Want to learn more? Call us today at 844-461-3632 or fill out the form below for a free consultation.