The short answer
You can’t delete a review left on your listing yourself. Only the author can remove their review, or Google if it decides the review breaks its rules.
A harsh review based on a real experience stays online, even if it hurts. The good news is that you have levers: report, reply, and above all dilute it with real reviews.
What Google can remove
The rules Google publishes target in particular abusive or hateful content, spam, off-topic reviews, conflicts of interest (a review from a competitor or a relative) and reviews from someone who was not a customer. Rules can change: read the official help page before you report.
How to report a review
- 1
Open your Google Business Profile and find the review concerned.
- 2
Use the option to report it as inappropriate and choose the reason that really matches the content.
- 3
Keep a screenshot of the review with the date, along with anything that shows the author was not a customer.
- 4
If your request is refused, you can appeal through the form in Google’s help. Processing can take time and nothing is automatic.
What to do while you wait
Reply in a short, polite and factual way. Future customers read your reply as much as the review. Avoid any attack.
Keep asking your real customers for reviews: an unfair review weighs much less when it is surrounded by authentic ones.
Be wary of paid removal offers
Nobody outside Google can delete a review. Services that promise to do it for a fee often rely on false reports or other practices that break the rules, at the risk of weakening your listing.
If the review amounts to defamation or harassment, keep the evidence and seek advice from a lawyer or a trade organisation. This guide is not giving legal advice.
Go further
It explains how to tell an unpleasant review from an abusive one, and what not to do in return.
Read the guide on unfair reviews