Can businesses delete Google reviews? No. A Business Profile has no delete button for a customer's review, and that is true at any size, agencies included. Only the person who wrote a review can delete it, and only Google can remove it, which it does when the review breaks one of its content policies.
What a business can do is report a review that breaks a rule, reply to any review in public, ask a customer whether they would update theirs, and bring in new reviews. The Google facts here come from Google's own help pages, checked November 4, 2026.
What you'll learn
- Who can delete a Google review, and what the owner's dashboard lets you do instead
- When Google will remove a review, and the kinds it keeps
- Whether you can turn off or hide Google reviews, including by removing your profile
- The other ways a business can get a review changed or taken down, and the ones that break the rules
Can businesses delete Google reviews?
Google's help page for owners is called "Report inappropriate reviews on your Business Profile", and the only route it gives owners is a report that Google evaluates (Google Business Profile Help). You can flag any review, but only reviews that break Google's policies are eligible for removal. The page says a review you disagree with or dislike is not a reason to report it.
Three people can affect a review, and each can do something different:
| Who | What they can do | Does the review come down? |
|---|---|---|
| The reviewer | Edit or delete their own review at any time | Yes, if they delete it |
| Remove reviews that break its policies, after a report or on its own | Yes, when a policy is broken | |
| The business (owner or manager) | Report, reply, edit or delete its own reply, appeal once | Only if Google agrees with the report |
If the review in question is one you wrote yourself, about another business, you are the reviewer and you can delete it: see how to edit or delete a Google review you wrote.
Can companies delete Google reviews from their dashboard?
Companies cannot delete Google reviews from the Business Profile dashboard either, whatever their size or plan. Managing a profile gives you these controls over reviews, according to Google's help pages:
- Reply. Your reply appears under the review as coming from the business. Google checks replies against its content policies; it says this usually takes up to 10 minutes and can take up to 30 days (Manage customer reviews).
- Edit or delete your reply. The reply is yours, so you can change it or take it down.
- Report. Flag the review from your profile or Google Maps, or use the Reviews Management Tool.
- Appeal. If Google keeps a review you reported, you get one appeal.
- Ask for reviews. Share a review link or QR code with customers (Tips to get more reviews).
Adding more managers, or hiring an agency, adds people with the same controls. None of them gets a delete option for a customer's review. So the answer to "can companies delete Google reviews" is the same for a national chain as for a corner shop.
Will Google remove reviews? When it does and when it won't
Google will remove reviews that break its prohibited and restricted content policy, and it removes a lot of them. Its Maps team wrote on April 16, 2026 that its systems and analysts "blocked or removed over 292 million policy-violating reviews" in 2025 (Google blog).
The categories owners most often have a case under:
- Fake engagement: reviews not based on a real experience, paid reviews, one person posting from several accounts.
- Conflict of interest: reviews from current or former employees, competitors or family. Google lists these under rating manipulation.
- Off-topic: content that is not about an experience at the place, such as political commentary or a review meant for another business.
- Harassment, hate speech and offensive content: threats, slurs, attacks on a named person, unsubstantiated accusations of wrongdoing.
- Personal information: someone's personal details posted without consent.
- Advertising and repetitive content: links, promotions and the same text posted again and again.
Google will not remove a negative review of a real experience. Its report page says it doesn't get involved in disagreements between a business and a customer, and the Maps reporting guide says not to report a review just because you dislike it (Report or fix content). A one-star review that says the wait was long and the price was high stays, even if you think both claims are wrong.
The step-by-step request, from choosing the category to checking the status and appealing, is in our guide on how to get a Google review removed. Google says evaluation typically takes several days.
Can you turn off or hide Google reviews?
You cannot turn off Google reviews, disable them on Google My Business, or hide bad reviews on Google one by one. The Business Profile settings have no option for any of these. Google does say it may temporarily disable user content, reviews included, for some profiles or business categories (About missing or delayed reviews), but that is Google acting on its own. The same page says reviews and ratings are removed and disabled for profiles mainly categorised as schools for students aged 6 to 18.
There are two situations where reviews stop appearing on a profile, and neither is something you would choose:
- A fake review attack. Google's April 2026 post says that during a spam spike, Maps removes the fake content, pauses new reviews on the profile, alerts the owner and shows consumers a banner.
- A penalty. A business that breaks the fake engagement rules, for example by buying reviews, can be barred from receiving new reviews for a set period and have its existing reviews unpublished, with a warning on the profile that fake reviews were removed (Business Profile restrictions).
Does removing your Business Profile hide the reviews?
No, and it makes things worse. Google's page on removing a profile says "User-generated content and review remains", while posts, photos, videos and review replies by owners and managers "are permanently removed." It adds that the business might still show up on Search and Maps (Remove a Business Profile). You would keep the bad review and lose your reply to it, and you could not reply again until you re-verify the profile.
Can a business remove a review any other way?
Can a business remove a review without Google or the reviewer? No. A business can get a review removed only through one of them. Three honest routes go through them, and a fourth makes the review count for less.
1. Ask the reviewer
Reply, fix the problem, and ask once whether they would update or remove the review. Google's reply guide notes that the reviewer is notified when you reply and can still edit their review afterwards. Its tips page says following up on a customer's concern "may even encourage the customer to update their review" (Tips to get more reviews). The line you cannot cross: Google's policy bans offering payment, discounts or free goods "in exchange for posting any review or revision or removal of a negative review."
2. Report it
If the review breaks a policy, report it and appeal once if needed. The full process is in our step-by-step Google review removal guide.
3. Use the extortion or legal forms
Google has a form for negative review extortion scams, for when someone demands money or favors to take reviews down. For content you believe is unlawful, there is a legal removal request, which Google asks you to file after flagging the content in the product. Talk to a lawyer before you claim defamation.
4. Let new reviews do the work
Google's review score is "the average of all ratings published on Google for that place or business" (Review scores), so each new review shrinks the weight of an old one. How many it takes, and how to handle a genuine bad review, is in our playbook for bad reviews on Google Business Profile.
What does not count as a route
Threatening a reviewer with legal action you have no grounds for is banned in the US: the FTC's 2024 rule on consumer reviews prohibits "unfounded or groundless legal threats, physical threats, intimidation, or certain false public accusations to prevent or remove a negative consumer review" (FTC, August 14, 2024). Posting fake positive reviews to bury a bad one breaks Google's fake engagement rules and can bring the restrictions above. Asking only happy customers for reviews breaks them too: Google's policy bans merchants who "selectively solicit positive reviews from customers."
Reply to the review you cannot delete
Our free Google review reply generator writes three reply drafts for any review, from one star to five, in the reviewer's language. Three runs every 24 hours with no email and no credit card.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a business delete a Google review?
No. Only the reviewer can delete their review, and only Google can remove it, when it breaks a Google policy. The business can report it, reply to it and appeal once if Google keeps it.
Can I prevent reviews from being posted on my Google listing?
No. Google gives businesses no way to block or turn off reviews. It may temporarily disable user content for some profiles or categories on its own, or pause new reviews during a fake review attack, but that is Google's decision.
Will Google remove a review without a report?
It can. Google's systems and analysts take down policy-violating reviews on their own: its Maps team says they blocked or removed over 292 million in 2025. A review that breaks no policy stays whether or not anyone reports it.
What if a review is completely fake?
Report it under fake engagement, report the reviewer's profile too, and keep a record of why you know it is fake, such as no matching customer in your records. If someone asks for money to remove fake reviews, use Google's extortion report form.
Can competitors leave reviews?
Not under Google's rules. A review from a competitor is a conflict of interest, and Google's policy bans posting content on a competitor's listing to undermine it. Report it under that category.
Can a business owner ask a customer to change a review?
Yes, as long as nothing is offered in return. Google bans incentives for posting, changing or removing a review. A reply that fixes the problem and a single polite request are within the rules.
Will Google remove reviews from a former employee?
It can. Google's policy lists current or former employment as a conflict of interest. Report the review under that category and be ready to show the connection in your appeal.
