Hey folks,
I’m dealing with some negative reviews on Google and could really use some help. What’s the best way to address or remove them? Any strategies for improving my rating or getting these reviews taken down?
Appreciate any tips or tricks!
Step 1: Contact the person and take every appropriate measure to make things right, getting them to change their review
Step 2: If that fails, reply to the comment, keeping in mind that you are not writing the response for the reviewer to read. You are writing it for others to read how you respond to negative reviews.
Reply to the comment detailing the measures you took with them to make things right. i.e. “we will give you a full refund but we cannot get ahold of you” "we cannot get ahold of you because this name is not in our database, meaning that we never saw a client named “joe schmoe (aka the review is fake, attack their credibility in a very calm professional manner)” “we gave you a full refund and did this this and that solving your problem for you” etc.
(I got this advice from a Search Engine Journal podcast)
another piece of advice, dont sweat it and focus on getting more good reviews. cant please everyone. Plus, 1,000 ratings with an average of 4.5 stars looks 100x better than 50 ratings with 5 out of 5 stars. Negative reviews are natural and build the credibility of the good reviews
last piece of advice - if you still REALLY want to get it removed, try having someone outside of the company (on a diff IP address, completely untied to you) report the review, making a valid case of how it is harmful or inappropriate. Google takes reports from neutral 3rd party bystanders much more seriously than from those who have a commercial interest.
DM me the company im curious about the bad review. Ill try reporting it for you. Also, i’ll write you a good review 
If you are in a profession where you can ask satisfied customers for reviews, definitely encourage them to leave one if they’ve had a positive experience. Make sure to update your Google My Business (GMB) profile regularly and engage with your audience. A single negative review isn’t a big deal if you have a strong balance of positive ones—10 good reviews to one bad still looks great.
When you respond to a negative review, focus on providing the correct information about the situation without placing blame or calling out the reviewer. A thoughtful, helpful response can actually improve your company’s reputation and show that you handle issues professionally. Hope this helps!