How to Respond to a Fake Review: 5 Easy Steps

Fake reviews can feel infuriating to read. They can misguide buyers, damage your business’s reputation, and even affect your revenue if potential customers turn away because of them.

And while it may sound counterintuitive, responding to fake reviews is just as important as it is to learn how to spot fake reviews and how online review platforms prevent inauthentic feedback.

The best way to deal with fake reviews is reporting them to the platform where they’re posted; however, getting fake reviews removed this way can take a while. During this time, you might be worried about the review making a negative impact on potential buyers if it remains visible.

The good news is that you can mitigate the potential damage through a professional and factual response that makes the review’s reality clear to other buyers. Here are five easy steps that you can take to respond to a fake review, along with examples.

Steps to Handle a Fake Review

1. Avoid a Hasty Argument

If you get a fake review, do not rush into an argument with the reviewer. Avoid writing a hasty and angry reply publicly. Or this way, the fake review might do one more type of damage: make you appear as a mean and unprofessional business that does not respect its customers’ feedback.

That’s why responding to a fake review through arguing can make the matter worse for you. The better approach is to first gather factual evidence and then respond calmly.

2. Verify the Transaction

Next, verify the reviewer’s transaction by looking into your transaction log or customer purchase history by searching with their name. The review really is fake if no record can be found.

3. Write a Professional, Neutral, and Factual Reply

Once you’ve confirmed the review to be fake, write a professional, neutral, and factual reply that makes it clear that the reviewer is not a real customer. State clearly that you have no record of providing service to this person, and invite them to contact you privately to sort it out.

Do not write a lengthy reply; make it emotional instead of factual. Keep your reply short, concise, and neutral. There’s no need to acknowledge the fake feedback also; if a review is fake, it means what it’s describing never happened and is not your responsibility.

Your professional response will demonstrate to buyers that this one particular review does not represent the brand, minimizing the damage and giving them the confidence to still choose you.

If you’re responding to customer reviews on The Trust Search, read our business guidelines to understand what’s expected of you and how to keep it professional.

4. Report the Review

Responding to the review is only one step in tackling fake reviews; you should still report the review to the platform and ask them to remove it.

A fake review can still harm your brand reputation even if you have replied to it with a professional response. That’s why there’s no need to keep it. So go ahead and flag it. Select the appropriate reason, add an explanation if required, and attach evidence to support your claim.

Wait for the response to come. If you’re on The Trust Search, you can report fake reviews that violate our community guidelines and reviewer guidelines, in addition to being fake. The reported review is hidden while it’s investigated by moderators to prevent it from damaging your image if it’s really fake. 

5. Escalate the Matter If Needed

In case you don’t receive any response from the platform, you can escalate the matter via their support channel.

Reach out to the support team and explain the matter to them. Share what evidence you can and make it clear that you have found no transaction record that pertains to the reviewer’s name or experience.

Sometimes, bad actors leave fake reviews to extort businesses, demanding free products, refunds, or gift cards in exchange for removing the negative rating. If you are being targeted by an extortion scam, you can escalate the matter beyond the review platform itself by officially reporting the fraudulent activity to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) through their fraud reporting portal. 

Protip: Join The Trust Search to get verified reviews and build an authentic reputation that’s free of fake feedback and unverified claims—because every review gets verified on The Trust Search based on transaction evidence through dual invoice checking, leaving no chance for fake reviews to slip past.

How to Respond to a Fake Review: Examples

Here are a few examples of professional responses to fake reviews:

• Example 1: “Hello [Name]. We take all feedback seriously, but we cannot locate any record of a customer under your name or matching this description in our database. We pride ourselves on our high standards, so if you are a genuine customer, please contact our manager directly at [Phone Number] or [Email] so we can investigate this and resolve it for you immediately.”

• Example 2: "Thank you for taking the time to leave a rating. Because you didn't leave any details, we aren't sure what went wrong or how we can improve. We have no record of service under your profile name. If you are a client of ours, please reach out to us at [Email/Phone] so we can hear more about your experience and make things right."

• Example 2: "Hello [Name]. It looks like there might be a mistake, as our business does not offer [Service/Product mentioned in review]. Because we cannot find any record of this transaction, we suspect this review may have been posted in error or belongs to a different establishment. If you did receive service from us, please contact us at [Phone/Email] so we can clear this up."

Why Respond to a Fake Review?

How you respond to a fake review can influence what stays in people’s minds when they read the fake review and your reply before leaving.

When a fake review criticizes your brand badly, buyers don’t know whether it’s real or fake. They just assume that it’s real, consider the sentiment, look at the rating, and leave with a bad impression. So if people read very negative things about your business, without any rebuttal, they may change their mind about buying from you, because that’s why review exists: to evaluate whether a business or product is worth the buyer’s money or not.

In contrast, if you factually respond and let other buyers know that this review is fake, they may stop believing it on the spot instead of leaving with the wrong impression.

In fact, research published in the Harvard Business Review found that when management simply starts responding to customer reviews, the business receives fewer negative reviews overall and sees a boost in their overall rating, as consumers perceive the brand to be highly attentive.

How to Prevent Fake Reviews

The best way to prevent fake reviews is by relying on a platform with verified reviews.

The Trust Search prevents fake reviews by verifying every review’s transaction invoice through automated and manual scrutiny before it’s published, helping your brand retain an authentic reputation.

With a rating based on verified reviews, your business can also rank among the top-rated brands, gain visibility, connect with potential buyers, and increase the conversion—all while preventing fake reviews.

Conclusion

Fake reviews can be frustrating to deal with. Not only do they misguide new buyers but also damage your brand’s image. But responding to fake reviews requires professionalism and for you to stay calm. Five easy steps can help you mitigate the harm it can pose to your business: Avoid a hasty argument, verify the transaction record, write a neutral and professional reply, report the review to the platform, and escalate the matter to support.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a good way to respond to a bad review?

The best way to respond to a bad review is by staying neutral, polite, and factual. Check transaction records and politely let the reviewer know that you didn’t find a transaction record with their name. Do not initiate or engage in an argument or heated discussion. Instead, keep your reply brief and professional.

How to deal with fake reviews?

Here’s how you can deal with fake reviews:

1. Report to the Platform: If you’re repeatedly getting fake reviews, make sure you report all of them to the platform first and foremost to get them removed as soon as possible.

2. Reply Professionally: Another step you can take is to respond to these reviews by politely letting them know that you don’t have a transaction record that matches their name or details.

3. Bury in Positive Reviews: Encourage your real customers to leave feedback to bury fake negative reviews and maintain your rating.
   

You can also minimize fake reviews by building and strengthening your presence on a platform that offers verified reviews like The Trust Search.

How to get a fake review taken down?

To get a fake review taken down, flag it on the platform and proceed with the flagging process. Select the appropriate flag reason that describes the situation, add an explanation, and provide supporting evidence like transaction records to back your claim.