Impersonation and misrepresented identity

Reviews written by someone pretending to be a customer they aren't — including accounts posing as another real person, or a competitor writing as a fictional client.

What Google says

“Don't post content that misrepresents your identity or affiliations with the people or businesses about which you're contributing. We don't want anyone to be misled by content on Google.”

See Google's full content policy hub

Qualifies for removal

→An account using a real customer's name and photo without their knowledge
→A competitor posting under a fabricated identity as though they'd used the service
→Multiple reviews from accounts created the same day with stock-photo avatars and no other activity
→An account claiming a professional credential it doesn't hold in order to make the criticism sound authoritative

Does NOT qualify

→A customer reviewing under a nickname or an initial — anonymity isn't impersonation
→A family member reviewing on behalf of the person who received the service, if they say so

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The other policy categories

Reviews from people who were never customers Harassment and hate speech Conflict of interest Advertising or promoting competitors Off-topic content Personal information in a review Factually false claims Restricted and illegal content

Full breakdown: Google review policy violations explained · remove fake Google reviews · straight answers · by industry