Factually false claims
The hardest category to argue. A review stating something verifiably untrue, not merely unfair, can be filed, but only where a document contradicts it. Opinion is never covered.
See Google's full content policy“Misleading information can impact the quality of information on Google Maps. For this reason, we don’t allow individuals to use Google Maps to mislead or deceive others, or make misrepresentations. This includes: False or misleading accounts of the description or quality of a good or service.”
Qualifies for removal
- Review states a price you can disprove with a signed estimate or invoice the reviewer agreed to
- Review claims a service you demonstrably do not offer and never have
- Review describes a visit on a date the business was verifiably closed
- Review attributes an incident to you that documented records place at another business
Does NOT qualify
- 'They overcharged me'. A judgement about value, not a factual claim
- 'The work was terrible'. Opinion, however strongly you disagree
- A customer misremembering a detail in an otherwise genuine account
- Anything where you can only contradict the claim with your own word
Evidence that clears this clause
Whoever reads your report can see the review, the reviewer's public profile and your listing. Nothing else. Anything that lives only in your own systems has to be described, not assumed.
- A specific factual claim that your records contradict: a price, a date, a service performed
- Documentation that survives being read by a stranger: an invoice, a signed job sheet, a contract
- Claims about a legal outcome, licence or certification that public records disprove
- A description of an event on a date you were demonstrably closed
The mistake that gets this rejected
Filing on an opinion. "Overpriced" and "the worst service in town" are not factual claims and are protected however wrong they feel. This clause needs a checkable statement of fact, not a judgement.
Questions about this clause
The review says I overcharged. Does that qualify?
Only if it names a figure you can show is wrong. "They charged me $400 for X" is a factual claim you can contradict with an invoice. "They overcharge" is an opinion, which this clause does not cover.
Do I have to send Google my invoices?
You describe what the record shows rather than attaching your books. The filing states the contradiction plainly and specifically.
Want this policy applied to your reviews?
Run the free audit and we'll score every review on your listing against this policy and the others. No card, no signup to see the report. A removal is $150 to $250 per review, billed only when Google actually removes it.
All of them in one place: the policy reference · check a review against it · Google review policy violations explained · remove fake Google reviews · straight answers · by industry
Free tools
Check a single review against every clause at once, or work out what a removal would actually do to your star average. Both run in your browser, with no account.
The other content-policy categories
A review can break more than one clause at once, and a filing names the clause with the cleanest evidence rather than all of them.
How this plays out in your trade
The same policy clause gets abused differently depending on the business. These pages set out the attack pattern trade by trade.
Short answers about filing
Filing against this clause, start to finish
Knowing which clause a review breaks is the first half. These cover the filing itself, and what a rejection actually means.