How long does Google take to remove a fake review?

The automated check usually returns within two to seven days. An escalation to a support agent adds a similar amount again, and a complicated case can take several weeks across multiple rounds. There is no expedited path for a small business, so the only lever is making the first report specific and correct.

Can I sue someone for a fake Google review in India?

Defamation claims are possible under Indian law, both civil and criminal, but this is slow, expensive and rarely proportionate for a single review — and a legal threat sent to a reviewer has a reliable habit of becoming its own, much larger, publicity problem. Treat it as a last resort for a sustained, identifiable campaign, and take actual legal advice rather than acting on a guide.

Will replying to a fake review make it rank higher?

No. Replying does not push a review up, and it does not extend its life. What it does is change what the next reader concludes, which is the only outcome that was ever available to you once removal failed.

Someone left a one-star with no comment. Can I get it removed?

Not on those grounds — ratings without text are permitted. It is only removable if you can show it breaks a policy in another way, such as coming from a competitor or from someone who was never a customer, and proving that with no text to work from is difficult.

Guides

How to remove a fake Google review

Google removes reviews that break its policies, not reviews that are unfair. Knowing the difference is most of the battle.

Updated 21 September 2026

Start with the hard part. A one-star review from someone who genuinely ate at your restaurant and hated it will not be removed, however wrong you think they are, and however much detail you supply. Google removes policy violations. It does not arbitrate disputes.

What Google will remove

Reviews from people who were never customers, including competitors and review-bombing campaigns.
Content about a different business, or the wrong branch.
Off-topic content — political commentary, rants about a delivery app, complaints about something you do not control.
Personal attacks on named staff, hate speech, obscenity, or sexual content.
Anything with personal information: phone numbers, addresses, a photo of a bill with a card number.
Conflict of interest — a review by you, your staff, or a competitor.
Promotional content or spam, including reviews that are just a link.

What Google will not remove

A harsh but genuine account of a bad visit.
A one-star with no text. Ratings without words are allowed.
A review you believe is exaggerated or unfair.
A review from someone who ordered delivery and blames you for the delivery.
A complaint about a policy you actually have, such as no outside food.

How to report it

Do this once, carefully. The first submission is the one that gets the most human attention.

Open your listing while signed in as the owner, find the review, and use the three-dot menu to report it.
Choose the specific policy it breaks. This is the single most important choice on the form — not an accurate enough category, the correct one.
Then track it in the Google Business Profile review management tool, which shows the status of reports you have filed.

When the first report fails

Most first reports fail. The automated check looks for obvious violations and declines the rest. Escalate in this order:

Request a second review through Google Business Profile support, by chat or callback. A human reads this one.
Bring evidence and be specific. Not this is fake, but: we have no booking, no bill and no CCTV record for this name on this date, and the dish they describe is not on our menu.
If it is a coordinated attack — several one-stars in a day from accounts with no history — say so explicitly and give the timestamps. Google handles bursts differently from individual reviews.
Expect two to seven days per round, and expect to go around twice.

If it stays up

Reply to it. A short, calm, factual public reply is worth more than the removal would have been, because every future customer reads it as evidence of how you handle complaints. Do not accuse the reviewer of lying even when you are certain; say that you have no record of the visit, state what you would do if they contact you, and stop.

Then bury it with volume. One fake one-star against forty real reviews is a rounding error; against nine it is your rating. The fastest defence against a fake review is a steady flow of genuine ones — which is a process, not a campaign.

For the wording of that reply, there are patterns that work and phrases that make it worse.

Common questions

How long does Google take to remove a fake review?: The automated check usually returns within two to seven days. An escalation to a support agent adds a similar amount again, and a complicated case can take several weeks across multiple rounds. There is no expedited path for a small business, so the only lever is making the first report specific and correct.
Can I sue someone for a fake Google review in India?: Defamation claims are possible under Indian law, both civil and criminal, but this is slow, expensive and rarely proportionate for a single review — and a legal threat sent to a reviewer has a reliable habit of becoming its own, much larger, publicity problem. Treat it as a last resort for a sustained, identifiable campaign, and take actual legal advice rather than acting on a guide.
Will replying to a fake review make it rank higher?: No. Replying does not push a review up, and it does not extend its life. What it does is change what the next reader concludes, which is the only outcome that was ever available to you once removal failed.
Someone left a one-star with no comment. Can I get it removed?: Not on those grounds — ratings without text are permitted. It is only removable if you can show it breaks a policy in another way, such as coming from a competitor or from someone who was never a customer, and proving that with no text to work from is difficult.