Fake Trustpilot Reviews: How to Get Them Removed

Fake Trustpilot reviews come down when you match the review to one of the reasons Trustpilot lets a business flag under and file it from your business account with the record that supports the claim. Trustpilot removed 4.5 million fake reviews in 2024, about 7.4% of everything submitted that year, and 90% of those came out through automated detection. Reviews you disagree with stay up. Trustpilot says plainly that it does not remove a review just because a business thinks it is unfair or critical, and an honest complaint from a real customer is not removable anywhere.

So every case turns on one question. Which written guideline does this review breach? Get that right and the rest is paperwork. Get it wrong and you spend a flag for nothing. If you would rather hand the sequence to someone who runs it daily, that is what Repvive does on Trustpilot cases, on a no removal, no fee basis.

What counts as a fake review on Trustpilot

A fake review is one that does not reflect a genuine experience with your business. Trustpilot's guidelines for reviewers set out who is eligible to write one. The reviewer has to be over 18 and have had a recent experience, which Trustpilot typically reads as the last 12 months.

An experience is broader than a purchase. A phone call, an email, an online chat, or a visit to your online store all count, even if the person never bought anything. That single line kills most of the cases business owners bring. You searched your order history, found nothing, and concluded the review is fake. Trustpilot will not read it that way.

Two rules do work in your favor. Incentivized reviews are not allowed, so a discount, promo code, prize draw entry, refund, or freebie offered in connection with a review makes the reviewer ineligible. And a reviewer with a special relationship to your business cannot write one at all, which covers the owner, immediate family, anyone working with or for the business, shareholders, and competitors. A competitor review and a disgruntled ex-employee review both breach that rule even when the person genuinely interacted with you.

The reasons a business can flag a review

Trustpilot's guidelines for businesses list the flag reasons, and your evidence has to fit one of them.

Harmful or illegal. Hate speech or discrimination, terrorism, threats or violence, obscenity, and defamation. Trustpilot defines defamation as a false statement about a person or business that harms their reputation and leads to significant financial loss, and notes that an opinion such as "I didn't like their service" is not defamation because opinions are not statements of fact.
Contains personal information. Another person's name, phone number, email address, or photos and videos of others. A named employee is the common case. Trustpilot will not remove information that already appears on your Trustpilot profile or your website, and will not remove a review because the reviewer included their own details.
Advertising or promotional. Links to an unrelated business, promo codes, scam promotion, spam, gibberish, impersonation, and reviews written purely to push a political, religious, or ethical view rather than describe an experience.
Not based on a genuine experience. The route for a review you cannot place against any record.
About a different business. Trustpilot can remove a review that indicates it is for another company, or move one that belongs on a different domain profile of yours.

One procedural detail matters more than it looks. A review flagged as harmful or illegal is hidden while Trustpilot investigates, because the law requires that for certain content. Every other reason leaves the review visible during the investigation.

How to file the flag

Capture the review first. Screenshot it with the date, star rating, and username, and copy the review URL. Reviewers own their reviews and can edit or delete them at any time, so the version you are disputing may not exist tomorrow.
Pull your own record. Order numbers, ticket history, call logs, delivery confirmations. For a not genuine claim the absence of any record is the claim, so it has to be a search you can describe.
Use the information request where it fits. Trustpilot lets a business ask a reviewer for an email address, reference number, name, or phone number. The reviewer can decline, and Trustpilot notes that a business may then report the review. An unanswered request belongs in the file.
Flag from your business account under one reason. Pick the reason your evidence actually supports rather than the one that feels strongest.
Flag consistently. Trustpilot asks you to flag 5-star reviews for the same reasons you flag 1-star reviews, and treats flagging too quickly or under the wrong reason as misuse. Misuse can lead to account suspension or a Consumer Warning on your profile, and your flagging history for the past 12 months is visible on your public Company activity page.

What happens after you flag

Your flag generates a request, and Trustpilot says complex cases need more time. There is no published turnaround, so treat any service quoting you a fixed platform timeline with suspicion.

The not genuine route has its own mechanics. Trustpilot runs the flagged review through its detection software, which weighs data points about the review rather than your say-so. If it looks suspicious the review is removed and the reviewer is asked for documentation, with a three day window to respond. If no breach is confirmed, the review stays online.

A declined decision is not the end. You can reply and explain why you believe the review is not genuine, and Trustpilot will review the decision manually. The details that carry weight are concrete, such as the review naming a product you do not sell or a location you do not operate. "We have no record of this customer" on its own has already been answered by the eligibility rules above.

When the review stays up

Reply short and factual, and invite the person to a private channel with an order reference. Do not accuse them of lying in public, and do not send a legal threat you cannot back. The FTC's 2024 rule on consumer reviews prohibits using unfounded or groundless legal threats, intimidation, or certain false public accusations to prevent or remove a negative review, with civil penalties available against knowing violators. The same rule prohibits buying or selling fake reviews in either direction, which is the lever if you find evidence that the reviews were purchased.

Keep your invitation practice clean while you work the case. Trustpilot requires invitations to be fair, neutral, and free of incentives, and a business that games its invitations gives Trustpilot a reason to look harder at the rest of its profile. For the mechanics of a single case end to end, the step by step in how to remove a Trustpilot review covers the same ground in order, and RepWatch exists so a burst of new reviews reaches you on the day it lands rather than a month later.

If you are past the flag stage and a review that breaches a written guideline is still live, the Trustpilot review removal service takes the case from there, and you pay nothing if nothing comes down.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get a fake review removed from Trustpilot?

Match the review to one of Trustpilot's flag reasons, gather the record that supports it, then flag it from your business account under that reason. Trustpilot investigates and tells you the outcome. If the answer is no, you can reply with specifics and get the decision looked at again by a person.

Can Trustpilot remove a review if I do not recognize the customer?

Not on that basis alone. Trustpilot's guidelines state that a review may be genuine even when you have no record of the reviewer, because an experience does not have to be a purchase, no invitation is needed, and a reviewer may use a username that is not their real name. Flag it as not genuine only if you can point at something concrete, such as a product you do not sell.

Can you pay Trustpilot to remove a review?

No. Trustpilot states that businesses have no control over review removal whether or not they pay for its services, and that flagged content is treated the same regardless of who it is about. What you pay a removal service for is the casework, which means matching the review to a written guideline, assembling the record, and carrying the dispute.

How long does Trustpilot take to investigate a flag?

Trustpilot does not publish a turnaround and says complex cases require additional time. The only fixed clock in its guidelines is the three day window a reviewer gets when Trustpilot asks them for documentation to support a disputed review.

Are fake reviews illegal?

The FTC's 2024 rule prohibits creating, selling, buying, or disseminating fake consumer reviews, including reviews bought to attack a competitor, and lets the agency seek civil penalties against knowing violators. Trustpilot also states in its own guidelines that fake reviews are illegal and removes them when detected. Whether a specific review crosses a legal line is a question for a lawyer.

What happens if I flag too many reviews?

Trustpilot treats flagging too quickly, flagging under the wrong reason, or flagging without properly considering the guideline as misuse of the tool. Consequences include account suspension or a Consumer Warning on your public profile. Your flagging pattern for the past 12 months also shows on your Company activity page, where anyone can read it.