Yelp is stricter than most platforms about removal and has no paid route around its rules. Reviews come down when they break Yelp’s Content Guidelines, so the process starts with knowing which guideline applies.
Reviews that are not based on a firsthand experience, conflict-of-interest reviews from competitors or former employees, threats and harassment, hate speech, reviews about a different business, private information, and promotional content. An honest bad experience, however one-sided, is not removable.
Log in to your Yelp for Business account, open the review, and use the option to report it. Choose the reason that matches the guideline it breaks, and add a short, factual explanation, such as no record of the person as a customer or evidence they work for a competitor.
Yelp’s moderators review the report and email you a decision. There is no formal appeal, but you can contact Yelp support or report again if you have new information that was not in the original report.
Yelp’s automated software moves some reviews to a “not currently recommended” section. Those reviews do not count toward your rating. Yelp does not remove reviews in exchange for advertising, and anyone implying otherwise is misleading you.
Yelp discourages businesses from asking customers for reviews and may flag reviews that look solicited. Focus review requests on Google and other platforms that allow them, and let Yelp reviews come naturally.
Respond publicly once, briefly and professionally. Prospective customers read your reply as evidence of how you treat people.
No. Advertising has no effect on which reviews stay up or how they are ranked.
If a review is genuinely defamatory, a court order can lead to removal. That is a legal matter for counsel, and it is worth an honest assessment before you start.
What to write, what never to write, and why the response matters more to future customers than the review itself.
Read moreHow to identify a fake or coordinated review, document it, and report it on grounds that actually succeed.
Read moreReported a Google review and nothing happened? Here is why Google declines most reports, how to appeal, and what still works when a review stays.
Read moreTell us what you are dealing with. We will tell you honestly what can come down, and there is no charge unless it does.