How to get more genuine reviews, respond to negative ones, and report the reviews that break platform rules.
The service recovery paradox says a well-handled complaint can leave customers happier than if nothing went wrong. The evidence is mixed. Here's what holds up and how to apply it.
Incentivized reviews are reviews given in exchange for a reward. Here's what the FTC's 2024 rule, the Endorsement Guides, Google and Amazon say, and how to ask for reviews safely.
The Consumer Review Fairness Act voids contract clauses that gag or penalize honest reviews. Here's what it covers, what it doesn't, and what you can still do about bad reviews.
A review widget shows ratings from Google, Trustpilot or your own collection on your website. How the main types work, how to set one up honestly, and the FTC and Google rules that apply.
The main types of product review websites shoppers check before buying, from retailer pages to expert testers, and a practical way for brands to monitor and respond to them honestly.
How to find and delete a Google review you posted, on a phone or computer, when editing it is the better choice, and why businesses can't delete reviews themselves.
A practical guide to Yelp for restaurants: claiming your page, setting up menus and photos, replying to diners, understanding filtered reviews and staying inside Yelp's rules.
What Yelp Elite is, how reviewers earn the badge, why Elite reviews carry weight, and how business owners should treat Elite diners and customers without breaking Yelp's rules.
How Trustpilot for Business works: claiming your company profile, inviting customers within the rules, understanding your TrustScore, replying to reviews and flagging ones that break guidelines.
How Tripadvisor works for restaurants: claiming your listing, what drives your ranking, how to ask diners for reviews within the rules, and how to reply so visitors choose you.
A practical guide for service pros on Thumbtack: building a profile customers trust, asking for genuine reviews, replying to criticism and reporting reviews that break the rules.
How therapists and counselors can handle online reviews: the ethics limits on asking clients, why replies must never confirm a client, what to do about unfair reviews and ethical ways to build trust.
Reviews are often the first thing a customer reads about you, on Google, Yelp, Trustpilot, Tripadvisor, BBB and the sites specific to your industry. These guides cover the whole cycle: asking for reviews without breaking platform rules, replying to criticism in a way that reassures future customers, and reporting the reviews that genuinely violate policy.
The situations we see most often are a sudden one-star review that feels unfair, a review that looks fake or comes from a competitor, a slow trickle of new reviews, and uncertainty about what the FTC now allows. A few good places to begin:
Genuine negative reviews usually can't be deleted, so the focus is on replying well and earning more balanced feedback over time. If you'd like a team to handle monitoring and responses for you, see our review management service.
Start with step 1
Get a free, no-obligation reputation audit covering search results, review profiles and social mentions, with clear next steps.
