Google's New GBP Policies on Fake Reviews and Shady Listing Schemes

Google Business Profile rules now carry stronger consequences for businesses that try to manipulate reviews, ratings, or local listings. For beginners, Google's New GBP Policies on Fake Reviews and Shady Listing Schemes mean one simple thing: fake visibility is becoming riskier, and trust signals are becoming more important. A business that buys reviews, uses fake locations, or hires questionable “review removal” services can lose reviews, lose the ability to collect new reviews, or display a public warning on its profile.

Google Business Profile

Google Business Profile is the free business listing that appears on Google Search and Google Maps with details like name, address, phone number, opening hours, photos, reviews, and directions.

Fake Engagement

Fake engagement means reviews, ratings, clicks, or other activity that are created to mislead customers or manipulate how a business appears online.

Shady Listing Schemes

Shady listing schemes are dishonest tactics used to make a business look more popular, more trusted, or more local than it really is.

For African businesses, the message is clear. A hotel in Kigali, a clinic in Lagos, a restaurant in Accra, or a law firm in Nairobi should build online credibility through accurate business information and real customer feedback, not shortcuts.

What Changed in Google's GBP Review Policies?

Google has made fake engagement penalties more visible and more serious for business owners. The Google Business Profile Help documentation explains that reviews can be reported, evaluated, removed, and appealed when they violate Google policies.

The newer enforcement approach adds stronger profile-level consequences. A business suspected of fake review activity may be blocked from receiving new reviews for a period, may have some existing reviews unpublished, or may show a public warning telling customers that fake reviews were removed.

Google's GBP review policy now targets both the fake review itself and the business profile that benefited from fake engagement. That distinction matters because the punishment can affect customer trust even after the review is gone.

For a small business, a warning label can hurt more than one bad review. A visible notice can make customers question whether the business is honest, especially in high-trust sectors like healthcare, legal services, real estate, hospitality, and financial services.

Why Fake Reviews Are a Serious Business Risk

Fake reviews create a false picture of customer experience. A five-star rating from real customers builds confidence, but a five-star rating built from paid or invented reviews creates risk for both the customer and the business.

A fake review is a review written by someone who did not have a genuine customer experience with the business, or by someone who was paid, pressured, or rewarded to influence the rating.

A business can be harmed in three ways. First, Google may remove the fake reviews. Second, Google may restrict the profile. Third, customers may lose trust when they see suspicious review patterns or warning notices.

Fake reviews are also becoming a legal issue. DAC Group has noted that Google's stricter review enforcement follows wider consumer protection pressure, including rules from the Federal Trade Commission in the United States and the European Union's Digital Services Act.

For African businesses serving local and international customers, trust travels across borders. Tourists, investors, patients, clients, and buyers often check Google reviews before calling, booking, or visiting.

What Counts as a Shady Listing Scheme?

A shady listing scheme is any tactic that makes a business listing misleading. The most common examples include fake office locations, keyword-stuffed business names, duplicate profiles, fake categories, and listings created for businesses that do not exist.

A real estate agency in Nairobi should not create ten Google profiles for neighborhoods where it has no office. A salon in Lagos should not add “best cheap hair salon near me” into its business name unless that phrase is the registered or real-world name. A hotel in Cape Town should not ask staff members to post guest reviews from personal accounts.

Common shady listing schemes include:

1. Creating fake locations to appear in more cities.
2. Adding keywords to the business name to rank higher.
3. Buying five-star reviews from strangers.
4. Offering gifts or discounts only for positive reviews.
5. Posting negative reviews on competitors.
6. Hiring a service that promises guaranteed review removal.
7. Creating duplicate listings to dominate map results.

Accurate business listings help customers and search platforms understand which business is real, where the business operates, and what the business offers.

A clean digital presence also matters beyond Google. Destinali helps African businesses improve discovery across search, AI-powered recommendations, and local visibility, with over 1M verified businesses across 54 African countries and more than 80 categories.

What Penalties Can Google Apply?

Google can apply review-level and profile-level penalties when a business violates review policies. Review-level penalties affect individual reviews, while profile-level penalties affect the whole Google Business Profile.

Google's newer GBP enforcement actions can include:

Penalty	What It Means	Why It Matters
Review Removal	Google removes reviews that violate policy	The rating may drop if fake positives disappear
Review Restriction	The profile cannot receive new reviews for a set period	Real customers may be blocked from leaving feedback
Review Unpublishing	Existing reviews may be hidden for a period	The profile can look weaker in search
Public Warning	Customers may see a notice about suspected fake reviews	Trust can fall before a customer contacts the business
Profile Suspension	The listing may be suspended for serious violations	The business can lose visibility on Maps and Search

A public warning is especially damaging because customers see the trust problem before they read the business description. For service businesses, one warning can reduce calls, bookings, WhatsApp enquiries, and walk-in visits.

How Should Businesses Handle Bad or Fake Reviews?

A business should not report a review just because the review is negative. Google normally does not remove reviews from real customers simply because the business disagrees with the opinion.

Google removes reviews when the content violates policy. Examples include spam, hate speech, profanity, harassment, impersonation, conflicts of interest, or reviews from people who never dealt with the business.

To handle a fake or inappropriate Google review, follow these steps:

1. Identify the exact policy violation.
2. Take screenshots of the review and reviewer profile.
3. Check whether the reviewer was a real customer.
4. Flag the review through Google Search, Maps, or Business Profile.
5. Track the case in Google's Reviews Management Tool.
6. Submit a one-time appeal if Google rejects the first report.
7. Respond calmly if the review remains public.

A factual response can protect trust even when Google does not remove the review. For example, a clinic might write: “We cannot verify this person as a patient in our records. We take all feedback seriously and invite the reviewer to contact our office directly.”

The best review strategy is to earn more real feedback over time. Consistent customer review requests make a business profile look active without creating suspicious spikes.

Why “Guaranteed Review Removal” Services Are Dangerous

A service that promises guaranteed Google review removal should raise concern. No third-party company can directly delete a Google review unless the company controls the reviewer account or uses improper tactics.

BrightLocal has warned that some reputation services use aggressive claims, high-pressure sales, and “pay only if removed” offers to attract worried business owners. These offers can sound appealing after a false accusation or damaging review, but the real process still depends on Google's policies.

A review removal service is a company or consultant that offers to help businesses report, appeal, or remove online reviews, but no legitimate service can guarantee removal of a Google review that does not violate policy.

A safe review consultant can help organize evidence and explain Google's process. A risky operator may create fake positive reviews, pressure reviewers, or use methods that trigger more penalties.

A business should never pay for fake positive reviews to bury a bad review. Google can detect unusual review bursts, new accounts, repeated wording, and patterns across locations.

How Do Reviews Affect Local Search Visibility?

Reviews influence how customers choose between businesses in local search results. A strong review profile can increase trust, clicks, calls, and direction requests, especially when customers compare similar businesses in the same city.

Reviews are not the only local search factor. Google also considers relevance, distance, prominence, business categories, website signals, and listing accuracy. However, review quality and review recency often shape customer decisions before any phone call happens.

A restaurant with 4.6 stars from 300 real reviews usually looks safer than a restaurant with 5.0 stars from 8 vague reviews. A law firm with detailed client feedback appears more credible than a law firm with short, repeated comments that all sound the same.

Strong online review signals support local discovery because customers and search systems both use reviews to judge trust. Real reviews help search platforms understand whether people actually choose, visit, and recommend the business.

How Can African Businesses Stay Compliant?

The safest path is simple: keep business information accurate, ask real customers for honest reviews, and avoid shortcuts. Google Business Profile should reflect the real-world business, not an invented version designed only to rank.

The clean visibility framework has five parts:

1. Accurate Information: Use the real business name, address, phone number, website, and hours.
2. Real Reviews: Ask actual customers for honest feedback without pressure.
3. Clear Evidence: Keep records that show which customers used the service.
4. Calm Responses: Reply professionally to both positive and negative reviews.
5. Wider Visibility: Build trusted profiles beyond Google so customers can verify the business elsewhere.

Structured business data also helps search engines and AI systems understand a business more clearly. LocalBusiness schema can describe a company name, location, phone number, opening hours, service area, and review information in machine-readable form. The free schema generator from AuthorityStack.ai can create JSON-LD schema for local businesses without technical skill.

Accurate business listing details reduce confusion across directories, maps, and search platforms. Consistency is especially important for businesses with branches, service areas, or similar names.

Where Local Business Discovery Is Heading

Local discovery is moving from simple directory listings to AI-assisted recommendations. Customers increasingly ask search engines and AI tools for “best restaurants in Kigali,” “trusted dentist in Accra,” or “affordable event photographer in Lagos.”

AI systems rely on trust signals from many places. Reviews, business profiles, websites, directory listings, citations, opening hours, photos, service descriptions, and structured data all help shape recommendations.

Google's stricter GBP policies fit this wider shift. Search platforms need cleaner data because fake reviews and fake listings make AI recommendations less reliable. Businesses that build real trust now will be better positioned as AI-powered search becomes more common.

African small and medium-sized businesses have a major opportunity. Many competitors still rely on word of mouth alone, while customers are already searching online before visiting, booking, or calling.

FAQ

What Is GBP in Google Business Profile?

GBP stands for Google Business Profile. Google Business Profile is the free listing that shows a business on Google Search and Google Maps with contact details, opening hours, photos, reviews, and directions. A complete profile helps customers find and evaluate a local business.

Can Google Remove Fake Reviews?

Google can remove fake reviews when the reviews violate its content policies. A business must report the review, choose the correct violation reason, and may need to submit a one-time appeal if the first decision is rejected. Google says review evaluation typically takes several days.

Can a Business Remove Bad Google Reviews?

A business cannot remove a bad Google review only because the review is negative. Google usually keeps reviews from real customers, even when the business believes the review is unfair. Removal is possible when the review includes spam, harassment, hate speech, conflicts of interest, impersonation, or other policy violations.

Are Fake Google Reviews Illegal?

Fake Google reviews can be illegal in some countries when they mislead consumers or involve paid endorsements without disclosure. The Federal Trade Commission in the United States has taken action against fake review practices, and the European Union has strengthened digital consumer protection rules. Businesses should treat fake reviews as both a platform risk and a legal risk.

Does Google Have a Review Support Email or Phone Number?

Google does not offer one universal public review support email or phone number for every review dispute. Business owners should use Google Business Profile, the Reviews Management Tool, and official support channels connected to the account that manages the profile. The account owner should keep screenshots, customer records, and policy evidence ready before submitting an appeal.

Can Competitors Leave Fake Negative Reviews?

Competitors can leave fake negative reviews, but competitor reviews may violate Google's conflict-of-interest policies. A business should collect evidence, flag the review, and explain why the reviewer has a competing interest or was never a customer. Emotional public replies usually make the problem worse.

Should a Business Buy Google Reviews?

A business should never buy Google reviews. Paid or fake reviews can lead to review removal, profile restrictions, public warning notices, and long-term damage to customer trust. Real customer reviews are safer, more persuasive, and more useful for local search visibility.

Key Takeaways

• Google's newer GBP policies make fake reviews and fake listing tactics riskier for businesses.
• Fake engagement can lead to review removal, review restrictions, unpublished ratings, public warnings, or profile suspension.
• Negative reviews are not automatically removable; Google removes reviews that violate policy.
• “Guaranteed review removal” offers are risky because no outside company can force Google to delete a compliant review.
• African businesses should focus on accurate listings, real reviews, structured business data, and wider search visibility.
• Clean online credibility helps customers trust a business across Google, maps, directories, and AI-powered search.

African businesses that want a clean and trusted presence beyond Google can create a free listing and make their business easier for customers to find online.