How to delete a Yelp review
"How to delete a Yelp review" draws about 1,900 searches a month at keyword difficulty 23, one of the cleaner opportunities in the research, largely because Yelp is known for being strict about what it will remove. Yelp does not take reviews down on request and does not let businesses pay to remove them. It evaluates a reported review against its Content Guidelines: reviews must reflect a genuine first-hand experience and must avoid conflicts of interest, threats, lewdness, hate speech, and promotional content.
To report one, sign in to your Yelp business account, open the Reviews section, click the three-dot or flag icon on the review, and describe which guideline it breaks with as much specific detail as you can. Separately, Yelp's recommendation software may already be hiding some reviews as "not recommended," which is automated and outside your control. When a review is genuine and stays up, respond both publicly and with a private direct message, since a measured reply often does more for future customers than the review itself does damage.
Frequently asked questions
- Can I pay Yelp to remove a bad review?
- No. Yelp does not remove reviews in exchange for payment or advertising, and it publicly states this. Reviews come down only when they violate Yelp's Content Guidelines, and that decision is made by Yelp, not by the business.
- Why did my positive Yelp reviews disappear?
- Yelp's recommendation software automatically sorts some reviews into a separate "not recommended" section based on signals like reviewer activity and reliability. It is automated, applies to positive and negative reviews alike, and businesses cannot manually override it.
- What counts as a reportable Yelp review?
- Reviews that are not based on a real first-hand experience, contain threats or hate speech, come from a competitor or someone with a conflict of interest, or are promotional can be reported. A simply negative but genuine review does not qualify and will usually remain.
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