Dealing with Spam and Attacks
Unfortunately, spam and malicious attacks on GBP listings do happen. Competitors might try to harm your listing, or spammers might target you. Here's how to protect yourself and respond.
Types of Attacks and Spam
What to do
Know what to watch out for.
Step by step
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Fake negative reviews. Competitors or malicious actors leaving fake bad reviews to damage your reputation.
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False edits to your listing. People suggesting incorrect information — wrong hours, wrong phone number, marking you as closed.
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Fake Q&A. Malicious questions or misleading answers on your Q&A section.
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Report abuse. People falsely reporting your legitimate listing as fake or policy-violating.
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Competitor spam. Competitors creating fake listings with keyword-stuffed names or fake addresses to outrank you.
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Photo spam. Inappropriate or irrelevant photos added by others to your listing.
Preventing and Detecting Attacks
What to do
Stay vigilant and catch problems early.
Step by step
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Monitor your listing regularly. Check your listing's public appearance weekly. Catch problems before they cause damage.
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Enable notifications. Make sure you receive alerts for new reviews, Q&A, and suggested edits.
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Check your information monthly. Verify your hours, phone, address, and other details remain correct.
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Watch your reviews. Look for suspicious patterns — multiple negative reviews in a short period, or reviewers with no history.
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Monitor Q&A. Check for malicious questions or misleading answers you need to address.
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Set up Google Alerts. Create alerts for your business name to catch mentions across the web.
Responding to Fake Reviews
What to do
When you get a review from someone who was never a customer.
Step by step
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Don't respond angrily. Even if it's obviously fake, a hostile response looks bad to other customers reading.
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Respond professionally. "We have no record of you as a customer. Please contact us directly so we can investigate." This casts doubt on the review without attacking.
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Report the review. Flag it as inappropriate through Google Maps or your dashboard. Select the most relevant reason.
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Gather evidence. If you have proof it's fake (no record of the person, events described didn't happen), document this.
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Request removal through support. If the standard report doesn't work, contact Google support with your evidence.
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Bury it with real reviews. Even if removal fails, getting more genuine positive reviews pushes the fake one down.
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Legal options exist. For clearly defamatory fake reviews, legal action is possible but usually not worth the cost.
Responding to False Edits
What to do
If someone changes your listing information incorrectly.
Step by step
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Check your dashboard regularly. You'll often see notifications about suggested edits.
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Reject incorrect suggestions. If you see a suggested edit that's wrong, reject it immediately.
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Re-confirm your correct information. Go into your listing and save your correct information again, even if it looks unchanged.
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If changes appear despite rejection: Contact Google support. Someone might be persistently trying to change your info.
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Document the attempts. Screenshot incorrect suggestions. Pattern of attacks is useful evidence if you need to escalate.
Reporting Competitor Spam
What to do
If competitors are violating guidelines, you can report them.
Step by step
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Identify the violation. Common issues: fake addresses, keyword-stuffed names, fake reviews, multiple listings for one business.
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Use "Suggest an edit". On their Google Maps listing, click "Suggest an edit" and report the issue.
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Report fake listings. Select "Close or remove" then the relevant reason (doesn't exist, fake location, etc.).
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Report to the Help Community. For persistent violators, post in the GBP Help Community. Product Experts can escalate.
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Use the Business Redressal Form. Google has a form specifically for reporting businesses violating guidelines. Search "Google Business Profile redressal form".
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Be patient. Google investigates reports but doesn't always act quickly. Keep reporting if violations continue.
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Focus on yourself. Time spent reporting competitors is time not spent improving your own listing. Report major violations but don't obsess.
**Don't retaliate.** If a competitor is attacking you, don't attack back. Two wrongs don't make a right, and you could get your own listing suspended for violations.