Summary
- False reviews from competitors or disgruntled individuals can cut sales and damage your reputation.
- You can reduce the risk by monitoring your online presence and encouraging genuine customer feedback.
- Report false reviews to the platform, and treat legal action as a last resort.
- This guide explains how to protect your business from false and misleading reviews in the UK.
- LegalVision’s business lawyers specialise in advising clients on managing online reviews and reputation risk.
Tips for Businesses
Set up alerts to track new reviews across Google, Trustpilot and social media. Reply to negative reviews calmly and constructively. Keep a written review policy. Report false reviews to the platform with evidence. Keep records, and only escalate to legal action when other steps fail.
A false or misleading review is a consumer review that does not reflect a genuine experience and unfairly harms your business. In the UK, competitors, disgruntled customers or people with a grievance sometimes post them. Since April 2025, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 bans fake and misleading reviews. The Competition and Markets Authority can act against businesses that post them. You can also report false reviews to platforms like Trustpilot or Google, challenge them, and take legal action as a last resort. This article will explore why UK online businesses need to take steps to protect themselves against these types of reviews.
Why is This Important?
Positive reviews can attract new customers and increase sales, while negative reviews can damage your business’ reputation and lead to a sales decline. Unfortunately, not all reviews are genuine, which can be frustrating for your online business.
Why do false and misleading online reviews exist? Some potential reasons include the following:
- a competitor seeking to gain an advantage by covertly posting negative reviews;
- a disgruntled customer seeking to cause additional damage by posting multiple fake online reviews through fake names; and
- an individual with a vendetta against someone working for your company seeking to cause harm and distress.
Fortunately, it is possible to put specific measures in place to reduce the risk of harm through misleading and false customer reviews. Let us explore some practical steps below.
1. Monitor Your Company’s Online Presence
The first step in protecting your UK online business from misleading and false online reviews is to monitor your online presence. This means regularly checking popular review sites such as Trustpilot, Yelp and Google Reviews for any negative feedback.
Many businesses keep track of the reviews posted about them on various platforms, including social media, review sites and forums. You can set up an alert to notify you of the posting of a new review. This will allow you to respond quickly to any negative reviews and address any issues causing them.
By being aware of what people are saying about your business, you can quickly respond to any issues and address any concerns that customers may have.
It helps to know the difference between a review you dislike and a review the law can help you remove. A genuine negative review, even a harsh one, is usually lawful and hard to take down. Your best response is a professional reply. A false review is different. It might come from a competitor, a person who was never a customer, or a fake account.
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2. Encourage Genuine Customer Feedback
Another way to protect your UK online business from misleading and false reviews is to encourage genuine customer feedback. Encourage customers to leave reviews after they purchase your product or use your services. You can do this through automated review requests or by including a reminder in your order confirmation or follow-up emails.
Naturally, this is a much better policy than the UK businesses that fall into the trap of producing fake positive reviews by way of response. Business owners should avoid posting their own misleading reviews, as this likely breaches consumer law.
3. Online Review Policy
In addition, it is important to have a clear policy in place for dealing with online reviews. This policy should outline the steps your business will take to investigate any complaints and how it will respond to negative reviews.
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For example, you may request that reviews are based on genuine experiences and not contain offensive or inappropriate language.
Naturally, it is essential to respond to all reviews, both positive and negative. Responding to bad reviews professionally and constructively can help to address any issues that may have caused the negative review and demonstrate to other customers that you take their feedback seriously. Responding to positive reviews can also help to build customer loyalty and encourage repeat business.
A clear policy lets you demonstrate to your customers that you take their feedback seriously and are committed to providing excellent customer service.
4. Consider Legal Action as a Last Resort
Finally, legal action is worth considering if you believe your UK online business has been the victim of false or misleading online reviews. The UK has strict laws regarding false advertising and consumer protection. If you can provide evidence that an online review is false or misleading, you can take legal action to have it removed.
Naturally, this is a matter of last resort, given that most review platforms have policies prohibiting fake reviews, which will remove them if you report them.
Key Takeaways
In conclusion, protecting your UK online business from misleading and false online reviews requires a proactive approach. By monitoring your online presence, soliciting genuine customer feedback, having a clear policy for dealing with reviews, and considering legal action, you can help ensure your business reputation remains strong. These steps can help ensure your customers’ trust and choose your business over competitors.
If you need help to protect your business from misleading or false online reviews, our experienced e-commerce and online business lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents. Call us today on 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are fake reviews illegal in the UK?
Yes. Since 6 April 2025, the DMCC Act bans writing, commissioning or hosting fake reviews. The CMA can fine businesses up to 10% of global annual turnover. The rules also cover incentivised reviews that are not clearly disclosed.
How can I get a false review removed?
Report the review to the platform with evidence that it is false or misleading. Most sites, including Trustpilot and Google, will remove reviews in reasonable cases. Challenging a suspicious review usually costs nothing, so it is worth doing.
Should I respond to negative reviews?
Yes. Respond professionally and constructively to address the issue and show other customers you take feedback seriously. A measured reply often does more for your reputation than trying to remove a genuine negative review.
Are review sites reasonable in taking down false consumer reviews?
Most review-hosting websites will take down customer reviews in reasonable circumstances, such as when you can find evidence that they are misleading or false in some material way. However, it is usually worth challenging a suspicious review as the process costs nothing.
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