Google review on the wrong business? How to get it fixed (and what to do if Google says no)

When a review on your Google Business Profile clearly belongs to another business, you have three tools: a public reply, a policy report, and the reviewer themselves. Only the person who wrote the review can delete it, and Google’s help pages describe no way for an owner to move a review to a different listing. Google can remove it, but only if the review text breaks a policy, and it judges that from the words on the screen, not from your records.

That last point is why so many owners get a “no policy violation” result and give up. This guide shows you how to tell which kind of mix-up you have, how to write a reply that does the work even if the review stays, which report reason to pick, what to send the reviewer, and how to stop your listing attracting reviews meant for a neighbor.

Can Google move a review to the right business?

No, not in any way Google documents. Google’s guide to removing reviews from your Business Profile covers flagging and appeals only, and its Maps help says you can’t directly delete someone else’s review. A misplaced review either gets removed for a policy breach or the reviewer deletes it and posts again on the correct listing.

So set the goal correctly. You are not trying to get Google to relocate the review. You are trying to get one of two outcomes: the reviewer deletes it, or Google removes it. And while you wait for either, your public reply makes sure nobody reading your profile believes it.

First, work out which mix-up you have

“Wrong business” covers several different situations, and the right move depends on which one you’re in. Spend ten minutes on this before you reply or report anything.

What the review shows	Likely cause	Best route
Names another business, product or staff member you don’t have	Reviewer picked the wrong result in search	Report as off-topic, reply naming the mismatch, contact reviewer if you can
Describes a service you don’t offer, no names	Same-name business in another city, or a neighbor	Reply with the facts, report, ask in the Business Profile community if rejected
Complains about the previous tenant at your address	Old listing closed or merged into yours, or customers searching by address	Reply, report, then check for an old listing at your address
Meant for another location of your own brand	Customer chose the wrong branch	Reply and handle it as a real complaint; the brand still owns it
Several similar reviews in a short time	Your review link, QR code or a shared tool points to the wrong profile, or someone is targeting you	Fix the link first; if it looks deliberate, report as fake engagement with evidence

The branch case is the one owners most often get wrong. If the customer had a genuinely bad experience at your other location, Google will treat it as a real review of your brand, and a reply that brushes it off reads badly. Treat it like any other complaint and point them to the right manager.

Then confirm it isn’t your customer

Before you tell the world a review isn’t about you, check. A surprising number of “not ours” reviews turn out to be a customer who booked under a partner’s name, or a staff member’s nickname the owner didn’t know.

• Search your recordsLook up the reviewer’s display name in your booking system, POS, CRM and email for the last 6 to 12 months.
• Check the details they mentionProducts, prices, staff names, opening hours or a location detail you don’t match are your strongest evidence.
• Open the reviewer’s profileClick their name in Google Maps. Other reviews in a different city, or of a similarly named business, usually explain the mix-up.
• Search your business name signed outUse a private window. If a same-name or similar-name business shows up next to you, that’s probably where the review belonged.
• Screenshot everythingThe review, the reviewer’s profile, and the other business’s listing, with dates. You’ll need these for an appeal.

Reply publicly, even if you plan to report it

A reply is the only part of this you fully control, and it works whether or not the review comes down. Google’s help page on replying to reviews says the reviewer is notified when you reply, so it doubles as your first message to them. Replies usually take up to 10 minutes to appear but can take up to 30 days.

Keep it short, factual and friendly. Write it for the next person who reads your profile, not to win an argument. Three patterns that work:

When it names another business or product

“Thanks for taking the time to write this. We think it may be meant for another business: we don’t sell [product] and don’t have a [staff name] on our team. If we’ve got that wrong, please call us on [number] and we’ll sort it out. If it was for someone else, you can delete it from Your contributions in Google Maps and post it on their page.”

When it describes the previous tenant

“Sorry to hear about this. [Business name] opened at this address in [month, year] and we don’t offer [service], so this may be about the business that was here before. If you visited us, we’d like to hear more on [number].”

When it’s meant for your other location

“Thank you for telling us. It sounds like this visit was at our [other location] branch. We’ve passed it to [manager role] there, and you can reach them directly on [number].”

Things to leave out: the customer’s full name, anything about their records, sarcasm, and the word “fake” unless you can prove it. If you’re a dental or medical practice, don’t confirm or deny that the person was a patient. “We can’t find a record of this visit” is fine for most businesses; healthcare should stick to “this doesn’t match the services we provide.” We cover more of those pitfalls in how to reply to a 1-star review with no comment.

Report it under the right policy

Google removes reviews only when they break its Maps user-generated content policy. Two categories fit a misplaced review. Off-topic says content should be based on an experience at a specific location. Fake engagement says contributions should reflect a genuine experience and lists content that doesn’t accurately represent the location in question.

Pick off-topic for an honest mistake and fake engagement only when you have reason to think it’s deliberate, such as a run of similar reviews from new accounts. If a competitor or ex-employee wrote it, the policy’s conflict-of-interest rules apply instead.

To flag it from your profile:

1. Open your Business Profile (search your business name on Google while signed in, or use Google Maps).
2. Select Read reviews.
3. Next to the review, select the report icon, choose the reason, and select Send report.

Google says review evaluation typically takes several days. You can track it in the Reviews Management Tool, linked from the same help page. Statuses read “Decision pending”, “Report reviewed - no policy violation” or, after an appeal, “Escalated - check your email for updates”.

Be ready for a no. Google reads the review text, not your booking system. A review that says “terrible service, never again” with no names reads like an opinion about you, and in two long Local Search Forum threads (a jeweler reviewed for a closed shop in the same center and an agency confused with a same-name builder in another city) neither owner reported a removal. Reviews that name a product, person or place you don’t have give Google something it can check.

If Google says no: the one-time appeal

If your flag comes back as no violation, Google allows a one-time appeal. In the Reviews Management Tool, choose the option to check the status of a review you reported, then Appeal eligible reviews, select the review (up to 10 at once), and fill in the form.

Because you only get one appeal, make it count. Put the evidence a stranger can verify in under a minute at the top:

• The exact detail in the review that doesn’t match you (“Review mentions oil changes. We are a hair salon.”)
• A link to the business it was probably meant for, if you found one
• The reviewer’s other reviews, if they show the confusion
• Which policy it breaks, by name: off-topic or fake engagement

Leave out how much the rating hurts you. Google says plainly it doesn’t get involved in disputes between businesses and customers, and a rating drop isn’t a policy breach. If the appeal fails too, the Google Business Profile community is a reasonable last stop, where volunteer Product Experts can sometimes escalate clear cases. After that, your reply and fresh reviews are what’s left.

Help the reviewer move it themselves

This is the fix that actually works most often, and it costs nothing. Most misplaced reviews are honest mistakes, and most people will delete one when someone politely points it out.

Your reply already notified them. If you can identify the customer through the other business, a mutual contact or their own message, send a short note with these steps, taken from Google’s help page on editing or deleting a review:

1. On a phone: open Google Maps, tap Contribute, then View your profile, scroll and tap See all reviews, tap the three dots next to the review, then Delete review.
2. On a computer: open Google Maps, click the menu, then Your contributions and Reviews, click the three dots next to the review, then Delete review.
3. Search for the correct business and post the review there.

Don’t offer anything in return. Google’s policy bans incentives tied to reviews, and that includes offering a discount to delete one. Don’t ask them to edit it into a positive review of you either; you only want it on the right page.

Stop your listing attracting other people’s reviews

One misplaced review is bad luck. Three is a signal that customers looking for someone else keep landing on your listing. The usual reasons, and what to do about each:

• A similar name nearbyMake sure your profile name matches your real-world signage exactly, add photos of your storefront, and pick categories that make the difference obvious.
• An old business at your addressSearch your address signed out. If the previous tenant’s listing still shows as open, use Suggest an edit to mark it closed.
• A pin in the wrong spotIf your pin sits on a neighbor’s unit, customers tap the wrong one. Adjust it in your profile’s address settings.
• A stale review linkOpen your review link, QR code and email-signature link in a private window and confirm each lands on your current profile, not a duplicate or another branch.
• Multi-location confusionGive each branch a distinct, honest location descriptor where Google allows it, and send each branch’s customers that branch’s link.

If you suspect a duplicate or old listing is involved, our guide on why a Google review isn’t showing walks through finding duplicate profiles from a signed-out browser.

Mistakes that make it worse

• Flagging it again and again. Repeat flags of the same review don’t speed anything up. Flag once, then use the appeal.
• Calling it fake in your reply. If it turns out to be a real customer, you’ve just accused them in public.
• Renaming your listing to dodge the confusion. Adding keywords or changing your name away from your signage breaks Google’s profile guidelines and can get the profile suspended.
• Asking a burst of customers for reviews to bury it. A sudden spike can trigger Google’s filters. Ask every customer, steadily, every week.
• Ignoring a branch review. If it was your other location, it’s still your customer.

Where to start this week

Today, check your records and the reviewer’s profile, then post a short factual reply. Flag the review once under off-topic. While Google decides, open your review link and QR code in a private window and search your own address for an old listing. If Google says no, file the appeal with the one mismatched detail at the top. Then keep asking every real customer for a review, which is the fix that works no matter what Google decides.

If misplaced reviews keep turning up, the cause is usually on your profile, not the reviewer’s side. Our local SEO service starts with your Business Profile, reviews and listings, and we work with owners across service and retail industries, from salons to dental practices.