Watch: Joshua Albanese on how to respond to negative Google reviews

In this short, Joshua Albanese, founder of The Reputation.org, answers "How to respond to negative Google reviews": reply fast, stay calm, own the specific problem, and report the fake ones. Delivered with AI-assisted narration. Every answer is written and verified by our reputation team.

Read the full guide: 5 ways to turn a bad review into a win and keep customers →

Video Transcript

Business owner: How to respond to negative Google reviews. Because my first draft was mostly yelling.

Joshua: Reply fast, stay calm, and own the specific problem. If it's fake, report it, or have a team build the case. Google's Business Profile help says helpful replies show you're responsive to your customers. Go to your Business Profile, select Read reviews, then Reply. That's the simple version. Underneath it, three calls shape every reply, and the third comes first. There's a faster way through all of it.

Business owner: Three calls. Go.

Joshua: One. Who it's for. Everyone reading over the reviewer's shoulder before they book. So no sarcasm, no "we have no record of you." Two. What to own. The part that's true, without conceding everything, and never their private details.

Business owner: And the third?

Joshua: Three. Whether to reply at all. If it's fake, you report it and build the proof. Don't apologize to someone who was never your customer.

Business owner: I just wanted to write a reply.

Joshua: That's why TheReputation.org exists. We do this every day. We check each review against the policies, and build the evidence on the ones that break them.

Business owner: So you sort out the fake ones first.

Joshua: If a negative review is sitting on your business, comment "REMOVAL." We'll see if it breaks the rules and can come down for you.

Read our full guide on how to respond to negative Google reviews →